The archetypal family of yore
HAVING lots of children was a characteristic of the Victorian and Edwardian family, but there were several reasons why this happened.
In the mid 19th century childhood mortality was running as high as 50% and because of the lack of a pension or any welfare state provision, the only way to ensure a moderately safe and healthy retirement was to have lots of children. Since children were normally expected to provide for their parents in their old age, having a large family was often the only way to provide for their own future. And if the family was poor then the cost of raising an extra child was relatively small.
The grief of losing a child was as heartfelt as it is today, but it was just as inportant if not imperative to bring another child into the world as soon as possible to compensate for the loss, so grief had to be short lived. It would appear people accepted infant and child death in a much more matter of fact way than they do today. It may well have been a calculated decision to have as many babies as possible to counteract the mortality rate especially in the case of the poor, to ensure there were enough hands to work.
Miscarriages were high at around 50%, and for those children who survived to their first birthday half that number didn’t make it to five. Life in Victorian times was hard but any changes in diet and sanitation, and there were distinct improvements going on all the time as the 19th century progressed, more children survived those initial years and as a consequence families grew in size.
Another significant influence would have been the Royal family. After Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were marriued in 1841 they managed to produce nine children over the next 16 years, a course of action that may have been copied by many; the adage being, if it’s good enough for the royals its good enough for us. The Royals of course weren’t hampered by the contraints of poverty, but they inevitably became role models for the rest of the population.
The family group of mom and dad and siblings shown in the above photograph is the archetypal family of the Victorian/ Edwardian period. There are six sisters, three brothers and a young toddler, whose gender is unknown, with their parents.