Would this have been unusual

[Lensgirl]

Hi

my nan was born in 1916 in London in what I believe to have been the Willesden Workhouse after it was renamed. Her mother was unmarried and 42 at the time and we are not aware of any other children prior. Her mother's occupation and address are listed as General Servant (domestic) and at an address in Willesden (in 1911 she was at this same address and listed as servant). Was it unusual for her to have been allowed to stay working there whilst pregnant and afterwards? My nan was sent to live with her grandparents in Suffolk and her mother went back to work.

[Janet in Yorkshire]

I think the date 1916 may be important. During WW1 lots of women found employment other than going into service and so good domestic staff would be at a premium.
When you say the mother was allowed to "stay working there whilst pregnant and afterwards" do you mean in the same establishment , or is it that you are surprised she was considered employable and possibly in two households, given her situation?

Jay

[Lensgirl]

No not that she was employable, the fact that she lived and worked as a domestic servant whilst she was pregnant and went back to the same house afterwards. I thought that maybe being pregnant with an illegitimate child might of had a bit of stigma attached and maybe that she would of been "no longer welcome" to work there anymore. I hadn't even thought about the fact that she was born during the war, it hadn't even occurred to me:o because my great grandmother never married and only had my nan so late in life it does make me suspicious about the circumstances of her conception, however perhaps there is something more "romantic" with it being war time. I don't really understand what the situation with unmarried pregnant women was at that time

Sorry not sure I made it clear in my first post but in 1911 she was living in the house where she was a servant, and this is the same address she gave on the birth certificate

[Olde Crone Holden]

Ah, just because she gave the same address at the time of the birth doesn't mean she actually ever went back there. It was her last residential address that's all.

I agree with Janet though, the fact that it was wartime MAY have influenced her employers to have her back, especially if she had been with them a long time and was reliable. Of course ther would be no question that she could have kept her baby, that just would not have been acceptable to anyone then, no matter how liberal and understanding they were, or how desperate they were for a good servant.

OC