1904 Out-of-Wedlock Birth: Curious About Social Consequences in Edwardian Era Scotland
Margaret Fleming Spence Sutherland: 1884-1973
While researching Sutherland ancestors, I ran across
information from another user’s tree on Ancestry that suggested a collateral
ancestor gave birth out of wedlock over a century ago in Airdrie, Scotland. I
was curious, which led me to do further research on the young woman. After all,
during that era in America, out-of-wedlock births were considered very
shameful; the mothers were often sent away and were encouraged to give up the
child. However, that didn’t happen to this young woman and her child. And that
makes the story even more intriguing.
Margaret Fleming Spence Sutherland, my husband’s first
cousin three times removed, was born to Thomas Sutherland and Jeanie Spence
Sutherland on June 26, 1884. She was
Thomas and Jeanie’s fifth child, named after their third child, Margaret
Fleming Sutherland, who had died at age two in 1882.
Margaret’s father Thomas died at age 50 on June 25, 1904.
Margaret had her twentieth birthday just one day later. It must have been a horrible
time for the entire family; the chief breadwinner was suddenly gone just as the
family was trying to deal with another family problem. At the time of Thomas’
death, Margaret was pregnant and unmarried. Her son, William Muir Sutherland,
was born just a few weeks later on August 4, 1904. Another Sutherland descendant
posted little William’s birth record obtained from a Scotland government
website, and it clearly shows the only parent was Margaret, and the baby was
given her surname.
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| William Muir Sutherland's birth record |
Birth records from the era show that premarital sex was not
exactly uncommon; many first babies made their appearance just five or six
months after a marriage. However, marriage was the usual and expected outcome
to a surprise pregnancy. So what happened to Margaret? She was nineteen when
she conceived—not really a child anymore, particularly in that era. Was her
lover already married? Did he die? Move away? Refuse to “do the right thing”?
Was she a rape victim? We will never know the answer.
We will also never know what social consequences Margaret
and her family faced. She continued living at home with her widowed mother and
some of her siblings, so at least her family stood by her. The family relocated
from a handsome home on Victoria Place to 140 South Nimmo Street in Airdrie,
but that was likely due to the change in financial circumstances following
Thomas’ death. It appears Margaret raised her son at the Nimmo Street location.
Other trees report 1911 census data (records that I have been unable to find)
that show Margaret, her mother and sister Bethia living there. I found a photo
of Margaret and her young son on Ancestry; she looks happy and the baby,
dressed all in white, appears to be a healthy little fellow.
It is hard to tell if Margaret’s illegitimate son affected
her marriage and employment prospects. She didn’t marry until age 31, when
young William had just turned 11 years old. However, that is only two years
older than her sisters Marion and Jeanie, who married at 29. Two of Margaret’s
brothers chose to emigrate to the United States, one sister never married, and
the third brother remained in Scotland. Were any of their choices in life
impacted by the societal reaction to Margaret’s unwed motherhood? Or was that
irrelevant in how the community viewed the family members?
I briefly researched illegitimacy in turn-of-the-century
Scotland. A paper by Dr. Janet Greenlees noted that Scotland had higher rates
of illegitimacy than other areas of the British Isles, and that families tended
to help support the unwed mother and her child and absorb them into the family
unit. This matches with Margaret’s experiences.
Margaret’s husband, Robert Hutcheson, was a 35-year old
engine fitter from Airdrie, so he was involved in the same industry as
Margaret’s father and brothers. Did she meet him through family connections? Margaret
was listed only as “spinster” on the marriage record, so she wasn’t employed at
the time of her marriage. Her address was still South Nimmo Street.
Margaret and Robert Hutcheson had three sons: Robert, born
in 1917; Thomas, born in 1919, and William George, born in 1924. Robert
Hutcheson seems to have had a good relationship with his stepson William Muir
Sutherland, who went by the name “Roy” as he grew older. Robert served as a
witness at Roy’s wedding on July 12, 1934. Roy married a young woman named
Janet Watson, and he was working as a concrete mixer at the time. Roy and Janet
spent their lives and raised their family near Airdrie. It does not appear that
illegitimacy had a negative effect on Roy’s life, although it is impossible to
know for certain.
Margaret was widowed at age 61. She lived in Airdrie until
her death on May 23, 1973 at the age of 88.
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| Margaret in later years |
My curiosity about Margaret’s situation wasn’t really
satisfied, but the bare facts of her life show that she did a decent job
raising her son, and that despite the stigma of unwed motherhood during the
Edwardian period, she was able to marry and form a family. Those facts leave me
with hope that her life was happy and that she and her family didn’t suffer cruelty
from others because of her circumstances.
Sources:
Unmarried Motherhood in Scotland during the Twentieth
Century: Mother and Baby Homes. Dr Janet Greenlees, Centre for the Social
History of Health and Healthcare. Nov. 2015. https://assets.gov.ie/118666/9b40ab74-fdc1-4852-a2f0-0fb419f3df52.pdf
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