Genealogy Chat

Please can somebody tell me what is a Nurse child there are several on 1851 along with a nurse and they all have different surnames Appreciate all replies Thanks Sylvie

Not 100% sure, but I think it might be was sometimes referred to as a 'Wet Nurse'. That is mother of the child not producing enough milk or doesn't want to feed the baby, so hires a woman who has a lot of milk or had lost her own baby to feed theirs. I've got quite a few of them myself.

It was a foster child

The person looking after the nurse child would be paid for what they did by the family. Might be because the mother had died or was ill, or some other reason....... Merry

thanks for all your replies..I should have known but didn't connect wet nurse and nurse child.. Once again thanks to you all Sylvie

A nurse child usually has nothing to do with a 'wet nurse'. It was, as has been mentioned, what we would think of as a foster child and can be any age, not just babies.

Put 'Nurse Child' into the search box on these boards. You will see this subject has been discussed loads of times. Margaret

I stand corrected - thank you for your info

Found this on old occupation site: Nurse Child: A child being looked after by another family for payment lib:))

Ive seen a nurse child of up to 13! You said there were a number of children, if it did mean 'wet nurse' that poor womans boobs at the end of the day!!!