Family Historian User Group

I would be interested to know what is the oldest age of a mother anyone has found in the 19th century or earlier where they have reasonable confidence in the sources. I have found multiple great grandmothers who appear to have had children up to about 45 or 46. I previously had received information from a contact who claimed one of my 4g grandmothers had a child at 51, but I have since found evidence that suggests she was born later so was in her forties.

Why I am interested is to get a feeling at at what point to start doubting the mother's age or if she really was the mother.

ID:1975

Hi Dave

I have not looked at my Victorian 'breed for the Empire' forebears - but I think it is dangerous to assume anything when women's fertility goes into the mid 50s - assumimg good health and nourishment etc.

Having said that I suppose I would suggest that births over 45 are rarer... though definitely not unknown.

I also wonder, in the days when illigitimacy was a stigma, if grandma was named as mother - who can tell if the documents are accurate in that scenario if all parties 'play the game' when it comes to registering - and it would become one of those things that those who know don't talk about and those who don't know at the time may never find out.

Dave,
Of those in my family who had nine or more children in the 19th century, I have one mother at age 46-47, one at age 45-46, four at 44-45, seven at 42-43. The first was my great grandmother, and the child was born in the same quarter as the mother's 47th birthday.