unmarried parents

[gazza855]

I have found the only John & Bessie Donnelly were married in Glasgow in 1911, but they had their children in 1907 & 1909. If I can confirm that this John & Bessie Donnelly are my greatx2 grandparents, is it common for parents to have been unmarried at this time?

Thanks

Gazza

[tig]

id take a guess at that it would be rare for parents not to be married before having kids at that time...not impossible tho

[Lachlan09]

I'd agree. Not common, but not so unusual. I expect it wasn't a life-choice like today, but more like the cost of getting married meant they couldn't afford it and had to wait, though life went on meantime. A possible scenario, before contraceptives, was that he got her pregnant, couldn't afford to get married, so settled down un-married, then another child on the way, then when they could afford it and to satisfy social mores, got married.