Women.26.jpg
Handmade wooden cradle, c.1820s.
Among her daily chores a woman's most important role was that of mother. Caring for her children was perhaps so commonplace and expected that diarist Hannah Selby of Dunham did not even list it as a task in her weekly duties. Child rearing in the 19th century could be a busy and happy time in a woman's life but it was also fraught with hardship and heartache. High maternal mortality rates in child birth and high infant mortality rates meant that women readily understood that they could lose their own life during their pregnancy or face losing one of their children before they reached the age of five. The cradle seen here was used to rock the Cornell family children of Stanbridge East.
(Missisquoi Historical Society Collections)
Among her daily chores a woman's most important role was that of mother. Caring for her children was perhaps so commonplace and expected that diarist Hannah Selby of Dunham did not even list it as a task in her weekly duties. Child rearing in the 19th century could be a busy and happy time in a woman's life but it was also fraught with hardship and heartache. High maternal mortality rates in child birth and high infant mortality rates meant that women readily understood that they could lose their own life during their pregnancy or face losing one of their children before they reached the age of five. The cradle seen here was used to rock the Cornell family children of Stanbridge East.
(Missisquoi Historical Society Collections)