Barnmorskan Maria Sofia Nilssons fosterbarn

Date: 1897 to 1907
Location: Malmö Caroli, Malmöhus, Sweden
Surname/tag: Nilsson

Barnmorskan Maria Sofia Nilssons fosterbarn

In 1894-1897 the house hold on Pontus IV, Caroli parish in Malmö looks as following:^[1]

Midwife Maria Sofia Nilsson 1857-4-12 Svalöv m. 1876-6-21 to mineworker Måns Nilsson, location unknown. Her daughters out of wedlock with below mentioned Anders Persson:

1. Olga Persson 1887-10-12 Näs - ?
2. Esther Bernhardina Persson Lindgren 1892-12-9 Sankt Pauli - 1943-9-28 Sankt Petri m. 1920-6-12
3. Ruth Walborg Persson Brodin 1895-8-21 - 1974-3-25 Sankt Johannes, Malmö w. 1943-7-22

Her foster children, all with unknown mothers unless otherwise mentioned, all born and died in Caroli unless otherwise mentioned:

1. Unnamed baby girl 1894-2-2 - 1895-2-2
2. Signe Jenny 1897-8-15 - 1897-8-29

In 1897-1899 the house hold on Pontus 12, Caroli parish in Malmö looks as following:^[2]

Worker Anders Persson 1857-11-12 Näs

The following foster children are added to the household:

1. John Hilding Härstedt (1899-1965)
2. Wanda Ellen Hermina Österling 1898-7-21 - 1908-3-2 Trelleborg
3. Edvin Herbert 1898-11-20 - 1971-12-7 Lund
4. Nils Gunnar Björk 1899-9-30 - 1990-1-30 Löddeköpinge
5. Lars Gustaf Lundgren 1876-4-16 in Stenbrohult, Kronoborg m. 1899-6-23

9 Apr 1900 Maria Sofia gets legally divorced from Måns.

In 1899-1900 the following foster children are added to the household:^[3]

1. Klara Teresia 1900-12-15 - 1901-1-31
2. Nils Gustaf Harry 1900-1-26 - ?
3. Ella Svea Katarina 1900-1-24 - 1900-6-21 Sankt Pauli, Monbijou 7
4. Helga Svea Margaretha Grahm 1900-7-12 - 1995-12-27 Hässleholm
5. Lisa Birgitta Bernhardina 1900-8-10 - 1901-4-17
6. Svea Gundborg Alice Johansson 1900-9-25 - 1988-5-27
7. Anders Leonard 1900-9-22 - 1900-10-13
8. Ines Gustafva 1900-9-27 - 1900-10-15
9. Not yet christened baby boy 1901-1-4 - 1901-1-5

In 1900-1904 the following foster children are added to the household:^[4]

1. Erik Gösta 1901-1-28 d. 1901-11-11
2. Emmy Ingeborg Hansson 1901-5-19 1985-2-12 (Daughter of seamstress Anna Maria Hansson)
3. Nils Folke 1901-9-25 - 1902-2-2
4. Karin Anna Magda Persson Schiller 1902-3-10 - 1938-9-16 Sankt Petri m. 1926-3-22
5. Helga Ingeborg 1902-5-22 - 1902-6-28
6. Carl Tage 1903-4-15 - 1904-3-30
7. Erik Gustaf 1903-5-15 - 1906-7-20
8. Gudrun Elisabeth 1903-11-20 - ?
9. Gustaf Harry Råberg 1904-5-1 - 1983-4-11 Sankt Petri (never married)

Anders and Maria Sofia finally married on 21 Feb 1902.

In 1904-1906 the household looked significantly smaller with a lot of children either having passed away or moved elsewhere, only one child was added as a foster child, little Åge 1906-7-31 - 1906-8-13^[5]

In 1906-1907 the following foster children was added to the household:^[6]

1. John Herry Burevall 1906-12-4 - 1979-1-28 Lundby Gtb. m. 1946-6-22
2. Ernst Wigart 1906-12-15 - 1907-10-18 Lund Domk.
3. Henny Astrid 1907-4-19 - 1990-11-17 Ekeby w. 1933-2-27

One could hope that Maria Sofia treated her foster children with sympathy, seeing as she herself had children out of wedlock. The fact is however that 17 out of 30 foster children did not survive childhood, most of them not even infancy. 2 children is missing from the death index, maybe they emigrated or changed their names. This pretty much proves the fact that without their mothers most of these babies did not fare well in the world, probably no matter how well cared for they were by their foster mother.