What is a nurse child?

[Kit]

Said child appears on a census with my 3g grandmother and her widowed daughter but is 10 years old on the census.

I have no knowledge of the widowed daughter's husband's name or if she had children etc. She was single on decade and widowed the next.

[marquette]

I have seen one or two in a census - an unrelated child in a household - I thought it meant a foster child of some description.

The only other thing I thought was a young teenager living with a family to help with younger children, but 10 is too young for that, and I can't remember if I saw that sort of situation.

The only one I can easily recall was a single child in an unrelated adult household.

[kiterunner]

Yes, it means foster child.

[Jill]

I have one in the 1851 census, the older siblings were with granny & grandad in Kent while the toddler was a nurse child with an unrelated a couple a few doors down the street from its aunt. Mother was pregnant with the next child. It look like a short term arrangement in my family.

[Phoenix]

Don't quote me, but I think that those looking after nurse children were paid to do so.

[Kit]

thank you all.

I wondered if the widowed daughter was being a wet nurse, which would have meant she had had children but being 10 years old was a bit old for that.

A foster child works but doesn't help me find the husband or any children if there were any.

[Janet]

Don't quote me, but I think that those looking after nurse children were paid to do so.

Come to think of it, in my experience those looking after foster children are also paid to do so. That casts an interesting light and might fit the nurse child in my family very nicely. I just hadn't thought of it that way until now. Thanks, Phoenix.