A new child’s arrival brings joy and excitement, as well as added expense. When it is twins, triplets or even more children at one time, emotions multiply, as do costs. Starting in the mid-1800s, a discretionary payment known as the Royal Bounty was available for mothers who gave birth to three or more babies at one time.
Irish women applied for and received the payment that came from the privy purse, the British sovereign’s private income.
It came about after Queen Victoria heard of a poor woman who gave birth to triplets in Ireland in 1849.
Referred to as the Queen’s or King’s Bounty, depending on who was reigning at the time, it was intended to “enable the parents to meet the sudden expenses thrown on them”. Some of the conditions of the payment included that the parents be married British subjects, in financial need and that the children must survive birth.
In the 1800s, most women gave birth at home and were attended by “handy-women”, who did not have any medical training per se but had learned about childbirth from older women or had gone through the process themselves.
Applications came in from various parts of Ireland and Great Britain.
In May 1864, a Cork woman who was married to a labourer named Reilly gave birth to four children. One of them died but because three survived, she was entitled to apply for the payment of £3, £1 for each of the children. She was described as living in “one of the obscure lanes off Barrack Street, Cork”.
There are some recorded cases where women applied for the payment but did not receive it as one or more of their children died after birth.
A Mrs Sharpe from Lincolnshire gave birth to triplets in late 1866.
Her medical attendant applied for the donation on her behalf but she was informed that she was not eligible as all three of the children did not survive.
A couple of years later, an Irish woman also found out that she was not entitled to claim the money. Julia Daly (24) was married to a travelling cutler. She gave birth to two boys and a girl at Cashel workhouse in Co Tipperary in February 1868. Two of the children did not survive.
Occasionally, it was hoped that the amount of the payment would be increased, such as the case of the labourer Patrick Hand and his wife from Malahide, Co Dublin.
She gave birth to three sons in October 1870. It was believed to be the first time in 33 years that three boys were born together and therefore, it was hoped that the sum of £3 would be increased in their case.
Five years later, a woman from Drogheda, Co Louth, gave birth to triplets – two girls and a boy.
She was married to Joseph Crawford, who was described as a journeyman carpenter and they were said to be in “very indigent circumstances”. The bounty would be a “seasonable and timely help”, according to one newspaper.
In August 1876, a Mrs McElligott of Tralee, Co Kerry, received £3 after giving birth to three children. In March 1881, another Tralee resident had triplets. She was married to a bailiff named Connor. The two boys and one girl survived, so they were going to apply for the Queen’s Bounty.
Some dishonest claims were submitted.
In Naas, Co Kildare, in July 1881, a payment was made to a woman named Bridget O’Toole following an application from a Dr Smith. However, it later transpired to be a hoax as there was no such person as Bridget O’Toole.
A woman from the Abbey area of Limerick city named Mrs Connors gave birth to triplets in January 1883. They were all said to be doing well and it was expected that an application for the Queen’s Bounty would be made.
Sometimes the community helped as best they could, as in the case of a Belfast widow who gave birth to three daughters in early 1887. Mrs Chambers’s late husband was a quay labourer and she was a mill worker. A fund was started locally for the relief of the family and they hoped to apply for the Queen’s Bounty.
Near the village of Dowra on the border of Leitrim and Cavan, a woman by the name of Corrigan gave birth to four children in March 1887.
They could not afford a sheet to cover the bed, with the children being covered in rags and lying on straw beside the fire. Their landlord forgave them a year’s rent so that they could better care for the new arrivals. The doctor who delivered the babies applied for the Queen’s Bounty on their behalf.
These are just some examples of the claims that were submitted over the years, with the last successful Irish claim being made in 1940.