I recently discovered ( a year or so back) that my mother was born in a workhouse.
Mrs Colly had taken to doing family history and she's good at it. She noticed an anomaly with regards to my grandmother's address and the listed address of the birth place on my mums birth certificate. Home births in those days were common, especially if you were poor, and this stood out.
So Mrs Colly sought the advice of her family histories tutor.
It turn out that mum was born out of wedlock in a workhouse on Nothumberland Street, Paddington. It used to be simply described as 'workhouse' but to avoid stigma the address was listed instead.
I knew my nan came from a poor back ground but I never knew she had things that difficult😢
I have no idea if my.mum knew this or not.