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Messages - markoffen

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1
Wiltshire / Re: The Retreat, Mere
« on: Saturday 20 January 07 16:50 GMT (UK)  »
Good day Margaret,

I will take the pages to work and scan them it.  It may take a few days or so to get them all scanned.  Check back every now and again.  I will let you know in the body of the message when the last page has been sent.

Best Regards
Mark

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PS We are RootsChat -We have no association to the other organisation  ;)

  I will take the pages to work and scan them it.  It may take a few days or so to get them all scanned.  Check back every now and again.  I will let you know in the body of the message when the last page has been sent.

Best Regards
Mark

2
Wiltshire / Re: The Retreat, Mere
« on: Thursday 18 January 07 14:46 GMT (UK)  »
Good day Margaret,

MODERATOR COMMENT: Information Removed Please use the secure PM System. Thank You

I think you were very lucky to get the info as adoptions were only officially registered from 1926 onwards.  I wonder if your Aunt perhaps had a letter written which could only be opened after her death (or something like that).  Perhaps a relative or friend who knew where the child went and could only tell after the death of your aunt......just suggestions.

I have found in my 4 to 5 years of research into my family that when a mystery appears, the obvious is usually the answer.   When I started out trying to find out about my greataunt I wondered why she was so far from home, which was unusual for those days and that age (18)....well, the obvious was that she was under a cloud or in disgrace and had been sent there. 

From reading the pages on Mere, they tried very hard to keep the child with the Mother and only in extreme cases would they arrange adoption.  So it is possible that they arranged the adoption but only as a last resort.  Usually someone in the family would take on the child or adopt it.  Was your Aunt from Newport or South Wales?  If so it seems quite a coincidence that the Retreat found someone from there to adopt the child and, in that case, it could have been someone she knew.  One of the people I have made contact with suggested that it was quite easy to find a family to take in/adopt  a child at that time between the two wars.  They seem to have been in short supply.



Thanks
Best Regards
Mark

3
Wiltshire / Re: The Retreat, Mere
« on: Wednesday 17 January 07 16:00 GMT (UK)  »
Good day Margaret,

Thanks for the info.  A very kind gentleman (whose name escapes me at the moment) at one of the government offices (could be library) sent me two papers issued by the Retreat, giving a description of finances etc for the year.  In one dated 1921 , my great aunt is mentioned (not by name) but as the first fatality of a mother at the Retreat of eclampsia. If you would like a copy, I can scan them in and send them to you.  or, if u prefer, I can photo copy them and send them to you.  I received informatiion that there were no individual records still in existance.  It was mentioned that the Woman's League may have any still in existance but I did not get a reply from them.  Unfortunately it leaves many unanswered questions....was she sent there in disgrace or was everything arranged by her family? Did she get any support from the father?  What happened to the baby?  The gentleman mentioned above did a search to see if there were any deaths of infants registered in the area but there were not any, so I assume the child survived.  However, it was pointed out to me that adoptions were only registered from 1926 onwards so someone could have easily adopted the child.....so many questions, not many answers!!

Let me know if you want the Retreat docs I have. I can also check my emails and get you the gentleman's name and email address if u need it.

Thanks
Best Regards
Mark 

4
Wiltshire / Re: The Retreat, Mere
« on: Monday 24 July 06 13:48 BST (UK)  »
Good day Nell,

Thank you for the information.  Do you think it would be possible to see those records (medical)  if I visited the Mere archives (or wherever they keep them)?
My second question is obviously "what happened to the child".  I have looked at the BMD records and I can find HER death listed.  But I cannot find a child registered to her in the births or deaths.  If the child was stillborn then I would have thought it would be listed.  Of course, if the child survived, then it may be/would be listed under the father's name.  I cannot find a BMD site that allows me to search using the mother's name/maiden name.  Perhaps it was adopted...did they register the adopted children in the mother's/father's name or the adopted parent's name in 1921?

On another note...this must have been a real upset to the family.  My great grandfather (her father) was very religious and very active in the church.  He was, by all accounts, then a wealthy man so I guess that is how they could afford to send her away.  She is buried in Bexhill on top of her mother who died in 1916 (apparently this was quite common). There is no record at all about a child.  The Bexhill newspaper just says "a sudden death", which, I suppose, it was. 

We, in the family, had no idea she existed.  My grand father (her brother) did not mention her  to anyone EVER.   My father was born in 1922, after she died and it was quite a surprise to everyone to find out about her.  We have a photograph of my grandfather standing next to a young child.  We always assumed it was a photo of his sister Dorothy but, once we found out about Ada, we could see that the age difference is such that the photo could only have been of my grand father and her (Ada). 

Such is the fun of geneology!!  :)

Anyway, thank you very much for your reply.
Best Regards
Mark

5
Wiltshire / The Retreat, Mere
« on: Monday 24 July 06 12:36 BST (UK)  »
Good day,
I am trying to find more information about The Retreat, Salisbury Road (or Street), Mere, Wiltshire.  My great aunt died there at the age of 18 in 1921. From what I can get from her death certificate, it was after childbirth and she was not married.  The attending doctor was Dr Frances Rutter and Alice Rutter was listed as the occupant of the Retreat (I assume they were related).

Without slandering or upsetting anyone, could it be that the Retreat was somewhere unmarried mothers-to-be could go to give birth? The name seems to suggest this... My great aunt actually lived in Bexhill-on-sea so, as you can see, she was a long way from home. 

If anyone can help, then I would be very grateful.
Thanks
Mark Offen
Cape Town
South Africa

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