Author Topic: N0RTHAMPTON - Home for illegitimate babies  (Read 43044 times)

Offline geraldineocallaghan

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Re: N0RTHAMPTON - Home for illegitimate babies
« Reply #18 on: Friday 05 April 13 14:58 BST (UK) »
RE Thornbird4

My name is Mary McBlaine and I was a resident of St Saviours in the 1970s when I was a teenager - I loved my time there and have fond memories of the place and the lovely staff - I would dearly love to get in touch with anybody who worked there or lived there at the time and I wondered if you would be able to help me, please.
The staff I remember are Mrs Jones the Cook, Mrs Marriott a Carer, Anne Davies Carer, Mrs Harrison who ran the Home who had a black Labrador, Mrs Ridgeway (I think).
Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated.
Thankyou very much
Mary

Offline samhunt

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Re: N0RTHAMPTON - Home for illegitimate babies
« Reply #19 on: Sunday 14 September 14 20:29 BST (UK) »
I'm trying to trace my sister who was born here but don't know where to start ;(

Offline helenback56

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Re: N0RTHAMPTON - Home for illegitimate babies
« Reply #20 on: Monday 13 October 14 21:28 BST (UK) »
It has been implied to me that some families still looked after daughters who were pregnant but unmarried........I'm not sure how common this was but the event in question I have been told about was 1917-1918.
Cooke, Hewes, Proops, Jefferies

Offline Robyn1984

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Re: N0RTHAMPTON - Home for illegitimate babies
« Reply #21 on: Wednesday 12 November 14 20:20 GMT (UK) »
Hiya my mum pat lane was a mum in the home and had a son there shes been looking for all the girls from the home please if any body knows of my mum please message me x


Offline Robyn1984

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Re: N0RTHAMPTON - Home for illegitimate babies
« Reply #22 on: Wednesday 12 November 14 20:47 GMT (UK) »
Hello my mum's names was pat lane plwase can some one mag bk x

Offline merlin398

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Re: N0RTHAMPTON - Home for illegitimate babies
« Reply #23 on: Saturday 14 February 15 14:54 GMT (UK) »
21 or 22 manor road Kingsthorpe was another one. I know because I was born there in 1952

Offline hardrada

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Re: N0RTHAMPTON - Home for illegitimate babies
« Reply #24 on: Monday 20 April 15 18:05 BST (UK) »
Dear All Who Reach These Pages,

Thank you for reminding me which mother and baby home I went to.  I couldn't remember the name (blotted it out?).  It was the private one affiliated with the National Adoption Society and run by two middle aged women who both came from very moneyed backgrounds.  I noticed that one of the messages here spoke about the young women in this home (Elmleigh on Harlestone Rd.) coming from wealthy families.  And some certainly did.  But others like me most definitely did not. 
Not that my parents were any more willing to accept my pregnancy or their first grandchild than those among the richer levels of society.

My reason for going to Elmleigh was two-fold: I was and am an atheist and the only other mother and baby homes I knew about were Christian; and at Elmleigh I had a choice of how long (up to six weeks) I could stay, caring for my baby.  Of course that choice was, in my case, severely limited by the cost, every day in the home adding to the total which had to be paid.

To allow me to pay for my time there, the expenses related to my baby's time there and the pre-adoption medical tests, the two women found me living-in work away from the home.  In all I had three jobs.  All three employers had to contribute to the N.I. to ensure that I got the maternity benefit because those monies also all went towards paying the bill.  It took every penny I earned together with the whole of the maternity benefits to pay that bill. 

The women who ran the place were very considerate, but when I asked them how I might manage to be able to keep my son, given that my parents had refused to help, they had no response beyond my needing to do what was right for my child.  Providing healthy children for adoption was, at root, the reason for their existence.  Providing low income mothers with advice on how to keep their children was not their real goal.

I was there in 1969 and my son was placed for adoption - in Guildford, Surrey. 


Offline James Mac

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Re: N0RTHAMPTON - Home for illegitimate babies
« Reply #25 on: Friday 01 May 15 23:53 BST (UK) »
Hi, I can confirm the ex-mother & baby home in Harlestone Road was called Elmleigh.
I worked there as gardener & general repairman 2.5 days per week from 1971 to 1974.
My employer was extremely 'well heeled', a Lady Glover, from Pychley House near Kettering. She owned a string of racehorses & land.
I can confirm I found the place very friendly & well run, and people from wealthy backgrounds & 'ordinary' folk alike resided at the home. It definitely wasn't cheap; I distinctly remember most folk had to work in various jobs to 'fund' their stay, if that makes sense. It was run by 3 VERY wealthy women, who, although very courteous & polite (to me), seemed to me would not stand for any nonsense or disagreement from anyone i.e. What they said goes, full stop. It was definitely - rightly or wrongly - a business, the sole purpose providing healthy babies for adoption - probably to wealthy couples who were unable to produce a child of their own.
There were a lot of people who came & went - many more than you would imagine. In the late 1970's I believe it was turned into student accommodation & then in the 90's sold & converted into private residences/offices. From what I remember one of the women who ran it, perhaps she was an accountant, hardly ever came out of the 'office' - the first door on the right after entering from the main outside doorway - she was always doing the books & on the telephone. This room was opposite the main kitchens, ground floor, and there was a payphone on the wall outside. I am almost certain it was a privately run business, but I am not 100% sure, & I have read somewhere on this forum that it was run by National Adoption Agency. Well I have lived in Bournemouth on the south coast for the past 32 years, but I was visiting friends in Corby last summer & drove past to have a look... It is still there & the exterior of the building looks exactly the same, however, some of the vast garden & lawns have disappeared & are now parking spaces for cars. Best wishes to all who read this, & I hope your memories of this place are good & not bad.

Offline hardrada

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Re: N0RTHAMPTON - Home for illegitimate babies
« Reply #26 on: Saturday 02 May 15 19:17 BST (UK) »
Hello James Mac,

Thank you for confirming my perception of Elmleigh's true purpose.  Mind you, at the time I didn't understand that the aim was providing babies for adoption.  In my naivety, I assumed that it was there to help single mothers have a place to stay, give birth and make the decision whether to place for adoption or not.  Only on looking back over these past few years have I come to realise that Elmleigh and its owners had no interest in helping the mothers keep their babies.  Therefore, there was no advice on where to go for help (social services for those of us who were low income, working class young women).  Of course, there might not have been any.  But we ought to have had the opportunity to discuss the possibilities or impossibilities with people at social services.

Elmleigh was affiliated with the National Adoption Society, but certainly didn't belong to NAS.

As I only ever met and spoke with two women - including Lady Glover (thank you for reminding me of her name) - I had no idea that there were three in ownership.

The longest I could afford to stay at Elmleigh with my son was fourteen days.  Prior to his birth I spent no more than a week in total in the house, again because every day-night there carried a fee. I arrived with two shillings (as a florin piece) and left with no more than that, after I had bought my train ticket. 

My feelings towards Elmleigh are completely coloured by the fact of having to leave my son behind.  It was a nice enough place and the women who ran it treated me kindly (but then, I didn't choose to keep my baby).  And, of course, I paid my bill.