Carstairs House

[sarah]

I have just read the e.mail from W. Gilmour who wrote about Carstairs House.  I was Anne Horsfield and I remember playing rounders in the field with your family.
Fr. McIsaac was the priest who was manager of the farm, later the job was given to Mr. Ormiston. It was very interesting to read your e.mail.  I used to play with your sister May
and I remember you had a wonderful working train set which was kept in your parents bedroom.
I remember going into the barns and playing with kittens and also feeding the lambs that had lost their mothers.
You  had a car, which in the 1950A was most unusual.  Your mother was a very pretty and fashionable lady.
I’d love to hear some more.  I live near Plymouth now.

Keep up the correspondence. Anne[/i]

Posted on behalf of A.Williams who sent the message to me in error

[Liz1205]

Hi my uncle jimmy anderson was in st Charles he was put there for stealing then him and another boy James mcgoldrick ran away from the home in winter wearing shorts my uncle ended up freezing to death and James lost his legs from frostbite my father later ended up in there a few years later and the stories he told me was terrible about the place I have been trying to find out more info on the place for years

[sharonwallis]

Hi Bill,

I am responding to you post of a couple of years ago. I have recently found out that a family member lived at St Charles hospital from 1948 until 1972 when she died. I was curious as to what information / memories you have, and where I may be able to get more information about her from?

Kind regards

Sharon

[sarah]

Hi Sharon,

Welcome to RootsChat Bill has been notified of your message by email notification, he has been online in the last 6 months. If you wish to reply to this topic Bill you need to press the reply button at the end of this thread

Regards

Sarah

[Guillermo]

Hi Sharon, my father run the farm with the help of Peter Cameron, more so after Father McKaysic retired to Rothesay.
My father helped to bring back runaways, the punishment for running away was to have their head shaved,,, I was very young and would not have been made aware of the horror you are talking about,
The institution was run by nuns, and a security guard called “Gubby”.
I played there with the inmates on many occasions, it may not have been home from home, but I never witnessed any maltreatment, but then I lived on the farm with my family.
I once went with my father ,looking for run always, it wasn’t difficult to find them, as many farms surrounded the area, they were in a hay loft, keeping warm as there was snow on the ground.
My memories before I left at 13 years old, were all happy ones of life on a farm.
Sorry can’t be more helpful, if I can in anyway inform you more I will ,kind regards Bill.
Good luck.

[sharonwallis]

Thank you for your reply Bill. I know very little about this place - and trying to find where documents may be filed is proving interesting!!  I know some facts - including cause of death in  1972, but I would like to know how she lived - so your information is valuable in trying to put a picture together - any suggestions / thoughts would be welcomed,
Thank you again
Sharon

[Guillermo]

Hi Liz, as you all may have gathered, I mixed up the names, I was replying to you Liz and put Sharon,s name in.
I left carstairs in 57, and really don’t know anything about the seventies or later, good luck to you all in your searches xxxx