Author Topic: Doriscourt Nursing Home Whalley Range  (Read 47892 times)

Offline shell50

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Doriscourt Nursing Home Whalley Range
« on: Friday 23 March 12 20:57 GMT (UK) »
Hi I was wondering if anyone was born in Doris Court Whalley Range under the Diocese of Salford in the 1950's.It appears all their adoption records are missing. This was a Catholic Mother and Baby Home, but i was born Jewish and really need some more information.

Offline charlotteCH

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Re: Doris Court Whalley Range
« Reply #1 on: Sunday 25 March 12 05:54 BST (UK) »
If you don't get any contacts by your post here, would it be an idea to write a lettter to the local newspaper asking the same question? 

charlotte

Offline The Mc

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Offline LizzieW

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Re: Doris Court Whalley Range
« Reply #3 on: Friday 13 April 12 15:32 BST (UK) »
 I had a baby there in 1960 and I am neither Jewish, nor Catholic.  It was an ordinary Maternity Home, but the matron took in unmarried pregnant girls and used them as unpaid staff prior to the birth of their babies.  Fortunately for me, there were already too many pregnant girls in the maternity home acting as skivvies for the matron and staff when I was pregnant, so I was sent to stay with a lovely lady and her two young sons until I went into labour, when I was taken to Doriscourt.  My baby was born on 13 May 1960 and I left her there when my parents came to take me home about 20 May 1960.

Happily, in about 2005, my daughter found me and her adopted father was an amateur photographer who had photographed her life from the day they took her from the maternity home to 2005 when she contacted me.  Her adoptive parents drove from Staffordshire to the home and were just given my baby. ::)  For years I worried about this private adoption, but fortunately, my daughter had a good life with wonderful parents, who were so worried about the way they'd obtained a baby they went straight to the social services department (or whatever it was called in 1960) to tell them they had a baby they wanted to adopt.  Unlike today, they were allowed to keep the baby without too much fuss and just worried until they knew I'd signed the adoption papers.

You might be interested in the following court case involving Doris Court and an apparent Jewish baby. http://chaimsimons.net/B.html  one sentence is particularly interesting:
Quote
"This establishment was mainly a nursing home but it was also known that unmarried mothers could go there and receive help regarding the birth of their babies and that if they so wished, the matron, Miss W, would make arrangements for the baby to be placed for adoption"

In fact, as being an unmarried mother was a stigma in 1960, girls like myself were told that adoption was the best option for the baby.  Not only that, but I was told by the Matron that when I signed the adoption papers as was required by law, I had to tell the adoption officer that I had decided to have the baby adopted without coercian and that I had chosen the parents myself. ::)  Unlike 19 year olds today, I (and the other girls in the home) just went along with this without querying it.

If you scroll down to the bottom of the article, you will see that you can click on a link to Selected Documents Quoted in Paper.  If you click on "to view" you will see some newspaper cuttings.  Amongst the articles is a comment that it was believed the Matron ran a private maternity service there from 1951 to 1967, I think it probably was a private maternity home which is why I and the other girls like me were there - our parents could probably pay towards the costs - but I'm certain the Matron also ran a private adoption service.  Whether that was illegal in the 1950s and 1960s I don't know, but I would guess it was.

Lizzie


Offline charlotteCH

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Re: Doris Court Whalley Range
« Reply #4 on: Tuesday 17 April 12 09:05 BST (UK) »
Lizzie, how very thoughtful and gracious of you to tell us,and particularly shell50, what you have.

Thank you,
charlotte

Offline LizMyrra

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Re: Doris Court Whalley Range
« Reply #5 on: Friday 25 May 12 19:42 BST (UK) »
I to was born at Doris Court, in 1957 and was intrigued to read about it. It reminds me of the the story of "Angela's Ashes". How appauling and distressing it must have been for the girls of that era............ and you wonder how many of them are still going through life wondering what happened to their babies............ I am in the middle of trying to trace my blood mother, but I don't think one needs the information from there to trace them, that was just a part of the process and in my opinion best not got hung up about. Good luck to anyone out there trying to trace families. And thankyou to the brave lady who explained it from the other side of it.

Offline LizzieW

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Re: Doris Court Whalley Range
« Reply #6 on: Saturday 26 May 12 12:28 BST (UK) »
Good luck with your search LizMyrra. 

The way my daughter (helped by her adoptive father) found me, having got her original birth certificate giving my name, was to get my birth certificate to find out who my parents were, then look for a marriage cert for me, got that and checked it was correct by checking my father's name as given on my birth certificate.

There were too many people sharing my married name and my husband's first name to find us on electoral rolls.  So she looked for children of my marriage and wrote to the address given on the birth of the last child.  The people there didn't know my family but were very helpful and asked the neighbours who knew where we'd moved to.  Unfortunately, that house had been sold a couple of times too after we left it and the trail went cold.   So my daughter's adoptive father went back to the library to look at electoral rolls to see if he could find my children.  One of my sons has an uncommon name and there were only 6 people of that name on the electoral rolls, so he decided he would 'phone them all.  The first one he rang was my son. ::)

He just told my son he was doing family history research and asked him a few questions about the family and my whereabouts.  My son gave him my 'phone number but told him I was moving house soon.  Rather than ring me, my daughter looked in the 'phone book for our address (thank goodness I wasn't ex directory) and wrote to me.  Unfortunately, as I hadn't told anyone about her, not even my husband, it took me over 18 months before I got round to telling my husband and then the rest of the family.

This might not be the best way to proceed, but as far as I can see it is the way they search for the TV programme Long Lost Family.

Lizzie

Offline LizMyrra

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Re: Doris Court Whalley Range
« Reply #7 on: Saturday 26 May 12 14:15 BST (UK) »
 :)

Offline LizMyrra

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Re: Doris Court Whalley Range
« Reply #8 on: Saturday 26 May 12 14:21 BST (UK) »
Hi Lizzie what a great and honest lady you are, and how hard this must have been for you all, I hope you don't think me too cheeky but i would love to ask you two questions but please do not feel you have to answer them.its something i have always wondered about, how did you husband and family take the news? and did you manage to get on with life or was your daughter always in your mind?i have my own and can't imagine going through separation like that......... thanks Liz