Hi all,
I'm hitting a brick wall! My grandmother, Elizabeth was placed in this convent by her mother and father from around the ages of 5/6-14. We are desperate to know, where exactly can we find records that inform us of when exactly my gran was put here, and the exact reason as to why she was even there? Both of her parents were married (both were Spanish) but it does look like they may have separated in when my gran was around 5. Perhaps this is the reason she was placed in this convent, we are unsure, but my gran was always told by the nuns that she was there for being an 'unruly child,' although she strongly disputes this, and others online have said that this was a common tale the nuns told inmates.
Through Ancestry we found out that my grans mother, whilst my gran was 5-14, had married 5 different foreign men, and was opening numerous businesses around the country. My gran always said that her mother had placed her in the convent so that she could frolic with men and drain them for money - we didn't believe this at first but perhaps this could be true?!
Online posts seem to think that this convent was for orphans/asylum seekers, so why on earth was my gran here?! At the age of 3 my gran recalled living with a stranger, probably a foster mother who was looking after around 15 children. Once her aunt found out she was put here, she took her out immediately, and then she somehow ended at the convent.
Did mothers who didn't want their children place them in convents back then? We are desperate to know!
Many thanks in advance,
Jenna
