RootsChat.Com

thanks for the tips, will look into that.

I did visit the Surrey History Centre when I first started looking into this. Admittedly I only went there once so probably didn't really get as much out of it as I could. In truth I was a bit overwhelmed as I hadn't got a clue about how it was organised or how to look for what I wanted, or even what kind of records they hold. At the time I was looking into the birth Mother's family to see if my relative had spent at least some of her childhood with them but they didn't have much on school records – but I did also see the electoral roll for Haslemere.

I see from the links you sent that they are able to allow some digital access during the shutdown so I might be able to dig around a bit more from home.

The Salvation Army is another one of those things I hadn't thought about, they've done a lot of good works over the years, I'm glad they were able to help you.

The adoptive Mother's son seems even more elusive. I've only found a birth record for him, no marriage and obviously no census is applicable. The usual websites threw up a possible connection in Scotland as a company director – which seems a little unlikely. I tried a trawl on Facebook but got nowhere with that – possibly because I have so little to go on.

The birth Mother went on to have 7 more children and I traced one of her Granddaughters, we're now Facebook friends. She is pleased to hear any bits I manage to confirm but her own family has no interest in family history. Her Father (not a descendant) is still alive and may have photographs up in the attic but he doesn't want anyone digging around. I find this rather sad as the stories he could pass on now will be lost forever when he goes, but of course I must respect his wishes and those of the family.

For this reason I don't want to publish any family names and dates on the public chat forum but would be willing to share in a private chat, if that works for you?

Hi Jo,
Have you been practising telepathy for long? I had exactly the same thought about hospitals this morning.

I found out a little bit about the cottage hospital, which some of the facts are duplicated in the article you sent but the League of Friends gives a lot more information, thanks for that - League of Friends hadn't even crossed my mind and they might be more willing to discuss the social aspects of it's history or even know if I can check any records or not. Brilliant.

I also went back to the address given on her birth certificate and found I may have made a mistake in my original thinking. There's a Heath Cottage (grade 2 listed since 1977) much closer to the town centre. Dene Road looks like it's now called Midhurst Road, with the end closest to Haslemere town (where the cottage is) being known as Shepherd's Hill. The cottage is one of those impossible to tell the exact age of (by an amateur) but is pretty old so probably would have been a bit ramshackle in the 1926.  Purely by coincidence the Cottage Hospital would have been well within walking distance!

The splendid article you linked me to also mentions a St George's maternity home but the dates on this might not be so good as for the cottage hospital. Still, it's a thought.

Who did you approach to enquire about the records for your relative?

Sadly I have no idea as to when she started to be cared for by the adoptive Mother. I know that from age 16 (1943) her first job was nearby to Southwater (near Horsham), and that when she took her own children to visit the adoptive Mother from around 1960 onwards she (the adoptive Mother) was living in Southwater. So – if I've got the right person - although the adoptive Mother was living in Brighton, married and had her son registered there – for some reason they left shortly afterwards and settled in Southwater. I've still got research to do on the husband's family to see if their roots lie in Southwater – 1939 register does give a family of the right surname living there so it's possible, I just need to work out all the generations/connections.

Yes, finding the biological Father is very much a needle in a haystack job, and without any obvious connections (like financial support of some kind) I think I'm unlikely to find him.

The only thing which might give me a clue is if the possible Father has twins running through his family it could be a link to my relative as she had twins herself – I've researched extensively through her birth Mother's side as well as her husband's side and the only twins I've found go back to the early 1800s on her husband's Paternal Grandmother's side so it's all a bit remote. But until I've found the link in the first place I'm not sure what DNA would tell me. (not that I actually have and DNA from my relative or anything to compare it to – or am I missing something here?)

that looks fabulous! Did you see a location for the marriage?
Thanks Ray.