Advice sought on Muller orphanages

[Heb66]

Hi, I have paid for two orphans records who were recorded on the 1881 cenus as living there.

The results were fantastic !!!

In there records included, parents marriage and death certificates, the girls birth certs. All medical records, lists of thear possesions and correspondance to and from my great grandmother prior to placement of the girls and other familys addresses and permission to them being placed.

Finally, work placements when the girls were dischared, so all in all money well spent.

Pleae don't hesitate to contact me, regards.

Helen.

[Aks]

Thanks for this encouragement, Helen, especially as the cost is not insignificant. They certainly seem to have retained a lot of their records well. I am hoping to find out what happened to my g grandmother after she left the muller homes, as she wound up in the Devon house of mercy in 1871. I now know already that she left the orphanage when she was about 12 years old whereas, according to their website, the girls usually stayed until they were 17 and the boys until they were 14. Was this the case for your two orphans?

Best wishes,

Alan

[Heb66]

Hi Alan,

My two girls Emma Jane and Elizabeth Ann Hunt came out of the orphanage together and were placed back in the village in work placements to where they were born. It was a really sad story as their brother was kept within the family.

 I am still searching for them as in the 1911 census they both are still working in service, but have trawled the indexes for their marriages that might be but thier names are so common it's hard to pinpoint them as they drifted to the surrey area after staying within the village that i come from in Gloucestershire.

I purchased a book at a family history fair on the George Muller homes in Bristol and it has photos of the children in the home when my girls were there, that was very strange. I will look it out and send the publishers details you would find it very interesting.

I have also visited the museum there in Bristol and found it had some useful info.

Regards.....Helen

[Aks]

Hi Helen,

It didn't occur to me to look for Martha in an orphanage, as she had many much older brothers and sisters, until I discovered that Martha's own 3 youngest daughters were placed in an institution after she died and an "aunt" moved into her house with her own children, forcing several of Martha's out. That's when I realized that family solidarity was not always to be counted on!

Thanks for the book info if you come across it. I hope you find Emma Jane and Elizabeth Ann Hunt : are you just trying to find out what became of them or searching for their descendants? I know what you mean : I suppose if you don't have something to pinpoint them with, it must be very difficult.

I hope to find out what led Martha to go into another institution, the Devon house of mercy, afterwards, but that may be harder to discover.

Best wishes,

Alan

[sheena58]

Book details:

George Muller & His Orphans by Nancy Garton. published by Churchman Publishing Limited. ISBN number: 1 85093 052 x. It cost me £3.95 but I suspect it has gone up quite a bit since I bought it!
I would strongly recommend it as it is a real 'eye-opener' and gives a fair amount of detail. My mother was amazed to find that the few food stuff that my grandfather could not bring himself to eat were staples at the orphanage.
When I've had help from the Muller Foundation I have always made a (very modest) donation as they are still a charitable organisation. They send me a copy of their annual report which, among other things has a small selection of photographs of the children through the history of the homes. I found one which I believe has my grandfather on. Although I can't be certain it looks very much like he would have at that age.

When you get the records I would imagine they will tell you where she went when she left and may give you some idea why. I wonder if she was returned to a family member who then gave her up to another institution?
By the time my grandfather was there a list of relatives was kept and I suspect one of the reasons was so that if, for any reason, the child was not kept there was someone to return them to. The requirements for these homes seems to have been quite high so for example the doctor had to certify that the child was not infirm and was not 'incontinent of urine'. My grandfather's sister Rose was only 20 months old but still had to pass this latter test! Also I believe the children had to be not just born but 'begotten' in wedlock.

[Heb66]

 Hi Alan,

 As promised have found my book on the Orphanage titled......Bygone Bristol......Mullers Orphanage Ashley Down on old postcards by Janet and Derek Fisher it is a real find as it covers the children in day to day life in the home and around Bristol.

Regards Helen.

[sheena58]

That sounds interesting. I haven't seen that one. The book I have has very detailed information about the orphanages but no photos. I must keep a look out for that one!

Sheena

[Aks]

Thanks a lot, Helen, for taking the trouble to search for the book. Amazingly, I found it (ISBN 978-1899388226) not only on www.amazon.co.uk, but also on www.amazon.fr, which is much easier for me to order.

Thanks also to Sheena : it may take a while to get the records, as they said they'd put me on their waiting list.

Alan

[Heb66]

 Hi Alan,

 Would it be possible to contact me again once you've a a look at the book and/or once you have been sent the records from the orpanage as I would be interested to what yours contained and your impressions on the book.

Regards again.......Helen.