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My Grandmothers name was Dorothy Hamilton (changed to Peden when she was adopted) born 12th Jan 1919 at The Belfast midnight mission for fallen women, 29 Malone Place, Newtownards, Belfast. She was one of a pair of twin girls, they were adopted to separate families.

Her birth mothers name was Mary Hamilton.

If you changed your title to include 'Belfast' then people with knowledge of those records could see and help you.

You can view the 1901 and 1911 Irish census free here

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/

For Ref

Ireland, Civil Registration Births Index, 1864-1958
about Dorothy Hamilton Name: Dorothy Hamilton
Date of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1919
Registration district: Belfast
Birth Country: Ireland
Volume: 1
Page: 203
FHL Film Number: 101078

I think this must be the twin ?...same Volume and Page no

Ireland, Civil Registration Births Index, 1864-1958
about Margaret Ellen Hamilton Name: Margaret Ellen Hamilton
Date of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1919
Registration district: Belfast
Birth Country: Ireland
Volume: 1
Page: 203
FHL Film Number: 101078

Thanks everyone, thats great!
Patchem - I've now put Belfast in the title, cheers for the tip.

Unfortunately Mary Hamilton seems to be a fairly common name in the area, so i've got a lot of work to do!!

Anyone any ideas on how to narrow it down a bit??

Hello Nicola....

You may find the folowing link of interest regarding 29 Malone Place.

http://www.belfastforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,2287.msg23453.html

Unfortunately Mary Hamilton may not necessarily have come from the area or even the County...!

Do you know how soon after the Births the children were adopted...?
It could be their Baptismal Records may give some information.

Does the Birth Cert. give any further details...?

Margaret Ellen Hamilton
Born 12/01/1919
29 Malone Place
Mother Mary Hamilton
added information, illegitimate
Twin to Dorothy Hamilton
Mother from Newtonards

Soul destroying when you think of the trauma she must have gone through...
Here's me hoping Mary was married and that the family may have fallen on very hard times and had needed to give the children up....

Hi
Margaret was adopted at a few weeks old, but my g-ma wasn't until she was a few months.
She was with her mother at Malone Place until this time.
Bits & pieces of info (word of mouth only) from the time, was that Mary was single, and also was allowed to visit Dorothy when she was small. Then she found it too difficult & stopped coming.There was talk of a lady with red hair.
I have a copy of dorothys birth & adoption certs. But neither have any detail about Mary, only her name & that she was from Newtownards.
My mum has even been to visit the area, to try to find some more clues.
Unfortunately she didn't find anything.
I agree....totally soul destroying!!

I imagine the only Record that would perhaps identify Mary would be the "admission/record book" but I dont suppose that if they have survived would be easy to get hold of...I noted from the Belfast Forum the "minutes" books for 1939-194? had been deposited in the Archives but whether anything from earlier years was would be a case of searching through all their accessions..!!

Was Margaret adopted by a Connor Family?

There only 1 Mary Hamilton living in Newtonards in 1911

Census Years1911DownNewtownards UrbanVictoria AvenueResidents of a house
Residents of a house 37 in Victoria Avenue (Newtownards Urban, Down)
Show all informationSurname Forename Age Sex Relation to head Religion Birthplace Occupation Literacy Irish Language Marital Status Specified Illnesses Years Married Children Born Children Living
Hamilton Maggie 50 Female Widow Presbyterian Newtownards - Read and write English Widow - - 2 2
Hamilton Mary 26 Female Daughter

Evening Maura....

That would make her about 33 when she had the twins....??
Mary may have been working in the area and gave that as where she came from...
A random check of 1911 for the Mat.Home showed the poor wee souls came from all over the 32 Counties.

Hi Maura, Not sure what Margarets maiden name was, will have to check with my mother to see if it was Connor.

Eringobragh, yes we have considered that it may have been that she worked in the area, there's a couple of big houses that would have had a large staff in the area.
Will try to look more into admissions book, thanks

There's another Mary on the 1911 census, also on 1901 in Newtownards, living John Street Lane, could be a possibility?

Surname Forename Age Sex Relation to head Religion Birthplace Occupation Literacy Irish Language Marital Status Specified Illnesses Years Married Children Born Children Living
Hamilton James 48 Male Head of Family Roman Catholic Co Down Draper Assistant Read and write Irish English Married - 14 5 5
Hamilton Mary Kate 34 Female Wife Roman Catholic Co Down Wife Read and write Irish English - - 14 5 5
Hamilton Sarah Ann 13 Female Daughter Roman Catholic Co Down Scholar Read and write - Single - - - -
Hamilton Mary Ellenor 11 Female Daughter Roman Catholic Co Down Scholar Read and write - - - - - -<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Hamilton Maggie Jane 8 Female Daughter Roman Catholic Co Down Scholar Read and write - - - - - -
Hamilton Magdlena Martha 4 Female Daughter Roman Catholic Co Down - Cannot read - - - - - -
Hamilton John Joseph 2 Male Son Roman Catholic Co Down Not at School Cannot read -

This family were in Newtownards in 1901, but I think the other family posted were in Mount Stewart in 1901.

Thankyou for your help :-)

Nicola.....Have trawled through Proni and NI Hosp.Board Archives but other than some Misc.papers held in D2072 (Proni) there is nothing listed which will assist you...

Have you seen this just a snippet of info.relating to the Mission.....

The story begins in 1860 when some Belfast ladies, being concerned about
women and girls who frequented the public houses in Belfast, purchased four
houses in Malone Place. The ladies went out at midnight and invited the women
to the 'Belfast Midnight Mission' for the night. The homeless and strangers were
helped to find homes and jobs. After 40 years, the plight of unmarried mothers
was met by setting aside a room in the Home for confinements, and by 1903
there were 10 births, and in 1944 there were 116. Homes were found for the
babies, some by adoption and some by fostering. A trained Midwife and Nurse were appointed when the Maternity Unit began.

So it was only a small place and the figures indicated there were not a lot of Births ....

Thankyou for taking the time to look!
I haven't seen the piece of info before, but showed it to mum & she had.
We'll just have to keep searching & hope something turns up!!