Genealogy Chat

My grandmother was very "busy" and at one point in 1946, had a child in an unwed mothers home in Hastings. There are two addresses on the birth certificate. 6 magdalen road and 40 Highlands Gardens St. Leonards on Sea. The birth is listed as 6 magdalen road.

Does anyone know if they kept any other records? I was hoping to see a record of her being there.

Welcome to Genes and the boards.

Have you ‘asked Google’?

Have a look at the holdings of the local records office, sometimes things like that are handed over.

May be this link will help direct your searching.

https://www.thekeep.info/collections/keep-partners/esro/

Do you know for sure that it was a mother and baby home?
Did she register the birth?
If not, who did, please?

I wonder if this is the old convent site of The Holy Child Jesus. Found by googling The history of 6 Magdalen Road.

Added: there is an unanswered question on a mother and babies website.

From a Google search, there don't seem to have ever been more that 6 houses on Highlands Gardens, St Leonards - all huge mansions, as can be seen on Google Street view.

6 Magdalen Road seems unlikely to have been an unwed mother's home - too small.

In 1939

James G O'Leary
in the 1939 England and Wales Register
Name James G O'Leary
Gender Male
Marital Status Married
Birth Date 25 May 1880
Residence Date 1939
Address 6 Magdalen Road
Residence Place Hastings, Sussex, England
Occupation Transport Manager Light R??
Line Number 19
Schedule Number 345
Sub Schedule Number 1
Occupation Transport Manager Light R??
Line Number 19
Schedule Number 345
Sub Schedule Number 1
Enumeration District Eiav
Borough Hastings
Registration district 69-1
Inferred Spouse
Amelia C O'Leary
Household Members (Name) Gender Birth Year
James G O'Leary Male 1880
Amelia C O'Leary Female 1886
Gertrude O Thomas Female 1887 - private means
Marie Stamler Female 1905 - shop assistant



The Convent mentioned by Nameslessone was later turned into a language school, and the huge building is still there - see on Google Streetview. - though looks unoccupied.
6 Magdalen Road is on the other side of the road.

History of the convent:
http://hastingsandstleonardssociety.org.uk/the-convent-of-the-holy-child-st-leonards-on-sea-thoughts-on-its-future-christopher-maxwell-stewart/

Names
I wondered that, but 1939 records don't seem to show that :-S

James G. O'Leary etc. was there in 1939

Name James G O'Leary
Gender Male
Marital Status Married
Birth Date 25 May 1880
Residence Date 1939
Address 6
Residence Place Hastings, Sussex, England
Occupation Transport Manager Light R??
Line Number 19
Schedule Number 345
Sub Schedule Number 1
Enumeration District Eiav
Borough Hastings
Registration district 69-1
Inferred Spouse
Amelia C O'Leary
Household Members (Name) Gender Birth Year
James G O'Leary Male 1880
Amelia C O'Leary
Female
1886
Gertrude O Thomas
Female
1887
Marie Stamler
Female
1905
This record is officially closed.

Ah... I see ArgyllGran was adding, while the site was rejecting my posts ;-) :-|

Records for the home - if such exist - would be under the auspices of whichever agency was running it.

Most such places were church-affiliated in those days.

Was your grandmother a Roman Catholic? Who registered the birth?

The birth was registered and I found it on FreeBMD under Shirley P.L. in April 1946. I have the certificate but no father is listed. I thought there might be more information from the place where she gave birth.

She was adopted and she herself contacted me after doing her DNA and finding me as a match. She had hired a private investigator back in 2006 to look for her birth father. They were able to get the birth cert. but no records at Somerset House were found and no father is listed in any other paperwork.

Next, we will start looking at the DNA matches on the other side to see if we can find anything there.

You could try contacting the Society of the Holy Child Jesus

Www.shcj.org.

And ask if the school was also a home for unmarried mothers. Or contact one of the Hastings/ St Leonard’s history groups to see if they know of the home.

If it was a formal adoption then she could apply to social services for her file, but as the PI should have known this maybe it was informal.

With any luck the dna matches may take her back to a family name but can’t guarantee that she will find the father

You haven't answered the questions posed at 13:51

If this quest is simply for the birth father, I fear it may prove fruitless.

Highlands Gardens St Leonards does not appear on the 1939 Register, although many of the buildings on there are Georgian/Victorian (and very large), so it must have had its name changed at some stage.

Did the mother indicate that she had any form of occupation?

A search of the ER for 1946 may prove beneficial, but that would have to be done at either the main public library in the area, or the County Records Office. However, it was almost certainly the 'usual' address of the infant's mother, and of no help in identifying the father

She would only have been on the ER if she was present at the right time AND was over 21. Unlike now one didn't need to register on the ER until forms went out.

It is probably not worth worrying about whether the baby's
mother was catholic until it is proved that No 6 and the convent were connected. The convent could well be a complete red herring thrown in by me.

It might be worth the OP's new relative look into whoever registered the birth. If not the mother it might give some clues.

I am fully aware of ER regulations, thank you

So I don’t get it wrong next time - when does a stay, presumed to have a time limit, become the ‘usual’ address, which to me means permanent.

I've found a couple of houses in Highland Gardens in 1939 - 4, 5a, and 5b.
Can't find any higher numbers so far.


In 1948, 1953, and later, the ER only shows 14 numbers in Highlands Gardens, plus Highlands Bungalow.

Definitely no Number 40.

If your grandmother said she was living at no 40 in 1946, it appears she was lying.

If it's a mistake, and she said 4 - it appears that number 4 had been divided into flats by 1945, when only 4c shows on the ER, and the residents are Rhoda E and William H Quinnell.

In 1946, Constance and James Stokes are at number 4; Michael & Joan Potter at 4a; Margaret Wilson at 4b, and the Quinnells plus Frances A Keates at 4c.

If your grandmother said 14, and was misheard by the registrar, in 1946 there were several people at no 14 -
Edward and Jane Hastings; Theodora B Culwick; Edith Constance Crouch, Louisa M Crouch; Beatrice and John Galloway; Norah H and Laura A Smallwood; Kenneth D and Audrey Rome.

ADDED:
Completely irrelevant, but posting it just because I came across it -
Rhoda Quninnell was a sister of William Reginald Warren (calling himself Reginald William in 1939 and when witnessing Rhoda's 1930 marriage)) who lived at number 4 in 1939.

Newspapers from 1879 has 6 Magdalen Rd as a family residence containing 13 rooms and 4 WCs. For rent £70 per annum.

An auctioneer appears to have lived there in 1895 and had the house up for sale in 1896 as a private residence or lodging house.

In 1929 it's a B&B

In 1933 a large furnished or unfurnished room is advertised.

In 1944 a furniture sale is being done from there.

In 1949 someone living there is looking for a piano to buy.

In 1993, no 6 is a one bedroomed flat.


Does not seem to have been a mother and baby home at any time.


Highlands Gardens appear to be flats in 1947.

Thank you for everything. I appreciate the help. I may just be out of luck. :)

If it wasn't a mother and baby home, I would be wanting to investigate whether there was any link between the residents and grandmother.

Re 1939 for 6 Magdalen Road which was posted earlier :

Amelia O'Leary and Gertrude Thomas were still there in 1945 - nobody else listed with them:

Amelia Caroline O'leary
in the East Sussex, England, Electoral Registers, 1705-1963
Name Amelia Caroline O'leary
Residence Date 1945
Street Address 6 Magdalen Road
Residence Place Sussex, England
Parliamentary Division Hastings


ADDED:

But in 1946 - and also in 1947 - Matthew and Eileen W Bloom were at that address:

Eileen W. Bloom
in the East Sussex, England, Electoral Registers, 1705-1963
Name Eileen W. Bloom
Residence Date 1946
Street Address 6 Magdalen Road
Residence Place Sussex, England
Parliamentary Division Hastings



Marriages Sep 1938 (>99%)
Bloom Matthew Slade Barnet 3a 2526
Slade Eileen W Bloom Barnet 3a 2526


Marriages Dec 1913 (>99%)
Casey Amelia C O'Leary W.Ham 4a 439
O'Leary James G Casey W.Ham 4a 439