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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => London and Middlesex => Topic started by: lovey on Tuesday 10 May 11 09:21 BST (UK)
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looking for any information on St Teresa hospital in wimbledon, was it a mother and baby home, fallen women, or jsut a maternity hospital, my husband was born there then adopted ,.
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I don't know what time period you're looking at, but in 1956 a BMJ news item mentions a new wing of 18 beds being opened, for private obstetrical patients. It says St. Teresa is independent (as opposed to NHS); and it appears to have Catholic connections.
There's also quite a bit about it around 1967:
(if these don't open for you I can summarise - it appears to have been an independent hospital but one that took NHS patients and there was an intent to withdraw that NHS support).
http://www.bmj.com/content/2/5543/54.5.full.pdf+html
http://www.bmj.com/content/2/5554/767.5.full.pdf+html
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Hi
Pre 1948 it appears to have been a maternity hospital
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/hospitalrecords/details.asp?id=2539&hospital=st+teresa&town=&searchdatabase.x=48&searchdatabase.y=12
Regards
Valda
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I would just like to say that back in 1951 St Teresa's was used by the National Health service as a maternity hospital. I was born there in July 1951 after my Mother was sent there by her GP, we lived in Battersea in London and our GP was in Wandsworth which was the catchment area for St Teresa's.
Mum was sent there as she had had a normal pregnancy and although she was 31 and it was her first child they felt she was not at risk of a difficult birth. She proved them wrong as I was a ceasarean birth. Both of us were looked after very well, staying in for approx. three weeks and cared for my nurses and doctors on the NHS and the a large number of Nuns from the local convent.
I feel previlaged to have been born in such a calm and caring enviroment.
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I would also like to say that I've often been proud to mention that I was born in St Teresa's maternity hospital run by Nuns in 1959. My younger sister was also born there in 1962.
One of my earliest memories is sitting in the corridor with my Dad watching the Nuns walk passed while waiting to see my Mum and new baby sister.
I did hear some years ago that celebrities have had their babies there, Hayley Mills was one although I am not sure if this is correct.
I am really enjoying watching "Midwives" on BBc1 at the moment which has shown my now adult childen that Nuns did help deliver babies.
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I too am a lucky baby to have been born at St Teresa's in 1966. My mother said it was a lovely, sociable time and a real chance for a rest - 10 days to stay in bed and recover in those days! She told me new mums sat up in their beds, knitted and chatted to the each other.
She said while in labour she wanted to get up on all fours to deliver but the nuns frowned on this practice and insisted she remained on her back.
Apparently I was born a few weeks premature and at one point my future did not look promising so my parents were urged to name and christen me 'in time'.
So I was named Teresa after the hospital!
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I was born there in 1967 and adopted. I am in touch with my birth mother now and she said she never saw me when i was born - I was whisked away immediately. I don't know if this was common practice by the nuns.
Also she told me she was told that I was a boy and on my birth certificate I am down as a boy and even have the name 'Peter'! It was amended at a later date and I wonder if this is because she told the registrar that I was a boy and she had been told this by the nuns and had never seen me. I also wonder if there actually had been a baby boy born there on the same day who was also to be adopted and there had been a mix-up with the information. It leads me to think that there were a lot of Catholic girls going there to have babies that were to be adopted so even though it was a maternity hospital it was well used to dealing with unwanted babies too.
Emma
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My daughter was born there in 1979, it was private then. My husband was also born there in 1956. It had been a maternity hospital since then until it closed. When my daughter was born, it was staffed by nuns, partly, I believe it was the Ursuline Order. I believe it was a missionary order because the nun who attended me had been forcibly repatriated from Zimbabwe during independence at that time. On the day my daughter was born, Rula Lenska's daughter Lara was also born there. At that time there was no operating theatre, my daughter was a breach and there were discussions during my labour about putting me into an ambulance and taking me off to St Helier's in Morden a few miles away for a C-Section, but in the end I delivered her. I had an epidural administered by the man who developed epidurals who was visiting the UK and teaching obstetricians how to do them. I was News Editor of Nursing Mirror magazine at the time and went private because of all the horror stories I had covered about obstetric mishaps, bad decision since they did not tell me when I paid up that they had no OT!!!! I don't know precisely why it closed down but I'm guessing based on my experiences that it just wasn't possible to update it.
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Hello - I was born there in 1970. I contacted the local Merton Heritage Centre 4 years ago regarding the fate of the hospital - it is now no more and the site of a town house developement at 12 The Downs, Wimbledon. I have a photo that they emailed me - can I upoad it or is that breaking any laws? Nina :D
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I don't think it would hurt to share the photo so long as it has no copyright expressly stated. It closed in 1986.
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OK - here it is! Nina :D
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Thankyou, happy memories, I have a pic of me and my daughter right in front there when I was discharged! Did they actually pull it down, or convert it?
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(I don't live there, I'm in Brighton so don't know the area any more.)
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I believe it was pulled down rather than converted ...
Just found this link re St Teresa's, showing the town house development of 'Southridge Place' where the hospital once stood.
http://www.ezitis.myzen.co.uk/stteresa.html
Also interesting links to other papers/documents at the bottom of the above link ...
Nina
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Lovely to see this, as I too was a St Teresa's baby and my mother was sent there from Battersea too. No prizes fr guessing my middle name ;D
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I was born in St Teresa's Hosp in Feb 1957. I see on this chat that several born there were adopted, and I think I was too. I have applied to get my birth information from GRO. Can any others who were born there and adopted tell me how they found out, got information etc. Thanks
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Hi tashi57
Welcome to Rootschat ;D
Is this the link you followed to get your birth certificate?
https://www.gov.uk/adoption-records
or did you find your birth name in the birth index and just apply that way?
If you were adopted, then the GRO can help with access to your files. As you were born in 1957, you will have to go through an intermediary /counselling service.
Hope this helps
Dawn
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I gave birth to my daughter at St Teresa's in October 1985. Although there were nuns around I had the impression that most of the nursing was done by 'lay'women. I had a room, previously occupied by Sara Keays who had given birth to a child by the then Tory minister for Trade and Industry, Cecil Parkinson. The 'scandal' forced him to resign from the (Thatcher) government shortly afterwards. I would be grateful if I could be sent a picture via Facebook of St Teresa's as I noticed someone mentioned they had a photo of it. Thank you. Elizabeth
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My Brother was born here and then Adopted in Merton his birth date is 3.12.1967 his Birth Name was Darren Lewis Palmer. I have been looking for him for over 30 years now, if anyone knows any information regarding Darren please get in contact with me (*)
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Hi butterflyk
Welcome to RootsChat ;D
RootsChat is meant for finding ancestors, rather than living relatives.
Personal details of any people known or thought to be living will be removed, in accordance with RootsChat policy, to avoid spamming and other abuses. So people here will be able to give you general tips and hints how to proceed, but not any concrete details.
You will also find more tips here:
Topic: Tracing Living Relatives
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,261434.0.html
and
Topic: Searching for living relatives and Rootschat
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,142443.0.html
Have you put your names on the GRO adoption contact register?
https://www.gov.uk/adoption-records/the-adoption-contact-register
or here
http://www.adoptionsearchreunion.org.uk/default.htm
or here
http://www.missing-you.net/categories/adoptions.php
in the hope that he too has registered to find his birth family.
Do you know what his name became after adoption? If not, there is no way of linking an entry in the GRO birth index with an entry in the GRO adopted childrens index and so very little way of tracing him through the normal routes.
Good luck!
Dawn
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oh ok sorry I didn't know I wont put up any more personal details then, yes im registered on the gro and have messages everywhere on loads of different sites, am actually in the process of my local council adoption are helping me but I saw a previous message about a woman who lives in Buckinghamshire and says her husband being adopted there so I thought maybe it may be him as one of the names on my possible list is a man from Buckinghamshire, I don't know his adopted name yet, there is a lot of circumstances to his adoption so its so hard trying to find him, im trying every resource I can here x
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He may not even know he's been adopted.
If he does know and googles his name he will find this entry and 6 others.
Good luck if you are working with an approved intermediary.
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Hi all ,
I am doing some research for a friend regarding a baby boy born at St Teresa maternity hospital . The baby was born in 1959 , according to my friend , the baby was left at the hospital when he was only a few days/ weeks old . I am trying to find out if this story is true and if so , would I be able to find out from hospital records / staff .
Thank you
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Hi Sas
It's highly unlikley that you will get access to the records, if they survive, as they are too recent.
In the first instance, try looking for a male birth registered in the Surrey North Eastern district in 1959 with the maiden surname of the mother.
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Hi, I have just been reading up on this hospital, apparently it contracted 40 out beds to the South-West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board for about 20 years, the contract ceased about 1967. It was run by the Sisters of St Annes. I suppose it was mainly private, but the contract allowed nhs patients to be assured a maternity bed.
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I would like to reply to this person and have no idea how to go about it I have registered on your site. I too was born at Teresas Wimbledon and then adopted in 1970 I have a birth certificate but am trying to trace my parents - thank you
Posted on behalf of new member Lucyjazzbabe. To reply to topics you just need to click on the " blue reply" button that appears at the bottom of the thread ;)
Regards
Sarah
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I was born there in July 1966 (to an unmarried student nurse) and adopted through Crusade of Rescue (name of the Catholic brigade at the time). She was called Teresa. I was called Teresa at birth. Born in St Teresa's. My birth was registered in Merton - and also Poplar. No idea why.
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I was born here in 1979.
I then moved to my fathers home country at 11 weeks old. Returned to Whitton/Twickenham in 1985 then we settled where my mother & 1st born currently live, Barnes/Putney borders.
Been for many years trying to learn about my place of birth as well as photos ect as now attempting a huge feat in collaborating many branches into a legible yet factual tree for my 3 babies to have & build too in years to come.
Not easy is it
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Hi, my sister was born at St Theresa Maternity Hospital in Wimbledon on 30th June 1965. She was taken away screaming from my mother never to be seen again. Does anyone have any idea on how I could start a watch for her? She may not even know that she was adopted. I have no information whatsoever about her only the birth date. My mum told me she called her (*) after the hospital but that’s it. I have done a DNA test and and awaiting the results. I’m hoping she has too. Any ideas?
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Edited in accordance with RootsChat policy of not publishing details of living people here, or details of people who may still be living. This is to protect all concerned from spam, identity abuse, internet abuse, etc, etc.
Please use the Personal Message (PM) system for exchanging personal data.
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I was born there in 1970. My mother wasn't married and wasn't allowed on the NHS because she wasn't English. She wanted to keep me but wasn't allowed to. I was adopted.
I am looking for information about the adoption process.
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I was born at St Teresa's on 22/07/1951, I am 70 years old. I am sitting with my mother Gladys who is 92 years old and recalls her 10 day stay at the Hospital with pleasure. She remembers the Nuns, the fresh food grown on site and the lovely gardens. We lived in Battersea and Mum was under a local Hospital, possibly St. Jame's, and St Teresa's was linked to it for Maternity Services.
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Hello there, I was asked about my place of birth recently and I realised I knew nothing about my birth and what it was like for my mum. She passed away in 2000 at 62 and so had just turned 19. When I looked up St Teresa’s (where I was born in 1981) - I read it initially was formed for expectant mothers who were cancer patients or suffered from another illness. Was this correct of all patients? Even up to 1981? The reason being, my mum passed with cancer in 2000, but I had only found out she also had it around 1987/88 when I was in primary school, but it sadly came back 10 years later, and it was terminal. So I am just wondering if she might have not been well when I was born (if St Teresa’s maternity only took care of ill expectant mothers?) Apologies if I have generalised; I just wanted to gain some insight. Thanks in advance.