RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => London and Middlesex => Topic started by: Lambden on Friday 21 June 13 15:19 BST (UK)
-
I am currently trying to find out where my family name came from, and also to find out more about my late fathers past.
He was found on the tenth of December 1945 in a telephone kiosk at the junction of Charlotte place and Bennett street aged about one month, given the name Victor Lambden. I believe there was a well known footballer around that time with the same name. What i really want to find out is who gave him the name, where did he end up after he was found as he was never adopted by a family.
On his birth certificate an H.G. Scarff of 2 Dovehouse Street Chelsea was in charge of the child. And the signature of the registrar is an H.J. Millichap and W.Pockney Dept Supt Registrar.
Thank you, any help or ideas will be greatly appreciated.
-
That address seems to be a Care Home now
http://www.carehome.co.uk/carehome.cfm/searchazref/20001005THAA
http://www.housingcare.org/housing-care/facility-info-149672-thamesbrook-london-england.aspx
Still might be worth making contact to see if they have any knowledge of its previous use
-
Aha
Read through this
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Chelsea/
Workhouse was in Arthur Street (now Dovehouse Street)
Council took it over in 1930
So it may have been a council run orphanage
-
It would be a good idea to look into newspaper reports at that time as it may well have made the news....Social Services may also be able to help as they may hold records for the time he was in their care
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/?gclid={SI:gclid}&gclid=CPfm3u3G9bcCFefKtAod-T8AgQ
Carol
-
Hi
If your father was in care in a Middlesex or London County Council care home and not a privately run home managed by a charity then it is worth reading the information in the London Metropolitan Archives guide on how to proceed further with your enquiries. The MCC and LCC were responsible for children's care between 1930 and 1965. The individual London Boroughs took over this responsibility in 1965.
http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/visiting-the-city/archives-and-city-history/london-metropolitan-archives/Documents/visitor-information/2012-adoption-in-care-guidelines-for-enquirers.pdf
Regards
Valda
-
Hi Lambden
Welcome to Rootschat ;D
As a foundling has no known birthdate or name or parents, they are frequently named by the person who found them or by the hospital staff where they are taken, often given names relating to the place they were found or the time of year.
I have seen another foundling 'birth' certificate, he was found in a cinema and his first name was that of the chap who found him, the surname being the street the cinema was on.
Foundling birth entries after 1911 can be found in the GRO index and usually have a blank entry for the mothers maiden surname and sometimes the surname.
Dawn
-
Free BMD birth index
Births Dec 1945 (98%)
Lambden Victor Unknown Pancras ? see J'46
Can someone help with the " see J'46" please as im unsure what it means.
-
Hi
J'46 refers to June Qtr 1946, it looks as if the birth was a late registration and not registered until the June Qtr 1946. It is included in the typed GRO Index for June Qtr 1946 and as a handwritten note in Dec 1945.
Andy
-
Hi
J'46 refers to June Qtr 1946, it looks as if the birth was a late registration and not registered until the June Qtr 1946. It is included in the typed GRO Index for June Qtr 1946 and as a handwritten note in Dec 1945.
Andy
Thank you Andy :)
-
Thank you so so much everyone, I've only been on rootschat for about a day now and had no idea I would get so much feed back.
Again thank you so much.
Lambden. :)
P.S. Andy your right, on my fathers birth certificate it reads that it was registered in 46.
-
I read a great book written by that inspirational lady...Kate Adie..."Nobody's Child" in which she describes at length the plight of the "Foundling Child" being one herself.
I think the only way you will ever know any truth is by writing to the local paper asking if anyone remembers a baby boy being found in a telephone kiosk...slim chance but you never know...If the Mother was a young, frightened unmarried mother at the end of WW2 she would have no means of supporting the child....She may still be alive!!!!
Carol
-
I read a great book written by that inspirational lady...Kate Adie..."Nobody's Child" in which she describes at length the plight of the "Foundling Child" being one herself.
I think Kate was adopted but never a foundling.
-
Lambden, I am researching a grandmother of mine who had a daughter born in London in 1939. I just wanted to share what I found. The mother is listed as residence at 2 Arthur St., Chelsea London. When I look up Records I find that Arthur Street was renamed dovehouse Street in late 1939. The records show this being a woman's hospital in 1939. Named Chelsea hospital for women. I've also seen reference to the workhouse others have mentioned On Arthur or Dovehouse st. The Chelsea Hospital for women shut down the top floor in late 1940 due to the impending war. The top floor sustained bomb damage in April 1941. Many people are farmed out to surrounding hospitals in that time. The metropolitan archives in London do show hospital records to be available for viewing . It seems census records for this address are not available online