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Hello River Tyne Lass

I've not been able to follow the link you posted, and I keep getting an error message:

ERR_TUNNEL_CONNECTION_FAILED

which doesn't mean anything to me.  Could I ask you check to see if the link as it appears on the forum works for you?

Regards

Kevin

Dear Mara Mack

On behalf of The Salvation Army, I would like to repeat the offer made to you in 2012 and again in 2015, to contact us so that we can formally investigate your claims made against individuals at Hopedene, and offer you counselling.  Please contact:

        Director of Safeguarding
        The Salvation Army
        101 Newington Causeway
        London
        SE1 6BN

       
Regards
 
Kevin
 
Major Kevin Pooley
Social Historian
The Salvation Army
International Heritage Centre
William Booth College
Champion Park
London
SE5 8BQ

Direct Line (020) 7326 7806
Switchboard (020) 7326 7800

Seeing the link to our online catalogue posted above reminded me that I had carried out some more research since I wrote the extract shown.  In particular, it is now clear that the correct spelling of the home’s name from 1941 onwards was always Hopedene, a fact confirmed by entries in various year books and periodicals, as well as primary records produced at the home.  In addition, parts of my original were a bit confused.

As it is likely to be some time before the online version of the catalogue is next updated, I enclose my latest draft of the admin history for Hopedene below:

The Salvation Army opened a maternity home at Catherine House, 63 Osborne Road, Jesmond, Newcastle on 14th May 1923. The home moved to Eastwood, Jesmond Park East, Newcastle on 6th March 1941, which was renamed Hopedene on 3rd April of the same year. The Medical Officer of Health gave consent for Hopedene to receive private maternity cases from 27th October 1941. As was the case with many Salvation Army homes, the income from the private patients helped to subsidise the home’s main work.  On 2nd October 1950 the home moved again, this time to The Gables, Elswick Road, West End, Newcastle, which was renamed Hopedene.

The Gables had been opened in 1919 as the West End branch of The Princess Mary Maternity Hospital. In 1922 the hospital moved to new premises in Jubilee Road and it was decided then that The Gables should be totally independent. In 1948 the NHS decided not to take The Gables over in its rationalisation of local health services and by 1950 the home was in financial difficulties, was forced to close, and was sold to the Salvation Army.

The address of The Gables had been 18 Gloucester Terrace, although as Hopedene the building’s address was 1a Gloucester Terrace. The National Archives site gives a postcode to go with the address, NE4 6RH. This corresponds with just one address on the current Royal Mail database, which does not have a number; Elswick Hall Nursing Home, Gloucester Terrace, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 6RH.

Hopedene was a maternity hospital until 1973, when it became a maternity home with accommodation for 6 and a Hostel for women and children with 24 beds. A year later, the maternity home was closed so Hopedene was now entirely a hostel for women, with 30 beds. In 1975, an annex was added as an eventide home for 9 women. Hopedene operated as a combined hostel and eventide Home until it was closed in 1994.  The old house was demolished in 1996, and Elswick Hall Nursing Home is modern purpose-built building.
 
Sources
Women’s Social Homes and Hostels, Book 3
http://apps.nationalarchives.gov.uk/hospitalrecords/details.asp?id=1522, accessed 18/9/14
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/eyedot/tags/hopedene, accessed 18/9/14
The Salvation Army Year Book, various
The Deliverer, various
Girls’ Statement Books, various


Regards

Kevin

Major Kevin Pooley
Social Historian
The Salvation Army
International Heritage Centre
William Booth College
Champion Park
London
SE5 8BQ

Direct Line (020) 7326 7806
Switchboard (020) 7326 7800

Dear funkyoap

For most of our former maternity homes (including Oakhill/Oak Hill) we do not hold any original records, and most of what we know about the women and girls who used these homes comes from a series of ledgers known as The Girls’ Statement Books.  In effect these were records of discharge, and they were held centrally at our Women’s’ Social Work headquarters in Mare Street, Hackney.

Because these books have survived we have two series (London and Country) running from 1886 for more than a century.  Unfortunately there is one major gap in the Country series, from March 1942 to March 1948 inclusive.  This means that we have no statement book entries for discharges between these dates.  Since these books record discharges and not births it does mean that births that took place a few months before this period may not be recorded, while conversely that births that took place in late 1947 or early 1948 may be.

As for the distances travelled to the homes, I recently completed a study of 30 girls who were in the home in 1933, but it still acts as a good illustration.  This is a compilation of the distances travelled to Oakhill for each of the thirty.

≤ 10 miles   x 17
≤ 50 miles   x 7
≤ 100 miles   x 4
> 100 miles   x 2

The greatest distances travelled where from North Shields (~120 miles) and Norwich (~168 miles).  Although the characteristics of a group obviously vary from home-to-home and also from one period of time to another, this is a not untypical distribution.

Regards

Kevin

Major Kevin Pooley
Social Historian
The Salvation Army
International Heritage Centre
William Booth College
Champion Park
London
SE5 8BQ

As with many Salvation Army social centres for unmarried women, Crossley Hospital was also used by married women from the surrounding area for the births of their babies.  These 'local' patients as they were referred to, helped to subsidise the running of the homes/hospitals as the unmarried women were often unable to pay much/anything towards their stay and treatment.  The unmarried women usually stayed at our maternity home 'Oak Hill' in Cheetham Hill or (from 1933) Mandley Park Avenue, for several months both before and after the birth of the babies.

Unfortunately the ‘huge ledgers’ do not appear to have survived, as they are not at the SA heritage centre, which is a great shame.  However, some discharge records do survive from our Women’s Social Work (WSW) headquarters, although there is a gap in coverage from early 1942 to early 1949.

The SA heritage centre can be contacted on:

heritage[at]salvationarmy.org.uk