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Ah, that makes perfect sense then... Chairman/Woman of the NAA would have had a fair bit of 'clout' in those days, I would imagine. Enough said.
Just a few other minor things I have remembered: Anytime I was required to go to the main house, it was mostly on the ground floor & main office; I rarely ventured to any of the upper floors, probably a few dozen times in total. I do remember in the main office they had small printed booklets, about half the size of an A4 sheet of paper, with a black & white photo of the outside view of the house on the cover, and various other smaller photos inside. This booklet was titled 'Elmleigh Residential Rest Home' (or something very similar), & I remember now, this is why it took me a while to realise the true purpose of the place - it mentioned nothing about adoption, or babies, basically the booklet made it look like some sort of 'holiday home'. They must have posted these to women, as there were boxes of them in the office & also in the main walk-in storage cupboard between the office & the main kitchen. I also now remember the head cook's name, it was a Mrs O'Reilly, if this rings any bells with you. Some days she used to bring out my daily meal to me, but most of the time I collected it from the back kitchen ground floor window. She was quite elderly then (c1971 ish) I remember, although maybe she just looked old to me (I was 19 then).
I also remember the very narrow, winding & steep backstairs, that went all the way from the main kitchen basement up to the top floor accommodation. I assume the house was home to a wealthy family with servants etc long before it became an adoption home.
I hope you can find as much information as you can, & that it is helpful to you. Does any place exist where you can check records, dates, names etc? Surely this can be done if Elmleigh was affiliated to NAA? Or will all of these records have been lost through the passage of time? Anyway, best wishes to you and hopefully some other people who stayed/worked there will read these postings & get in touch with you. I am sorry my memories are pretty sketchy & to be perfectly honest with you this was not a great time in my life, (nor one of my better jobs!) however in hindsight it opened my eyes to the world, in particular how the 'other half' live, & although I had no really bad experiences there (obviously I was not a young woman going there), it is not somewhere I remember too fondly. Best regards, James

Hi, I can confirm the ex-mother & baby home in Harlestone Road was called Elmleigh.
I worked there as gardener & general repairman 2.5 days per week from 1971 to 1974.
My employer was extremely 'well heeled', a Lady Glover, from Pychley House near Kettering. She owned a string of racehorses & land.
I can confirm I found the place very friendly & well run, and people from wealthy backgrounds & 'ordinary' folk alike resided at the home. It definitely wasn't cheap; I distinctly remember most folk had to work in various jobs to 'fund' their stay, if that makes sense. It was run by 3 VERY wealthy women, who, although very courteous & polite (to me), seemed to me would not stand for any nonsense or disagreement from anyone i.e. What they said goes, full stop. It was definitely - rightly or wrongly - a business, the sole purpose providing healthy babies for adoption - probably to wealthy couples who were unable to produce a child of their own.
There were a lot of people who came & went - many more than you would imagine. In the late 1970's I believe it was turned into student accommodation & then in the 90's sold & converted into private residences/offices. From what I remember one of the women who ran it, perhaps she was an accountant, hardly ever came out of the 'office' - the first door on the right after entering from the main outside doorway - she was always doing the books & on the telephone. This room was opposite the main kitchens, ground floor, and there was a payphone on the wall outside. I am almost certain it was a privately run business, but I am not 100% sure, & I have read somewhere on this forum that it was run by National Adoption Agency. Well I have lived in Bournemouth on the south coast for the past 32 years, but I was visiting friends in Corby last summer & drove past to have a look... It is still there & the exterior of the building looks exactly the same, however, some of the vast garden & lawns have disappeared & are now parking spaces for cars. Best wishes to all who read this, & I hope your memories of this place are good & not bad.