Doriscourt Nursing Home Whalley Range

[LizzieW]

Paddy - If it is Stockport Sunday School where the children of workers went for their education in the 1800s, I'd be happy to see a copy of it in any case.  Many of my husband's ancestors attended Stockport Sunday School.

Lizzie

[mgs1960]

  That's the one!  There's a Wikipedia entry for it describing it as the biggest of its type.  I'm currently limited to a tablet for my emails and it'll be a while before I can do a scan on my laptop and attach it.

  Have to say that actually it's a bit superfluous to my archives and I could happily post it to you.  As I'm new to this forum I'm not sure if there's a protocol re PMs/ email address exchange.

  If you don't mind waiting a few weks I'll hopefully get around to it.

  Paddy

[LizzieW]

As you've now made 3 posts, I can send you a PM with my e-mail address.

Regards
Lizzie

[lib58]

Does anyone have the address of the road that Doris Court was on.My Mother in law used to tell me it was upper chorlton rd.I live 10 mins from this rd.I'd be interested to know if the building is still there.Some large houses are still on this rd in parts.

[lib58]

I'm wondering if it is the building which was used for a catholic housing association up until a few years ago on upper chorlton road.

[mgs1960]

  The address is given as Upper Chorlton Rd on a letterhead in my research.  I was told by my mother that it had been pulled down - I'd assume early 60's.

  I suspect you could be right about its location being where there was a Catholic housing asociation, there is a strong Catholic link and I notice that Caritas, a Catholic organisation, are mentioned regarding archives. 
Before getting anyones hopes up, I believe all records are no longer in existence.

  In my own case, it looks like my mother was referred to this location by a religious Order, possibly in Dublin.  Whilst I'm not familiar with the different Orders and their distribution, there does appear to be a link to the same Order having some involvement at Doriscourt.

  Could you give me the approximate location on Upr Ch Rd., please?

[LizzieW]

I was there in May 1960 and I have no recollection of it being a Catholic nursing home then (I'm not), I don't remember any crosses on walls etc.  In fact if you read the link I posted a year ago http://chaimsimons.net/B.html it would seem that the matron took in unmarried mothers and "arranged" the adoption of their babies.  These were definitely private, and very informal, adoptions and I worried for years as to whether my baby had had a happy life.  I kept wondering who the parents were who were unable to adopt through normal channels.  It turns out, private adoptions weren't illegal in 1960 and at least the people who adopted my baby went straight to the social services (or whatever it was called then) to tell them they had received a baby they wished to adopt.

Of course, I'm not saying that a Catholic housing association didn't take it over later on.

Lizzie

ps.  By the way it wasn't a home for unmarried mothers, it was actually a private maternity hospital where the matron appeared to have a sideline in providing babies for adoption.   

[PeterAWilson]

I was born in Doris Court in 1957; my brother (1959) and sister (1960) followed on too.  It was, I always understood, a private maternity home.  I'm sort of curious as to the address, if only to relate it to where I remember my family living in Manchester (Great Stone Road) until 1962/63.

[LizzieW]

Peter - It was a private nursing home, but they took in unmarried pregnant girls who worked there as unpaid skivvies, for their board and lodging and then following the birth of their babies they arranged for private adoptions.  I was fortunate in that they didn't have room for another skivvy when I was pregnant, in 1960, so I stayed with a family in Chorlton cum Hardy until I went into labour.  I stayed 10 days with my baby and on the day I left, my baby's new parents came to get her.  Fortunately she contacted me 45 years later and her father had a photographic record of her from the day they collected her to the time she contacted me, so at least I know what she looked like when she was growing up, where she lived and who her adoptive parents are.

I'm not sure if many of the married mothers knew what was going on at the home, I suspect they did as most of us unmarried girls didn't have visitors, whilst they obviously had husbands and family visiting them.

Lizzie