Assisi Mother & Baby Homes

[rosinamangan]

I am making a further post to reach the quota of 3 so folk can pm me with any pics.

[fairydustsprinkler]

I was there in 1959, will gladly give any information I can

[LizzieKleis]

Hi, I've found this chat when researching the house we bought last year. It used to be Vale Lodge, Sheringham, and was used as a nursery by the local Catholic Church - I think it's probably the one referred to earlier in this stream. The previous owers gave me two books when we bought it last year - I think these are the ones referred to earlier in the post also. There's not much info in there about this place, but if you still are looking for it I can dig them out and get it over to you.

Lizzie

[dawnsh]

Hi LizzieKleis

Welcome to Rootschat 

Some of the boards here are designed so that pictures cannot be posted, this is one of those.

If people are interested and want to take you up on your offer you'll need to send them by email after exchanging email addresses on the personal message (pm) system.

You need a post count of 3 to be able to use the pm system

http://www.rootschat.com/help/pms.php

Dawn

[David Mackintosh]

Hello everyone
I know it's been some time since there has been some activity
I was born at the home in September of 63 after my mother was pregnant and had fallen out with my grandparents she spent 3  months there until her aunt or cousin came to get her
The nuns apparently wanted me adopted but fortunately my mother and family were against it and in that time my grandparents also had a change of heart and took my mother and myself home
I have been to the home since which had been two buildings , the larger of the two had already been turned into flats but the house was being worked on for a private family .
I spoke to the builder- foreman on site and he told me a couple of things
One thing I find does not sit right with me is so much info seems to have been lost in fire

[rosinamangan]

Hello David
Not another M&B home that had a fire? It's becoming a plot cliche and the Fire Service of the 1960s must have been very busy putting out all these fires, as this does seem to crop up rather often as a reason things were lost. Apologies if there really was one.   So glad that your family decided it was right for you all to stay together and hope that your upbringing was happy. I am in touch with St Francis Childrens' Association and have had my file from them and am now going back to see them after 30 years to see the other side of the story to read the info on my adoptive parents. 

[David Mackintosh]

Hi Rosinamangan
Sorry I was referring to others looking for information that had been lost in fires and knowing how upsetting it must be to come to a dead end
I've had a good life thank you and I wish the same for everyone else
It's quite heartbreaking some of the stories about people looking for answers and biological family
My life has been complicated and to some part replicated by what happened to my mother and myself
I actually know who my real father is but have never tried to get in touch
My mother Iona is interested in this site and hopefully she can share some of her memories with people who were there at the same time
It  may sound strange but I only live a few miles away from the home now so if anyone would like photos I will take some to send on
Also if anyone has photos of home at the time could you send to myself as I'm sure my mother would like to see

[rosinamangan]

Hi Dave, thanks for clearing up the bit about the fire. Glad that you still have your mum I would like to hear more about the home if your mother wants to share some of her memories. Activity has been slow on here and I have asked a couple of folk for interior pics but no reply to date. Like you, I knew who my birth father was but never really wanted to pursue this and then matters were taken out of my hands as he passed last year. I am in touch with one of his sons and have seen video footage of my b/father when he was Mayor of his village. Must be odd living so near to the Home. I have googled it and seen a couple of exteriors.
And yes, it is all heartbreaking, especially as time goes on, those mums will pass and there will never be the opportunity of reunion. Take care.

[Mike Fletcher]

Hi - fascinated reading this thread, and I hope I'm not too late weighing in!  I was born in Assisi in 1961; my mother Angie, who was only 17, nearly died having me.  About eight weeks after I was born, I was taken up to Southwark for adoption and for the next thirty years, that chapter of my life was lost.  But I contacted the Catholic Children's Society in 1996 and they sent me a dossier (amusingly they insisted I go to St Francis' Hospice in Manchester to pick it up, so Sister Philomena could 'offer counselling if needed' - how things change!)

I managed to track down Angie and we had eight great years of knowing each other before she passed too young in 2004.  She even met my adoptive parents, at my daughter's christening, and their long conversation deep into the night in a Sale hotel was a cherished memory for both my mums for the rest of their lives.  I have two sisters, nieces and nephews and now a goddaughter I would never have had, if I hadn't taken the chance to track her down.  I've also met, and still see, my natural father; I have, to be honest, been incredibly lucky.

I'd love to hear from anybody who was at Assisi at the same time as Angie; like a number of the mothers who have been courageous enough to post on this site, she was reluctant to talk about her time but it sounds like they were worked hard and treated, if not as badly as in the infamous Magdalene Laundries, then certainly with far less sympathy and understanding than they deserved.  But Angie put the experience behind her to find, eventually, a wonderful husband and enjoy over 25 years together with him.  I was with her at the end and she was, I think, really happy to have her family round her.


Mike