Lookup request - West Glamorgan Archive Service - Mount Pleasant Hospital, Swans

[aussie researcher]

Ok I shall have a look, Thank you.

In 1939 Margaret was living with her brother and his wife in Barnstaple.

[aussie researcher]

Very interesting Mr Evans a Minister Of The Gospel as the child was adopted by a nun and her 2 sisters also nuns.
It changes my thoughts maybe she did go stay with them and had the baby there.

The adoption certificate only mentions the court.

[rosie99]

The religious link does seem to tie in as she was adopted by nuns. I think the churches had a bit more involvement with single mother births in those days.

[aussie researcher]

Thanks for pointing me in a different direction.

I think this might be what happened.

I'll research the Evans family and see if that gives me a link back to Barnstaple or the family.
Cheers

[rosie99]

Hope you can come up with some answers 

[JohnG_Swansea]

Hi,

I'm in Australia and have no way of getting to lookup the documents for the Mount Pleasant Hospital, Swansea.
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The year and date I'd love information for is around 26 July 1944.
This date is the birth of the child (this person has now sadly passed away in Australia)
I'm helping the family find as much information as they can.
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Any help with this would be wonderful.
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Aussie Researcher.

Good Morning,

I live within sensible travelling distance of Swansea Civic Centre, the home of West Glamorgan Archives (WGA), and (at the moment) I have sufficient time on my hands tomorrow, to possibly visit WGA.  I shall enquire about the 100 year embargo on some records, before I set out!

I shall give a progress report in due course. 

In the meanwhile here is a link to the Ordnance Survey 6 inch map published in 1946 covering part of central Swansea, trace up the left hand edge looking for "INSTITUTE" adjacent to Nicander Parade, this is/was Mount Pleasant Hospital at that time.

Next, this link is a Google Maps link to Mount Pleasant Hospital as it was seen in the relatively recent past.

And finally this link makes interesting reading.

Regards, JohnG_Swansea

[rosie99]

Thanks for pointing me in a different direction.

I think this might be what happened.

I'll research the Evans family and see if that gives me a link back to Barnstaple or the family.
Cheers

Hopefully the Evans family were still resident there in 1944 - perhaps an electoral register could be checked for the years after WW2

[aussie researcher]

Thank you JohnG,
For your offer and the links, most interesting reading about Mount Pleasant.
I had previously found that the father of the nun who adopted the child worked there as an officer in 1901.

Thanks Rosie99, will see if I can find the 1944+ electoral register.

[gareth_1971]

According to the 1945 Electoral registers there was a Robert E(dward) RIDD and Alice V RIDD (nee BUCKLAND I believe) living in Townhill Road in 1945.  Somewhat ironically the building is called "Melbourne".

Tracing backwards it appears that Robert was born in Swansea around 1894, as was his father John.  However, it is not inconceivable that they are somehow related to the RIDD's in Barnstaple which would lend credibility to the home birth scenario. 

I have missed the thread her regarding the EVANS link but there are also a Catherine and John Evans living in Townhill Road as well.