Hidden Lives Revealed. A virtual archive - children in care 1881-1981 * Image of handwritten text

Case 9653

Case number: 9653
Application year: 1903
Name:

F

Gender:

Female

Year of birth: 1890
Home: Beckett Denison Home For Girls, Doncaster

Description:

F's mother came from a respectable family but she had lived for several years before marriage with the girl's father. The two eldest children (F. being one of them), were illegitimate. The youngest child was born since the marriage. The father was himself illegitimate. He was capable of earning a reasonable salary as a collier but he led an irregular life and would sometimes leave home without notice for weeks at a time. At the time of this application he had been gone for several months. His wife had not seen him but had reason to believe that he was living with another woman. The person making the application stated in a letter accompanying the form that the mother was believed to be "quite as bad as the father". It was felt that as the child's circumstances were undesirable and she was dependent on the charity of neighbours, she should be removed to a Waifs and Strays Home where she would have a better chance of developing into a "good and useful woman" F. was admitted to the Beckett Denison Home, Doncaster on 13 June 1903 On 30 May 1906 she went into service in Nottingham.


Keywords: Abandonment; Illegitimacy; Maintenance

Items: 1. Application to the Waifs and Strays' Society 25 April 1903
2. Letter from Miss M. accompanying the application 25 April 1903
3. Copy letter to Miss M. concerning arrangements for F's admission to the Beckett Denison Home 22 May 1903
4. Card from Miss M's sister explaining that Miss M. is abroad June 1903
5. Notice of discharge 30 May 1906
6. Notice of overpayment of maintenance 18 June 1906
7. Copy letter to Miss M. asking if she would continue to support children in the Society's care 26 June 1906
8. Letter from Miss M. addressing the problem of the overpaid money and saying that she was not able to support another child at the present time July 1906




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