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2 Raddlebarn Road, Selly Oak, Northfield, Kings Norton, Birmingham

andycadman

andycadman

Brummie babby
I believe that 2 Raddlebarn Road, Selly Oak, Northfield, Kings Norton is a place were single mothers to be went to give birth to illegitimate children. I also believe that it may have been a workhouse/hospital.

This address was given on a birth certificate dated September 1910 that I have.

Can anyone please confirm this and perhaps tell me a little more about this place at this time?

What I think is 2, Raddlebarn Road was an address that registrars are known to have used for Kings Norton Workhouse. I think it was the workhouse infirmary. Also I think in those days possibly the workhouse infirmary was the nearest thing to an NHS hospital. This can be seen on the workhouse web site. There's no doubt this was a probably proper professional hospital. It's only a few years later that the workhouses and their hospitals were to be handed over to local authorities and the term 'workhouse' would become history!

I hope that I am thinking along the right lines. Perhaps someone can help here. I would just like to know a little more about what life was like at that place at that time. Also to find any records for 1910 if they still exist anywhere.

I believe that many of the records have been lost.

Any further information on this establishment at this time would be much appreciated.

Further to this was the nearby St Mary's church used to Baptise the children there. If so is it possible for anyone to do a look up to see if a "Cadman" was baptised there on or after 20th Septmeber 1910. And let me have the details.

If any one can help it would be really appreciated.

Andy
 
Andy - My grandfather, Thomas Hanson, died in Selly Oak Hospital in 1945 and the address on his death certificate is given as 1a Raddlebarn Road, Selly Oak.
 
Judy,

What I think is 2, Raddlebarn Road was an address that registrars are known to have used for Kings Norton Workhouse around 1910, I have heard of several instances of this and 1 and 1a Raddlebarn Road also may have been used. I hope that this thinking is along the right lines.

I don't know how this equates with 1945.

Andy
 
Andy

You may well be right in that this address was for the workhouse in 1910, I'm sorry I can't help you with that. However, I seem to remember my cousin saying something about the old workhouse being there but I don't know for sure. I just thought it might help you to know that 1a Raddlebarn Road was or became Selly Oak Hospital :)

Judy
 
Hi Andy

Colin B responded to a similar question back in March and you are correct - 2 Raddlebarn road was the registrars address for King Norton workhouse
 
Thank you for confirming that Beatrice.

A the time (1910) was it the convention single expectant mums were sent there to have their babies? Was it also a hospital at the same time?

Andy
 
Sorry Andy. Don't know the answer to that one, hopefully someone else will though. They are very helpful on this forum.

Carole
 
Hi Andy,, the Address, Raddlebarn Road by 1920 was definitely a Conventional Hospital,
My uncle (Fathers brother ) born there in 1920,,possibly due to complications (birth etc )
My Grandmother, normal married etc had prior confinement at home & another one after 1920 (hosp),,at home.
I think the majority of "Workhouses" changed into Hospitals/Hospices/Orphanages around 1900,s-1920,s
The Dudley Road (All Saints) Hospital was a previous example "Workhouse to Hosp" during same period,
Hope this assists your query, Cheers JohnY:cool:
 
Many thanks for that JohnY.

Does what you say equate to 1910 for this establishment?

Also was it the convention then that single expectant mums were sent there to have their babies ?

I would also like to know a little more about the establishment at this time. I think that many of the records have been lost.

Andy
 
Andy,
It was Kings Norton Union Workhouse until 1911, when it combined with Birmingham and known as Birmingham Union Workhouse. In 1922 it became Selly Oak Hospital. My g.g. grandmother died there in 1915, but the certificate shows The Infirmary Selly Oak.
I would imagine many children were born there, legitimate or otherwise.
Ann
 
Thank you for that Ann. It adds to my picture of the place.
If anyone else has any more information on the place around 1910 particularly relating to my questions above I would be very interested.
 
Many thanks for that Fergie. I've seen the site before, it gave me some information but it does not answer all my questions.

Andy
 
I found out that my gt,gran died at 1a Raddlebarn Road.Does it still exsist??
The names i,m researching are COOK,TAYLOR,LING,HEWITT,BAILEY,VALE,COX & WHEATCROFTMostly i believe from the Harborne area.:grinsmile:
 
Jackie Shubert said:
I found out that my gt,gran died at 1a Raddlebarn Road.Does it still exsist??
Click to expand...

As said above, Jackie, 1a and similar low numbers in Raddlebarn Road are generic addresses for Selly Oak Hospital, formerly known as Kings Norton Workhouse. Whether the actual building she died in still stands depends on when it was and which ward she was on.
 
Lloyd said:
As said above, Jackie, 1a and similar low numbers in Raddlebarn Road are generic addresses for Selly Oak Hospital, formerly known as Kings Norton Workhouse. Whether the actual building she died in still stands depends on when it was and which ward she was on.
Click to expand...

Hello Lloyd, I dont know which ward she was on as anyone old enough to know has passed away.All do know is that it was feb 1943:headhit:
 
I found the address 2 Raddlebarn Road on the death certificate of my Gt Gt Grandfather and was intrigued to find out why he was there at that time, 1922. I have a photo of 2 Raddlebarn Road, but this property I now realise was obviously built later.
 
my grandmother was born at raddlebarn road in 1909. The 1911 census shows her as being there with her mother (no father on the birth certificate).I have been to birmingham library but the only records they have are matrons records which do not mention the inmates.They also have records of vaccinations for the babies in the workhouse.unfortunately they have no records for people who left the workhouse when it became a hospital
 
My mother was born in the "workhouse" in 1905, I believe this was called KingsNorton union workhouse, and that the building now forms part of Selly Oak Hosptial.
 
Hi Ann B, it just shows that this place was known by many different guises.My gt,grandma died at 1a Raddlebarn Rd in 1943.Sadly I cant get her records due to the 100 yr rule.Was it known as Selly Oak hospital then??Hope weather is ok with you as its not been very nice here in Devon.We had floods and storms on sat quite bad.
How long have you been doing family tree??

regards Jackie:cry:
 
Hi,
I too have been looking into the address "2 Raddlebarn Road" which appears on an ancestors death certificate in 1922.
Having checked up on various sites it seems that Selly Oak Hospital began to be run from 1922 onwards and I assume that those folks who needed the aid of the former workhouse & its infirmary were cared for there.
There is a house in the electoral books which shows that the Stephens family lived at 2 Raddlebarn Road from 1912 until at least 1939, Mr Stephens worked as a storeman in a chocolate factory, Cadburys I assume.
I have read several entries on various forum sites relating to the births of children to unmarried mothers & deaths which were registered as taking place at 2 Raddlebarn Road for several years in the early 1900's when clearly the same address was the postal address for the Stephens family. Some of the certificates were dated to the end of the 1920's. I therefore assume that the local authorites continued to use 1, 1a & 2 Raddlebarn Road as addresses upon certificates even when it first became known as Selly Oak Hospital instead of the workhouse, perhaps because it still cared for the former inmates and was still being used to disguise the fact that they had been workhouse inmates.
Does anyone know when 1, 1a & 2 Raddlebarn Road ceased to be addresses that were used by the local authorities for the use on certificates please?

Thanks,
Brock
 
My granddad died in Selly Oak Hospital in 1945. The address given on the death certificate is 1a Raddlebarn Road, Selly Oak UD.

Judy
 
Many thanks Jayell for your reply -- it sounds like the authorities continued to use the addresses for certificate purposes for many years then seeing as your ancestors certificate was dated 1945 showing 1a Raddlebarn Road as the address. Thank you for that information, that's very interesting.

Brock.
 
Hi there,
I'm trying to find out a bit more about my Father's roots. He was born in 1916 in "Woodville" Raddlebarn Road, Selly Oak. He was adopted when he was about 3-4 yrs old. His birth mother was called Annie Kean and she resided at same address when my dad was born. His birth certificate says that she was a general servant of 44 Hunters Vale, Hockley. I take it this means she worked in Hunters Vale?
Does anyone know anything about "Woodville"? Is this a house name or something to do with the workhouse?
Also, would anyone know anything about 44 Hunters Vale?
Would be grateful for some info. Thanks.
 
This is from an internet site no other info other than the following
Woodville Mother and Baby Home, 176 Raddlebarn Road, Selly Oak ...
 
hi andy
i hope ypu do not mind me asking but did you have any relatives
whom may have lived in the aston area of birmingham
many years ago
around the 1950,s era as i was a friend of an alf cadman
i last spoke with him in 1960
many thanks hope you did not mind have a nice day
best wishes astonian ;;;
 
As can be seen from the map, woodville was there in about 1903. It is not mentioned in kellys then, but does appear in 1913, when it is occupied by Thomas Carlyle. It is not mentioned in 1921, but below is hte entry in 1932:
176 Roman Catholic Maternity Home (Woodville), Miss J. O'Mahony, matron
mike​
 
Thanks Mikejee,
Was "Woodville" part of or attached to the workhouse in 1916 when my dad was born? Looks like he was left there until he was adopted 3-4 years later.
 
I don't think woodville was part of the workhouse, as it was a way down Raddlebarn road on hte other side of the railway line. It may have passed people on to them though
mike
 
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