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EmilyViolet
Guest
I need some advice on how to go forward.
A couple years ago I found out my mother was a British Home Child - she was sent by Middlemore to Nova Scotia. I have since discovered that she had three siblings also sent to Canada by Middlemore (2 to New Brunswick and 1 to Nova Scotia). I have tracked these three down and even met a first cousin!
There were 4 additional siblings who stayed in England. Two died as children. One married and had a child, unfortunately she and her child died during the 1918 flu outbreak, as did my mother's father, James Essex. The last one of the 4 who stayed in England (Lily Essex b. 1896 Solihull) I finally found on the 1911 census - she was listed as an inmate at Monyhull. I don't know how she came to be at Monyhull, but I assumed that was the end of the road - she would not have had any children so there would be no family left in England.
Now my problem... I just received her death certificate and to my surprise her son, John Essex, signed as informant. At the time of her death in 1972, Lily was living at 130 Monyhull Hill Road and her son at 220 Station Road Whitacre Heath Coleshill. I don't know if this means she was released from the Institution and had a child (appears to be out-of-wedlock), but I wouldn't expect an inmate to be allowed to raise a child while institutionalized.
How do I go about finding out more? Such as whether Lily had other children, why she was at Monyhull, did she get released, and what became of her son John. BTW, Lily's mother was Edith Reynolds from Mill Lane Solihull and there appeared to be quite a few Reynolds in the Birmingham area. Maybe someone reading this might even know John Essex.
Any advice greatly appreciated.
A couple years ago I found out my mother was a British Home Child - she was sent by Middlemore to Nova Scotia. I have since discovered that she had three siblings also sent to Canada by Middlemore (2 to New Brunswick and 1 to Nova Scotia). I have tracked these three down and even met a first cousin!
There were 4 additional siblings who stayed in England. Two died as children. One married and had a child, unfortunately she and her child died during the 1918 flu outbreak, as did my mother's father, James Essex. The last one of the 4 who stayed in England (Lily Essex b. 1896 Solihull) I finally found on the 1911 census - she was listed as an inmate at Monyhull. I don't know how she came to be at Monyhull, but I assumed that was the end of the road - she would not have had any children so there would be no family left in England.
Now my problem... I just received her death certificate and to my surprise her son, John Essex, signed as informant. At the time of her death in 1972, Lily was living at 130 Monyhull Hill Road and her son at 220 Station Road Whitacre Heath Coleshill. I don't know if this means she was released from the Institution and had a child (appears to be out-of-wedlock), but I wouldn't expect an inmate to be allowed to raise a child while institutionalized.
How do I go about finding out more? Such as whether Lily had other children, why she was at Monyhull, did she get released, and what became of her son John. BTW, Lily's mother was Edith Reynolds from Mill Lane Solihull and there appeared to be quite a few Reynolds in the Birmingham area. Maybe someone reading this might even know John Essex.
Any advice greatly appreciated.
