Hopedene Mother And Baby Home
Hi I am trying to contact any mothers that were in Hopedene, Elswick, in the 1950s and 1960s...what was it like? Did you have any choice regarding having your baby adopted if you wern't married? My mother was married but separated - did this make any difference in those days? I have read up as much as I could find regarding these places and what happened to the poor women and babies. You would think we were talking about the dark ages not merely 40 or 50 years ago...how times have changed. They say "Remember the good old days!!". Well, I think nothing good happened to these mothers back then. It breaks my heart as a mother myself how these women were treated, by these institutions and indeed their own family in some cases. Please inbox me. Thank you for taking time to read this.. xx
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RE: RE: Hopedene Mother And Baby Home
I was born there in 1957. My mother kept me which was probably unusual then!!
Comment from Jackie Dickenson on Tuesday, 1st March 2011.
RE: RE: Hopedene Mother And Baby Home
Hi, I wasn't at Hopedene myself but we believe that is where my partner's birth mother was. We have been trying to trace her. We have been told that she came down from Scotland to have her baby in 1965. As far as we know she left there to go to Ponteland. We are not sure where my partner was left as he was not adopted till 1966 when he was nearly a year old. As far as we can gather, she was 16 at the time and her grandmother made her give the baby up. We have also been trying to trace anybody who may have been at Hopedene at the time because some of the information we have is very vague. We have the name of his birth mother but the only person we can find is someone who was older than 16. A lot of the records about about Hopedene are closed due to data protection. We would be really grateful if anybody has any information on this home
Comment from Lorraine Cooke on Friday, 8th July 2011.
RE: RE: Hopedene Mother And Baby Home
I was at Hopdene from early 1966 to 1967. It is a place of horrors to me, I have nightmares and real terrors - indeed PTSD through the years has been an unwelcome companion. I hope before I die, that mothers throughout the U.K. will come forward, like the women in Australia. They worked tirelessly, lobbied government regarding the gut wrenching callousness and demeaned way we were treated - their submissions were acknowledged and on the 29th February 2012, the Australian Government validated the past forced adoption practices, and has asked the COMMONWEALTH, to apologise to the girls, for illegal, and malpractice. I believe when this happens, we the FORGOTTEN MOTHERS, silent within this nation,will get a measure of peace. I trust thousands of women throughout the country and especially Hopdene girls, galvanise and work towards this end. I am Scotlands rep. for Origins International.
Comment from Marion McMillan on Wednesday, 21st March 2012.
RE: RE: Hopedene Mother And Baby Home
To the comment made by Marion McMillan, my partner was born in Hopedene and we have been able to trace her but unfortuneatly she died in 2002, but we have been given some of the information from the records there, in particular its states that my partner's birth mother signed the adoption papers 2 days before he was born, it does state that this was questionable practise by the social services and I am wondering if you have heard of this happening to other girls that were in there during the 60's.
Comment from Lorraine Cooke on Sunday, 22nd April 2012.
RE: RE: Hopedene Mother And Baby Home
I was born in Hopedene on 28 September 1966. I believe my birth mother was named Barbara Thackray and she named me Tracy Elizabeth Thackray. Does anyone have any recollection of her or stories to tell about what it was like there then.
Comment from Judith Ogden on Sunday, 13th May 2012.