Bearsted Maternity Hospital
1948 was the year I was born. My parents were living in Twickenham at the time. My mother was admitted to The Bearsted in Hampton Wick and I was born there. It stands only about 100 yards from Hampton Court Palace front gate, in the road directly opposite. It was apparently a VERY hot summer! This summer I went back to Hampton, as part of a 60th birthday treat my husband organised for me and found the building the maternity home had been in. It has recently been converted into luxury flat and is called The Rotary. It was however as my father described it as a large Victorian buliding, with gardens that swept down to the bank of the Thames. I took a photo of it as it is now from the front. I have since discovered that The Bearsted was named after the 1st Viscount Samuel Bearsted who died in 1927. It was a maternity hospital then for the Jewish community. I would love to see photographs of it as it was - so if anyone has any or knows where I could find some it would be great.
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RE: RE: Bearsted Maternity Hospital
I too was born in Bearsted Memorial Hospital and I used to tell everyone I was born in Hampton Court! Well, they are very close.
Comment from Sandy Chitty on Tuesday, 24th May 2011.
RE: RE: Bearsted Maternity Hospital
I now live in New Zealand and from this distance I can't feel certain about the exact location of my birthplace as there appears to be two possibilities. However my birth certificate has Bearsted Memorial Hospital, Hampton, Twickenham. From what I gather this was an annex to the main Jewish hospital in Lordship Road some 20 miles away? I believe the site now has some 5 luxury units on it and I have managed to get a photo of this... I would appreciate comments.
Comment from Martin Gibson on Tuesday, 4th October 2011.
RE: RE: Bearsted Maternity Hospital
My Birth Certificate shows that I was born at Bearsted Memorial Hospital on October 27 1948. My mother described it as a "Jewish Nursing Home" near Hampton Court Palace. She told me that an unexploded bomb was found near or under the hospital. My parents and I moved to Canada in 1952. I've only been to Twickenham once, that was in 2010 when I visited my cousins for a day. I've never seen the place where I was born,.
Comment from Alan Brown on Monday, 12th March 2012.
RE: RE: Bearsted Maternity Hospital
If anyone knows anything about a part of Hampton Court Palace being annexed by the hospital during WW2, please let me know. They certainly annexed the yacht club. London was being heavily bombed when I was born in February 1944 so the maternity hospital would have been full to overflowing.
Comment from Stuart Goldman on Tuesday, 8th May 2012.