Eileen Handley

A Memory of Birmingham.

Eileen Handley

My father was born in 1937 in Birmingham, UK. He had an older brother Gordon (known as Tom) and a baby sister Eileen. When my dad was 4 years old, his mother (Amy) died from Bronchial Pneumonia. His father (Earnest), unable to cope with a young family at wartime placed my father and his brother into an orphanage (Sir Joshiah Mason Orphanage in Birmingham). His sister was adopted (not placed in an orphanage) and from what we know, Eileen was adopted by the Caretakers of Aston Hall, Birmingham at that time. From memory (Dad's recollection) the Caretaker's surname was Partridge but not entirely sure (I know it was a bird surname). I have tried, without success, in the past to locate Eileen through the Salvation Army only to be told that the adoption was probably illegal as no records could be found, but I really do not know. I understand that illegal adoption was not unusual at the time, sadly. My dad's brother died a year ago and now, sadly my father is terminally ill and in a hospice. In some of his lucid moments he has mentioned his long lost sister Eileen and the link with Aston Hall. There is a definite association between the two here and I would just like to know what happened for peace of mind. If there is anyone that could shed any light on this I would be so grateful not just for my own sake but... it would be just so good to settle Dad's mind over his missing sister and this long held memory of her before he departs from this world.

Aston Hall is the one and only link I have and this is my last hope really of finding out what happened. Could the word 'caretaker', for example, be a pseudonym for something else?

To contact her would be nice but not perhaps the right thing to do after such a long time and I understand that completely and fully.

Thank you so much for your interest. God bless you.