Genealogy Chat

well West Middlesex hospital is in Twickenham Road so you may well be right.
A lot of workhouse hospitals became the local NHS Hospital when the NHS came into being. Before that it was the norm to put the postal address of the workhouse hospital because people objected to the stigma of ref to the workhouse being on certs as it implied that the person was in the workhouse whereas they may have been just receiving medical treatment in the hospital

Scott,,
Is the birth certifciate clear of the word Adopted?

She may gone on to marry,,,,,

There was a Convent on that road,,also 2 hospitals,,one each end

West Middlesex and South West Middlesex....

Hi Scott,
(Nice to see An Olde Crone Holden re-appearance).

Unless you had the support of your family how would you keep a baby as well as a job. It was all stacked up against you. She may have married soon afterwards and kept the baby but I feel that it would be more likely that her child ended up in care. There was no shortage of children in the various institutions around in those days. Life is so different today.
Paul

Scott.

Do you know who Peter is who has Sheila in his tree ?

Thanks for those replies. Shirley & Kay that is some useful information about the convent and the two hospitals, it does however stipulate on the BC that it is number 30 Twickenham Road, Isleworth. The word adopted does not appear on the BC at all.

So the child may have ended up being adopted then? or put in an orphanage, Paul? I had hoped that 1948 might have been a bit more easier on single mothers, but you are right, it would have been unlikely that she would have been able to find a job and look after her baby. I expect there was little support around for her. Particularly as she doesn't appear to know anybody in that area other than the people she worked for and the job agency in baker street, London.

I guess i need to look into orphanage's, and institutions around the area.

Thanks

Scott.

You have not said if you know who Peter is who has both Selina and Sheila in his tree.
Have you checked any of the years following 1948 for a poss marriage for Selina ?

Scott,

The child couldnt have been adopted as it would be on the birth certificate if you have applied for one in later years,but if you have the original then it wont be on it,,?

I suspect she may have married,,and the child could have been taken with her,,,,,?

The address on the birth certificate could have been the hospital ,or possibly an annex attatched to the hospital a maturnity section,,,there wasnt the maturnity hospitals as we know today and often they were called maturnity homes,

Scott,

You have Selina born in Ealing in 1925 in your tree, how sure of this are you ?
The reason I ask is I have found a poss marriage for a Selina Handley in July - Sept 1952 but it is in Wharfedale in Yorkshire, I was just wondering is she was from there, and has returned home to her family and then married.

Scott

Another possibility is the child could have been taken on by a member of the mothers family.

Yes Sheila, Peter is a relation, i gave him the info i had of Celina, and that is why he has her in his tree. I am sure i had the birth certificate for Celina, which i got about 4 years ago, i will have a look tomorrow (today) and if i she has a distinctive name with two middles names which i know so it shouldnt be too hard for me to find online if i havent got the paper copy anymore.

Thanks for the tip Sheila, will let you know tomorrow if i get the birth details.

Scott

Scott,

Is she Selina or Celina ? see if you can find the birth cert and double check it, also have you searched any years for her marriage yet ?

Aussietrish,

We are looking for the marriage of the mother not Sheila, so it would be a Selina/ Celina Hanldey, only found the one in July - Sept 1952 so far no middle names though.

Scott,
If your a relative have you contacted SS in Ealing to see if they have any records of her adopted of taken into care ?

Off subject - PAUL - Olde Crone's posting was 3 years ago - this thread has been brought up again.(She is still in residence over on Family Tree Forum if you want an audience with her :))

Hi, like Aussietrish, I can't find a birth for Celina Handley in 1925 either. I checked alternative spellings.....Handlay, Handly, Hanley but no Celina.

Scott, you mentioned that Celina has 2 distinctive middle names......what are they please? as it would help in finding a marriage or death for her.

Also, I see from Sheila's birth that she has a middle name beginning with A........what is it please?

On the basis of Celina having 2 middle names I checked for possible deaths 1984-2005 - I found 2 possibles: Celina Louisa M Ashbridge born 13/2/1925 (not particularly unusual names though) died 1991 and Celina Arokiamary Dunn born 8/9/1934 died 1996

Also checked FreeBMD for births using just the name Celina and dates 1925 +/- 5years but no Handley names coming up on that.

Mary

If Aussietrish is right and Selina is Selina K Handley MMN Wakefield london c 1c page 1 a/m/j 1934 then I have found a possible marriage for her parents

Surname First name(s) Spouse District Vol Page

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marriages Mar 1926 (98%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HANDLEY William Wakefiekd Shoreditch 1c 139

Wakefield Harriett J Handley Shoreditch 1c 139

The marriage was 8 years earlier than Selinas birth so there would probably siblings older than her.

Wendy

There was a work house just up the road from west middelsex hospital . it was called..
percy house school, isleworth union.
Rose

There are 2 other children born to William and Harriet between their marriage in 1926 to Selina K's birth in 1934. Both were registered in London c (London City) as was Selina. They are Ivy D O/N/D 1926 1c/13 and William H J/A/S 1928 1c/15.

Wendy

Hi

I tried so hard this morning to find a copy of the birth certificate for Celina Mary Ann Handley (that is her name as listed on Sheila Ann Handley's birth certificate) but i couldnt find it, i was sure i had it, but maybe that was wishful thinking. Bear in mind that i have just decided to restart my family history from where i left off in 2004 so i am reviewing all my old research, today i had to go to Bognor Regis so i only had a couple of hours to find the cert i thought i had. I dont know right now where i found the 1925 date from, but it looks like i may have just guessed a date.

Anyway, If she was only 14 that would change things an awful lot, i had in my mind she was young, but not that young! Its odd why she got in contact with my grandfather at the time of her birth.

She signs her own letters as Celina, not Selina and her childs BC shes her as Celina. The letter my grandfather wrote to her, which came back to him, he wrote her name as Selina, thats why i varied the spelling, but she was good at writing her letters so i assume she could spell her own name properly as well.

I am not familiar with what SS in Ealing is?

She is really elusive, but i will keep trying because this one is important to me. If she cant be found on birth indexes, could she be Irish?

I also searched the birth indexes on here this morning between 1923 and 1932 but found no celina Handley.

I really really thank people that have helped and added to this thread, it is encouraging me a lot to find out what happened to them both.

Scott

Hi Scott

I tried the Scottish records but no Celina/Selina Handley there either, so very possible that she could have been born in Ireland :-(( If so, it could also explain why you can't find any marriage etc. as she may have returned there?

Just one question for you though........what was her connection to your grandfather? I'm guessing a friend, but what area did your grandfather live.....was that also London? Just wondering how they knew each other as it might help with an area for her.

Mary

Hi

Just a thought could Celina herself have been adopted ? formal adoptions did not exist before 1927 therefore if she was born before this time this could be why we cannot find her birth registered :O(
By the way there is a Selina K Handley down in London on the 2003 elec roll but this is not her now as the middle names are wrong.

The mother may not have beem born in England?.