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Hello all, I'm hoping some of you can help in my attempt to find my father, a man I unfortunately never met.

About me: My Full Name is Christine Ann Gaule, born in 1949. at Assisi, Hammer Lane, Headley, a mother and baby home run by Nuns.

My mother: Mary (Maura) Patrica Gaule (1925-1972), an Irish Catholic, fell pregnant, out of wedlock to a Protestant man.
After my birth I believe I was fostered by a couple in Purley, Surrey.
I was eventually reunited with my mother in 1951 when she married my step father, William Stanley Henderson.

I know almost nothing about my father, only his first name is Alan and he is the son of a greengrocer in Brighton, Sussex.

I guess the first step maybe obtaining records from the Mother and Baby home?

If anyone can help in any way please let me know.

Thanks in advance.

Christine Crudge (Nee Gaule)

no father on your birth record in bdm so it will be hard to find your father

Hi Maylon, thanks for your prompt reply, yes no father listed on my birth record, any ideas of what to try next?

I have tried to search web sites of brighton greengrocers in the 1940's trying to look at old photos hoping to see the shops if only you knew your fathers name is their no one in the family did your mother have sister's or brother's

not seeing your mother's birth in 1925

You might look here

http://www.cabrini.org.uk/

It is mentioned in several posts re the now closed Assisi home, and has "access to records services", but whether it will be of any help I don't know, if no details of your father were given at the time.

Hi, wow some great leads there, thanks. Yes mum was born in southern Ireland I too cannot find any trace of her birth, I've tried a year either side and name variants. Thanks for the Assisi info, i will contact them separately.

Unfortunately no bothers or sisters still alive, to be honest it was never discussed in the family.

Thanks so much for all your help.

?

First name(s) Mary
Last name GAULE
Registration year 1925
Registered quarter/year Jan - Mar 1925
Registration district Waterford
Volume 4
Page 547
Mother's last name (original) -
County Kilkenny, Waterford
Country Ireland
Record set Irish Births 1864-1958
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Births & baptisms
Collections from Ireland
copyright Family Search

A tree online has the following as Mary Patricia's father...

First name(s) Laurence
Last name Gaule
Registration year 1923
Registered Quarter/Year Oct - Dec 1923
Registration district Waterford
Volume 4
Page 324
MarriageFinder™ Laurence Gaule married one of these people
Catherine Keogh, Mary Flavin, James Morrissey, Mary Gough ( mother?) , Michael Toner, James Tennyson, Helena Carr
County -
Country Ireland
Record set Irish Marriages 1845-1958
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Marriages & divorces
Collections from Ireland
copyright Family Search

Rambling Rose, you are a star, thanks so much!
This info is very useful. Could you point me towards the online tree with this information?

is Sheila gaule your sister

Hi malyon, sorry no, i don't know a Sheila Gaule.

Christine, I will send it in a message ( see 'messages' top of page) as there are some personal details in there.

oops I had not refreshed the page and Rose added a message before I got around to posting ... what I said (below) may overlap with the message she has sent



Christine, malyon asked because there is a birth with that name, with the same mother's surname, in the same registry district as your birth, but probably just a little too soon after your birth.

Then another birth with the same surname/mother's surname in the same place in 1954.

You can see them here

http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl

there is then no further record (marriage, death) for either name ... which suggests adoption

Neither would be your mother's child, but the closeness of time and place and the fact that the surname is not that common ... might your mother have had a sister who also had children in the same place around the same time?

there were no other Gaule births, marriages or deaths in Alton reg dist


This is Mary's father Laurence's death

Deaths Mar 1958
GAULE Laurence 68 Brighton 5h 206

he had remarried in England after Mary's death

Deaths Sep 1932
Gaule Mary 28 Steyning 2b 349

Marriages Jun 1934
Gaule Laurence Maguire Steyning 2b 752
Maguire Annie Gaule Steyning 2b 752

and you can find the births to second marriage at Freebmd (but spelling the mother's surname McGuire)

since the eldest was born 1935 and the youngest 1940, they might be too young, even if still living, to have known about the circumstances of your birth


if you don't know the people with online trees showing your Gaule family then certainly the first thing I would do is make contact - although of course you may always have known your aunts/uncles/cousins in your mother's family

Joonie, I have sent Christine the link to the tree, which she is going to look into, and also the births you mention in same area as her own. I reached much the same conclusion re not being able to find further reference in marriages etc.

I don't think the birth 1954 is related as the mother was married to Henderson 1951

A big thank you to you all, I feel more motivated than ever to locate my father.

Christine has sent a message saying she now knows who at least one of the two other births were (related but not her mum's) - thanks Christine :-)

let us know if we can help further of course ... hard sledding I'm afraid


(yes malyon, that is why I said the 1954 birth would not be Christine's mother's child ... but suggested a relationship with that child's mother, i.e. that the mother was a sister of Christine's mum, as I said)

Hello again all. I just wanted to update you on the latest in my attempt to locate my father.

I could not resist temptation, I've now ordered a copy of the Birth Certificate for ********** born 1950, just to find out if she's a relation.

I also found a copy of my baptism cert, my godmother was a *********, my theory is that she was also in the Assisi Mother and Baby home. I did a little digging and hey presto I found an entry for a ********** born in 1949 at Alton (6b 103).

I have located 3 likely matches, I'll send a letter to them in the next few days and let you know how it goes.

Thanks again for all your help.

Chris

Christine, just to note that the child in question might not actually want the circumstances of his birth broadcast on the internet without his knowledge.

I would remove the name of both mother and (presumed) child, and just say that you have found a birth that matches the name of the godmother on your baptism certificate who may have been another young mother in the home, and have some leads on finding that child.

you can quote me :-D