General Chat

In 1899 James and Mary Sproat moved from their home in Allhallows Cumberland to Sheffield with their 2 children Stanley Edgar later known as Stanley Edgar Sproat age 3/4 and Elizabeth Ann Sproat only a few months old. Later that year they lost their daughter. There was no more children until 13yrs later when Elsie was born in 1912. In 1915 Stanley was killed at Flanders. Did that make Elsie special to them ?
Bad luck struck again when Elsie at the age of 17 and unmarried died in childbirth on 30th August 1929 . The daughter Margery survived and was adopted around the age of 5yrs.

The mystery is
Why did they have the child adopted Mary would have been about 50 then and James some 5yrs older Mary and James kept their own illigitimate son and Margery would have been their only grandchild.
or had she been with others from birth until the age of 5 before adoption.
Early memories are not of orphanages but of playing in the gardens of Wentworth House. On top of those memories is the fact that Margery had a good education at a girls boarding school along with riding lessons, elecution and deportment, not what you would expect to happen from a bus driver living in council accommodation who's 2 natural sons went to the local school.
One further mystery Margery's 'parents' were Jehovahs Witnesses and yet when injured in a riding accident at school allowed Margery a blood transfusion.

anybody want a guess at to why a couple having lost all their own children would give up their only grandchild >

Hi Uzzi my guess would be that the little girls father , or another member of his family either adopted or arranged the adoption and the grandparents went along with it to give their grandchild a good start in life?

xx

Good thought Rose, I have sort of thought that the unknown father (or family) must have paid for the education. Even if the adopted/ foster family may be a bit of a strange choice