General Chat

Such a shame that Jean was not even allowed to marry her boyfriend afterwards.

I felt for Jean too. It was awful how women who fell pregnant out of wedlock where treated....the stigma they carried was terrible yet these so called religious do gooders seemed to forget that 'it takes two to tango'.

The men got off scot free, sadly one of my maternal uncles was one such men. It's only through DNA testing that three, so far, of his illegitimate children have come to light; all three had loveless upbringings :-(. I never met this uncle but he definitely was not the person the family made him out to be, I see him in a completely different light :-(

The tears are still flowing.
What really hurt was how guilty and worthless Jean felt.

However, it makes me even prouder of my Cornish gran
She had a hard life, Her mum died soon after she was born, and her dad remarried a year later. His new wife didn't want gran, so she was brought up by other members
of the family. Her dad's marriage broke up (after 5 children), and he ended up living with his parents and gran.

Gran had my dad in 1926, aged 18. She wasn't married, but they weren't a particularly religious family, either.
My dad's dad, William, was already married, and years older than gran, however, he did help her, and they quite often lived together.
William's wife lived in North Cornwall, gran lived (with William, when he was around) in the South.
Gran had my aunt in 1928.
Gran did all she could for her children. She sent dad to private schools - until the final demand for fees appeared. Dad was swiftly removed, and, using another name, she enrolled him into another private school.
She went around with a charity box, collecting money 'for the destitute' -ie - her.
I found her, in the 1939 register in prison - she'd been caught!

William was killed in 1944.
In 1946, dad wanted to join the Fleet Air Arm. Gran wanted him to join as an officer.
To join as an officer, a father's name had to be on the birth certificate.
She married William's recently widowed friend, Alfred, who adopted my dad (but not my aunt). Dad didn't like Alfred, and joined as a rating!
I only met this gran once, but stayed with her for 6 weeks, on her smallholding.
Dad never really spoke about his childhood, he was ashamed. However, once I'd convinced him it wasn't his fault, he started talking.
Unfortunately, he then got a brain tumour and died too soon.

Both William and Alfred were Lt commanders, so gran set her sights high!

Thanks for the reminder, Mr M.

Not scheduled as a repeat in the TV paper

Saw Nicky Campbellon the One Show. Sounds like we will need an extra big wodge of tissues.

Nudging up as it starts this evening :-)

Not that I’m aware of Joy.

Thanks Mr M. Is this a repeat?

The Mother and Baby Home Scandal will air on ITV at 9pm on Wednesday 3 and Thursday 4 September 2025.

Between the 1940s and 1970s over 200,000 pregnant unmarried women and girls were placed in homes, often run by religious organisations, where they gave birth under cover of secrecy. Their children were adopted, often at just six weeks old.