We would like to know who she was, and who her family is; because they are our family. The following is what we know about her, and also what we are trying to discover.
On the 10th March 1922, Minnie McDermott gave birth to a baby girl, our grandmother Eileen, at Saint James Hospital, located at 46 Ouseley Road Balham London. Minnie was then living at 35 Telford Avenue Streatham London, where she worked as a Domestic Servant.
Saint James Hospital began as Saint James Imfirmary in Sarsfield Road Balham in 1909, associated with the workhouse on an adjoining site. It changed its name to Saint James Hospital when it moved to Ouseley Road Balham in 1922, changed ownership several times over the years, and eventually closed in 1980.
Eileen's birth certificate
Eileen McDermott was given up for adoption, probably at birth as it is believed that she lived in a children's home before she was adopted by Alf & Nellie Lowe, our great grandparents. Elijah Alfred (Alf) Lowe & Nellie Allison married on 13 December 1924. Eileen's adoption was legally certified on 27 July 1927 in The Juvenile Court, Old Street Shoreditch, but it is possible that Eileen was living with the Lowe's before the court appearance, especially given that adoption was only formalised in the UK in 1925.
Eileen's adoption certificate
Twig Talk - it is an interesting coincidence that Eileen is almost a palindrome of Nellie ...
The Inner London Juvenile Court sat in the newly-built Old Street Magistrates Court and Police Station in Shoreditch from 1910, moved across the road into the Shoreditch Town Hall in 1925, then to Toynbee Hall in Commercial Street in 1929. It closed down around 1950, and the court records were sent to the London Metropolitan Archives (LMA).
In an attempt to locate Minnie McDermott, I have searched online genealogy websites and forums for a Minnie McDermott born around 1905 in the London area, and I have checked each one listed on the 1911 UK census. I have tried to track down the Old Street Juvenile Court records of Eileen McDermott's adoption by writing to the Head of Archives at the London Metropolitan Archives in January 2013. I received an email reply from Bridget Howlett, Senior Archivist at LMA, who confirmed that Eileen's adoption court record was held by them, however they cannot grant access to anyone other than the adopted person. Unfortunately, our grandmother Eileen passed away in 2007, so until the record can be accessed by relatives we will continue to be unaware of any clues it contains.
Twig Talk - In the 1911 UK census there is a Minnie McDermott who could potentially be our great grandmother. Her full name is Winifred Mary McDermott and she lived in Kensington London ...
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