My grandparents were Florence May Moss and Reginald Victor Hill.
They were married in 1928 and had 4 children in total.
Around 1936 there was a tragic accident. Florence was pregnant with my Aunty Doreen and she was knocked over by a horse and cart.
The accident left her with brain damage (told to me by my mother). As a result Reg disappeared, all four children were put into children's homes and Florence was put into a workhouse. I am trying to verify this story and know for sure that the children were in care and split up.
I have found both my uncles on the 1939 register in a home in Surrey but I can't find my Mum or my Aunty at all. As for the workhouse records I know they became Public Assistance Institutions in the 1930's but I have no idea how to start looking for these and I also have no idea which institution my Grandma was put into, it could have been the London area but she was from Dudley and her family were all in the Dudley area.
My cousin tells me that Mum's brother didn't know of any accident (he would have only been 6 at the time).
Are there any medical records that can be found? Would a brain injury have justified putting my Grandmother into a workhouse, taking the children from her and splitting them up?
Do the records tell you how and why people were admitted to those awful places?
My Mum was told that her father Reg had been killed in WWII.
Then in 1998 she discovered that her father had been alive until 1965 and living with a new family in London (they had 6 children).
I know that they were living in Wandsworth, London and that his partner was Florence Brownhill who was actually my Grandmother's niece
(her sister's daughter). I have not been able to discover any marriage records.
Is it possible that Reg couldn't divorce his first wife because she wasn't of sound mind?
Would he have had any rights as a father in keeping his children from his first marriage?
It seems that all of the generation that would have known the answers to my questions (had I been able to contact them) have now passed away.
Are there any record sets that may provide some clues to this sad sad story?
I find it so frustrating that the information I need to see may not be published until long after I am gone, unless I can manage to live until I'm over 100 and keep my wits about me.
I've managed to find them both on the register now but I had to reduce their full names in order to discover them. It's strange that Mum (Eileen Hill) doesn't seem to be with them.