St Faith's, Warwick Road

Hi Lorraine Welcome to Historic Coventry. What an interesting story, those DNA tests are answering questions and creating new ones. I'm afraid Lyngood hasn't logged in recently but it's possible to view topic without doing so. Maybe Lyngood looks in from time to time. There may be others who see your posts and reply but it may take a while. The contact button lets you leave a message in a site inbox for the member. People can set their mail to divert to their personal email or to receive no contacts at all. I believe that the default is inbox only, so if you want to be alerted to messages, you need to select the right option in your profile. Email senders won't see your personal email so long as you use the site email system to reply. Hope you get the responses you're looking for.

Hi Lorraine, Check your inbox for a private message. John

Hi, thanks for add to this site. My mum was 'sent' to (Coventry) St Faiths Shelter back in 1970 from Oxfordshire. I was born the same day she arrived, probably due to stress, and was fostered locally by a couple in Styvechale before being adopted. After a much searching over numerous years, and help from Social Services, I managed to find my birth mother 11 years ago. I have my original birth records and adoption letters etc. many written to/from Miss Paton at St Faiths so it's been a bit surreal to actually see a photo of who this lady was.

Hi JS, welcome to the site. Every bit of information helps to grow this wonderful resource.

I was at St Faith's in November 1965 to January 1966. I was fortunate, I kept my baby and we went home to my parents. I often think of those girls who were heartbroken at having to give up their babies. I felt there was a lot of pressure to give up our children for adoption. I do however remember one mum who was determined to keep her son Paul Henry but received no support from her family. He was fostered and his mum went home to try to persuade her family to accept them both. I remember her returning at Christmas to visit him, I often wonder if she managed to keep him, she loved him so much. I also remember baby Gavin whose mum was trying to keep him and another mum Rosemary who adored her baby. The regime was strict but chores weren't a problem however the lack of any interest in our individual situations and knowing our babies were being assessed from birth as to whether they were good adoption material was heartless. I remember Miss Whitehead who ran the housekeeping side, Miss Payton whom we rarely saw and a live-in social worker whose name I can't remember but visited all girls in the maternity ward soon after birth to inspect the baby. The days a baby was taken by the adoptive parents were horrendous, we would rally round to try to support the girls but their pain was dreadful. Many adoptive parents would change the baby into clothes they'd brought with them and the clothes the birth mother had provided were left behind in the nursery for 'spares'. This was so cruel. No one who was adopted from St. Faith's should think their mother rejected them, there was so little support for us in those days. I was lucky and remain deeply grateful to my parents who provided a home for my daughter and myself and adored her without question once they'd got over the difficulties of 'telling the neighbours'. These were very different times. Diane

Hi Diane, welcome to the forum Thanks for sharing your story.

Hi Diane, Reports of St. Faith's are available in the Herbert Art Galleries' family history centre (when it opens?). They cover your time there and contain a few photos, which I have added to previous posts on this thread. As Helen said, Welcome to the Forum! Luke.

Hi! I'm hoping somebody would have known my mother Pat Friel... later became Pat Totten. I'm trying to find out if my sister Claire was adopted from St Faith's. She was born 1976... Claire Louise Friel. I also remember living there with my mum when my youngest sister was born in 1986. I also remember sitting at the back door while my mum did her laundry, putting it through a mangle, watching the bats fly around. I also learned to ride my bike there too Our social worker was Maureen Curran, she was Scottish but I do believe mum was there in 1976 when my sister was born Claire Friel in Warneford Hospital, Leamington Spa. Our room was at the top of the open staircase, so beautiful. x

Hi Emma, welcome to the forum. I hope you get a quick answer but if not keep checking back because sometimes replies turn up out of the blue. Good luck.

Ty

Hello everyone. I am interested to know some information about St Faith’s shelter. I was briefly there I think in 1960 prior to my adoption. I did make contact with my birth mother a few years ago, but sadly we never got to meet before she passed away shortly after I contacted her. I am of the opinion that none of her family are aware of my existence, and so the situation remains delicate as to how I proceed in that direction, if in fact I do. I have some detailed records from the local authority that name various individuals that I believe were connected to the shelter e.g. Miss Paton, Sister Turner. I am interested to know some general information to begin with about the shelter, and where I may be able to access some images etc. I believe I was born at Gulson hospital, which I have manged to research a little. I am interested in writing my memoirs (mainly for family) so would love to be able to access some images or general information about either building, and would be grateful if anyone can steer me to a suitable resource. Apologies if this has already been covered within previous posts. Kind regards, Andy.

Hi Andy, Here are some photos I took in the Herbert Art Gallery Family History Centre a few years back (2019). There are annual reports from 1922 to 1968: It may be worth looking there. The rest of my photos are on a previous post here. Hope this helps.

Many thanks for this. I have responded by a PM direct to you. Andy

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