48 replies to this topic

[Valerious]

Hi Maureen,

I was also born in June 1943, on the 23rd and my mother lived near Guy's Hospital at that time and probably travelled to Amersham with your Mum for the same reason. My mother is still alive and now living at the Elephant & Castle but a little confused. She said prior to the birth all the girls were 'housed' in the village and she remembers walking up the very long drive to the house. No mean fete - we drove last year and it was quite a distance.

She was also under the impression that it was the home of Sir Francis Drake and also mentioned that the Queen Mother visited all the mothers and babies whilst she was there to see how they were coping.

I went to Amersham a couple of years ago to see the house and what a beautiful building it is too. I hope you managed to get a glimpse too.

Val Betts (nee Wilkins)

I was born at Shardeloes in June 1943. My mother was living with her parents at the Elephant and Castle in South London as my father was serving in the army. She was cared for by Guy's Hospital and at the time the mothers were transported to Amersham for the birth due to the bombings in London.
Unfortunately my mother passed away some 28 years ago and I bitterly regret that I didn't ask her for more information. I would dearly love to know the time of day I was born - does anyone know where to access any records? Also I would like to know if they were all ferried there together?

My mother also told me that the house had been the home of Sir Francis Drake - I guess this confusion has arisen because of the Tyrwhitt-Drake name?

I am visiting Amersham tomorrow (to attend a funeral) and am going to visit Shardeloes, which I understand has been converted into very luxurious apartments.

Maureen.

[Fran]

She was also under the impression that it was the home of Sir Francis Drake

Definitely not (not even related, unless you go back too many generations to count). After all, Drake is a fairly common surname.

[maggiem]

I am Margaret, know as Maggie and I live in Deal in Kent. I have been facinated by reading these posts as I too was born in Shardeloes on 4th April 1944. My mother was a cook at the house but I do not know how long we stayed there before and after I was born. I recollect her telling me that the Queen Mother visited while we were there. After our stay I was taken to Bournemouth and came to Deal when i was 2 1/2 where i have lived ever since. I have visited Shardloes once around 15 years ago, it was already converted into flats by then but one resident was not interested in the history of the house and she said that lots of people born there were returning to see the house.

During my research about the house I have discovered that the composer Tim Rice was born at Shardeloes in November 1944

I would love to hear from other people who were born at the house during this time and to hear their stories.

[JohnC]

Hi Isabel
Just found your message about people born in Shardeloes during the war. I was born there in January 1944. I do not know how long my mum and I was there. From there my mum took me down to Devon where we stayed with relatives. Again I do not know how long we were there. Then we went back home to Forest Hill in London where I lived for 23 years and I now live in Grove Park which is in London. I cannot ask my mum anything as she is no longer with us, but I was always led to believe that it was Sir Frances Drake's house.
Dot.

Hi Dot, I was born at Shardeloes 27th Nov 1941. Mum was evacuated from Catford at the time. Its strange but after the war we also lived in Forest Hill and Grove Park. I note that none of the posts here reveal that Sir Michael Dennison & Dulcie Gray lived at Shardeloes for a while. I know that, because I actually met them there, When I took my Mum on a trip down memory lane many years ago.

[BarryC]

I am intrigued to know if anyone else was born in Shardeloes about the time I was.
It was in August 1945, just when war ended.

I am now and have been living in Sussex for the past 36 years.

Isabel

Hi Isabel
I was born in Shardeloes on August 23 1946 Leo/Virgo, grew up in Linden Grove Peckham SE 15, I have been looking for some of my old friends from Peckhamfor the last 10 or so, but, with no luck.
I moved to BEDFORD in 1968 got married in 69, 2 girls, one Married,1st Grandchild on the way, in August.

Barry C

[GJC]

Definitely not (not even related, unless you go back too many generations to count). After all, Drake is a fairly common surname.

Buckland Abbey in Devon was the home of Sir Francis Drake. Just for info.

[Hilary M]

Hello,
I've just found all this stuff about Shardeloes which is great as I too was born ther 13th October 1942.

Mum was living in Rotherhithe and developed toxaemia so was sent to Shardeloes for rest before I was born and to avoid the bombing.

She was under the impression that the house belonged to Francis Drake , which I now know was wrong ,although when I visited it a while ago I realised it was the wrong architecture for his time but thought there might have been an earlier house.

Mum didn't like being there away from her family . Dad was in the army so she got few visitors. She said the food was awful and at night she could hear rats scurrying around under the floor boards.
After I was born she went back to Rotherhithe briefly until the flat was bomb damaged and we went to Dorset to stay with Dad's family.

There is a Shardeloes Rd and Amersham Rd in New Cross, SE London. Is there a connection?

Hilary M.

[jeanette]

Hi Isabel
Just found your message about people born in Shardeloes during the war. I was born there in January 1944. I do not know how long my mum and I was there. From there my mum took me down to Devon where we stayed with relatives. Again I do not know how long we were there. Then we went back home to Forest Hill in London where I lived for 23 years and I now live in Grove Park which is in London. I cannot ask my mum anything as she is no longer with us, but I was always led to believe that it was Sir Frances Drake's house.
Dot.

Hi Isabel I have also just found out that I was born at shardeloes march 1942 and was adopted. A few weeks ago i was traced by my four half brothers. I was delighted and have made contact with them, have met one and have arrainged to meet the others soon.
Jeanette

[Robert]

I was born at Shardaloes on 21st September 1944. My father was in the Royal Navy and died in March 1945 as is buried in Dieppe. The lady in the next bed to my mother gave birth to a boy. Her husband was a fighter pilot and I believe he died when confronting a doodlebug. My mother came from Battersea. I now live on the Isle of Sheppey in North Kent. I am currently putting together my life story for my grandchildren. Is there a list of babies born and dates and timnes that we were looked after at Shardaloes? My mother's name was Mary Edser. I'm now known as David Edser-Lands.

[Sheilaf]

My husband was born at Shardeloes on 2nd February 1945. He was named Robert Scott. He was adopted and had his name changed but I would be very interested to hear of anyone with any knowledge of that time

[Jane7]

i was born at Shardeloes in July 1947, looking at the other dates maybe one of the last babies to be born there. Interestingly, my mother was in service at the house when she was about 15 or 16 in the early 1930's. Still looks like a lovely house even though it is now apartments.

[Peter Francis]

Hi there

I recently searched the web for data on Shardloes, since I was born there in October 1942. My mother was evacuated there from Bermondsey, and I notice that one or two other respondees also had a SE London conncetion. There is a growing interest in the war time evacuation of expectent mothers to locations where they would be safer than in their home areas. How was this organised, who did the arranging, and would any records have been kept that would help family historians and social historians?

Peter

[ken]

I was born at Shardeloes on July 15 1945. Mum said it was during a thunderstorm and that I was born by candel light as the electricity was out. There was a popular film at the time called "Fanny by Gaslight" and had I been a girl mum would have called me Fanny, so I suppose I should be glad I was a boy. By strange coincidence, my second wife was born in Shardeloes Road in New Cross London. I travelled up to Amersham yesterday to visit Shardeloes, but as I was walking and didn't have much of a clue where it is I gave up. having looked it up on satellite I'm glad I did, as I don't think I would have found it. Now I know where to find it I wil try again very soon.During the 1980s a work colleague took some photos for me and one of the residents came out to enquire what he was doing there on private property. Apparently it was the actor Peter? Denison and the flats were selling for about £250,000.

Hello,
I've just found all this stuff about Shardeloes which is great as I too was born ther 13th October 1942.

Mum was living in Rotherhithe and developed toxaemia so was sent to Shardeloes for rest before I was born and to avoid the bombing.

She was under the impression that the house belonged to Francis Drake , which I now know was wrong ,although when I visited it a while ago I realised it was the wrong architecture for his time but thought there might have been an earlier house.

Mum didn't like being there away from her family . Dad was in the army so she got few visitors. She said the food was awful and at night she could hear rats scurrying around under the floor boards.
After I was born she went back to Rotherhithe briefly until the flat was bomb damaged and we went to Dorset to stay with Dad's family.

There is a Shardeloes Rd and Amersham Rd in New Cross, SE London. Is there a connection?

Hilary M.

There is a connection for me. I was born in Shardeloes, and my second wife was born in Shardeloes Road New Cross.

[Old Resident]

I was born at Shardeloes on July 15 1945. Mum said it was during a thunderstorm and that I was born by candel light as the electricity was out. There was a popular film at the time called "Fanny by Gaslight" and had I been a girl mum would have called me Fanny, so I suppose I should be glad I was a boy. By strange coincidence, my second wife was born in Shardeloes Road in New Cross London. I travelled up to Amersham yesterday to visit Shardeloes, but as I was walking and didn't have much of a clue where it is I gave up. having looked it up on satellite I'm glad I did, as I don't think I would have found it. Now I know where to find it I wil try again very soon.During the 1980s a work colleague took some photos for me and one of the residents came out to enquire what he was doing there on private property. Apparently it was the actor Peter? Denison and the flats were selling for about £250,000.

The actor was Michael Denison (married to Dulcie Gray); he was very possesive of 'his' private property....and hated people who just 'came to look'...especially if they were walking their dog!

[Ang]

i was born at shardeloes on 23 may 1944 at the time my mother was living at clapham london while at shardeloes she met another woman who lived in a nearby road in clapham she gave birth to a boy on 31 may 1944 iwent to the same schools as him when we left shardeloes we went to wiltshire to stay with relatives i would to know how long we were at shardeloes what date my mother arrived and how she got there
don

I was born at shardloes on July 26th 1944 at 23.45 according to my mum. She also told me that she went into the main house before i was born but after she was transferred to the stables that were converted into bedsits. She also told me of the magnificent staircase and balcony. I visited the house on my 15th, 21st and 50th birthday's and took photo's and have the original postcard sent to my dad by my mum when i was born showing the house as it was then apart from the landscaping to the grounds little has changed.

My Aunt who is still alive remembers walking from amersham village up to shardloes with my gran to visit my mum (her elder sister) and it being a very long walk but the scenery spectacular.

Mu mum also told me that she was evacuated because our house backed onto the railway line at Thornton Heath and our local hospital (mayday) very busy with war casualties.

Along with the postcard I also have mums letter of notification by LCC of her place at Shardeloes and her registration letter and details of my birth. Unfortunately she never did mention anything about any friends she met whilst there. I know she went there on the 7th July 1944 and was discharged on the 8 August 1944 was then billeted in a house in Bedale Yorkshire with me and later my sister who was 2 years old joined us.

From the letter it would appear that mothers were expected to hand over their coupons and pay for their food and clothes make a contribution to their lodgings if there income allowed. If I come across anymore information I will add this next time.

[Matthew (MPJ/Admin)]

I am very grateful to Kathleen now from Ontario for sending me the attached paper clipping.

The actual text reads -

The Evening News - September 21, 1944 - oh so long ago!!!! "3,000 BABIES Born in Mansion THE QUEEN CALLS TO SEE "LITTLE LONDON" "Evening News" Reporter One of the stateley homes of England, a house steeped in history and tradition has become the war-time birthplace of over 3,000 children, most of them he babies of London parents. The Mansion-cum-maternity home is Shardeloes, ancient seat of the Drake family at Amhersham, built by Robert Adam in 1760, and home of the present Lord of the Manor, Captain Thomas Tyrwhitt-Drake, M.C. Captain Thomas Tyrwhitt-Drake moved out of the house when the war started and went to a less pretentious so that Shardeloes could be turned into an emergency home. It is probably the biggest home of its kind in England and almost certainly the grandest for it stand in its own park of 700 acres. One Every Day A day never passes at Shardeloes without a baby being born. Up to to-day 3,024 (it looks like 2,024, but I think it must be a typo) have been brought into the world there since September 1939 - an average of five every three days. The number includes dozens of twins, but the staff is still waiting for the first triplet -r or more. The accommodation of 55 beds is always full and the staff of 20 is kept b usy night and day. The Queen and the Princess Royal have both called at Shardeloes. When the Princess Royal was there recently she saw the 3,000th child to be born there, the six-day-old daughter of Mrs. Grace Cutting of Trinity Road, Tooting.

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Kathleen wrote -

I was just playing around on my iPad when I decided to check out Amersham - I was born at Shardeloes on Sept. 3, 1944 - actually was the 3,000th baby. I have a paper clipping of a visit by the then Princess Royal on Sept. 12, when i was 9 days old I guess I had my 15 mins of fame at an early age - I enjoy reading about my birth place. I wonder if there are any records of that visit other than my "my aged" paper clipping!!!!

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When i get time I will put this properly on the main site

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[Suffolklady]

I was born at Shardloes on 1 March 1947. My parents lived in Bermondsey and I was told by my mother that maternity facilities were overstretched in London so this is why I was born in Buckinghamshire. Mum was also convinced that Shardloes had been the home of Francis Drake and as so many other people thought this, I suggest somebody was telling patients this unbeknown it was untrue. March 1947 was in the middle of the big freeze. My father could not come to see mum and I because the Green Line buses were not able to run because of the snow. Mum told me that the matron whom she called Bessie was an old dragon. Mum was caught taking the mickey out of her and was duly told off.
I have recently been diagnosed with secondary cancer which cannot be cured. I have begun to jot down my ramblings which made me think of Shardloes. I was amazed to find this site and to read other peoples' recollections of this house. I wish I had asked my now deceased parents so many more questions. Mum was 14 when the war broke out, dad 16. He served as a stoker in the Royal Navy. Mum worked as a bus conductress on the buses and in the Woolwich Arsenal making bullets. After the war we lived above the Ilderton Road baths in Bermondsey before emigrating to New Zealand in 1955. I returned to England in 1966, subsequently married my husband from Suffolk where I have lived ever since apart from a three year stint in Auckland, NZ, in the early 70's.

[Sheilaf]

My husband was born at Shardeloes on 2nd February 1945. He was named Robert Scott. He was adopted and had his name changed but I would be very interested to hear of anyone with any knowledge of that time

[John Miles]

I was born at Shardloes on the 18th March 1944, I have recently found my original birth certificate and my name was registered as Peter John Warren. My mothers maiden name was on the birth certificate but no date of birth for her, therefore it is difficult to find which of 20 Kathleen Mary Warrens she would be. There was no father registered. My birth mothers address was 2, Devonshire road, Hatch End, Harrow. I visited there around 1991 but 2, 4, 6, and 8 were missing, replaced by 1950's type maisonettes. I can only assume they where hit by a bomb during the war. I was adopted by a great Mum and Dad and taken to Derby. I always assumed I was born at Shardlows Royal Infiirmary in Derby, but could never understand why my birth certificate said Amersham, Buckinghamshire. It was only a year ago, I decided to look into it and discovered that I was born at Shardloes. I now live in Michigan USA and have done for the last 13 years, but of course I have always played with the Idea of finding my ancestors, and always its the date of birth of my Mother that has drawn an impossible line. Judging by the area my birth Mother lived it is possible I was the result of a relationship with an American GI considering that thousands were billeted around that area at that time. Should anyone reading this and have any information as to the whereabouts of any birth records are kept please give me a reply.