I am working on the life of a girl name Mary Maud Botten who was born in Tonbridge, Kent, and was sent to Barnardo's charity in Exeter at age 12 when her father died. She shows up in the 1921 census as living at Dr. Barnardo's Home for Girls, 13/14 Clifton Hill, Exeter, Devon, on the night of the 19th June, when the census was taken. She was sent to Toronto Canada in 1924, so presumably she lived in Exeter until she was sent to Canada. I understand that they trained the girls to be maids, which is what Mary worked at in Toronto. She died unmarried in 1989 at age 80. Although I have located not only Mary's niece, but also her grandson both alive and they have applied to Barnardo's for the records, Barnardo's will not share the records with either of these descendants because they say Mary had TWO children and they consider THEM next of kin, even though they offer no proof that her children are still alive. I have traced nearly every place she lived and cannot find any place in Toronto that she could have had a child, (she may have had one child in 1930 when she went back to England for 5 months) so I am thinking that, even though she would have been very young, she could have had a child in Devon and given it up for adoption. So if you could refer me to someone that might know how to see if Mary Botten may have given up a child for adoption 1921-1924 I would be most appreciative. (I understand that there may be a 104 year wait so I may be premature in asking for this.) And also if there is someone that might have some photos, etc of Barnardo's in Exeter, or stories about it, I would be very much interested in that as well. Thank you. RL3817@hotmail.com
Re: Barnardo's
Posted by Chris on 31/7/2025, 3:56 pm, in reply to "Barnardo's"
Do you know if Mary was sent to Canada under the Home children scheme. https://www.canada.ca/en/library-archives/collection/research-help/genealogy-family-history/immigration/home-children.html It would be almost impossible to find any children she had that were adopted, there were no official adoption records in England until after the Adoption of Children Act in 1926 and a 3rd party would not be able to access any records after 1926 unless they met certain criteria, you would also need names. Prior to 1926 illegitimate children were often adopted or raised within a family, fostered out or "adopted" through various organistation, charities.
Re: Barnardo's
Posted by Richard Lyon on 31/7/2025, 4:13 pm, in reply to "Re: Barnardo's"
Thank you for replying to me. Yes Mary was first sent to Barnardos in Devon in 1921 and then to Toronto in 1924. I have her government inspection report that says she was "completed" in 1927. A DNA test revealed a child born in 1938 that she gave away to the sister of the childs father. What frustrates me and the relatives that I am working with is that Barnardos will not release the records because they say she had another child, and it's up to US to prove that child is not still alive. How can we do it without knowing who the child is. Mary's niece says Mary told her she was raped while under Barnardos supervision and I suspect that they do not want this revealed. I am going to contact the IOC since the Privacy laws are not intended to conceal a crime.
