Maternal Grandparents

Hmm, where to begin with this one!

My Mum was born in 1941 so she was a war baby.  My Nan, Winifred Gladys Horn, was 17 when Mum was born.  Mum never knew who her father was.

Through Ancestry DNA I have been trying to find out who Mum's father was.  It isn't an easy task!  My DNA results were that I have 23% Ireland/Scotland ancestry - which was surprising.  I say surprising because all the other ancestors that I have discovered, for at least 5 generations back, were from Kent - at least, as far as I can make out.  So I think that the only place where the Irish/Scottish ancestry can have come from is my maternal grandfather.  I live in hope of finding out who he was so that I can fill in a large section of my, currently blank, family tree.  It's always interesting to know where you come from.

My Mum was born in St Anne's Maternity Home in Heywood near Rochdale, Lancashire.  I'm not entirely sure why Nan was in Heywood in particular at the time.  I discovered, at the recent Family Tree Live event in April this year, that Nan lied about her age in order to join the Army.  When she filled the Army application forms in she said that she was a year older than she actually was.  I guess that's nothing new!  So whether Nan was in Heywood as part of her Army role or she was sent there to give birth to my Mum, I'm not sure.  I know unmarried mothers were often sent away to give birth to their children but it seems a very long way to send Nan.  I would like to access the Army records for my Nan but as she has two children still living I am not Nan's direct descendant.  I need to speak very nicely to my Mum's half brother to see if he can fill in the necessary forms for me!

Winifred Gladys Horn

Winifred Gladys Horn was born on 23 September 1923 and she was one of twins.  Her twin sister is Florence.  Nan died on 18th December 2011 at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate.

When my Mum was 4 years old Nan fostered her out to a family who lived locally who had no children of their own.  The couple were Mabel and Alexander Edward Oliver Brown.  Sadly Alex died in 1956 when my Mum was 14 years old.  Mabel died in 1976 but I do have some vague memories of her.  Apparently she was a bit of a character!  I remember that her house was quite dark, with a long hallway and a lot of old furniture.  I also remember that Mabel used to have the Daily Express newspaper.  I remember this because whenever I went there I used to look in the cupboard under the stairs, where the old newspapers were kept, to read the Rupert the Bear serialisation of stories!

One of my earliest memories is being in Mabel's house making custard with a tin of Bird's custard powder.  I kept eating the mixture of milk, sugar and custard powder because it tasted sweet.  Mum seems never to have been formally adopted by the Browns but she always regarded Mabel as her mother and called her Mum.

Mabel Brown, nee Bellingham

The above photo of Mabel is one of only 2 pictures I have of her.  The original picture also isn't mine.  I need to credit pilot456 on Ancestry for this photo.  It was taken when Mabel was a teenager in the 1910s.  I always think of Mabel fondly because I know my Mum loved her very much.