Edward Frank HAZLEWOOD 1910 - 1989

British Home Child

Dad at 14 yrs old My father came to Canada in 1924 at the age of 14 as one of Britain's 100,000 immigrant children. He was raised in an orphanage in London and sent to Canada with a group of children through Barnardo's. This picture of my father was taken by Barnardo's, on September 18, 1924, just before he sailed on the SS Melita from London to Quebec City Canada. He is wearing the Foundling Hospital boy's uniform.
    FRANCIS BINGHAM was the name given to my father at the Foundling Hospital. When my father came to Canada, he called himself Earl MacWilliams.		 HOME & Links to BHC sites

Edward's Parents story

Edward's Birth

Queen Charlotte's Lying-in Hospital

The Foundling Hospital

Emigrating to Canada

Barnardo's Records

Documents and Records used in the search for my Grandmother

Family Trees

Hazlewood-MacWilliams

Paquet-Massie

 This is my father's story, as I know it so far. Most of it has been discovered after my father's death in 1989. Information about my father parent's and admission to the Thomas Coram Foundling Hospital is taken from the detailed and compassionate letters received after my enquiries to the Coram Foundation in London.
     Being a typical Home Child, my father talked little of his past and what stories he told were not always true. Perhaps they were stories he made as a child to comfort himself or stories designed to hide his past.
    Our family had no idea of my father's origins or his upbringing. We knew only that he came to Canada when he was 14 and worked on farms in southern Ontario.
1954 Earl and Irene MacWilliams and Five DaughtersThis picture of my father with his wife and 5 daughters was taken in 1954. At this time he worked as a transport truck driver.
Earl MacWilliams at 76 Years of age
Earl MacWilliams at 76 years old.		 I struggled with the name I would use for this story. My father called himself Earl Lionel MacWilliams. This is the name he used for 65 years and the name he gave to his children. My father thought his name was Francis Bingham but he stopped using that name when he came to Canada in 1924. Edward Frank Hazlewood was the baby who became Francis Bingham and, later, Earl Lionel MacWilliams

I will call this Edward's story.

Click here for Many More Photos of my father's family found in Ireland

Gran and Group in America Lilian Hazlewood, a family friend, Sarah Hazlewood (my father's gran) and daughter Edith May or Ethel.
1927 Gran and Group in America1927 Sarah Hazlewood (bottom right) and family group
Auntie Ethel and hubbyAunt Ethel with hubby and children in Richmond, America
1923 Eileen Niall1923 Eileen Niall, my father's cousin, daughter of Edith Hazlewood and Michael Niall

My father's story began in 1909, in London, England, when Dora Louise Hazlewood, who lived with her family in Tottenham, London, met Edwin Wheeler. Edwin worked as a valet for Mr. Middleton who lived at 111 Park Lane, W London. Dora and Edwin began walking out together in 1909 and became very fond of each other. Sometimes Dora visited Edwin at his place of employment.
     When Dora discovered her pregnancy, she asked for Edwin's help. Edwin said that he was sorry that he could not marry Dora as he had to support his crippled mother and could not afford to marry.
     Dora then confided in her family. Dora's mother and sister went to see Edwin at Park Lane. They were informed that Edwin no longer worked for Mr. Middleton and it was not known where he had moved, perhaps to Scotland.
     Dora was 18 and living at home. Since finishing school, she had been working at home with her sister doing needlework. Dora's family lived at 23 Wingmore Road in Tottenham, North London. Dora's father, Alfred, was a carpenter and had worked for a firm in Gray's Inn Road, Holburn for 16 years.
     Dora, born in 1891 was the youngest of 5 girls who were between the ages of 28 and 18. Their parents, Alfred and Sarah were 55 and 56 years of age. The family had lived at their home on Wingmore Rd for over 20 years.
House by Wingmore Rd, Tottenham The family's home on Wingmore Rd has been torn down. This is a home on the next street that is typical of the row housing in Tottenham at the turn of the century. Dora lived on Wingmore Rd, Tottenham with her parents,
Alfred (b1854) and Sarah (b1853) Hazlewood (nee Savage)
and her four sisters,
Edith May, born 1881
Lillian Mary, born 1883
Maud Janet, born 1885
Ethel Grace, born 1889.
Dora Louise was the youngest, born Feb 16, 1891
Dora was helped by her family, who arranged for her to go to Queen Charlotte's Hospital on Marylebone Road.

Edward Frank Hazlewood was born May 21, 1910.

Edward's Birth Certificate
Queen

Queen's Charlotte Lying-in Hospital

It was founded in 1752 as a General Lying-in-Hospital, moving to St.George's Row soon afterwards, then to Duke Street in 1754, Quebec Street 1762, back to St.George's Row in 1773 and in 1791 to Bayswater Gate. It was variously known as Bayswater Lying-in-Hospital, General Lying-in Hospital, Bayswater Hall and Queen's Lying-in Hospital. In 1813 it moved to the Old Manor House, Lisson Grove, now the Marylebone Road. Now known as Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea Hospital, 354 Goldhawk Road, W6.
An advertisement in an 1898 book says the following: QUEEN CHARLOTTE'S LYING-IN HOSPITAL
Marylebone Road, London N.W.
Founded 1752 Incorporated by Royal Charter 1885 Objects of the charity
  1. To provide an Asylum for the delivery of Poor Married Women; and also of Deserving Unmarried Women with their first child
  2. To provide skilled Midwives to attend Poor Married Women in their confinement at their own homes
  3. The Training of Medical Pupils, Midwives for the Poor, and Monthly Nurses
Since the foundation of the Hospital 100,000 poor women have been relieved. Last year, 1,151 patients were received into the Hospital and 1,120 were attended at their own homes.
The Foundling Hospital Click here for more pictures and a brief history of the Foundling Hospital. Dora cared for her child in the first days of his life before he went to live with a foster mother in east London. Dora's mother paid Mrs. Downes 5 shillings a week for Edward's care.
     Edward may have been cared for by a foster mother to protect Dora's reputation and prevent too many people in the neighbourhood from knowing she had a child. Society, at that time, could be harsh to a girl who had a baby outside marriage. But Dora finally had to face the sadness that she could not care for Edward and bring him up herself without the support of Edwin Wheeler or her family.
     In June 1910, Dora approached the Foundling Hospital in London for assistance. The Foundling Hospital accepted babies into their care only after careful enquiry as to the reputation of the mother and whether acceptance of the child would return the mother to respectability. The Enquiry Officer interviewed the butler at Park Lane and was told that Edwin Wheeler was believed to be in Scotland. Since Edwin could not be found, it was not possible to help Dora to take court proceedings against Edwin to enable her to receive financial support. Dora was interviewed by the committee of Governors, who approved her request and assured her that the Governors would take care of her child's future welfare and education.
     On July 5th, 1910, when Edward was 6 weeks old, his mother brought him to the Thomas Coram Foundling Hospital
On the day he was admitted to the Foundling Hospital's care, Edward was baptised into the Church of England and given the name Francis Bingham.
     Children's names were changed in order to protect mothers and children and to enable them both to make a fresh start in life. No contact was allowed from the mother and enquiries from the mother were discouraged. The children brought to the Foundling Hospital were fostered out to families, usually in Kent, Surrey or Essex until they were 5 or 6 and returned to the hospital for their education. Francis, for the first five years of his life, went to live with his foster mother Sarah Anne Humphreys, who lived in East Peckham in Kent.
     I have found no information about Edward's early childhood in Kent. At the age of five, Edward had to leave his foster mother's home and come into the Foundling Hospital. The Governors placed great emphasis on training and education and that is why the children did not stay with their foster families.
     It is not known if Edward ever saw his foster mother again. There were occasional days in the year known as "Mothers Days" when foster mothers were able to visit their children in the Hospital but, because of the distance and expense, it was not always possible for foster mothers to maintain contact with the children they had cared for through their early years.
     If the family had fostered several children, foster siblings were often at the Foundling Hospital together. However, because boys and girls were always separate, siblings of the opposite sex were not allowed contact. Foster parents, when visiting, had to divide the available visiting time between the boys and the girls.
     My father did not say much about his life. I have visited the Coram Family Buildings and stood where the Foundling Hospital once stood. The Hospital was torn down in 1925. On the old site are Coram's Fields; a park with large old trees and an arena where children only can play. I looked at the trees my father played under and cried.
Books about the Foundling Hospital

Coram's Children:
Growing up in the Care of the Foundling Hospital 1900-1955
Published by Coram Family
Excellent biographical accounts of adults who were brought up in the care of the Foundling Hospital. The book is meant to explore the consequences of this upbringing on social and personal development in later life.

Half and Half: the memoirs of a Charity Brat
by Charles Nalden
Published by Moana Press Charles Nalden came to the Foundling Hospital at 3 weeks of age. The first half of his book is a vivid recollection of his years with his foster family and his years at the hospital

Both books are available from Coram Family

I've read some books and gathered information about what my father's life would have been like at the Foundling Hospital. This is some of the information I've learned;
  • Boys and Girls were separated
  • Children were separated by age
  • The children at the Hospital were not in contact with children who did not live there
  • Children spent 6 weeks each summer at a Camp and that was a well remembered time
  • Education was very military with the boys being prepared for the military and the girls for domestic service

This page will be continued as I find and upload new information. Please contact me if you want to share information or if I can be of help to you.

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