Research Forum

Yatton Hall and Sandhill Park
published by on Mon, 05/11/2018 - 22:32

Hello
I wondered if anyone could help with a query about Institution records.

I have recently established that three cousins x1 removed, male siblings aged 9, 13 and 16 years, were all residents in Yatton Hall at the time of the 1939 register
They had two sisters, one of whom was resident in Sandhill Park in 1939, she was also 9 years (twin sister of one of the boys)

Are there any surviving records from either institution that anyone knows of?

I am curious to establish why four of the children were in an institution
Their mother and father were alive - they had separated and were living at different addresses

Thanks

Comments ..

Submitted by Pat Hase on Wed, 07/11/2018 - 11:29

Some years ago I was interested in a young girl who was sent to Sandhill Park from Axbridge Union Workhouse. It turned out that she had learning difficulties and spent several years at Sandhill.

In 1939 Sandhill was described (using the terminology of the day) as a "Certified Institution and Residential Special School for mental defectives". Yatton Hall, was part of the Sandhill Park Group Hospital and there are some records at the South West Heritage Trust at Taunton but not all are open for research. Do contact them to see what is available - Telephone: 01823 278 805 or email somersetarchives@swheritage.org.uk.

Submitted by on Sat, 10/11/2018 - 18:34

Thank you for the information

Submitted by on Tue, 13/11/2018 - 11:04

This relates to another post from May 2016 but may be linked. Around 1942 my mother who would have been 15 or 16 entered a rescue home at Weston-Super-Mare and was then transferred to a P.A.C. hospital for her confinement. I have hit a brick wall on this but could Yatton Hall/Sandhill Park be where she had been.

Submitted by Pat Hase on Tue, 13/11/2018 - 14:44

When you asked this before there were some suggestions made - see here for older information but you didn't say then whether you had a copy of the birth certificate which might give the address of the place of birth. I think it unlikely that Yatton Hall or Sand Park near Taunton would have been the hospital in question as they were not designated as General Hospitals.

The Maternity homes mentioned in the previous correspondence all seem possibilities. Ashcombe House Maternity Hospital in Weston which I believe opened as a Maternity Hospital in 1946 is a little late, but I'm not sure whether the building which had been used as a Red Cross Hospital during WW1 was still in use as a hospital in 1942. Does anyone know what was happening at Ashcombe House before 1946?