This post looks at the interesting way that abandoned babies or foundlings were named and it all started because I came across this article in The Herald in February 1936, about a little baby girl being found in Beaconsfield Parade, St Kilda -
Blue-eyed ten days baby found under palmsIn a babes-in-the-wood setting, a 10-days-old baby girl, well clothed and nourished, was found by a young man on the lawn beneath a palm tree on the western footpath of Beaconsfield Parade, St Kilda, a few yards from Fitzroy Street, at 9.30 a.m. today.
The young man, agitated over his discovery, stopped Mr and Mrs F. Coillet (1) in Beaconsfield Parade and asked what he should do with his find. "My daughter and I stood watch over the baby while the men got a policeman, " Mrs Coillet said today. "I caught only a glimpse of a black head, and she didn't cry until the policeman picked her up. She was wrapped in a pink bunny-rug, and in the darkness looked like a paper parcel, lying just off the footpath on the grass. We had passed the spot - 100 yards from Fitzroy Street - 10 minutes earlier, and I don't think the baby could have been there then."
The baby was taken by Constable M. P. Vernon to the Berry Street Foundling Hospital, where little time was lost by Matron McGain in supplying the waif with a name. Taking Beaconsfield and Vernon as a basis, it was easy to evolve "Verna Field."
It is believed that the child was left beneath the palm only a little while before it was found. It was not in need of food and had not suffered from exposure. "Verna" has blue eyes and does not cry.
No home has been found yet for "John Nolan," who was discovered on the doorstep of the nurses home at the Police Hospital, St. Kilda Road, on August 30. He has grown into a fine healthy child in the months of waiting, the foundling hospital reported today. "Stephen Bell," the last waif taken to the hospital, found at the gate of the institution by a nurse on October 4, was reunited with his mother through police inquiries. (2)
Verna Field, the foundling baby, with Sister Mandeville-Halls at the Berry Street home today.
The Herald, February 14, 1936 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article244822295
The name of John Nolan, mentioned in the above article, came from the fact that the Police Hospital, where he was found, was on the corner of Nolan Street and St Kilda Road. Stephen Bell, who was found at the Berry Street Home gate, was probably named for the bell at the gate.
In 1922 the Weekly Times, reported on the Berry Street Babies' Home or Foundling Home, in East Melbourne, under the headline - Naming the Nameless - the article is partially transcribed below -
Naming the Nameless
[In] one of the spotless nurseries of the Foundling Home in Berry street, East Melbourne, there you will find babies in abundance, there are 33 of them at present. Every one of them seems anxious to
discover the good things that life holds for them. Some of them have only found the unhappy things so far.
To the Foundling Home come babies who have no real home. Abandoned on doorsteps, in public places, in parks, they find their way to the institution. When a mother dies, or is unable to care for the tiny newcomer, the child may, if necessary, find sanctuary there. Some, indeed, are born there, little nameless outcasts...
Many of the foundlings are anonymous gifts to the institution, and for these names must be found. Here is where the ingenuity of Matron A. Mowbray Flack, who is in charge, manifests itself....She chooses the names from the circumstances of the babe's discovery.
One laughing infant hails the stranger with a crow expressive of extreme good-fellowship. Blue-eyed and fluffy-haired, he lets you know that the world is a jolly old place after all. Yet he was found on an old verandah by a police constable and has seen his share of life in a courthouse. Therefore he has been named Bobby Court. So frail was he at first that for many weeks he lingered between life and death. But he was a sturdy little fighter, and now he howls for his favorite brand of baby's food as lustily as any.
One of the babies at the Foundling Home.
Weekly Times, September 2, 1922 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article224006459
Worthy of a Heroine
A demure young lady toys with her rattle a few cribs away. She was found on the doorstep of the Home last March. She is Dora March. Lorraine Palmer has a past worthy of a heroine of melodrama. She was picked up in Palmer street, East Melbourne, one dark, cold night, when the rain was beating down in sheets. The miserable clothes which covered her were drenched.
Matthew Door was found on the back doormat. Belle Lane was found at the tradesmen's entrance to the Home, which has a bell and is in a lane Albert East - well, everybody knows Albert street, East Melbourne. (3)
Another Foundling Home baby
Weekly Times, September 2, 1922 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article224006450
In November 1935, the Sun News-Pictorial reported on the naming of two abandoned babies -
Abandoned Babies Named
The seven-weeks-old baby girl, found on the Swanston Street steps of St. Paul's Cathedral on Monday night, has been named Pauline Flinders by the police, who have transferred the child to the Royal Park home.
Another girl of the same age was found abandoned on the steps of the Broadmeadows Foundling Hospital at 9.30 p.m. on Monday. The child has been called Noeline Auburn. The surname was inspired by the color of the baby's hair. (4)
It was a sad reality of life that in the days before the single parent benefit and with the stigma of having a child out of wedlock, that many women thought abandoning their baby was the best option; but there was some sympathy for these mothers; the Sun News-Pictorial reported in 1924 -
Too many babies! Abandoned Ones
Although policemen are not without soft spots in their hearts for the mother who abandons her baby, knowing that it is often the climax of a despairing struggle with circumstances, the order has gone forth that too many babes are being abandoned, and that fuller inquiries are to be made in all cases reported in future. (5)
Trying to find the mother was essential, as having just given birth, she may have needed medical attention; and also she may have changed her mind, after the event. Many of the mothers made an effort to leave their baby in a safe space, such as the Foundling Home or, in the following case, on the door step of the home of Mrs M.T. Weilant (6), of Dryburgh Street in West Melbourne. The following is from a report in The Age from July 1922, which was very sympathetic towards the mother -
A Child Abandoned. Mother's sad plight
A story was unfolded in the Criminal Court yesterday concerning baby Wellington, who, barely a month old, wrapped in warm clothing and a rabbit fur coat, with a feeding bottle and tin of lactogen tucked beside him, was gently laid in the night on a strange doorstep in West Melbourne. The child set up a yell that caused the occupants of the house to pull aside the window blind and look out. They saw him, and with the assistance of another neighbor picked him up. That cry secured him simultaneously a home and shelter at the country's expense and provided the ground work for the defence of his unhappy mother, who was lurking in the shadows on the opposite side of the road, and who, immediately she saw her baby safely picked up, disappeared in the night.
The mother of the baby, Ivy Wellington, of Footscray, was charged with abandoning a child, under the age of two years. As the paper reported the Wellington family had fallen on evil times - her husband had left her and was an admitted criminal. Then Ivy, with a child two years old and this new-born infant boy to care for she became desperate. She had no means. She went to the East Melbourne home, but they would not take in the child. Fearing the infant must starve, she resorted to desperate measures. She pawned her boots, and bought a feeding bottle and a tin of lactogen. Placing these beside the child, wrapping it up warmly, she tramped to West Melbourne, and selecting a house in Dryburgh-street she placed the infant on the doorstop and went across the road to watch....then she saw the woman come out and lift the baby. Then satisfied the baby would be cared for she went away.
The Jury, after hearing the evidence quickly returned a verdict of not guilty. Sadly, after this Ivy was also charged with breaking and entering. I have no information as to what happened to her baby and toddler, but it is a tragic story all round. (7)
In another case, from 1928, a mother gave her baby to a woman whom she probably perceived to be a motherly type -
Mother of 12 fosters abandoned baby. Put In Her Arms In Street
While standing on the comer of Lennox and Victoria streets, Richmond, at about 10 p.m. on Friday, Mrs H. Lewis of Oak street Richmond, was approached by a young woman carrying a baby and a parcel. "Will you mind my baby and parcel for one minute? I have caught my husband with another woman opposite. I want to catch him," she said.
Mrs Lewis took the baby and parcel; and the woman ran down Lennox street, apparently in pursuit of a man and woman some distance away. About 50 yards away a car was waiting, and the woman jumped into this and was driven in the direction of Kew. Mrs Lewis took the baby to the police station. It was dressed in expensive clothes. The parcel contained a number of good clothes and a note saying "Be kind to Beryl."
The baby, which is well nourished, is a girl, about a fortnight old. Richmond police are anxious to communicate with the mother, who could be identified by Mrs Lewis. In the meantime Beryl is finding a happy home with Mrs Lewis, who is married, with 12 children. Her husband is out of work. (8)
There are no winners in any of the many stories of abandoned babies -- the mother was desperate, the children were unwanted. The Berry Street Foundling Home was only for young babies and they had an uncertain future because as soon as the babies begin to toddle about, the time has come for them to go. Some of them are boarded, numbering 140 at present; some go to other institutions, and some are adopted. (9)
"The adoption is really the simplest section of our work," continued Miss Roth, "I think there is an affinity between prospective foster parents and the children. Frequently, I have watched a woman walk into our nursery, and without a moment's hesitation say, "There is the baby I have been waiting for!" "Often that particular child is one of the most unattractive in our eyes!
"When our babies visit the Royal Show each year, they sometimes find foster parents among the crowds that file past our stand. Then sometimes a woman will walk up to the nurse, saying, "Here is Arthur. Do you remember, I adopted him three years ago at the Show?"
"But our system of adoption is not as haphazard as it sounds. Foster parents are compelled to produce two testimonials - one from a clergyman or a doctor, the other from some prominent citizen. Then we visit their homes, after which there is no interference from hospital authorities."
"If a baby finds no foster parents for some reason, we try to board it out. In my opinion, this is more satisfactory in every way than leaving it in some Institution for the first 14 years of its life. Again we take the utmost care in the boarding-out system. Alter selecting the home, the members of the hospital committee visit it periodically to ensure the child is happy." (11)
Miss Roth also said this about abandoned babies -
"Foundlings occupy only a small percentage of the hospital cots. The last foundling, baby Constance, who was discovered in a city park was adopted before she had been in the home for three months. Another was left on the Tandara verandah with the note, "This is Leslie. Please be kind to him." (12) Tandara was Berry Street's Mothercraft Training School in East Melbourne.
I can only hope that Verna Field, John Nolan, Stephen Bell, Bobby Court, Dora March, Lorraine Palmer, Matthew Door, Belle Lane, Albert East, Pauline Flinders, Noeline Auburn and all the other abandoned babies like little Leslie, had a happy life.
Footnotes
(1) Mr and Mrs Coilett were, I believe, Francis Hilaire Coilett, a carpenter, and Olga Beatrice Coilett, listed in the Electeral Rolls at 74 Patterson Street, Middle Park.
(2) The Herald, February 14, 1936, see here; There is also a report of finding Verna in The Age, February 15, 1936, see here.
(3) Weekly Times, September 2, 1922, see here.
(4) Sun News-Pictorial, November 27, 1935, see here.
(5) Sun News-Pictorial, September 3, 1924, see here.
(6) Mrs M.T. Weilant, was Myrtle Frances Weilant, who lived at 38 Dryburgh Street, West Melbourne, with her husband Fred, junior, who was a butcher. (Source: Electoral Rolls on Ancestry.com)
(7) The Age, July 18, 1922, see here.
(8) The Herald, January 3, 1928, see here. Other cases of babies abandoned in a safe place (or hopefully a safe place) The Age, October 2, 1942, see here and The Argus, November 10, 1949, see here.
(9) Weekly Times, September 2, 1922, see here.
(10) Miss Margaret Roth - died on September 8, 1936, aged only 43. She had been the secretary at Berry Street for eight years, until her resignation in the March. (Death notice, The Age, September 9, 1936, see here; short obit - The Age, September 9, 1936, see here.)
(11) The Herald, July 23, 1933, see here.
(12) The Herald, July 23, 1933, see here.
