Welcome to our forum ~ please post your questions below.
Hi, does anyone know anything about this address? There are 61 deaths recorded on this site, several elderly and many new born or still deaths. I came across it whilst researching an adoption for a family member. The adopted child’s mother was not from Sheffield but the child was born at this address.
Claire,
That’s fascinating observation!
In today’s world that address is a nice posh semi on Abbey Lane, near Beauchief Abbey.
The period from 1938 to 1949 seems to have been most active - 1943 was a busy year with 7 people listed as dying at 240 Abbey Lane. I also noticed that quite a lot of the people who died at 240 Abbey Lane were buried at Abbey Lane Cemetery (which is of course really close to Abbey Lane).
I think that those houses were developed in the 1920s, perhaps by Messrs J W Bailey of Sheffield, and J W Bailey himself lived at 240 Abbey Lane for a while (or used it as his address) though the dates are confusing to me.
However by the 1939 register, the occupants of 240 and 242 Abbey Lane were: Hilda Jones, b. 9 May 1893, a “professional house and midwife”, Beatrice Smith, b 29 November 1900, certificated midwife, a young lady called Rose (domestic servant), and four ladies who were all “incapacitated”: Kathleen T Veal (b 1893), Nellie Hardcastle (b 1871), Marian Whitehead (b 1861), and Ellen Smith (b 1876).
Nellie Hardcastle died at Abbey Lane (no number given) and was buried May 22 1940 in the Abbey Lane cemetery.
A Mary Ann Whitehead died aged 78 at “Abbey Lane Nursing Home” and was buried on December 7, 1939 at Burngreave.
There was an Ellen Smith, of the right age, buried in Abbey Lane Cemetery in 1942.
On a happier note, Mr & Mrs Cecil E Whitaker announced the birth of a son on September 19, 1926 “at Abbey Lane Nursing Home”.
So it looks to me like 240 and 242 Abbey Lane were at some stage operated as a kind of private nursing home, though I can’t say when it started operating or when it ceased operations.
Cheers,
Andrew P.
Just to add to Andrew's entry, another newspaper entry about the birth of
a baby, gives the address as 'Beauchief Nursing Home, 242 Abbey Lane'.
Another article mentions 'Sister Jones'.
Moira.
Thank you for your input. Another 24 burials on here for 242 Abbey Lane, all in the 1930’s up to 1939 so maybe they downsized around 1940 to just 240. They have so many infant deaths, would their practice be questioned? Maybe not in those earlier times.
Claire,
Moria is right, the place rebranded itself as Beauchief Nursing Home limited.
There's various notices in the London Gazette about people who died in the Beauchief Nursing Home "formerly Abbey Lane Nursing Home".
It was wound up in the 1970s, formally applying to be struck off the register of companies in 1978 (London Gazette 3 February 1978).
When the official receiver stepped in in 1974 the registered address of the company was 240-2 Abbey Lane.
I know nothing about their standards of care or why they went into receivership though.
Cheers,
Andrew P.
I find it interesting that the properties are sometimes recorded to look like a family home with just an address and then other times as a nursing home. There is 1 burial on here for Abbey Lane Nursing Home and another 50 for Beauchief nursing home, all elderly apart from one young mum and her newborn in 1940. The latest burial I can see is 1973 which coincides nicely with receivers stepping in during 1974 like you said Andrew. I wonder how the properties would be recorded in Kelly’s through the years. Maybe I need to visit the library. It would be interesting to look at the electoral registers too. Anyone know how I can find more about it being struck off? Would it be a case of scouring the papers at the library? One last thing, was it usual for a nursing home to care for both the elderly and maternity?
I know there was an Abbey Lane Nursing home in 1951 as my wife's brother & sister (twins) were born there . It was on the right just past Hutcliffe Wood Road going towards the Millhouses end . My wife's family lived at 59 Abbey lane. My wife's grandad died there in 1966 too.
Abbey Lane, Sheffield 8, through the years (Kelly's Directory of Sheffield & Rotherham)
Year
1935 242 Beauchief Nursing Home (Miss Hilda Jones, sister)
1940 240 & 242 Beauchief Nursing Home (Miss Hilda Jones, sister)
1948 240 & 242 Beauchief Nursing Home (Miss Eva Truman)
1951 240 & 242 Beauchief Nursing Home Ltd
1954 240/242 Beauchief Nursing Home Ltd
1957 240/242 Beauchief Nursing Home Ltd
1961 240/242 Beauchief Nursing Home Ltd
1963 240/242 Beauchief Nursing Home Ltd
1965 240/242 Beauchief Nursing Home Ltd
1968 240/242 Beauchief Nursing Home Ltd
1970 240/242 Beauchief Nursing Home Ltd
1972 240 Ward Rd. P
240/242 Beauchief Nursing Home Ltd
1973 240 Ward Rd. P
240/242 Beauchief Nursing Home Ltd
1974 240 Ward Rd. P
240/242 Beauchief Nursing Home Ltd
Regards
Leipzig
Many thanks for your personal insight John and for the Kelly’s information Leipzig. So the business was always registered as Beauchief Nursing Home and began in 242 and then expanded to include 240, that makes sense from what I have found on here. I imagine that because it was on Abbey Lane it was known also as Abbey Lane Nursing Home. I have found many happy announcements of births and also a few deaths on FMP newspapers. Also an advertisement for a qualified midwife. So I now think it was probably a well known and respected business. My adoptee was from out of town and I noticed a few others were from out of Sheffield too, according to the newspapers, so word/recom spread. I do wonder if the introduction of the NHS began a slow decline in their business, certainly the maternity side.
Thank you again for everyone’s input. It’s a big help to my little project.
To add an extra detail,a search in our burials for address *beauchief nursing* turns up 50 burials predominantly in the 1950s and 1960s.
Dave
Hi, I can confirm Johns report regarding the other nursing home my brother in law was born there. It was two semi detached houses joined by a bridge over the two drives. The bridge was eventually removed and the property returned to private houses. The property was about half way between Folds Crescent and Folds Lane. I have just looked on Google Maps and it would seem that this was 240 Abbey Lane.