Thursday 19 January 2012

The Hidden Truth of Rocklyn

As an adoptee, we all have a burning desire to find out as much about our true past as possible.  Sometimes the truth may be painful, sometimes it may be joyful and sadly sometimes it may be subject to a cover up.  Such is the case of the events at Rocklyn House between it's inception in 1896 and when it was finally closed down in the early 1960's.

The building itself which is now called Edenholme Grange was originally constructed as the Launceston harbour master's residence when the Tamar River used to flow up to the old Paton's woollen mill.  After it is believed the building was used as a brothel.  When the Salvation army took control of the building it was used as a Female rescue home, Maternity home for unwed mothers etc.  Yet with a history of over 60 years under the control of the Salvation army there is very little public record of the place where young pregnant girls were incarcerated by their parents and made to work in the laundry until they gave birth.

The Salvation Army with it's proud history of believing all their homes were run in a caring manner and whose belief is they have nothing to hide appear to be very reticent in talking about their involvement.  So reticent in fact that the current  Divisional Commander of Tasmania was not even aware of the fact that the organisation had the home and after becoming aware of it has had to rely on outside sources for his information.  I have no reason to doubt the Commander's integrity in this matter as i have been informed by other sources he is a man of honour .

However, for some unknown reason the Salvation Army is hiding something in relation to Rocklyn house.  At the Tasmanian Inquiry into adoption practises in 1999, they again were very vague about Rocklyn.  Maybe it was the result of a north Tasmania/ south Tasmania  internal conflict; but just as likely they may not have wanted to stand the embarrassment of the nation knowing they had ran maternity hospitals in a prison like manner.   What i do know is that when i was talking to residents in the vicinity of the former home back in 1993 when i was searching for my past, these good people did tell me of the fact they heard constant screaming of the young girls at night.  I was also told by a salvation army officer who had mover from Launceston to Ballarat that Rocklyn was a disgraceful and terrible place. What i also know is that when comparing two separate consent to adopt forms completed in February and March of 1950, the handwriting of the consenting parties are similar and may warrant further analysis.  What i also know is that any media comments on the home back in the period of it's operation is very sparse indeed with only a society piece in 1953 about the retirement of the matron after 7 years where she talked about the 1000 babies she had delivered for adoption and how she vetted the potential adopting parents by talking with them.
The Salvation Army appears to have something to hide in relation to Rocklyn House and have probably been hoping all that passed through their doors will also pass on thus keeping whatever happened there a secret.   But as all organisations have found out, covering up any injustice does not work and will only make them all appear guilty.  There are over sixty years of records in relation Rocklyn house and to say that " it appears that all records were destroyed in a boiler room fire in the 1960's"  is an insult to every mother who suffered and gave birth there and for every adoptee and forgotten Australian who was born there.  This is the most unchristian thing a christian organisation can do and they now need to be held fully accountable

25 comments:

  1. They certainly do and I know just the man for the job! Same happened at my place, those mysterious fires!!!They were so careless in those days!

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  2. Excellent Murray! These swine should be accountable, but how to get people to speak out is difficult. I know for certain that the Salvation Army home for unwed mother's as it was disgracefully called back in the 60's, was a place of horror for at least three women I know of. So much so for one lovely young woman, that she came back to the home we were in as Forgotten Australians, only to hang herself after having had her baby son taken from her. Christians? I could spit on them all!!

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  3. It is also interesting to note that of the 18 files held at the Tasmanian government achieves 4 of them relate to Rocklyn House whilst only two relate to the notorious Elim House. Why ????????

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  4. I was wondering if you contacted the local Fire Station regarding the fire. I'd say they would have to keep records.

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  5. The other side of the story

    There are many media reports besides the one you mention, Murray. I have a file of over two dozen articles, including one on another laundry fire at Rocklynn in 1946, and I haven't finished gathering the material yet - there being so many media articles in a number of papers it's taking me ages to go through them all. Fires in kitchens and laundries were a common occurrence in those days of wood fired stoves and coppers. I think the story about the files being in the laundry when the 1960 fire occurred is one of those service myths that, when repeated over and over, become fact for some people - even people in the SA who have no real idea because they weren’t around at that time. Sadly, it's one of those things people repeat, instead of simply saying they don't know, and this is where the trouble and suspicion arises from.
    No-one has more reason to dislike the salvos than I do, having been born in their 'care' and handed on to an abusive mother and institutional 'care', then later suffering a severe workplace injury while in their employ resulting in 75% incapacitation, yet I can still be fair.
    I have told you before the files were sent to Melbourne SA HO (instead of Tas DHS where they were supposed to go) and the name of the SA Major I spoke to re this in the mid-70s - well after the second fire. There is no conspiracy. It was what it was at the time. Of course people living nearby would have heard screams coming from the home - young girls and women were giving birth - and that hurts! I suspect any person living near the old QVH would have said the same thing - because some women experiencing the long pain of labour scream. As a male who I assume has never given birth, I'm not sure of your authority to make judgement statements regarding this.
    Looking at the fuller history of Rocklynn, it should also be mentioned it never started out as any kind of baby farm, but as a place of rescue for women and children (independent reports, including court records, state this) Women could stay there for as long as needed until they could move on with their baby (or children as the case may have been) to a safe living place. My husband's grandmother had her first child there in 1915, unmarried and alone, and she was helped by the SA to keep her child. Despite this help, many of these women abandoned their babies and children and the SA were forced to find foster care for them - and only then in the care of a trained nurse. They only began facilitating adoptions when the numbers of abandoned children rose so dramatically it was deemed in the best interests of the child to be handed into the care of a two parent family. If you have a problem with this then you should be speaking out against the government and legislation of the time, not those who acted with the legal guidelines to save babies from abandonment and, all too frequently, death.
    In relation to files, as most of us have already accessed original birth certificates etc so what else do you expect to be recorded other than the date our mothers entered Rocklynn, the date of our birth (which we already know) and maybe some minor personal details. And who even knows how true any of these might be? My own mother not only went into the home under an assumed name, she also registered my birth using this name. The SAs only crime here was in trusting she was telling the truth.
    Adoption is a terrible thing that has lasting impact on most, some more terrible than others, but it happened and all the mudslinging in the world can never undo that or repair the damage. True healing comes from forgiveness and acceptance of the things we cannot change.

    Take kindly the counsel of the years,
    gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
    Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
    But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
    Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

    Max Ehrmann, Desiderata

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  6. You may be very correct Merlene that they have nothing to hide in relation to Rocklyn house. but when we look at their official utterances we find.
    A. In a formal reply to a request by me they claimed the records were destroyed in a fire
    B. At the Tasmanian inquiry in 1999 the only comment about rocklyn was " The salvation army also established a hostel in Launceston known as rocklyn which was destroyed in a boiler explosion in the 1960's in which all its records were lost
    C.We know about the failure of the current commander of the salvation Army to even know about rocklyn house.
    d. we also know that I gave the Senators a copy of the Find and connect webpage on Rocklyn (www.findandconnect.gov.au/tas/blogs/TE00078b.htm)
    E we know know that thew Salvation army reply to the senators quoted directly from the same webpage word for word.
    So i believe we are entitled to ask why the salvation army shies away from any definite commentary of rocklyn, our birth place. it may be entirely innocent but we all know silence can condemn.

    Some more questions i ask are the following:

    Why does it appear that Justice of the peace A.M White seem to only have been signing consent forms o the second wednesday of the month i.e Wed 8 feb, wed 8 mar.

    Why does it appear in the eyes of three separate people other than myself including my psychologist that the signature of two seperate consent to adopt forms the handwriting of the person giving consent strongly appears to be the same person.
    Why is it that a person living in the vicinity of the area in the 1960's cannot remember a fire.
    Why is it that the people i spoke to who remember the cries of the mothers never mentioned a fire.
    I can only recount what the locals in the area told me because as you say i have never given birth. Nor can i ever know what it is like to be raised knowing i was adopted.
    But i do know so very well what it is like to have the ultimate betrayal of learning in middle age that your life was a complete fraud.
    And it is because i have been subjected to such fraud that i will question the ethics of the people ran establishments with a holier than thou attitude and with inconsistencies in their minor utterances. There are four files held by the government of tasmania in their archives on rocklyn (only two held in relation to the notorious Elim) house. you can guarantee that by the end of this year I will be able to read them and maybe then we will get the answers.

    In some cases we must also accept it was not the laws that were at fault but the manner in which self proclaimed servants of god decided upon how to interpret such laws.

    yes adoption has cast a giant shadow over many of us in differing ways. And will continue to

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  7. You haven't answered most of what I said and I wonder why you shy away from facts - not facts that I say are true- facts that can be backed by reports of the time. Many things get distorted with time and the truth gets lost along with these - an example is your continued misspelling of the name until others pick this up and run with it - and it then becomes their truth. You may find if you use the correct spelling Rock Lynn you will find there is a lot more information about the place - or is that something you don't really want because you prefer to stir people up with your distortions. Be fair, Murray. You haven't spoken with everyone who lived in the area at that time, others may have different memories.
    There is nothing sinister about the same JP signing the consents. Anyone who has ever worked in an environment where documents needs to be witnessed or notarised regularly would tell you they tended to use the closest and most reliable person – therefore usually the same one. Even as a private citizen I have tended to use the same person for the signing of documents – it is quite a normal practice.
    Comments made at enquiries are often what appear to be condensed statements – such comments or answers being based on the truthful knowledge of the respondent. If that was what they’d been told as the truth that is how they must answer.
    What was wrong with the Find and connect information being used by the SA to answer questions provided it was accurate, and it must have been otherwise you would never had referred them to the page. Did you not want them to trust the information you gave them?
    We are talking about a place that existed over 50 years and several changes in legislation ago, operated by an organisation that, as a practice, moved its officers around according to where their expertise would be of most value – a bit like our armed forces I suppose.
    I don’t believe the SA are shying away from anything – they quite simply don’t know about tthis place of so long ago. Had they known back then what the future held I’m sure their record and file keeping would have been different. You have also ignored my comment regarding my contact with the SA officer you seem so determined to denigrate, why is that?
    I empathise with you finding out as an adult of your adoption, and understand your sense of betrayal. I am even more sad that you think this will be eased by ‘answers’, for of course there is nothing anyone can say that would allow you to let go of your obsession unless you choose to do so. Calling others liars when your own statements lack clear evidence of proof is quite unfair – hearsay is not evidence of fact.
    As I have told you so many times, I find the constant raking of the past re-traumatising, something you might understand if you have lived my childhood and I just want to live out my older years in the peace denied me in the past. I am sick to death of turning on the TV or my computer to see and hear people carrying on about something that happened over half a century ago. I have been living through these enquiries for forty years – legislation has changed – there is nothing else to be achieved. You have rights to explore your past to your hearts discontent, but you do not speak on behalf of the majority of adoptees and your constant conspiracy theories and misinformation is harmful to many.

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  8. One more fallacy:

    Rocklynn house was never a brothel. That reputation came from the community’s perception of the women the SA gave shelter to when it first opened. We do nothing to honour the memory of these unfortunate women by repeating this.

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  9. On that last point, I was informed by the owners of the place back in 1993 when i signed the visitors book there that prior to the Salvo's taking over in 1896 it was a brothel. So i was never referring to the good ladies who were placed there in shelter. No I did not speak with everyone there bit at least 5 people who were long term residents. as for the name spelling look again at formal reports and the find and connect site . it says Rocklyn so what else am I to say. Now that you tell me are it was Rock Lyn House just maybe i can find out more. I can only go on what official documents I have been able to track, what reports I have been able to see. I will be seeking analysis of certain documents to help ascertain the probability of forgery ( as much as copies can be analysed). And if a JP was signing documents as witnessing signatures that had not been signed in his presence, i am not too sure as to that legality
    After your request not to be involved i have respected your request . But my page is my page and i tell the truth as i see it

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  10. Also interesting to note that the consent to order to adopts shows i was born at "Rocklyn" Howell st Launceston. I also believe the find and connect link about the description. but as a person who was involved in record keeping for many years , i know that whilst individual records may have been destroyed, administrative files, policy files, investigations files are kept by normal organisation for perpetuity especially in organisation like the military where staff are often rotated . I expected a bit more in the reply by the Tasmanian salvation Army than to just google it. it was their establishment, it was run by them and they should have presented more than a small entry from the find and connect website. They could for Elim, why not Rocklyn

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  11. You may be interested in the following newspaper articles, which show the house was never run as a brothel. I am aware the current owner tells this story as part of the 'history' but it is simply not true and the story originates from gossip about the women as I mentioned in a previous comment. The Salvation Army took possession of the property directly from Captain Ditcham, a highly respected and philanthropic Launcestion resident - also note that it opened in 1900 not 1906 as you have also been wrongly advised.

    Saturday 24 March 1900
    New Rescue Home.-Today the new rescue home of the Salvation Army, at Rock Lynn, South Launceston, near the Roman Catholic Cemetery, will be officially opened by Staff-Captain Paul, secretary to Mrs. Commandant Booth. But the gathering will only be a private one. The premises are very commodious, and there is accommodation for 20 girls besides four officers, Adjutant Cowden being in charge. At present there are 14 girls and 10 children in the home, which is a much larger place than the building just vacated in William-street. The army is doing much good in its rescue work, and very frequently of late want of accommodation has compelled the officers to refuse admission to several girls. The new premises are situated in a healthy part of the city, and the operations of the army are now likely to be carried out with much more satisfaction than hitherto.

    Monday 26 March 1900
    Salvation Army Rescue Home. On Saturday afternoon the new rescue home for the Salvation Army, mention of which was made in the "Examiner" on that morning, was officially opened by Staff-Captain Paul. The local officers and Major and Mrs. Edwards were also present, and short interesting addresses were delivered. The new home is the building known as "Rock Lynn," near the Roman Catholic Cemetery, and lately occupied by Captain Ditcham.

    The only 'hidden truths' are the ones perpetuated by gossip and poor research to sensationalise a sad time in our history. It concerns me that anyone doing contemporary research may stumble upon your blog and take your statements as fact - this is how history gets changed.

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  12. Yes i found those articles last night after you told me of the original name. I wonder if the transition from Rock Lynn to Rocklyn was a formal procedure or a gradual change over time. You have pit your side and i do appreciate it. And I can imagine some body using the place as a accommodation centre gilding the lily so to speak as to it's history. facts are often in the eye of the beholder which is why i seek true source documents like the monthly reports to head office etc. But any one using a blog as gospel truth rather than a individuals version of the truth would in my opinion not be a very good researcher. And yes the blog is my opinion based on what i can gather in a limited fashion and yes can be subject to correction. That is why i will take a trip to tassie this year to gain access to the Tasmanian government files held in the archives. One is already available to the public (1920 to 1952) the other three have to be examined so that, quite rightly, individual names can be blanked out for individual privacy reasons. take care Merlene

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  13. I'm not 100% sure, but I don't believe the name was ever formally changed - it probably just became corrupted over time. Living on the opposite hill to Rock Lynn for much of my childhood and younger years, the name of the place was indelibly burnt into my psyche as the place where I, and most of my adopted siblings, originated from. One enduring memory I have is of going with my adoptive mother in the car to pick up a new baby, driving up a long driveway (now Andrews Street) with an empty bassinette in the back of the car - and of driving away with a baby now in it and being reminded of the insecurity of my own position. Even as a five year old I knew that house was part of who I was and the image of it hung over my life as the key to the mystery of my birth, the only link to the person I thought of as my 'real mother'. One birthday, when I was older, I sat outside the home all day waiting for my mother to come back for me - so sure was I that she yearned for me as much as I did for her. Of course the years taught me this was romantic foolishness, that I had carried her in my heart for years while she never gave a thought to me or my welfare (this is not an assumption as I have met and spoken with her) In regard to paperwork not being correctly signed, I suspect many women like my own mother, took off so quickly after the birth (one week later mine was in another state)they had to be tracked down to get their signature - otherwise I and others would have been just abandoned babies unable to be placed.
    I hope you find what you are looking for, if that will bring peace to your life. Me, I just want to live in this moment with gratitude for the family I have created from some disastrous beginnings.

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  14. Hi all,
    I have checked the consent to adoption order which is here in my possession.
    a. My birth is recorded as being on 7th February 1950
    b. My birth place is recorded as being at 'Rocklyn' Howell St. Launceston.
    c. The document is dated 8th February, 1950. This is one day after my birth.
    d. The same person who filled in the location and date of signing also signed the document as a witness.
    e. Nowhere on the document has my mother filled out any of the details required.
    f. The document was stamped with the Registrar Generals stamp on the 5th May.

    On another matter, I would like to know exactly where the babies were located when we were handed over to our adoptive parents. I was 13 days old when I was taken to live with my adoptive parents.

    - I have 4 different legal birth certificates. All with different names.

    When I enquired about the sparseness of the information that I was sent, I was told that There had been a fire in the boiler room at Rocklyn. I was told that the building no longer exists and was advised to make no further enquiries.

    As recently as two years ago, i chanced upon a meeting with a very elderly Salvation Army woman. She spoke with me about her shame at having participated in the processes of child removal at the Salvation Army Homes for Unwed Mothers. Unfortunately this woman is no longer alive, as I know that speaking with her would be beneficial for all of us and for those who are working so hard to make sure that all wrongs can be righted in protecting future generations from the shameful behaviour that took place in the past.
    Merle, may I address this part to you, with no ill intent intended.
    I never had a chance to meet my own mother, although I have found a large and welcoming birth family who are gradually helping me to get to know her. It is through the piecing together of her story that I come to know myself. Her internment at Rocklyn was at a time (the only time) that we got to spend together in our lives. Her experiences were my experiences. Her emotions were my emotions and her DNA is my DNA, along with all the Generations of memories that it holds. There is no better way for me to know myself than to get to know HER, and stories, both good and bad, are the only way left to me to come to this place of peace and happiness.
    I am not angry, just empty.People like Murray, who help to piece these stories together are like a star showing the way on the darkest of nights. As the years go on, filling my heart with stories, information, facts and fallacies, each of which are judged on their own merit and digested or spat out according to whatever information i have to assess by, I grow into becoming more of who I was meant to be.
    It would be good to get together some time, if we are ever able in the same place at the same time.

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  15. In response to Nerreman, also with no ill intention, we all have our story and our reactions are unique to our experience although, as adoptees, there will always be the shared places and times. Truth is something I hold great value for and truth in history, especially for those of us who have had our history hidden, is of paramount importance to me. I do not want my history tainted by the negative emotion of others. Everyone has the right to tell their story in whatever manner they choose; however, when a story is based on supposition and limited research, I cannot see why I should not steer them in the direction of a fuller truth. The use of emotive language can be comforting for the user, but it can also change or challenge people’s perception of places and events and be upsetting for others. None of us have the answers as we all, as adoptees, travel an unchartered journey. Looking back, it is much easier to see a better way through valleys of despair and mountains of misery; however, for every day we spend in the past, we are robbing ourselves of the fuller living of today. I am pleased the information given to you is like a star showing the way on the darkest of nights, but can you also understand the inaccuracies have the opposite effect on me; casting a shadow over my wellbeing and the sense I have of my own history, which is also all I have of the time I spent with my mother before the bond between us was irrevocably broken.
    It would be good to meet up one day although I doubt I will ever return to Tasmania due the chronic PTSD sustained through my life as an adoptee and Forgotten Australian.
    ~Merlene

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  16. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT ON JAN 25, I HAD RESPONDED THAT I AGREED THAT THE CURRENT OWNERS OF ROCKLYN MAY HAVE GUILDED THE LILY SO TO SPEAK IN RELATION TO THE BUILDING ONCE BEING A BROTHEL. BUT TO IMPLY I SUGGESTED THAT ANY MOTHER WHO WENT TO THAT HOUSE DURING THE PERIOD OF THE SALVATION ARMY OWNING IT WAS A PROSTITUTE ETC IS A COMPLETE FALSEHOOD AND TO SUGGEST THAT IS WHAT I WAS DOING IS AN INSULT

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  17. You have left it in the main post when you could just have easily edited it out and please refrain from twisting my words like you twist everything else. You claim to be on the side of truth so why don't you start demonstrating this instead of upsetting others with your wild claims.

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  18. Based upon the current actions of the Salvo's the claims are could not be classified as wild. we all know newspapers reports can be doctored reference the that fact that they did not report the womens hospital apology for adoptees so the only way to get to the truth is by source documents which are strangely missing or whatever. The same thing happened in 1999 sod what can an old auditor like me assume. Why even a judge once found against a well known cigarette company because they burnt the records. Whilst overturned upon appeal it did show the depths to which organisation will attempt to hide what may embarrass them. I have heard stories nearly everyday of different organisations giving different answers to different adoptees re the same topic and topping this list is the various salvo establishment throughput Australia. So why wouldn't i have my suspicions about the Salvo's because they have a track record in this area quite frankly if you don't like what i say and it upsets you maybe you should remove yourself from being a follower

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  19. I do hope that each person who follows these posts are aware that we, each and every one of us, will bring our emotions with us to these discussions. We are ALL, without exception, a result of a combination of our genes which pass on our collection of instincts and our learnings, which are gained from experiencing each and every single moment of our lives outside of the womb. We cannot take away these things that form our being. We can add to them, we can hide them, we can change some of our reactions to them, but whatever we do, the decisions we make and the actions we take will always be the result of the totality of what we have become.
    For each of us, this totality will result in creating a different individuality, with different reactions, different emotions and different actions. It is this knowledge that allows me to find a place of understanding for difference of thought and opinion. I do not have to agree with others, as their collective experiences will be different from mine. There are some of us who have had similar collective experiences, and this imbues us with a set of similar reactions and feelings or emotions. It doesn't make those who differ in their reactions wrong. It just means they are different, and that is OK.
    This status of difference in action, reaction and emotion is something that becomes highlighted when we are dealing with situations such as the adoption practices that took place around the world in the last 100 years or so.
    It certainly is an outrage, and deserves the attention that it is now getting, which will hopefully prevent it from happening again. BUT WILL IT REALLY?
    I read recently about the new forms of fostering, which are akin to enforced adoption without having to get the permission of a court to do it. The same problem wrapped in shiny new paper.

    I know that there are adopted children who are in the best place with the best of people for the best of reasons. This is one of the existing scenarios and I wish, beyond all wishes, that these had been my circumstances, but they weren't. My mother WAS one that had her child removed from her without permission. I have spoken with her sisters. I know the truth. My aunt also had two children forcefully removed through Mt St Canice.
    I was also a victim, having both been removed from my mother at birth and then having my own daughter stolen from me. I know it from both sides and I know the truth. NOTHING can take those truths away. NOTHING.
    I am a reasonably intelligent, normally functioning human being, despite the experiences that I have had in my life, although the PSTD of these experiences will often find me in tears, triggered by small moments, such as seeing a young mother walking hand in hand with her little girl. Those moments that allow you to see the love and happiness that being with your child will allow. Those moments of which you were deprived.
    How anyone can see this personal experience of mine as an attack on adoptive mothers, I cannot perceive. I am speaking of my own experiences and not of theirs.
    This is all we can do. Is to speak of it, learn to find a place for the pain, and for some of us to commit to making sure that the future of children is safe and secure. At the moment, until the whole truth is revealed, we cannot stop it happening again.
    If all the tricks and secrets are revealed, then society has a means of holding itself and its processes accountable for its actions and for being able to put checks in place. do not stop trying to uncover the truth Murray. Please.
    take care,
    Nerreman

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    1. This is wonderful to find this blog.
      I too born at "Rocklyn" Howell St Launceston
      the spelling and address as found on the Consent to order of Adoption.
      I'm no handwriting expert but my birth mothers signature and the majority of the handwriting on the form appear to have the same style.
      Mine was witnessed by A.M. White.
      I did meet some one who recalled groups
      of mothers from the home going on walks to the first Basin and from conversations from my adopted mother (who was a registered sister of nursing) it was a well run home.
      However my sister (also adopted) recalled my
      adopted parents telling her the names of her
      birth parents being given to my adoptive p's.
      They didn't feel the need to know and destroyed it apparently.
      I cannot tell whether this is true or not.
      There is a possibility a nursing friend of my mothers may have known and also my adoptive father knew a pediatrician from childhood so it may have been peculiar to my family.
      Unfortunately my attempts to contact my birth mother via community services drew a "how dare you" response from her husband
      so I am still in limbo.
      I am not sure if this is due to an unpleasant conception or the possible nightmare of Rocklyn.
      My birth fathers name is not on the form.
      Should I eventually have communication with my mother I will find out more of what she had to endure.
      Obviously not many mothers who gave birth at Rocklyn were forthcoming on the practices there.

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  20. I have just found my sister, who was born and adopted out in 1951 through Rocklyn, and would like as much information about Rocklyn as possible. Unfortunately my mother passed away back in 1988, so I am unable to find out from her what it was like there. Can anyone help me please???
    My mothers name was Ruth Marion Thomas, and 19 years old at the time of giving birth and being forced to adopt her out.
    Any info would be great.
    Thank you

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    1. Jennifer, could you email mee at mrlegro@gmail.com in relation to this

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  21. Hi Muzza, I emailed you today. Any info would be so great. I meet my sister for the first time next wednesday and info would be great. Thank you and Cheers

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  22. http://www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/tas/TE00078

    It is interesting to note that this link shows the Salvation army home was based in William st launceston between 1895 and moving to the building we know as Rocklyn house on 28 march 1900. So it is entirely possible the building was a house of ill repute in the late 1800's as described to me by one of the owners of the building in 1994

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  23. Hello,

    My name is Natalie. I'm a writer and I'm currently doing some research to write an historical fiction novel about this house. If anyone is interested in sharing their information could you please contact me on nlh@utas.edu.au with Rock Lynn / Rocklynn / Rocklyn in the title. I would definitely love to speak to people and learn about their sensitivities in regard to me writing this novel, also. Nothing is taboo. Thanks, Natalie.

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