I was born at St Mary’s Hospital yet my place of birth is
recorded as Macclesfield which was where my parents lived at the time.
A little research on the internet has given me some background to the story. Faced with the possibility of air raids, the St Mary’s Hospital Board chose to close their City Centre maternity wards. Collar House in Prestbury was owned by the Moseley family who were then living in Wales and in 1939 was rented by the hospital as an annexe. This was a large house with extensive grounds. It had its own water and electricity supply as well as a laundry. It was converted to hold 45 beds and had maternity wards and nurseries as well as a theatre, dispensary and accommodation for 30 staff. Nearby Prestbury Hall and Adlington Hall were also to become hospitals. St Mary’s remained at Collar House until 1952 when the maternity wards returned to the City. During those 13 years, more than 14000 children were born at the three Prestbury hospitals. Originally a farm, Collar house dates from before 1780 and has been occupied by a number of different families.
Collar House, much extended is now occupied by Beaumont Nursing Home.
A book by Mary E. Roberts has been published on the history of Collar House and is available from Waterstones.
The pages of the Manchester Guardian add a little more to
the history of this wartime annex of St Mary’s Hospital.The Guardian of 9th
December 1939 reported that Collar House had received its first maternity cases
that Monday. It was described as a pleasant Cheshire mansion. The board of St Mary’s had decided to
evacuate cases from a “dangerous” to a “safe” location after some deliberation.
“Suitable cases” were to be transferred to Prestbury by ambulance leaving more
complex cases for treatment at Whitworth Park Hospital.
At the outbreak of war the board appointed Miss D. H.
Stuart to Matron-in-Charge. Fifty staff with were initially transferred to
Blackpool together with medical equipment. It was soon realised that expectant
mothers were unhappy to leave their neighbourhood and the scheme was phased
out.
In January 1945, The Guardian reported that the Prestbury
Hall Maternity Home had been due to close in a short time. The Manchester
Public Health Committee, faced with an acute demand for maternity beds had
decided that St Mary’s Hospitals should continue running this home for a short
time in conjunction with Collar House.
In March 1946, The Guardian reported that the Public
Health Committee had recommended the purchase of Collar House for the sum of
£9750. The cost of running the home was £12732 and annual income from patients
£4500 leaving a deficit of £8232. The hospital had a capacity for 800 patients
a year.
In December 1952 the Ministry of Health had decided to
return Collar House to its owner. This would result in a loss of 40 beds. St
Mary’s had 82 beds at Whitworth Street and this reduction would threaten its
position as a teaching hospital.
In June 1957, a bus crashed in London’s Oxford Street,
killing 7 and injuring a further 12. Among the fatalities was Miss
Forbes-Graham, matron of Collar House Hospital who was on a week’s leave. She had worked at St. Mary’s since 1929 and
was involved in the evacuatio of children from Manchester in 1939. She became Sister-in-Charge of Collar House
Hospital and continued as Matron when the hospital transferred to the
Macclesfield Hospital Group in 1952.
Perhaps that 1946 purchase did not proceed for the 1952
article suggests that it was still being rented, although Collar House remained
as a hospital into the 1970’s as part of the Macclesfield Hospital.
I have not seen any reference to any annex of St Mary’s in
North Manchester other than the Blackpool episode. Collar House was used as a convalescent home in the 60’s. I have
not as yet found any reference to any other use that Macclesfield Hospital
found for the building.
There are several references to Collar House on the
internet. One website states categorically that this had been the home of Sir
Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists. Not very well
researched for the Moseley family of Prestbury did not even spell their name in
the same way as Sir Oswald.
My sister was born there in 1950. We passed through Prestbury today but didn't see the old hospital. And we've just seen this blog- interesting!
ReplyDeleteMy mother was born here also, October 1946. This is the first piece I have found which sheds any light on my mothers birthplace! So happy to have stumbled across it.
ReplyDeleteI was born there in 1942.
ReplyDeleteI was born in 1944 in Adlington Hall
ReplyDeleteI was born there in January 1952
ReplyDeleteSo many people have responded to this article and links to it on Social Media. Pleased that it has been so well received.
ReplyDeleteMy mother Margaret Bradley (Barron) worked here as an SRN, SCM nurse during the war after being evacuated from StMary’s to Conishead Priory and then moving to Collar House because she was from Prestbury. My elder brother and elder sister were both born at Collar House in 1944 & 1946. My mother also did night duty at Collar House in the 1970s.
ReplyDeleteI was born there in August 1943 .....also baptised as was very ill
DeleteTrying to get a copy of the book but can't find one anywhere!!
ReplyDeleteIt appears to be out of print. Probably the only hope is to find a second hand copy - keep checking ebay
DeleteI was born at Collar House in January 1946 my my birth name Pauline Joan Dillon.
ReplyDeleteParents Frank and Joan Dillon.
Thankyou this is good to read about Colllar House. My mother told me it was a grand house with beautiful gardens.
I was born in Prestbury in January 1946.My father told me how he used to struggle through the snow to visit on a Sunday.
ReplyDeleteI was born there too.
ReplyDeleteDFH
I was born there in November 1943
ReplyDeleteI haven’t any word to appreciate this post.....Really i am impressed from this post....the person who create this post it was a great human..thanks for shared this with us. kimscuddles.com
ReplyDeleteMy late mother told me that I was born there in January 1953, although all the record I can find show that it closed in 1952. So, I guess I must have been one of the very last babies born there.
ReplyDeleteI was born there in 1948 , my mother always told me it was Oswald Mosley’s house originally.
ReplyDeleteMy mother was born there in 46, and she told me it had been owned by Oswald Mosley too. You're not alone lol
DeleteDefinitely not Oswald Mosley. It was the home of an entirely different Mosley family.
DeleteHello Linda. There are many stories of Mosley having lived in various homes in and around Manchester. These however, all refer to a different branch of the Mosley family who were descendants of Sir Nicholas Mosley, who in the 16th century was lord of the Manor of Mabchester. Oswald Mosley's family home was in Staffordshire.
ReplyDeleteMy family moved to Prestbury in 1927 when my grandfather took up his position as maintenance electrician at collar house for the Moseley family. My grandmother later on took up the position of cook at collar house once it had become a hospital. They set up home in one of the tied cottages opposite the hospital and lived there right up until 1965 when my grandfather died.
ReplyDeleteMy mother (now deceased) who grew up in this cottage, remembers the matron who she referred to as Nurse Graham as she used to do dress alterations for her. One such dress alteration would never be tried on as the matron was killed in that road traffic accident just days before the planned fitting..... her death was a huge shock to the local community and, as I recall, made the national news.
For my part, as a child, I had many exciting adventures exploring the disused Collar House farm outbuildings and coach house buildings.
Thanks for your story Lindsey. Your grandmother would have been at Collar House when I was born. She may have even seen (or heard) me !
DeleteI was born here in January 1951.
ReplyDeleteI have a photo somewhere of the house back then.
Will look for it and post it on here if I find it.
Would very much love to see that photo. We're you able to find it?
DeleteI've looked everywhere for this book but had no joy. I was born at Prestbury Hall in January 1950, and my mum always said it was an annexe for St Mary's at the time. She also said she was put in the back of a taxi to go there, with a Midwife telling her what to do to stop me from being born! Until I started looking for the book, I'd never heard of Collar House. Glenis
ReplyDeleteI was born here in April 1952. Coming from the inner city of Manchester my mother regarded it as quite a “coup” to have given birth in Prestbury!
ReplyDeleteHaving been raised in West London, I was always proud to have a birth certificate that proved that I was a true Northerner. I escaped back to Cheshire as soon as I was able to !
DeleteI was also born there in 1952 and my mother was similarly proud as we lived in Hulme, later regarded as a slum!
DeleteI was born in Collar House in December 1948. My mother had been sent there instead of St Mary’s. She was then living in Manchester but was born in Macclesfield in 1928. She had been evacuated from Manchester to Prestbury during the war to live with an aunt. In 1968 I moved to the area from Manchester as my husband started working there. In 2002 my son got married at St Michaels church in the village. At the wedding my father made reference to the fact that life seemed to bring us all back to the village for important events.
ReplyDeleteI was born at Collar house Mansion in January 1946. Aneurin Bevan signed my birth certificate. P.D
ReplyDeleteMy parents were living in Macclesfield at the time My plus mother says oh you're Lucky solver spoon-fed.
Best wishes to everyone born at Collar House Mansion County of Chester at the time plus beautiful gardens over the years.
Two years before the birth of the NHS.
Very interesting comments above as I was also born in Collar House on 8th May 1945, the day the 2nd World War in Europe officially ended. I was told that the nurses hung red, white and blue bandages round my cot. Red and blue bandages had been dipped in ink.
ReplyDeleteI was born there in 1948 and was a first child. My parents lived in Hulme at the time and went on to have two more children. We now live in Poynton so Prestbury is a near neighbour. I’ve often wondered about the location of Collar House so now I know what it currently is and its name, I’ll find time to check it out.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for this very interesting post!👍
I was born in Collar House 12th March 1940. Lived in Rusholme M14, 1940 till 1962.
ReplyDeleteThanks and I have a super present: Whole House Renovation victorian renovation
ReplyDelete