Support after care

Father Hudson’s understands the importance of being able to find out information about one’s origins and about the period of time spent in care, so it provides an Origins Service to those who previously stayed in the various Catholic homes it was connected with.

We also recognise the importance of people’s family history and so can help with providing information from our records when the person formerly in care is deceased.

Sometimes, those formerly in the homes connected with Father Hudson’s wish to visit where their former home was, and we welcome those who would like to arrange a visit to our Coleshill base. We also can assist in tracing relatives and reconnecting with family members.

What records do we hold?

We hold a range of children’s files from 1902 and registers from earlier years.

The Mother & Baby Homes connected to Father Hudson’s were:

Francis Way, 124 Four Ashes Road, Bentley Heath, Knowle
Woodville, 176 Raddlebarn Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham
St Paul’s Home, 1 High Street, Coleshill (for a short time).

(Anyone adopted from these homes should apply for information using an application form for obtaining information from adoption records).

Father Hudson’s Homes in Coleshill which included:

St Paul’s (initially a Poor Law school for boys, then a home for girls)
St Edward’s Home for Boys
St George’s and St James’ Cottage Homes
St Joan’s (initially a home for girls, then a family group home)
St Andrew’s Home (initially a home for boys, then a family group home)
St Teresa’s Nursery.

The Father Hudson’s hostels in Birmingham connected with young people starting work were:

St Vincent’s Hostel for Working Boys, 102 Moseley Road, Birmingham
Manresa Hostel for Working Girls, Vernon Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham.

Registers are held for:

Maryvale, Old Oscott Hill, Kingstanding, Birmingham
Fry House and Loreto House, Southam.

We have records on a small proportion of children who were at other Catholic establishments such as:

Nazareth House, Rednal
Croome Court and Besford in Worcestershire.

Files connected to child migration schemes to Canada and Australia are held if the young person was initially under the care of the Birmingham Diocesan Rescue Society. Additional registers are held of those whose emigration to Canada was arranged by the Catholic Emigration Association.

How to apply

For an Application for those who were previously in care to access records, download here.

For an Application for those who wish us to check our archives and to find out more about their family history, download here.

Any enquiries about our support after care can be made by phoning 01675 434000 or by emailing origins@fatherhudsons.org.uk

Fees for Father Hudson's Care family history service

Note: fees apply only for relatives of the person formerly in care and are not chargeable to the actual person who had been in care.

Once you have completed and posted the form, you may pay via PayPal. You do not need a PayPal account to pay in this way. Please select the services you are paying for and click ‘Pay for services’.

	Check of records: £30 To process enquiry and undertake search of various registers. This will also include a copy of information from the registers and information about the Home the relative was in. The fee is non-refundable.
	Copies of information from file: £45 Where a file is located, which is the case in most post-1925 records and some post-1902 records, copies of any information relating to family history will be provided by post. (Fee is in addition to the £30 application fee.)
	Meeting with Origins counsellor: £30 To meet with an Origins counsellor who can discuss the records in more detail and show you general photographs from our archives. These photos are mainly undated and individual children are not named. Fee is in addition to above fees.