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I am trying to find information about Robert and Maria Gardner.
Robert born 1860 in Scotland
Maria born 1862 in Blyth
They married in 1883 and lived in Hartlepool
Around the 1901 census they moved to Hull
The census shows 8 children were born prior to this move
Between the 1901 and 1911 census they moved back to the Hartlepool area
In 1911 Maria is boarding alone showing only 4 children still alive
But in actual fact the other 4 children were left as very young girls in a derelict house in Hull and were brought up in the workhouse/foster care not knowing their origins or dates of birth
We are desperate to find the story behind this
Can anyone PLEASE help?

1901 -for ref.

Name: Robert S Gardner
Age: 41
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1860
Relation: Head
Spouse's Name: Maria Gardner
Gender: Male
Where born: Scotland

Civil parish: Byker
Ecclesiastical parish: St Michael
Town: Newcastle Upon Tyne
County/Island: Northumberland
Country: England

Street Address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Education:

Employment status: View image

Registration district: Newcastle upon Tyne
Sub-registration district: Byker
ED, institution, or vessel: 31
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 153
Household Members: Name Age
Robert S Gardner 41 Iron & Steel Ship Plater
Maria Gardner 39
Robert B Gardner 16
Herbert Gardner 15
William Gardner 14
Charles Gardner 11
Dora Gardner 7
Esther Gardner 5
Margaret Gardner 4
May Gardner 2


Have you found all the children on the 1911 Census please?

Hi there - thank you for your kind reply. We have found the girls on the 1911 census but not the boys. It appears that the boys went back to the Newcastle area with their parents between 1901 and 1911 - they are shown on their Mother's census entry as alive but the girls are shown as dead.
However, as explained they were not dead but abandoned. We are keen to find the boys as their links may know something about the story of this. It is a real mystery. We are considering trawling the newspapers in the Hull area to see if this may have been a newsworthy article but the task is mammoth due to the span of years. We do know that the girls ended up in the workhouse - some were fostered but my grandmother never knew her date of birth and they seemed to know little or nothing about their background. Not really sure where to go from here.
I have Robert and Maria's marriage certificate from this site and I do know that the girls' name changed to GARDINER from GARDNER during their time in the workhouse. I have found a person on this site who seems to have a link to this family but so far have had no reply.
Maria's maiden name was Beckett.
Any ideas to move forward would be so much appreciated.
regards
Judy

My train of thought was that by 1911 all the girls except May would have been old enough to work and were probably in service by then. May, the youngest girl would only have been 12 so was possibly still in care. I would have thought that it would indeed have been newsworthy - even in those days. As you say though, it would be very time consuming searching a ten year span in the local newspaper. Some libraries have indexes for local newspapers so it may be worth checking with the main library in the area. Was the father still alive when the girls were abanboned? You just can't image the dreadful circumstances that would lead parents to such drastic action.

Hi - thank you once again for your reply. I have found another lead - I have spoken to the history museum locally about the workhouse records. Apparently they are usually kept but the records in this instance are missing. However, I have just found out that they had monthly meetings and the minutes of these meetings are held locally. I intend to go and see if I can find any entries relating to this case.
Yes, the father was still alive when they were abandoned, we believe we have a record of that from the 1911 census - but they seemed to be living separately so it could be that they split up and this caused them to do what they did. We know that the oldest went into domestic service and that two were fostered together and I think the third was also fostered.
It would make an interesting documentary if we can find a conclusion.
Any further thoughts would be much appreciated.