Mavis’s story was one I remember hearing many times as I was growing up, and it always seemed to carry such sadness. I knew she had been adopted into the family, I knew she had been deceived in love, and I knew she had been rejected by her birth father. As I’ve worked through the records, I’ve learned more about the circumstances surrounding her birth and the complexities of her family story. But while Mavis undoubtedly experienced sadness, I prefer to remember and record her as a much-loved member of our family whose life deserves to be celebrated as well as remembered.
Mavis was adopted by the Thomson family after Uncle John Thomson (my great grandmother’s brother) spotted an advert in a newspaper (like the one below) for a baby girl looking for a home.
According to the Thomson Family Bible, Mavis was born on 4 November 1914 and “arrived” on 30 November 1914. She was adopted by the Thomson family and grew up with “the Aunties”, my Grandpa Baird’s maiden aunts, who brought her up as their own.
The stories passed down through the family painted a rather sketchy picture of Mavis’s early life. Mum always believed that Mavis had been born a Roberts and that her mother had been an actress. She also remembered that Mavis had once been engaged to be married and that my Gran had made her trousseau, only for the wedding to be called off when it was discovered that her fiancé was already married. Mum had also been told that Mavis eventually traced her birth father in New Zealand and wrote to him, receiving a letter in return containing money and a request that she made no further attempt to contact him.
The family story that Mavis’s mother had been an actress has never been substantiated. However, I couldn’t help smiling when the only newspaper references I found to Mavis herself, apart from her death notice, were reports of her appearing in amateur dramatic productions with Milngavie United Free Church Girls’ Auxiliary. Perhaps this was how the “actress” story found its way into our family folklore!
This article, from 1940, is one of several reports in the Milngavie and Bearsden Herald recording performances by the United Free Church Girls’ Auxiliary, of which Mavis was a member.
My cousin Robert has memories of Mavis which paint a much warmer picture than the sad facts I recall. He remembers her as a kind and loving person who devoted herself to caring for the Aunties in their later years. As a little boy he loved visiting her in the kitchen behind the garage and still treasures a small barrel and a child’s chair that she gave him. He also remembers accompanying his dad on Sunday evenings to visit Mavis in hospital in Kirkintilloch where, through illness, she spent her final years.
Reading through Mum’s written memories, I found some equally affectionate stories. She wrote of spending many happy hours at the Aunties’ house and remembered conducting a “choir” of the Aunties and Mavis as they sang together. So, while Mavis undoubtedly experienced sadness, she also filled her life with kindness, music and family. Although I never knew her personally, I’m grateful that my research has allowed me to discover the person behind the family stories, and to remember her with affection.
The family memories encouraged me to look further. The official records revealed a story far more complicated than I had imagined.
Mavis’ birth certificate shows that she was born on 4th November 1914 in Glasgow to Sydney Hugh Rabbitts, (not Roberts, as Mum had always believed), a mechanical engineer, and Frances Grace Jackson, wife of Walter Herbert Boreham, a chemist. Frances declared that Walter was not the child’s father. At that time she already had three daughters by Walter. Records show that Walter petitioned for divorce in May 1914, citing Frances’ adultery. Given Mavis’ birth in November 1914, the timing is certainly consistent with Walter’s allegation. Frances initially denied the accusation, but her defence was later struck out and the divorce was granted. Walter was awarded custody of the couple’s three daughters.
Further research revealed that Sydney and Frances were first cousins, his father and her mother being brother and sister. Sydney’s branch of the family appear to have emigrated to Australia but he apparently returned to Britain for a visit. Whether he and Frances first met during that visit, or whether their relationship had begun earlier, is unknown. Just over a month after Mavis was given up for adoption, Sydney travelled back to Australia with Frances and they married there in 1915. They went on to have another daughter, Gweneth, in 1916. Their marriage, however, appears to also have become unhappy, and in 1927 Frances successfully petitioned for divorce on the grounds of Sydney’s desertion.
By 1946, Australian electoral rolls record Frances Grace Rabbitts living in New South Wales with Edward Rabbitts (a fitter), Gweneth Grace Rabbitts (a typist) and Jessie Jeanette Rabbitts (home duties). The relationships between Edward and Jessie is not recorded and remains to be uncovered. Frances died in Australia in 1957.
In 1932 Mavis’ father Sydney remarried. He worked as an engineer in the motor industry in a partnership “Josephson & Rabbitts”. He died in 1981 and his death notice records him as a much loved husband, dearly loved brother and fond uncle. Notably absent is any mention of his children. The reason for this can only be a matter for speculation.
Research into Frances’ first family revealed a much more complicated story than I had expected. In 1911, Frances was living alone with her three daughters while her husband, Walter Boreham, was a patient in an asylum. Records show that Walter was admitted to the asylum after several episodes of drunken behaviour. Whether this contributed to the breakdown of their marriage can never be known, but it suggests that family life had already become difficult before Mavis was conceived. It was good to discover that Walter rebuilt his life following Frances’ departure. He remarried, continued to work as a chemist and, at one point, even stood for the town council. Sadly, in 1921 he died after accidentally dropping a match while lighting his pipe, setting fire to his chemist’s shop. His wife escaped the blaze, but Walter died from burns sustained while trying to extinguish the fire. Frances and Walter’s three daughters, Violette, Enid and Kathleen, all married and raised families of their own. In Australia, Mavis’ full sister Gweneth also married and had a family.
Mavis remained unmarried. Her death certificate records her father as Sydney Hugh Rabbitts and her mother as Frances Grace Jackson or Boreham. She died in 1969 from chronic renal failure while a patient at Broomhill Hospital, Kirkintilloch which was operated by the Association for the Relief of Incurables and treated patients with untreatable conditions like cancer, chronic rheumatism, and tuberculosis.
Whether Mavis’s sisters in England or Australia ever knew they had another sister remains unknown. Their descendants certainly did not. More than a century later, it has been a privilege to piece together Mavis’s story and to connect the branches of both her birth and adopted families.
Craigachan 