An update - What happened to Maureen D HALL. Born 1930, Young/Koorawatha NSW

This is an update (finally!!!) on my search to find what happened to Maureen D HALL. 

 Among my HALL ancestors, William HALL (1843-1912) and Eliza BLISS (1852-1925) had 15 children from 1868-1896 all registered in Yass NSW. They later relocated to Koorawatha NSW, and from time to time I update this post series on the fate of each HALL child: https://thehistoryofmatt.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-children-of-william-and-eliza-hall.html (on that page my ancestor is Alfred Ernest HALL),

One of those 15 was Walter Henry HALL (1893-1950). In WW1 he served in B Company of the 45th Battalion AIF and was wounded in France. Afterwards he returned to Koorawatha and became a postman, dying in Concord Hospital (a suburb of Sydney, and a hospital for returned servicemen) in 1950 after finally losing his leg, and is buried in Rookwood Cemetery nearby. 

Walter married Marjorie A DONGES (1902 Young - 1930 Young) in 1928. Frank Hall (my grandfather's brother and a chemist at Wollongong University) dove into both the records and drove around NSW finding relatives to compile a HALL family history. The marriage for the pair was reported in the local papers:

 The Young Chronicle

Tue 18 Sep 1928

Of Walter he wrote the following (name of wife not correct, as noted above). Keep in mind this was written by in the 1980s by someone born in the 1920s, so the word choice is not up to 2020 standards:

"Walter H. He married Madge Dawson of Young quite late in life. He lived much of his life in Koorawatha of course operating at one time as a postman. His wife died at childbirth having a sub-normal daughter Maureen. To my knowledge she was still in a mental home at Stockton Newcastle in 1987."

Ever since reading this over 15 years ago I've wondered what happened to Maureen. It appears that almost immediately after birth, Maureen was placed in 'care'. This is a complex set of institutions at a time in Australia when 'mental hospitals' and institutionalization was standard practice, when the Indigenous stolen generation mechanism was well underway, as was the forced emigration of English orphans into Australia.

In 1987, aged 57, Maureen was still alive. But what was her fate? Who visited this only child after her father died in 1950? What was Maureen like? Where is she buried? I have a lot of questions.

Maureen's birth certificate isn't available, as she was born in 1930 (and there's a 100 year restriction in NSW). But I could confirm her name from her mother's death certificate:

NSW Death Registration 1930/17029
Name: Marjorie Alma Hall
Date of death: 7 Oct 1930

Place: Sacred Heart Hospital, Campbell St, Young ; late of Koorawatha

Sex: Female
Age: 27

Place of birth: Monteagle NSW

Father's name: John Christopher Donges, Farmer

Mother's name: Emma Simmons

Place of Marriage: Cowra NSW

Age at Marriage: 25

Name of Spouse: Walter Henry Hall

Children of Marriage: Maureen D, 9 days, living ; None deceased

Informant: W H Hall, Widower, Koorawatha

Cause of Death, length of illness: Chronic nephritis, myocarditis (12 days)

Medical attendant: A J Maurice Purchas
Date last seen: 6 Jan 1930 (I suspect this is mis-transcribed)

Date of Burial: 8 Oct 1930

Place of Burial: Church of England Cemetery Young

Minister and Religion: K L McKeown, Church of England

Undertaker: Patterson Bros

Witnesses: Frank Leach, Cecil T

Registered: 8 Oct, 1930 - Young

So Maureen was 9 days old when her mother died, and if the narrative is correct, she was placed in state (or religious) care. Possibly this was initially in the Young area, but the 'Stockton Mental Hospital for Children' was well established by 1941. My heart breaks thinking of Maureen, alone, and far from the HALL family base in Koorawatha (there were none in the Sydney or Newcastle areas), but clearly some extended family awareness of her location in 1987.

Newcastle Sun, 6 May 1941

In Jan 2020 the Property Officer - Cemeteries at City of Newcastle kindly checked the burial records for Stockton Cemetery, Wallsend Cemetery, Minmi Cemetery, and Sandgate Cemetery but no record of a burial for Maureen Hall could be found. 

As time has gone on I've continued to search all records each year as records are released - death certificates in NSW are released after 30 years. I've now found Maureen's likely death. The certificate in transcribed below. It doesn't reveal a great deal, but ties back to Maureen - father Walter, and born in Koorawatha. It states that Maureen passed away in late 1993, and lived at "Fairlegh Park" in Armidale NSW. Armidale is on the far north coast on NSW, a very long way from Koorawatha. Note that Maureen died in December 1993, but her death wasn't registered till February 1994.

My next job is to understand what 'Fairleigh Park' was. It now appears to be a Crematorium and memorial park.

NSW Death Certificate 4125/1994

Name: HALL, Maureen

Date of death: 8 Dec 1993

Place of Death: "Fairleigh Park" Uralla Rd Armidale NSW 2350

Sex and age: Female, 62 years

Place of birth: Koorawatha, NSW

Period of residence in Australia: Life

Place of residence: "Fairleigh Park" Uralla Rd Armidale NSW 2350

Usual occupation: Home duties

Marital status: Never married

Children: Not any

Mother's name: Maureen

Mother's maiden name: Not known

Father's name: Walter HALL

Cause of death: Carcinoma vulva 17 months

Name of certifying practitioner: Dr. B. H. Connor

Burial or cremation, Date: 9th December 1993

Place: Lawn cemetery Armidale

Informant: M J Field, "Fairleigh Park", no relation