Lost Child

Tweet

It is May of 1871 and a child is being transported in a Strand Union Ambulance to the Hamstead Smallpox Hospital. She is accompanied by her mother. The child(Elizabeth) has no underwear or shoes on but is wrapped in a blanket. She is a shy girl with weak eyes. The nurse admits her, and there are no other children on the ward. A few days later her father comes to visit and is told she has been moved to the Islington Hospital. He visits the hospital but is not allowed to see her, he's told she's doing well but will need to remain in the hospital for a further 21 days. Two of Elizabeth's siblings were also admitted to the Islington Hospital for smallpox. They were later discharged. John, the father, tries to visit Elizabeth again but is not allowed. He is dis-satisfied and requests that his other daughter, Mary-Anne be allowed to see her sister. This is granted but Mary Anne could not find her sister. John goes in and several children are presented to him, one that the nurse prods and says "Say hello to your father." The girl is not his daughter. John believes her to be a girl by the name of Florence Stone. A detective, Thomas Sargent, was employed to search the workhouses for the girl. The hospitals had no record of her discharge or her death. She was never found. A nurse would give evidence that she saw Elizabeth being admitted to the first hospital, but not being discharged or transferred. A little girl by the name of Annie would say the same thing, that she saw a little girl by the name of "Lizzie", but that she didn't see her being discharged. Where did the child go? Did she die in the care of the hospital and they cover it up? Was she taken to a workhouse? Did another family claim her? Why? From what I've read, this is not a well known case. However, this is supposedly one of the earliest (if not the earliest) recorded missing child case. The link is to a little more information, including a bit of discussion about it The poor girl. Part of me hopes that she died peacefully and not that she was taken and mistreated. However, part of me thinks she must have been taken and the nurses and staff at the hospitals covered it up, but why?