Interview with Daisy Doreen Brace (b.1921) about fostering children, family life, employment, and living in Bletchley.
Bletchley Road, 1960s. Illustrative photograph supplied by kind permission of Raymond Lubbock.
Daisy Doreen Brace recalls in more detail her family life in London, the period before moving to Bletchley from her mother’s house, moving day, and the difficulties involved. She remembers how thrilled she was to have a house of her own and how she enjoyed domestic life and housework: ‘I was so pleased, singing at the top of me voice’. She settled in quickly and experienced little antagonism as a London incomer.She discusses the contrast between life in Bletchley and London, and talks of her husband’s work in Bletchley for the Gas Board.
She recalls their first Christmas, with all the family from London coming. She remembers the rent collector, the mobile shops, and the weekly trek to Bletchley for shopping. She remembers weekend trips to their caravan at Cosgrove Park; they also had a canal boat.
She and her husband began fostering mixed race children. With two other mothers she also set up an organisation Prevention for Children, to support local mothers under stress and protect children from harm. She describes the process of fostering (and later adopting) her first daughter in London. In Bletchley she applied again to Dr. Barnardo’s but had a two-year wait. Then fostering continued apace, with one child almost every year; Barnardo’s bought a bigger house for the family in The Links. All the children were coloured: ‘we could get some nasty comments’. They eventually adopted all the children: she recalls the times when the children were young as her happiest. Their house was open to all, and she would always listen to problems. In 1973 Barnardo’s bought them a London house, because they had insufficient space for the number of children they had; she talks of her feelings on leaving Bletchley.
Finally she talks of her large family, including grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and family occasions. Her husband died in 1974, but she continued to foster newborn babies before they went to their adoptive parents.
Creator
Brace, Daisy Doreen
Extent
1 audio tape cassette
Contributor
Brace, Michael
Reference number
BBB/002/015
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