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Tom MackenzieBritish, former foundling.
Country:
 Great Britain |
Content:
- A British 'foundling'
- A Sad Beginning
- A New Family
- Life at the Foundling Hospital
- A Connection with His Mother
- The Search for His Mother
- A Reunited Family
A British 'foundling'
Tom Mackenzie, a British man, was abandoned by his mother at the Foundling Hospital when he was just 9 weeks old. Despite being separated, Tom's mother continued to play a role in his life, and he eventually learned about her existence. However, it took him 20 years to find her.
A Sad Beginning
Tom Mackenzie's sad story began before his birth in 1938. His mother, Jean Craig, ended her relationship with Raymond Diver when she was 24 years old and he was 19. Raymond was leaving for South Africa to start a new life, and Jean had no place in it anymore. A few weeks after their separation, Jean discovered that she was pregnant. She didn't inform Raymond about the pregnancy as he was already far away, and she couldn't raise the child on her own. Jean made the difficult decision to leave her baby at the Foundling Hospital.
A New Family
Tom was quickly adopted by Ethel and Cecil, residents of Saffron Walden, Essex. He spent his first five years in this loving family. Unfortunately, Cecil passed away due to a duodenal ulcer, and Ethel could no longer support all three children. As a result, Tom and his sister Janet were returned to the Foundling Hospital. This separation was devastating for Tom, as the family he had miraculously found had fallen apart before his eyes.
Life at the Foundling Hospital
Tom spent a significant amount of time at the Foundling Hospital. The conditions there were not terrible, as the institution was relatively well-equipped, and the staff treated the children adequately. However, the lack of parental love was a constant source of pain for Tom. Older children at the hospital often bullied the younger ones, and the staff turned a blind eye to such behavior, recognizing the futility of trying to stop it.
A Connection with His Mother
At the age of 11, Tom received his first message from his biological mother. Jean had never forgotten about her son and had been sending him gifts on Christmas and his birthday. She deeply regretted her decision to leave him at the hospital. However, Tom only learned about his mother's current surname, Mackenzie, when she was living in Dingwall, Scotland, married to a lawyer named Duncan. This scanty piece of information stuck in Tom's memory.
The Search for His Mother
Over the next eight years, Tom had several encounters with potential adoptive families, returned to the Foundling Hospital multiple times, and even served in the army. After being demobilized, he found himself in North England and decided to search for his mother. He began with the name "Dingwall" and quickly discovered that Duncan Mackenzie, Jean's husband and also her secretary, had moved to Edinburgh. Tom arrived in Edinburgh on a Sunday morning and decided to check the Mackenzie firm on the same day, just in case. Fortunately, not only was the firm open, but Jean herself was present. For the first time in 20 years, Tom was reunited with his mother.
A Reunited Family
The reunion between mother and son was not the end of miracles in this story. After Jean was widowed, Tom's father divorced his wife, and the family finally came together. At that time, Tom himself was already a father of three children, but the joy of reuniting with his birth parents was not diminished by this fact.
