Photo-a-Day (Friday, 28th February, 2014)
Mariebonne House
Photo: Rev David Long (Sony SLT-A65V)
Lovely Rev. David ....don't think I ever passed this house so nice to see....cheers!!!
Looking through the census images from 1871 to 1891 there are various spellings. Marie le Bonne Marielebone Marielebonne and Marylebone. The images are the original handwritten entries and often difficult to decipher.
Very Good photo,This is pure Wigan history and has a tale to tell i love photo's like this ,Well Done.
Lizzie, I think this is opposite to where you used to live at Mere Oaks.
ann21 - just a bit further down the road - it's between the Cherry Gardens and the Plantation Gates on Wigan Lane.
Lizzie - it's a bit intimidating approaching this house on foot, so I don't expect you'll have seen it.
As you say, Colin, it is part of Wigan's history, but I'm having difficulty finding old photographs of it and The Woodlands.
Thank you Ann and Rev David for the info....it is all so long ago...I have just passed the 50 years in Australia milestone.....cheers!!!!
On one side of the road, the name is Marylebone.
On the other side, which was once a shop, it says Mariebonne ...Take yer pick..;o)
Did it used to be a private maternity hospital in the 60's?
Sorry, I mean't the 40's.
My grandmother was a VAD nurse here in WW1. Thank you so much for the photo.
This is Mariebonne House . Yes it WAS built as the dower house to the Earl of Crawford. My mum grew up here and I remember it as a small child. Very intimidating building for a kid! Strange to see this photo!
Tom, what was your grandmothers name when she was a VAD?
Hi Alan. My grandmother's name was Mary Gregory Johnson.
Tom - had you found her details on the Red Cross site?
https://vad.redcross.org.uk/Card?fname=Mary&sname=Johnson&hosp=Wigan&id=120094&first=true&last=true
Although the house seems to have had connections with the Earl of Crawford, it was actually Mrs ffarington of Worden Hall who put it at the disposal of the Red Cross in WW1.
I thought my grand parents Mara and Percy Campbell lived here before the war
Any body know ?
I lived in this house from birth [Christopher Nursing Home] in 1952 until I was married age 26 in 1978. It was a beautiful home, with lovely gardens, with a wood and later, a tennis court. A real family home.
My grandparents, Peter & Alice Conroy bought Mariebonne House either just before or just after WW1 and were resident here with their 8 children according to the 1921 census. I remember being told it was a nursing home for officers and Edward V111 (he abdicated) visited for a garden party and they had a band playing on the terrace! Myself and my four siblings were all privileged to be brought up here. Many happy memories.