Margaret Rosina Robinson was born in Liverpool in June 1893. She was admitted into Barnardo’s care in 1901, aged seven, after an application was made by the NSPCC.
The NSPCC took on Margaret’s case, after a court order was issued by South Wales Police which had investigated Margaret’s mother for over a year.
Margaret’s mother had turned to prostitution after her husband abandoned the family when Margaret was younger. Shortly after he left, the family moved to Wales where Margaret’s mother was convicted, imprisoned and fined several times for drunkenness, disorderly conduct and soliciting. In her admission report to Barnardo’s, little Margaret was described as thin and greatly neglected by her mother, who often used her as a “decoy” to get alcohol from local the pubs. Her mother had also told Margaret’s school that she wanted to “get rid of” her by placing her into a home until she was fourteen years old.
Margaret was taken in by Barnardo’s and lived in the Girls Village in Barkingside, Essex for seven years. In 1908, fifteen year old Margaret left Barnardo’s to work as a maid at the Babies Castle in Hawkhurst, Kent. Census records from 1911 confirm that Margaret still worked at the Babies Castle, but there are no further records to determine what happened to her later on.
