Six Children Left Alone At Night - 58 Longley Avenue West Sheffield February 1941

The following cutting is from 1941 and concerns the case of 27 year old Elsie May Clark of 58 Longley Avenue West Sheffield.

The puzzling part for me about this case is the entry in the 1939 National Register for the property. The only occupant is Elsie May Clark date of birth 4th March 1914 who is listed as married and performing unpaid domestic duties. In the next property is a Harriet Clark date of birth 1st May 1878 who is a widow also performing household duties. It is quite possible that Harriet was Elsie's mother-in-law.

There is no record of any children or husband for that matter

Where ere the children in 1939? 

The other point that I discovered was that leaving children alone at night was widespread and been a feature of British life for decades. This certainly was not an isolated case  - the newspapers were full of cases of unattended children that had been left alone. Probably this came more to the fore in wartime when there was far greater vigilance on the population by the public authorities. 

But what made it even worse was the condition of the children who were in the house. They were all six years of age and under and were suffering from sores and were in bad condition.

It reflects a side of the war that is overlooked. The article states that the husband was in the forces and so was in no position to find out the situation at home. I wonder if he was informed that his children were in care and his wife in prison for neglect