OB out of House of Commons

[Sid]

Most certainly there is another OB in the House of Lords, very much concerned with CH affairs (recently being the guest of honour at the Founder's Day Dinner). She's the Baroness Ruth Deech; a most distinguished lawyer (formerly Head of St Ann's College, Univ of Oxford, Ombudsperson for univ students and an influential legal bioethicist having chaired a government commission, etc, etc). See her Wikipedia entry for lots more. Sid

[postwarblue]

Including presiding over a system which brings children into the world who are denied for ever the knowledge of who their parents might be and thus of their own identity. For me that's a bit like some of the German breeding and forced adoption programmes during the war. Ethics my foot.

[Foureyes]

I agree with postwarblue. I have recently concluded research into Old Blues who died in World War Two; i.e., the facts and stories behind the names on the Dining Hall War Memorial. I managed to contact a number of the relatives or descendants of those concerned and I was taken by surprise by the depth of feeling among those whose father died either before they were born or so soon after that they have no recollection of him. I had thought that after 60 years the pain would have diminished, but not so. Obviously, mothers and relatives have tried to ease the pain of the father they never knew, but it's still there in many cases.

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

When I was a Soldier, my Father decided that, should I "Die without Issue", he would endow a boy at Barnardo's, to be brought up in my name.

I have never been sure, whether this was to perpetuate HIS memory or mine ! --- I being an only child.

(It never happened -- so it didn't happen !)

[DavidRawlins]

[ I was taken by surprise by the depth of feeling among those whose father died either before they were born or so soon after that they have no recollection of him. I had thought that after 60 years the pain would have diminished, but not so. [/quote]

I am not at all surprised. This is the most important event in a child's life (only the loss of their mother being worse). It was probably aggravated by the fact that in those years the death tended to be hidden from the child, and not discussed. A charity, Winston's Wish, is trying to address this problem.