On 16 August 1944 my dad was born at The Barratt Maternity Home in Northampton. World War two was still raging and it would be another eight months until victory was declared in Europe. The photo below is said to have been taken the year dad was born. The title and description read ‘The front of the Barratt Maternity Home in Cheyne Walk, after nurses had covered it in flags. The American Stars and Stripes the most prominent, perhaps due to the number of US fathers who visited after American forces came to town, It was said at the time the American fathers outnumbered the ‘local dads’.
Embed from Getty Images
The Barratt Maternity Home, 1944
The flags may also have been displayed to mark VE day, as described in the newspaper article below.
An article from the Northampton Mercury newspaper
dated 11 May 1945 detailing the display of a large US flag.
The Home was a separate building in the grounds of Northampton General Hospital and was built by William George H Barratt who was born in Northampton in 1877, where he lived throughout his life. The son of a boot sewer, William and his brothers became shoe workers by their early teens and William managed one of Manfield’s shops in London, then his father’s boot shop in Gold Street, which later he bought. By 1902, he and his brother David had a boot shop in the Drapery. Their innovative idea of selling boots via the post (the first in the country) was resented by the manufacturers who cut off supplies of boots and shoes. However, in 1907, the brothers started a new company, W Barratt and Co, Ltd. to make their own shoes, with two of their other brothers, Albert and Richard, as nominal shareholders.
William George H. Barratt
Photo credit: Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust
In 1913 they opened a new factory, the Footshape Boot Works an elaborate looking building with a brick and cream terracotta frontage and a pierced balustrade which reads Footshape Boot Works. The building was designed for the comfort of its workforce, with air conditioning and natural light through roof vents and widows with clear glass. An up to date conveyor reduced lifting and carrying. A canteen served tea free of charge and made hot meals available. Welfare services included a benevolent scheme and contribution free pensions.


on the steps of The Barratt Maternity Home, 19 February 1941.
Photo used with permission of Historic England.

A view of the labour ward. with a nurse preparing equipment,
at The Barratt Maternity Home, 19 February 1941.
Photo used with permission of Historic England.
The following year the Barratt’s agreed to fund a gynaecological department, a maternity outpatients department, and an operating theatre. It was hoped that the provision of a maternity home would help to reduce maternal mortality in the town. William was a regular contributor to good causes, including a rest home for the unemployed, and the Mayor’s Fund for the Red Cross. He died in a Northampton nursing home in December 1939.

at The Barratt Maternity Home, 19 February 1941.
Photo used with permission of Historic England.
Northampton General Hospital and The Barratt Maternity Home (1938 – 1954)
Photo credit: Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust

Further information
- The Barratt Maternity Home by Julia Corps
- Barratt Maternity Home: A few glimpses of midwifery, 1936 – 1971
- Eleanor Hague (matron of the Barratt Maternity Home 1954 – 1965)
- Historic England
– Sisters and pupil midwives on the steps of the Barratt Maternity Home
– A mother in bed holding her newborn twin daughters, at the Barratt Maternity Home
– A group of nurses singing around a pianola, at The Barratt Maternity Home
– A large bedpan steriliser in the sluice room at the Barratt Maternity Home
– A view of a labour ward at the Barratt Maternity Home
– Pupil midwives in the bathroom at the Barratt Maternity Home - Northamptonshire Health Charity
- Northampton Nursing History