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Story published on October 04, 2002

I was an abandoned baby

Page one of two
Judy Smith, 59, a nurse, lives in a three-bedroom end terrace in Basingstoke. She was widowed in 1991 when her husband Michael died aged 51. They had two children - David, 35, and Debbie, 33. Judy was found abandoned on a train in Wimbledon on 13 June 1943, the day on which she is thought to have been born.

When I was a little girl my adoptive parents would take me to visit the station master Mr Lynn at Wimbledon Park Station in London. I called him 'Uncle Lynn' and he was always pleased to see me.

His wife would bake jam tarts and I'd listen enthralled as he'd tell me the story of the day he found me on one of the steam trains in the railway cleaning sheds.

I was probably about four or five and Mr Lynn always seemed like this very kindly, old man, a bit of a grandfather figure, I suppose. I don't recall if he had any children of his own, just that he was always pleased to see me.

He had no idea who'd left me or why. I'd clearly just been born and had been put in a sheltered place where I'd be found. Uncle Lynn carried me to the station house from where the police were called.

I ended up being taken to the nearby Nelson Hospital - now, no longer there where I was given the first name 'June' after the month and the surname 'Southern' because I'd been found on the Southern Line.

I don't know how heavy I was or if I'd been clothed, just that I arrived at the hospital at the same time as Irene Dickinson gave birth to a still-born baby girl. So I was given to her to look after for a few days until I was taken to the Railway Children's Home at Woking. Eventually, Irene and her husband Albert, then in their 30s, adopted me and called me Judith.

I always knew I was a foundling because of my visits to the railway station. My adoptive parents always told me I was special because they'd chosen me to be their daughter and said they were glad to have me. I was a loving child and I did show affection back. However, my relationship with my adoptive mum was frequently strained as I was growing up, even from a very early age.

She was strait-laced and Victorian in her manner. She believed children should be seen and not heard and there were strict rules of behaviour. If my table manners were lacking or if I answered back, she'd send me to bed without food. She was possessive and controlling. I was often scared of her.

I thought if only my birth-mum had been able to keep me, I may have enjoyed more harmonious mother-daughter relationship. I'd wonder what my real parents were like and made up little stories about what had happened, though this was never really talked about with my adoptive parents at home..

Click here for page two of this story

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