Jill Mahler

“I mean my mother didn’t go into details, she just said that the doctor just said to her ‘Well, forget about her. Put her in a home and go ahead and have another baby.’ So, that was that, but, as my mother was quite a cussed person and said ‘No way’, etc, and she kept me…” Jill Mahler
 
Born 7 July 1938
 
Educated Tenterden School; Hurst Green, Surrey; Lillesden School; Trinity College, Dublin; Swansea University; Haifa University; Bristol University; University College, London; Surrey University

Jill Mahler Tape 1 Listen here:
Born with cerebral palsy, the first of two children, and lived near London. No Grandparents. At age 4½, went to a local mainstream, private “Dame” school. Aged 8½, Jill went to a boarding school for children with speech problems... 00:31:27

Jill Mahler Tape 2 Listen here:
Housemistress and headmistress influence on Jill. Jill became a Queen’s Guide at 16. Went to London for a presentation by the Chief Guide, Lady Baden-Powell. First school was a small local private school, run by a mother and... 00:22:42

Jill Mahler Tape 3 Listen here:
Family surname Partridge, a good Devon name. All her grandparents died young. Mrs Hudson Smith (pioneer in field of speech therapy) started a boarding school. Jill one of the first of 7 pupils. Stayed 18 months. Left when no more... 00:27:53

Jill Mahler Tape 4 Listen here:
Social worker in her early twenties in rural area of NW Ireland. Very sectarian. “Didn’t kick with either foot”, an expression meaning she was neither Catholic nor Protestant. Schools were segregated. Crossing the border... 00:31:23

Jill Mahler Tape 5 Listen here:
Going to Great Ormond Street for physiotherapy at two. Father Reginald’s family was Partridges from Devon. Mother’s family was Leader, originally coming from Czechoslovakia. Tenterden School. Lack of awareness of disability... 00:26:21

Jill Mahler Tape 6 Listen here:
First 13 months in the Kibbutz were stressful. Jill’s first son was born in 1971. Heat and physical conditions in Kibbutz. The Babies’ House, where children went from hospital. Jill was determined that her second son, Adam, born ... 00:27:08

Download a transcript of Jill Mahler interview (PDF, 343kb)