SO many people came into the world at Sedgefield’s Hardwick Hall – and many of them appear not to worry about having their age revealed in Memories.

It is, though, all in the name of historic research because you will remember from last week that we were trying to find out when Hardwick Hall became a maternity hospital and when the hospital closed.

All we know is that it opened sometime before 1941 and it closed during the 1960s – so we asked Hardwick babies to let us know when they came into the world.

In response, Marjorie Nelson got in touch from Newton Aycliffe to say that her three children were born in the hospital during the 1960s but she was born on August 21, 1939, in her parents’ house in South View, Sedgefield – this, therefore, suggests that the hospital was opened after this date.

The prize for the earliest known Hardwick baby goes to Barbara Cummings (nee Taylor), who was born there on January 8, 1940 and still lives in Sedgefield.

So that gives us quite a precise opening date. Now to the closing date, and lots of people offered little anecdotes to help us narrow down our search.

For example, Jill Hitching (nee Armstrong) emailed to say that she was born on November 22, 1963, thus completing an extraordinary trio of famous events: her birth at Hardwick, the Beatles played down the road at the Stockton Globe, and JF Kennedy assassinated in Dallas.

Dane Rollo wrote: “I don't think I would be the last born to be born there as I arrived on January 27, 1964, but my claim to fame, according to mother, is that the ward where I was born became the ladies’ toilets in later years when the hall was converted into a hotel.

“Apparently me Dad found it hard work travelling to see mother and son as he had to come from Shildon by train, and it was a long walk in the snow from Sedgefield station.”

We even got a call from ambulanceman Doug Sisson in Stockton who remembers taking pregnant ladies from Billingham to Hardwick when he joined the service in 1966.

But Michael Brown takes the prize for the latest known birth, arriving in the world on January 2, 1968 – which was something of a disappointment to the hospital staff.

He says: “The story told by my mother was that they had never had a New Year’s Day birth at Hardwick and so, with closure imminent, they were hoping I would be the one. Unfortunately nobody told me, so I didn't appear until January 2.”

So there we have it: Hardwick Hall, a place of births from January 8, 1940, to January 2, 1968 – unless, of course, you or yours has a date of birth that would widen the window.

SOME other Hardwick babies who’ve been in touch: Derek Wasson of Sadberge (born: November 3, 1950). Dez Tinkler (December 2, 1961). Sharon Goodrick (nee Veitch) of Ferryhill (June 8, 1963). Angela Charlton (June 1963). Dean Emerson (July 17, 1964). Christine Jordan (January 30, 1965). Julie Martindale (March 22, 1966). Ellis Cook (September 9, 1967).

IN a neat piece of symmetry, our first known baby to be born in Hardwick, Barbara Cummings, tells us that her sister, Sheila Marshall, held her wedding reception at the hall on October 16, 1970 – the first reception after it had been converted into a hotel.