What happened to Valerie Mirams?
Help us locate the mother of the four children abandoned in our story, Here is what we know so far...
Valerie Isla Mirams was born in East Melbourne on March 22, 1930. If she's alive, she would be 85 today.
There is no evidence of Valerie Mirams alias Christine Guy, Valerie Guy or Christine O'Brien after 1963. Evidence shows that she was also known as "Christine or Chris " instead of Valerie. In Sydney, she was known sometimes as "Christine Guy", sometimes as "Christine O'Brien", as well as Valerie GUY.
Wide inquiries with the many Mirams families in Victoria and internationality with the person who runs the Mirams family tree in Florida have revealed no trace.
We know that Valerie left her youngest children, Gary and Kim, in Melbourne in 1963. Her children believe she fled to Sydney, although the reason why she came to Sydney at this time is unclear.
Valerie's Birth Certificate reveals some of her key details:
Valerie Isla Mirams was born in East Melbourne on March 22, 1930. Her mother was Ethel Jane Mirams, born in 1892 in Clifton Hill, Victoria. Her father was Maurice Mirams, an engineer, born in 1899, in Ascot Vale, Victoria. Valerie's parents married on October 17, 1928, in Melbourne.
When Valerie was born they lived at 6 Adler Grove, Merlynston. Valerie was married twice, once to an unknown man (as per her marriage certificate which advises she was a divorcee prior to marrying the second time to James GUY in 1957). She was not married to Raymond Sturdy, father of her younger children, Gary and Kim.
This shows that she was married to a Royal Australian Navy sailor, James Brian Guy, who came from Surrey in England and prior to joining the Navy lived in Punchbowl NSW and was based at HMAS Cerberus for his training at the time Valerie met him. They married in the St Kilda Methodist Church and lived at 52 Alma Rd, St Kilda.
Intriguingly, the certificate shows Valerie was divorced at the time of this marriage. The marriage to James Guy was 12 months to the day after Julie was born in Sydney.
Valerie later formed a relationship with Raymond Sturdy, the father of Gary and Kim Sturdy, before she moved to Sydney in 1963. Ray too was a sailor in the Royal Australian Navy. He always refused to tell Gary and Kim anything about their mum. They did manage to find this one photo:
Steve was left, on Thursday, December, 23, 1949, in the Civic cinema in George St, Sydney. At the time, Valerie would have been 19. She left no trace.
Julie was left, on April 22,1956, at the Salvation Army hotel, The People's Palace, in Pitt St, Sydney. Valerie was arrested and charged over this abandonment but we have
no record of any conviction.
Gary and Kim were left, they believe, at their home in St Kilda, Melbourne, in 1963.
We believe Valerie, possibly under the name Christine, lived in a Paddington rooming house in Sydney 1963. And was convicted in Sydney in 1963 on the charge of being in a gaming house.
Steve, Julie, Gary and Kim appeal to anyone who may know more about Valerie and other family. You can email them via Sunday Night on SundayNight@Seven.com.au
