Sad story of legend's mum Mar 29 2002 John Beasley By Southwark Historian, South London Press(posted 8053 days ago)CHARLIE Chaplin's mother, Hannah Chaplin, was transferred from Cane Hill Asylum to Peckham House, in Peckham Road, on September 9, 1912. This was a private lunatic asylum and stood where Warwick Park School is today. In the London Metropolitan Archives are receipts of Peckham House showing that in May 1915 the proprietors applied for her to be placed in the parish because Charlie and his brother Sydney had defaulted in paying fees of 30 shillings a week for their mother. Hannah Chaplin was a vaudeville artist until her voice failed. Impoverished and malnourished, she alternated between shabby rooms in Kennington, Lambeth workhouse and the public asylum at Cane Hill in Surrey. According to Kenneth Lynn in Charlie Chaplin and His Times, she was "a figure of tragic intensity...a woman of sorrows". The transfer to Peckham House followed a visit of Sydney and Charlie to Cane Hill. Peckham House was previously a mansion owned by Charles Lewis Spitta. The wealthy Spitta family lived there in great style, giving fetes for their neighbours and dispensing charity to poor people in the district. It became a lunatic asylum in 1826 and closed in 1951 so Peckham School could be built on the site; Dame Norma Major, wife of former Prime Minister John Major, was a pupil there. Who Was Who in Peckham includes Baroness Summerskill who married Dr E Jeffrey Samuel. At the time of their marriage in 1925 he was a medical officer at Peckham House. Edith Summerskill wrote in her memoirs, A Women's World: "I was a frequent visitor to the hospital - indeed it provided a background for our courting and we never failed to join in the Christmas festivities for many years after my husband had left." Who Was Who in Peckham is published by Chener Books, 14 Lordship Lane, SE22 8HN; £2.95 post free. It is by John D Beasley, Dip, Soc., C.Q.S.W. Member of The Society of Authors.