Anne Josephine 2

Two weeks ago Ceridwen got me thinking about parents after she posted some images about her own father and mother. Resuming the story of my Ma for mothersmonday.



 Last seen  looking cheeky and sporting ringlets, after the uncertainty and disruption of the war years and her lack of enthusiasm for education, Ma found something she loved and was obviously very good at. First she went to Stanmore Orthopaedic Hospital aged 19 and later joined St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London as a trainee nurse. Barts was a teaching hospital and highly thought of, still is. This was the era of fierce matrons, strict ward sisters, beds that had to be made correctly within an inch of their lives, starched headdresses and little cloaks when you went out. She specialised in orthopaedics, mainly children, and she flourished. She loved her job and when we used to look at the old photos, as we sometimes did, she could remember all their names of her little patients- see extra for her charges. Most of these little children had been affected by Polio, now thankfully not such a prevalent disease as it was in the late 40s/ early 50s.
She was in her final year of training when she met Pa. A bit of a whirlwind romance as he was on leave from India and asked her to return with him as his wife. She agreed and they were married before she completed her training. She never qualified, (for incredibly she was not allowed to continue her training once married) which is something I think she quietly regretted for she would have made a wonderful nurse – in fact she had been trainee Nurse of the Year.
 
Instead they married at St Margaret’s Westminster, close to the Abbey, honeymooned in Hope Cove Devon and then her new groom was off back to India. She followed later. He went by boat but I’m not sure how she travelled and suspect it must have been air for I can’t find her in any passenger lists. As far as I can work out, she must have flown from London to Delhi, then taken another flight on to Calcutta where Pa met her and whisked her off to her new home at the foothills of the Himalayas: GlenburnTea Estate, Darjeeling. A culture shock awaited.
 
 Ma is first on the left.