Professional nurse 1911

[Darnity]

Looking for something completely different on the 1911 Census I came across this interesting occupation for Ethel Helmore.

She's at the home of Marion Stirling Stuart, a substantial house known as St Margaret's in Tickford Street in Newport Pagnell:


Marion Stirling   Stuart   Head   Single   Female   49   1862   -   Lanarshire N B
Alice   Brown   Boarder   Single   Female   30   1881   -   Folkestone
Emily   Bolton   Servant   Widow   Female   42   1869   Cook domestic   Shritham
Emma   Steers   Servant   Single   Female   46   1865   Tablemaid domestic   Rotherhithe
Mary Jane   Agar   Servant   Single   Female   47   1864   Ladiesmaid domestic   Denby Yorkshire
Ruth   Gratham   Servant   Single   Female   33   1878   Housemaid domestic   Sussex Farm Ripley
Mary   Hogg   Servant   -   Female   15   1896   Training girl   Windsor
Ethel   Helmore   Servant   Single   Female   43   1868   Professonal nurse   Wimbledon

My immediate reaction was to think about how nurses could be unprofessional

I'm assuming that Ms Stirling Stuart was ill and needed a live in nurse although she is still at St Margaret's in 1921 as is Alice Brown - Alice is shown as 40 while Marion is now 37. Emma Steers the servant is still in the household but there is no cook.

Ms Stirling Stuart dies in March 1953, North Bucks RD which would cover Newport Pagnell, leaving over £11K. I think I might just get a copy of her will as I'm now intrigued by her and her household.

[aghadowey]

It may be that she was a trained nurse rather that someone who did nursing. I did see somewhere (Ancestry?) a database of U.K. Nurses register which covered quite a number of years and was able to find various relatives over several generations.

[Kay99]

If it helps Ethel was a retired hosptial nurse in 1939 and in other census years is Georgina Ethel

[Darnity]

Thanks.

I've ordered a copy of the will.

I've also been told that by 1924 the property was being run as a nursing home and maternity home, haven't yet found out when that started but wondering if that is why the professional nurse is there in 1911. I'm told it had ceased functioning by WWII.

It's always interesting when one goes off at a tangent spotting something totally unrelated to what one was actually looking for.

[spendlove]

Hi,

Take a look at the 1939 Register 80 Tickford Street  for Stirling Steward M.

Thought the entries were  odd.

Wont post details think we are not allowed.

[Darnity]

I've now found out from a newspaper report that the house, renamed to St Margaret's, opened sometime in 1901 as a convalescent home run by a Sister Mary Louisa and Ms Stirling Stuart.

I don't have the date yet for the newspaper report other than 1901 but when the 1901 Census is taken we find a Sarah Watkin there as Superintendent Home of Rest along with two boarders, so these must be the paying guests, and two domestic staff.

So I went back to 1891 and it was a private house.

As the building was demolished in the 1960s to make way for a big office block does anyone know where the deeds showing it's ownership over the years, might be found? Possibly the county records office or would the land registry hold them?

[MollyC]

The Land Registry did not begin until 1974, then only for some counties.  Buckinghamshire was not included until the 1980s.  It depends whether the office block has changed ownership since then.  Once a property has been registered deeds are not needed to prove title, so the Land Registry does not hold any.  It is possible the deeds have been donated to the County Record Office, you would need to make an enquiry there.

[JenB]

The Land Registry did not begin until 1974, then only for some counties. 

You might want to check that date

I started work at the Land Registry in 1971 and it had been in existence for many years before that.

In some cases the Registry does retain some deeds, otherwise they are all returned to the solicitor acting for the applicant.

[AlanBoyd]

St Margarets was No. 80 Tickord Street. Using the 1910 Valuation Survey (Lloyd George Survey) map and register (actual date 1914) I have identified it as the house labelled as Tickford Lodge on this OS map of 1900 (which is the map that was annotated for the survey):

https://maps.nls.uk/view/104180654#zoom=6&lat=1661&lon=12541&layers=BT

The property is recorded as two sites for some reason but Miss Sterling Stuart is recorded as owner and occupier of both. The former sale date is recorded as ca. 1901.

The ground floor includes Hall, Sitting Room, Drawing Room, Dining Room, Servants Hall, Sitting Room [again], Kitchen, Scullery, Pantry, Flower Room. There are two cellars.

The 1st floor has 8 bedrooms, a chapel, and a bathroom. Above that, 2 attics.

The valuation is a little confusing, but I think it has been reduced from an owner's estimate of £2000 to £1300 because:

"House old fashioned  – only fair repair, bad approach"

Another building (on the eastern boundary I assume) is a "double coach house, harness room, stable used as coach house" described as "poor repair". A cottage is also listed, but no details.

The plots immediately to the west, marked 277 and 278 on the OS map (but not the houses facing on to Tickford Street) are also owned by Miss Sterling Stuart, but are occupied by James Temple and are listed as St Margaret's Nursery Garden.