Heren - British Nannies and the Great War

First published in Great Britain in 2016 by
Pen & Sword History
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
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Barnsley
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S70 2AS

Copyright Louise Heren, 2016

ISBN: 9781473827530
PDF ISBN: 9781473880412
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PRC ISBN: 9781473880399

The right of Louise Heren to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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For Louis, without whose arrival we would not have needed so many nannies.

And in memory of my father, who led me to believe I could write.

For the long nights you lay awake

And watched for my unworthy sake;

For your most comfortable hand

That led me through the uneven land;

For all the story-books you read;

For all the pains you comforted;

For all you pitied, all you bore,

In sad and happy days of yore

My second Mother, my first Wife,

The Angel of my infant life

From the sick child, now well and old,

Take, nurse, the little book you hold!

And grant it, Heaven, that all who read

May find as dear a Nurse at need,

And every child who lists my rhyme,

In the bright fireside, nursery clime,

May hear in it as kind a voice

As made my childish days rejoice!

Robert Louis Stevenson

Contents

Picture Credits

The author and publisher wish to express their thanks to the following archives and individuals who have granted permission to reproduce photographic material within this book. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders, but if any omissions may have occurred, please contact the publishers.

The Royal Archives Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II:

Front of postcard from Marion Burgess to Kate Fox, 3 January 1913, depicting Princess Marie Kirillovna and Princess Kira Kirillovna of Russia.

Postcard from Nurse Marion Burgess (Burgie) to Nurse Kate Fox, 3 January 1913, sending Christmas and New Year greetings.

Churchill Archive Centre:

Identity papers of Nurse Kathleen Wanstall, 1916, (Miscellaneous Collections 98).

Courtesy of Andrew Jennings:

Photograph of Nurse Mary Faulconers charge, Miss Marion Jennings, 1913.

Courtesy of the Mackarness family:

Photograph of Nurse Eileen Godfrey, prior to her marriage and departure for India, 17 November 1913.

All other materials are reproduced by kind permission of Mrs Liz Hunt, Principal, Norland College, Bath.

Foreword

N orland College was established in a very different world, and yet the role of the nanny in modern family life is perhaps more vital today than it was back then. It is now common for both parents to work in an interconnected world, which moves so quickly. In such times, the support offered by an excellent nanny is of considerable value.

A nanny is a friend and role model for children, able to foster an ethos of calm and politeness and have that quiet sense of organization, the extra gentle touch of comfort to both parent and child.

I believe parenting is one of the worlds most important skills, and sometimes one of the most challenging. Childhood is the time to enrich our children and to teach them the values they will carry with them into the next stages of their lives. Anything that helps you as a parent at this important time is worth its weight in gold.

Being a mother to five children, a daughter and four boys and all at distinct stages of age and education, is and has been an incredible joy. My belief has always been that children learn through osmosis and that a calm home is a happy one. I must say that without the help of our wonderful nanny I wouldnt have been able to fulfil my role and lifes demands with such a calm head.

In the late Victorian era, when Norland College was established, children were often left seen and not heard in the sole care of nannies, while parents prioritised their decisions and lives. Norland College has been strikingly good at adapting its traditions for the modern age, where parents are now so involved with their children and where a nanny works much more closely with the parents. Through such a close and positive relationship, the parents can still go out and work, but they can also play their most essential role in parenting.

The world-famous expertise offered by Norland College in training such figures who will eventually be so important in the lives of so many children, is part of a wonderful and crucial tradition of excellence. I am delighted that this fascinating book has now come to completion and will act as a documentary not only of that tradition but of how Norland College will continue to offer so much to a new generation as they discover the joys of being a parent.

HRH Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece, 2015

Foreword

T he Norland Institute and Norland College, as we are now, has an enviable reputation for the quality, integrity and loyalty of the young women it has trained to become childrens nurses and in recent times, early years practitioners. We were the first, and have remained the foremost establishment for the training of young women who have a passion for the care and development of our youngest citizens. For over a century, our reputation has been maintained by adherence to three mottos.

When our founder, Mrs Emily Ward, began her lifes work in 1892, she instilled the words love never faileth into each of her probationer nannies. She encouraged them to love one another, to support and nurture each other. They should have an unfailing love for their vocation, a passion for raising children using the latest educational thinking of the time. And of course, a deep love for small people whom they would guide through their younger years, steered by the values of their age. Mrs Wards motto has never left us. It is as relevant for the young women, and occasional young man, training at Norland today.

However, Mrs Ward had another motto: Fortis in Arduis strength in adversity. Working with small children can be a lonely profession. All day long a childrens nurse is surrounded by budding intellects, enquiring minds, requests and questions. And when those leaders, inventors and teachers of the future are all tucked up in bed, a nannys job is not done because planning and preparing for tomorrow has only just begun. It takes strength and stamina to care for infants and toddlers day after day.