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| From basking on beach to scrubbing
ward floors |
Exhibition reveals the key role
Caribbean workers played in NHS
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Pearline Williamson on her ward at the Whittington Hospital
soon after she arrived in Britain
Louise Hunt (standing) and Lolita Kirby
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HONEYMOONERS baking under the sun on a tropical island might
struggle to understand why anyone would want to leave the exotic
Caribbean for a job thousands of miles away in the UK.
But, for Antiguan-born Louise Hunt, scrubbing hospital floors on
a cold, grey morning, then returning through the a London fog to
cramped, shared accommodation signified a real future for her family.
Louise, 71, of Highbury New Park, Highbury, was one of the Windrush
generation – named after the ship Empire Windrush, which brought
Caribbean migrants to London in 1948.
She arrived in the early 1960s after a week-long voyage and, like
many of the new arrivals, was to dedicate her working life to the
NHS.
Louise said: “It was a long trip. We picked up people from
Trinidad and Spain, all the people were going to England.
“The boat was very comfortable. We had to dress up for dinner
and had wine with our meals.”
Britain signified opportunity for young Caribbean families and the
promise of a better wage – but at what cost?
To Louise, the capital’s claustrophobic accommodation and shared
kitchens were a necessary evil.
The mother-of-five has no regrets. She said: “I was 26 and
pregnant. We thought we could get a job quicker for a bit more money.”
The decision to leave was not taken lightly. She said: “We
never knew anything about winter. We had a lovely beach we could
go to whenever we wanted.
“My grandmother didn’t want any of us to go, but my father
paid the fare. He said: ‘If you don’t like it, come back’.”
For Louise, Britain in 1962 left a lot to be desired. She said:
“In the winter, when it got cold I cried. I said to my father:
‘I’ll give myself about six months and then I’ll
come back’.
“We had to live in a house with three or four families.”
The family worked hard and eventually found a home of their own.
Louise added: “We earned little but we could get a lot from
it. Now people earn more but they can’t get their heads above
water.”
Her recollections of the NHS in the 1960s are a far cry from the
tales of today’s hospital superbugs.
She said: “The NHS was really clean. The whole thing went wrong
when they turned it over to contractors. They don’t know who
they employ now.
“I’ve been back to hospitals and the whole situation is
totally different.
“When we were there, if you finished mopping you didn’t
sit down for a break. You had to find something else to do.”
Louise’s recollections and those of nurses, including Lolita
Kirby and Pearline Williamson, are part of an exhibition, Medicine
in Islington 1850-1960 – from Leeches to the NHS, at Islington
Museum in Upper Street.
Exhibition researcher Samir Singh said: “From researching the
topic, we definitely thought we should ask if the nurses felt any
racism.
“All the women we spoke to had positive experiences in dealing
with the public and medical profession.
“They felt valued. They said they were well received.”
Visitors to the free exhibition, which runs from September 21 to
December 23, can explore a Victorian chemist’s and domestic
sick room and crush and smell herbs once used as medicines.
Two free talks will be held at the museum – Why Immunise Your
Children? at 5pm on October 5, and The Surgeon, the Cadaver and
the Resurrectionist, which will discuss grave robbing for medical
research, at 7pm on October 12. |
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