Royal Earlswood Redhill
A new pathway
Photograph : Miss Jean Yorke
Ernie Wells was a good friend and we had some interesting times together. We had both attended the same school. I worked on the railways and he worked on maintenance at the Royal Earlswood hospital. One evening when out visiting a few pubs together, he was telling me about the social life at the hospital. “Mick,” he said, “why don’t you apply for a job at the hospital? It’s easy, and a good place to work.” Living near the hospital as a child I knew it was a special place for people with all sorts of problems. At the first opportunity I applied and secured a job in the kitchens, helping with the washing up. It was such a change from the railways. We had plenty of help from high grade patients (that was the term used in those days). We kept a watch on things such as the potato peeler and moved crockery around on trolleys as required.
It was not long before I met up with pretty Irish lass who soon persuaded me to apply for a position as a Student Nurse. I had my doubts about this as my education was poor. I had never tried very hard at school and never had much interest in anything except railways. As children we were never allowed to take part in the many activities we would have liked to.
I passed my interview with the Chief Male Nurse and a Mr. Connelly whom I had already met. He lived in the same street as my parents. It was not long before I started work as a student nurse. And was I moved into Student accommodation
The hospital was a large Victorian building and a very grand looking place. The accommodation for the staff, I considered very good, as were the meals. At night it was rather a spooky building, sometimes the odd scream could be heard, nevertheless I always slept well. A few of the names I remember: a Dr Gurney Smith who would often play the organ in the large dining room, a Dr McLeod who married a young nurse, Ann Bishop and Eileen Mc Dermot (sisters), a Mr. Ron Moon, (Charge Nurse), a couple of odd characters named Vernon the German, and another Bob the Knob, (one can only guess why). There was also a very jovial baker who baked all the bread on site with a young helper who was a patient. This same lad would manually pump the organ bellows when required for Dr. G-Smith who played in the main hall and it sounded great, I had a go once; it was hard work.
Day shifts were 0630 -1330 and 1300 -2000 with 30 minute change over times. Night shifts were taken by permanent night personnel; however Right from the first day I had problems with things like taking notes at lectures. My spelling and handwriting were very poor. But I did well on the wards and got on fine with the other staff and patients. I learnt things such as how to give injections and apply dressings. We attended lectures concerning psychology, different types of patients and how to treat them. My first ward was a male ward with some bedridden patients and a large number in wheelchairs, several suffered from fits.
Toilets and feeding took up a lot of time. About twenty patients had to be fed and this mainly consisted of bread and milk and for some a powdered food by the name of Complan, which appeared to be a sort of porridge. I will never forget the toilet room: everything was open with two rows of eight toilet seats side by side. We had a sitting of 16 patients at a time whether or not they wished to use the facility. Most had to be cleaned afterwards, best not to describe the smell, and all this just after breakfast. The patients in those days were graded as Feeble Minded, Subnormal, and Severely Subnormal, politically incorrect these days.
The exercise yard for those that could walk was what may be described as a very large cage with no roof. On a nice summer day it was quite pleasant sitting outside just keeping watch if only for half an hour. Sometimes I was sent to a ward known as the Refractory; this place was for able bodied men who may be described as severely disturbed. Several of the charge nurses were former guardsmen and they were handy to have around. The patients could all feed themselves and did not require much supervision for such things as the toilet or dressing.
Some were at times aggressive and a lot of people not connected with the hospital would have been frightened of their behavior, more than once we saw flying saucers as well as plates and fists. Treatment was promptly given with an injection or orally with a drug called Paraldehyde. Most never received any visitors; they had been placed there and forgotten about as a family embarrassment. On the female wards we had pointed out to us two ladies with royal connections. I have placed notes about them on a page below.
Classroom work did not suit me and it soon became apparent that it would not be wise to continue as a student nurse. However I was able to continue as a nursing assistant and so I never qualified, but I did gain a lot of practical knowledge about many aspects of nursing which proved useful later in life.
My Move from The Royal Earlswood Redhill, To Bedford
The nurse who I was engaged to decided we should finish, and although I was upset at the time it was for the best. During that time I was getting into what may be termed as a spot of bother. It was time to move on. I had a map of The British Isles laid out on a table. I closed my eyes and placed a pin into the map it had landed next to a town named Bedford. I picked up the Nursing Times and found vacancies for Nursing Assistants at Bromham Hospital, Bedford; I applied and got an interview. A complete change was coming in a different part of the country with another work experience and a most unexpected turn of events.
Shift B
Shift A
© Jean Yorke
Authors note: I am most grateful to Miss Jean. Yorke for granting me permission to use the above photographs
A Short History of the Royal Earlswood Hospital
The Royal Earlswood Hospital or The Royal Earlswood Asylum for Idiots in Redhill, Surrey was an asylum for people with learning disabilities. Around 1847 Ann Serena Plumbe took an interest in the plight of the learning disabled, or “idiots” as they were unflinchingly termed at the time, and began to discuss what could be done to assist them. In discussion with Dr John Conolly (of the Hanwell Asylum) and Rev Dr Andrew Reed (a philanthropist and founder of several orphanages) they determined to educate such people.
In the spring of 1847 Reed toured Europe to gather information on institutions serving the purpose. In October of that year the project to found “The Asylum for Idiots” was begun. Lord Palmerston, Baron Rothschild and Lord Ashley became officers of the charity.
In 1848 a building – Park House, Highgate – was purchased and the first patients admitted. However, this quickly proved to be of inadequate size and a new building was commissioned. Several designs were submitted in competition and a Mr. Moffat’s was chosen. The builder was John Jay of London Wall, whose varied work included substantial railway construction contracts, rebuilding the Houses of Parliament after the 1833 fire, and smaller architect-designed projects such as the Abney Park Chapel and Trinity Independent Chapel.
The building was entirely financed by public subscription and Queen Victoria subscribed 250 guineas in the name of Edward Prince of Wales, who became a life member. Prince Albert took a special interest from the beginning. He laid the foundation stone in June 1853 and opened the Asylum in June 1855. In 1862 Queen Victoria conferred a Royal Charter on the asylum. John Langdon-Down (after whom Down’s syndrome was named) was medical superintendent of the hospital from 1855-1868. Around the time of his stewardship, patients slept in dormitories holding 15. There was one member of staff to each seven patients. Tuberculosis accounted for the majority of deaths in the institution.
Patients were taught various manual trades, carpentry, printing, brush-making as well as domestic, garden and farm duties.
On 5 July 1958 the hospitable ceased to be a charitable trust and was absorbed into the National Health Service.A notable inmate was James Henry Pullen who carved wonderful works of art and built detailed models, including one of Brunel’s Great Eastern.
For several decades two of the Queen Mother’s nieces, Katherine Bowes-Lyon and Nerissa Bowes-Lyon, were kept there without visits from the Royal Family and were declared dead by Buckingham Palace in an intentional fabrication.
The hospital closed in 1997 as part of the Government’s long-term plan to transfer the care of people with Learning Disabilities into the community, and is now the site of the recent Royal Earlswood Park development.
The Queens Hidden Cousins
The Television Programme
Ch. 4 Thursday 17 th November 2011 U/K
THE QUEEN is said to be “hugely distressed” by a Channel 4 documentary to be broadcast this week. Confidantes say she is upset over the “utter lies” that two of her cousins, branded “imbeciles” by doctors, were locked away and ignored by the family for more than 50 years.
The Queen’s Hidden Cousins tells the story of Katherine and Nerissa Bowes-Lyon, the daughters of the late Queen Mother’s older brother John Bowes-Lyon Both suffered severe learning disabilities and the documentary claims they spent seven years at the Royal Earlswood Hospital – known then as the Asylum For Idiots.The programme, to be broadcast on Thursday, claims that they were largely shunned by the Royal Family. Curiously, the sisters would stand to salute the Queen during televised broadcasts of the monarch at weddings and funerals. The Queen is very, very upset at the thought that this programme is being made which is just not true
They are said not to have received even birthday cards, and one former nurse says: “They (the sisters) never received anything at Christmas either, not a sausage.” When Nerissa died in 1986, it is claimed that no family attended her funeral and she was initially buried in a pauper’s grave.
Katherine is now 85. (At the time of writing). She is cared for in a Surrey care home run by the Oaklands NHS Trust. One care worker tells the documentary: “She’s a lovely person. She loves to watch TV, especially royal weddings. She could really have prospered but instead she’s been left to vegetate.”
A source close to Buckingham Palace last night branded the claims as “utter lies”. The close confidante said: “The Queen is very, very upset at the thought that this programme is being made which is just not true.” Both Katherine and Nerissa were visited very regularly by their family but neither could speak, and throughout their lives had the thinking age of four years old.
“They were unable to recognize visitors, often becoming hugely distressed as they struggled to work out who was with them. They also both regularly received presents, especially at Christmas, a fact disputed in this supposedly factual documentary. Neither sister knew who the presents were from but they enjoyed the moment of receiving a lovely gift.
“If Channel 4 had bothered to get the facts right and ask people who knew the true story, this would be a different matter. They just didn’t ask anybody and came up with this upsetting nonsense which brings nothing but hurt.” At one stage in the Surrey asylum, Katherine and Nerissa were both declared “dead” in the aristocrat’s bible Burke’s Peerage. The one associate who is prepared to speak out in public defense of the royals, the Queen’s cousin Lady Elizabeth Anson cannot explain why, but she did not mince words about the rest of the film, branding it “cruel” and “intrusive”.
Lady Elizabeth sent a lengthy statement to the Sunday Express saying that, far from being a taboo subject, Katherine and Nerissa were very much a part of the family as sisters of her mother, the late Princess Anne of Denmark. It said: “Lady Elizabeth’s grandmother, the Hon Fenella Bowes-Lyon, Her Majesty The Queen Mother’s sister-in-law, visited her daughters on a regular basis. “Indeed, it is clear that she was the only person whom they recognized.
Others did visit but it seems that both ladies were distressed, if not terrified, by such visitors and the nurses asked the family gently if these could be discontinued.”
The statement went on: “Lady Elizabeth can confirm that it was she, together with her late brother Patrick, the 5th Earl of Litchfield, and their cousin Katherine, who organized the headstone for Nerissa Bowes-Lyon. “For these two very private ladies to have any sort of spotlight turned upon their lives, let alone such a powerful one as provided by national television, appears to Lady Elizabeth to be needlessly cruel.
“She cannot accept that any sort of public interest can be served.” A Channel 4 spokesman said yesterday: “The program makers approached members of the Bowes-Lyon family to take part in the program but they declined. However, a comment has been provided by Lady Elizabeth Anson.” There was also no response from Buckingham Palace.
50 years had passed by, Jean Johnson (York ) And the author meet up again at the Royal Earlswood.
Picture: Simon Canacott.