Nursing in the 1930s - UK

[AInightingale]

Does anyone know much about the nursing register for this period - I am trying to establish the whereabouts of a woman in the mid 1930s. She was from Ireland (IFS) but is listed like this: 'Metropolitan Hospital, London, 1933-1936. By examination'. Registration date is June 1936. What is the difference between 'examination' and 'Cert'? Can I assume that she was resident in London for the entire period? I don't know anything else about her at that time, except that she returned to Ireland and married in 1943, at the age of 35.

I would assume those were her training years at the named hospital. So she would have been resident in London for the whole period - and probably actually in hospital accommodation, it would be extremely rare for a trainee to get permission to live out.

I am glad to hear that! I am looking for a woman who was a nurse and just wanted to eliminate her. Thanks.

OP do you know how old this person was when they started their training? A relative of mine also moved to London to train as a nurse, Trying to work out when she might have started her training. She was born at the end of 1921. Not sure what age they did the school
leaving exams back then. From stories she was in London during the Blitz but still training.

She would have been 25 in 1933 so not a very young girl, and 28 when she completed her training. Then back to Ireland (presumably) and married at 35, not a very long career at all.

She could have left school at 14 then, but nursing was generally seen as being something for more academically able girls so she's most lilely to have stayed at school to 18 and then moved immediately to a training post. Standard training was 3 years, which would fit with the Blitz.

@NoBinturongsHereMate That’s unlikely - staying at school. There weren’t 6th forms for most dc. The grammars kept the university bound dc and people like nurses did nursing auxiliary work between 16-18. They didn’t need 16-18 education to be a nurse.

In my DMs case: born 1924. Left school 1940. 2 years as a nursing auxiliary local to home and then went to London for SRN (State Registered Nurse) training in 1942. I think training was 2 years then. DM definitely in London during ww2 and also delivered babies! She went up to Buckingham palace for VE Day.

The Metropolitan Hospital was possibly the one in Hackney @AInightingale. The nurses lived in and earned a pittance! DM was in Balham. The exams were to be a State Registered Nurse. So registered by examination . There was not a “cert” that I know of. DM worked and studied and hours were exceptionally long with little time off. DM left London after the war - and became a land girl!

That's helpful @OhDear111 thanks. Definitely doesn't sound like the girl I'm looking for, possibly it's a sister. I take it then that a girl could leave school at 16 (this is Ireland, of course), go to work in a local hospital for a couple of years to get hands-on experience, then head off for professional training/quals in a big UK teaching hospital? That would fit - I'm looking for someone who was in Ireland 1930-1935, though I do know she was a nurse and headed off to England at some point.

@AInightingale I don’t know about Ireland, but in the uk, yes, exactly that.

@AInightingale I think the leaving age would be 14/15 then if it was in NI. I think grammar school pupils would have done Junior Certificate at 15. You could then leave or go on to Senior Certificate. You could definitely apply for children’s nursing at 16/17 . And I think 17 was the age for general nursing for sure.

Yes @Countmeout people left school very young. My dad left two months after his 14th birthday and that was in 1949! (not sure it was strictly legal though 😃). My mum did go to a grammar school in NI (UK) and stayed until 17 and did SC, but this was after the Butler reforms, I'd imagine most young people prior to that did leave at around 15, unless their parents were wealthy. I'll have to find out a bit more about the Irish system, I'm not sure myself.

There was a big push in the 30s to keep children in at least part time education until 18. Although the Fisher Act only made it compulsory to 14, there were plans to rapidly move the age up (wartime spending cuts meant the second part didn't happen). Auxiliary nursing would certainly have been an option for some until training age at 17 or 18, but staying on at school.was encouraged.

In Ireland education to 17 or 18 would have been more common than in the UK. None of my 4 grandparents left before their final exams, and secondary wasn't free til the mid 60s. If there was any money round, education was a priority.

The 11plus gave access to free grammar school education from its introduction in 1947. They also accepted children who did pay.
Secondary schools were also introduced at the same time and were free.

The majority of country children in the 1930’s would have attended their local primary school and left at 14. There were of course exceptions.

Anyhow sorry @AInightingale thats digressing for you. I believe there are Nursing records on Ancestry. Maybe you’ve already been there.

The scholarship children went to grammars without paying and there was 10 and 11 plus before 1947. DM got a scholarship to her local grammar.

The relevant act was the 1944 education act that introduced the tripartite system which meant the grammars were state funded. When dm was at a grammar hardly anyone stayed into the 6th form. I’ve got her school magazines. Many parents wanted dc earning money and did not value HE in an academic sense. There were only 22 universities so well educated dc frequently left at 16 with the school certificate and a handful stayed on for the higher school certificate and university. That wasn’t necessary for many jobs but obviously academic dc would stay but not nurses. No need.

My relative was in the Irish education system and I'm pretty sure she stayed at school well beyond 14. She had quite an eventful early life but I think kept lots of things secret. (Including her real age but I now have her BC)

If she left school the summer after she turned 17 that would be 1939 so would have presumably arrived in London not long after war broke out.

"There was a big push in the 30s to keep children in at least part time education until 18."

That's interesting, I wasn't aware of that. It clearly didn't carry on after the war though. My mum, and all her siblings, left school at age 15 in the 1950s. The only person I'm aware of from that generation who stayed at school after 15 was my dad, who got 3 O levels at the local grammar school and then left at 16.

This may be irrelevant but I'm pretty sure you could start orthopaedic nursing at younger than 18 at that time.

The plan was shelved after the war because of lack of cash.

@NoBinturongsHereMate I agree. It was not the norm to stay on beyond 15 or 16. There was some provision for those going to university at 18 but there were around 22 universities, not 122. Nurses were not considered the academic elite.

I don’t believe nursing was split into types of nursing then either. It was SRN and then specialise.

Not elite, no - and certainly not university material (rare for anyone, but especially for women).

But it was seen as being above the general working class rank and file. Nursing and teaching were for those with academic ability and aspirations above factory workers and shop girls. It was a career, not merely a job.

Training was definitely general, rotating.round all the wards. Then you could go on to get TB certs and other specialist qualifications once qualified.

@NoBinturongsHereMateYes DM did some TB nursing but in the war nurses had to help out and she did some maternity in the community too. I agree it was a very solid career - a bit like a teacher in those days.