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St George's House,
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Health & Work Duties Health. Even before a child arrived at St George's House, his or her health was an issue which was given high priority and no child would be accepted without a medical check , prior to arrival. Questions were asked concerning his/her general physical and mental health, what diseases they may have had (measles, chicken pox, whooping cough etc) and whether or not they had been vaccinated and immunised. On arrival at St George's the new entrant was allocated a locker and clothes hook, then shown the Wash Room, Toilets, Dining Room and Dormitory. At this stage the Matron would provide the child with a full set of St George's uniform along with night clothes, towel, wash flannel, toothbrush and allocated a bed . Within a week the child was fully examined by St George's doctor in the Surgery, with Miss Knocker and Sister Batty present and arrangements made for vaccinations etc, if required. Once admitted, a detailed record was kept of any substantial illness and treatment which the child had received. The Specialists and Doctors who looked after the childrens health gave generously of their time. They were, Mr Herbert Franklin, C.D'Oyly Grange, Mr T. Vibert Pierce, Mr A.B.Pavey Smith and Mr T. Gowans. The position of Medical Officer of House for St George's was filled by Dr Crawford Watson from 1898-1939 and later by Dr W. Yeoman, ably supported by Sister Batty. Dental care was provided by Mr. Winter of Messrs. Wood & Winter of Harrogate.
Sister Batty ran a daily morning surgery for
all of the children, when each child would be given a spoonful of Virol,
(a sort of malt extract which contained cod liver oil). Any ailments,
real or imagined, sore throats, ears, eyes etc were dealt with then and
there, temperatures taken and the child either sent to the sick wing or
told not to 'sham'. If one was admitted to the sick bay then it was
considered to be a real treat, you collected your basket of clothes and
moved in. This brought a little luxury because the sick bay had an open
fire and it was the only possible time to do some french toast ie:
toasting on one side of the bread that was already buttered.
Sister Batty Parents of Sister Batty
One old girl recalls
that Sister used to sit with the patients and knit pure sheep wool
kneepads for her elderly mother Florrie, who suffered from athritic
joints. Yet another recalls that she was strict and sharp, but very
caring and loving towards the children. The Sick Wing was situated at the Otley Road end of of the main building and covered two floors. In the 1940's the girls' section was located on the ground floor and the boys were housed on one of the floors above. There were four beds in each of the two "wards" on the ground floor which were separated by wooden folding partitions, leaving a walkthrough space between them which led to the wash rooms and toilets. Sister Batty had a Sick Wing maid who carried out polishing and general cleaning duties etc. Sister Batty, the maid and patients were fed meals prepared in the main kitchen, although it was not unknown for teacakes to be occasionally toasted on the open fire in the ward. If, after morning surgery, a child was told to report to the Sick Wing, that child would have to collect their basket of belongings from under their bed in the dormitory, along with dressing gown, pyjamas, towel and toothbrush and report to Sister Batty. A private room separate from the Ground floor Ward, was allocated for the care of Mildred Elliott, an orphan who had contracted Rheumatoid Athritis whilst at St George's and subsequently spent most of her teenage years there in the care of Sister Batty.
Thomas Gowans FRCS.
Ophthalmologist.
"In recent months a very
old link with St George's has been severed by the retirement from
practice of Mr Thomas Gowans FRCS,who for the past 28 years has acted as consultant and adviser in his
capacity as our Honorary Ophthalmic Surgeon. His kindness will always be
remembered by the many who in their St George's days benefited from his
careful attention and the Committee would like to record their gratitude
and their appreciation of his ever-ready help.
It is understood that
Thomas Gowans was born in South Shields, Co Durham c1877. In 1911 the
family was living in
Dental Care:
Work.
All of the
children had work duties for which they were responsible. The older
children would make the beds for the young ones. They in turn would dust
all of the bed frames and behind the heating pipes. The older children
polished the brass engraved nameplates which were fixed to the bedheads
(the beds and cots were often donated by various Police Forces and other
benefactors and were identified thus).
Some of the boys doing their share of lawn mowing duties. Extreme left: John Newton, Bryan Smith, Peter Park, Mr. Gregor McTavish, aka (Jock),Housemaster, Billy Potts, Bernard Uffindell, Doug Drummond and Reg Bassett.
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