St George's House,
Northern Police Orphanage. 1898-1956
Harrogate, Yorkshire, England.
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.
One of the girls suffered badly from rheumatoid arthritis and no expense
was spared in her care. A separate ward was allocated for her use and a
type of wheeled box cum chair was specially built so that at the
weekends, some of the girls could push her outside and take her for
walks and give her a change of scenery.
Every Friday night, Sister Batty visited the childrens playrooms with
her trolley, on which she carried bowls of clean water, clean napkins,
spoons and the dreaded bottle of Syrup of Figs.
Children lined up
to have a spoonful put into their mouths, noses were held to ensure the
elixir was swallowed. Hair was washed in Derbac soap ( to prevent
lice) and then with liquid soap. Boys had their hair cut in the
shower room and on rare occasions visited the barber at his rooms in
Harrogate.
The girls were closely monitored by the Senior Girls Matron and all
aspects of their health including their 'regularity' recorded, to ensure
that there would be no future problems in child bearing . Any child who
bit their nails had bitter aloes painted on to the finger nails by
Sister Batty. The Gymnasium too was also put to good use very
occasionally when it would be used for a 'Sex Show'. All Harrogate
Guides Groups, including St George's, of a 'certain age', were subjected
to a slide show about reproduction, with a lecture including diagrams,
given by a lady doctor. The only male in the room was the slide
projectionist at the back of the Gym !
Minor operations such as tonsils, adenoids removal were carried out at
Harrogate General Hospital, Knaresborough Road.
The Sanatorium
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).
Baths, showers, hand basins and toilets were cleaned, as were the
linoleum floors (in the wash rooms and corridors), which were also
polished.
Some of the flooring was in parquet blocks and these were polished using
Ronuk and what the children called a 'plough'. Nowadays there are
electrical floor polishers to do the job but in those days, it was all
done manually.
Play Rooms, Studies, Common Rooms were all cleaned by the boys and girls
who rose at 6.20am (sometimes 6am), Monday to Saturday, The boys
also usually cleaned
the Gymnasium the red and white passages and stairs. The chores, once done, were then inspected closely by the
respective Matron or Master and if 'passed', breakfast was permitted at 7.30am,
if 'failed', work had to be redone, which meant a late breakfast. We all cleaned our shoes daily
(and had 'boot parade' after breakfast), Sunday best, weekday
black, school brown, house shoes, Wellington boots and gym shoes.
Sunday being a day of rest, was free of work duties.
Shoe shine girls
Boot & shoe inspection by Miss Knocker and one of the Boy's Masters
Some of the boys doing there stint of lawn mowing duties.
Extreme left: John Newton, Bryan Smith, Peter Park, Mr. Gregor McTavish, Housemaster, Billy Potts, David Uffindell, Albert Drummond and Reg Bassett.
Deus vult