My family don't speak much of their time in England when they first came over. There is a lot that they won't say, don't want to rake up the past. I feel so ignorant, and that ignorance shames me. There is a whole generation of stories and experiences that have been missed, and will be lost forever if they are not recorded.
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| Image credit: Chelle |
Take my mother, for example, she emigrated to England in the 1950s and then trained as a nurse. In the 1960s she worked in Northern Rhodesia as it was called then, just after independence. She was part of a wave of nurses called "The Sunshine Girls" who went out. But I have not been able to find much in the way of information or stories, or any recording of the experiences of other Sunshine girls. Do you know of anyone who was a sunshine girl? (I think I feel a project coming on)
The one mention I've found online about Sunshine girls is on the Great North Road messageboard
The Forgotten Irish Campaign details are online here
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Image source: http://www.morguefile.com
My mother was a nurse from the same era but didn't want to be. Her mum, Grandma West, was a nurse so that's what my mum had to be. Even though my mother was a gifted fine artist and - potentially - a writer, it was the era of no real choice. At least our generation (post-war bay boomers) and my kids seemed to have more of a choice.
ReplyDeleteBob, you're right. Traditions get passed down, even now. There is an expectation that you will carry on the family tradition. There is a chance to do something else, but sometimes in the face of family pressure.
ReplyDeleteMalek, I agree. The stories of so many working class people have been lost. It's particularly important to show another side of a story. Who shares the consequences of a particular act for example?