Nostalgia by Joanne Harris and Jane Clarke

To mark International Women’s Day, 8 March, and in celebration of International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, we take a look back at the life and career of a pioneering obstetrician who established an emergency maternity hospital in Amersham during WWII.

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is ‘An equal world in an enabled world’, and this was as true in the 1940s as it is today. Formidable women have always been around, though often hidden figures, their roles erased or even rewritten by men. But that has gradually changed, and in the 1940s and beyond their contributions became even clearer and more significant to society.

In contrast to their experiences during WWI, women were now being considered essential to the war effort in both civilian and military roles in Britain and abroad. Women in towns like Amersham were the beating heart of a community, like many others across the UK, that had seen its men go off to war. These women fought and played hard, protecting the nation’s security, as well as taking charge of securing their own equality in all aspects of their lives, from education to healthcare.

Women in medicine

One such woman was Beatrice Ethel Turner who established an emergency maternity hospital at Shardeloes, a mansion in Amersham. She served there as Chief Obstetrician throughout the Second World War.

Born into a wealthy Victorian family in 1891, Beatrice was the second oldest of four daughters. Her father was an eminent physician, work that clearly inspired Beatrice. Her career in medicine began in May 1915 when she was despatched to the Western Front during the First World War. She served there as a Red Cross nurse in a Military Hospital until June 1919. Her service merited a Mention in Despatches in December 1917.

Her time with the British Committee of the French Red Cross earned Beatrice a Red Cross Scholarship to study medicine at the London (Royal Free Hospital) Medical School for Women, where she qualified in 1925.

A trailblazer in her day, Beatrice was one of a few women to carve out a successful career in medicine. Unbound by the gender inequalities she was faced with, Beatrice qualified as a Bachelor of Surgery and Medicine, specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology. By 1935 she was Senior Assistant Gynaecologist and Obstetrician at the Royal Free Hospital, Assistant Obstetric Surgeon at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson hospital and a consultant obstetrician for the Borough of High Wycombe.

Shardeloes babies

At the start of WWII, Beatrice was asked by the Ministry of Health to set up an emergency Maternity Hospital at Shardeloes, where she served as the Chief Obstetrician and oversaw the birth of more than 5,000 babies. These included some famous names, such as Tim Rice, the English lyricist and author. The outcomes for the babies born there were very good, with a mortality rate of 1.67 per 1000 compared with a national rate of 2 per 1000. Unlike other maternity hospitals every patient had an anaesthetic.

Beatrice’s success and dedication to the maternity hospital was recognised through the award of an OBE in the New Year’s honours list in 1946. Following the war, she returned to practice medicine in London where she continued to have a fulfilling and successful career in obstetrics. However, having got to know and like the Chilterns she continued to have a house in Princes Risborough.

Beatrice died on Christmas Day in 1964 but left behind a rich legacy to inspire future generations of women in medicine. You can read more about Beatrice, and Shardeloes, on the Amersham Museum website or in Women at War by Alison Bailey, available at the museum shop.

International Year of the Nurse and Midwife

The World Health Organisation has declared 2020 International Year of the Nurse and Midwife to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth on 12 May, and in recognition of the caring and courageous work nurses and midwives carry out in communities around the world every day. Florence Nightingale was a regular visitor of Claydon House in Buckinghamshire, using the rooms to work on her numerous books on nursing.

Amersham Museum would like to hear from nurses who’ve served in the community to share their stories. The team is particularly keen to hear from anyone with a connection to Shardeloes or Amersham Hospital who hasn’t already shared their story with the Museum.

If you’d like to share your story, please email: info@amershammuseum.org

Joanne Harris would like to dedicate this article to the most formidable woman in her life – her mother, Margaret O’Connor, who sadly passed away on 6 November 2019. Margaret was a social care worker, dedicating more than 20 years of her life to ensuring the elderly residents in her care were treated with the compassion and dignity they deserved.