Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Does anyone recall the nursemaid system whereby all new boys were allocated a nursemaid to help them assimilate into the school. Mine was B.J. Ashmead {Prep A ) September 1941?
Ibelieve that CH Hertford had a similar system and that they were called Housemothers.
Chris Bartlett

Yes, indeed. I remember being shown how things worked by a nursemaid when I entered in 1954, and so far as I recall the system was still operating unchanged when I left in 1962. My nursemaid seemed to be held responsible for me, and, since I was spectacularly disorganised and inattentive, I suspect he was glad to disown me as soon as possible. For all that, he did get me integrated into school and house life pretty quickly and effectively.

As I understand it, something like the same system is still operating.

Yes the system still operates, my son is about to become a nursemaid to a new 2nd former. The children in my sons house even know their "family" i.e the line of nursemaids from which they are "descended"!

Yes, I had a nursemaid in 1958. (I'd rather not comment), and was nursemaid later in Prep B.

No names- No Pack Drill !!

Mine was complete and utter shiite.

He never warned me that French lessons with one's French set used to move from room to room in the Prep Block according to what day of the week it was. So my first lesson was in the correct room with the correct class, but I turned up at the same room for my second French lesson and found myself in a totally different French class with an entirely different teacher. I sat there feeling like I'd stumbled into a parallel dimension, saying nothing at all for fear of looking a total dick. Eventually the door opened and a kid from my own French set entered the room, having been sent to hunt me down. When I was escorted into the correct classroom, my own French teacher told me I was an idiot.

I was not an idiot. But my nursemaid most definitely was an idiot for not warning me that Prep Block timetabling was devised by someone mentally unhinged.

Mine was expelled I think. Maybe Jo would remember as she might have been in the same year?

Mine was Challen. I think that ones nursemaid was held responsible if one got lost, or broke the rules; for the first few days at least.

Mine in 1940, was a chap called Lucy (His surname !) I don't ever remember him being ridiculed for this in any way, I found him a good friend to me, as I did't join CH until December (Explanation elsewhere).

Nice to know that some of us still overlap, Chris ! ------- how many are left ???


I put it down to Clean Living --------------

NEILL THE NOTORIOUS wrote:

I put it down to Clean Living --------------

Alcohol is a good preservative.

NEILL THE NOTORIOUS wrote:Mine in 1940, was a chap called Lucy (His surname !) I don't ever remember him being ridiculed for this in any way, I found him a good friend to me, :

I have no idea who my nursemaid was. He must have taught me to do up my bands and march but that was about it.

As for the name I married a girl with a foreign name - I always joke is that she accepted me because I was the only person who could pronounce it correctly. Her cousin had the same surname and after doing his trade for many decades he became a trade teacher in Barking. Of course his co-teachers, pupils etc. had the same problem so he simply told them to call him "Mr Lucy" which is an abbreviation of a mispronounced abbreviation of his real name. I doubt if anyone dared tease him about it.

dinahcat wrote:Mine was expelled I think. Maybe Jo would remember as she might have been in the same year?

If yours was LM, dinahcat, then yes she was expelled, though she was allowed to come back to take her O levels. She was the year above me by then as I had repeated a year in the second form. Strangely I am back in touch with her now via Facebook and despite her wayward teenage years (partly due to losing her mother in the first year and getting precious little sympathy from the staff) she is now happy, successful, happily married, and a doting grandmother to three grandchildren!

My schoolma left before I started Yes, really, she evidently failed to return that year and I was hastily reallocated to someone else. My new schoolma already had a schoolkid so I was in the relatively rare situation of having a schoolsister too

Jo wrote:

dinahcat wrote:Mine was expelled I think. Maybe Jo would remember as she might have been in the same year?

If yours was LM, dinahcat, then yes she was expelled, though she was allowed to come back to take her O levels. She was the year above me by then as I had repeated a year in the second form. Strangely I am back in touch with her now via Facebook and despite her wayward teenage years (partly due to losing her mother in the first year and getting precious little sympathy from the staff) she is now happy, successful, happily married, and a doting grandmother to three grandchildren!

My schoolma left before I started Yes, really, she evidently failed to return that year and I was hastily reallocated to someone else. My new schoolma already had a schoolkid so I was in the relatively rare situation of having a schoolsister too

That sounds such a success story. Lovely !!

J.R. wrote:

Jo wrote:

dinahcat wrote:Mine was expelled I think. Maybe Jo would remember as she might have been in the same year?

If yours was LM, dinahcat, then yes she was expelled, though she was allowed to come back to take her O levels. She was the year above me by then as I had repeated a year in the second form. Strangely I am back in touch with her now via Facebook and despite her wayward teenage years (partly due to losing her mother in the first year and getting precious little sympathy from the staff) she is now happy, successful, happily married, and a doting grandmother to three grandchildren!

My schoolma left before I started Yes, really, she evidently failed to return that year and I was hastily reallocated to someone else. My new schoolma already had a schoolkid so I was in the relatively rare situation of having a schoolsister too

That sounds such a success story. Lovely !!

It is, isn't it? The really lovely thing is that although she was a really screwed-up teenager, pregnant and unmarried at 17, she married the father a year or two later, they went on to have two more, and are still together and appear to be as besotted with each other as they were nearly 40 years ago.

Jo wrote:

dinahcat wrote:Mine was expelled I think. Maybe Jo would remember as she might have been in the same year?

My new schoolma already had a schoolkid so I was in the relatively rare situation of having a schoolsister too

In the days of junior houses there weren't enough schoolmas to go round, so we were all twinned. Susan Parkin and I had Judy Hughes, who for house purposes was in what was called the Senior Third (form), having been in the Second Form the year before, whilst we, having just joined, were in the Junior Third. Judy had blazing red hair and was a vicar's daughter, which is about all I can remember...

MaryB wrote:

Jo wrote:

dinahcat wrote:Mine was expelled I think. Maybe Jo would remember as she might have been in the same year?

My new schoolma already had a schoolkid so I was in the relatively rare situation of having a schoolsister too

In the days of junior houses there weren't enough schoolmas to go round, so we were all twinned. Susan Parkin and I had Judy Hughes, who for house purposes was in what was called the Senior Third (form), having been in the Second Form the year before, whilst we, having just joined, were in the Junior Third. Judy had blazing red hair and was a vicar's daughter, which is about all I can remember...

I was in 5s, and remember Susan Parkin and Judy Hughes quite well, as they stayed in 5s when junior houses were abolished. For some reason Susan was always known simply as Parkin, and was great friends with Trish Buddle. I remember Judy's bright red hair. She was from Berkhamsted, and left after O levels.