Hilary's Diaries - Hilary Townsend President of Stalbridge History Society
January 2021 Hilary Townsend
Happy New Year to all my readers.
In November 1940 a 19-year-old widow gave birth to a son in our house where we lived then opposite the Swan Hotel. The baby was delivered by Dr Moyle with my mother acting as midwife. Dr Moyle left the house at 10.30 that night just as the customers were leaving the Swan and they all asked him anxiously for news, for the young woman’s story was well-known. In the spring of that year her young husband had asked my mother for accommodation for his wife. He was a soldier stationed with the King’s Royal Rifle Corps in Stalbridge and he expected to be sent overseas. The regiment was sent to the battle for Calais in June and the young man was killed. His widow could not return to London because of the Blitz so she stayed on with us. A few weeks after the birth of this little boy my mother said they had been to church that morning. `Why`? I wanted to know. I was 11 years old and my mother replied `We wanted the baby’s first outing to be to church`. The real reason I learned later was that the mother had been`churched`; the Rector Mr. Merriman had given her the service of Thanksgiving for Women after Childbirth - that she had been` safely delivered and preserved` in the great danger of childbirth. It was a great cause for pride in Stalbridge that Dr Moyle `our beloved physician of some 50 years` had never lost a mother or a baby in childbirth. Our District Nurse, Nurse Doubleday, was also justifiably proud that she too had never lost a baby. (Read more on Dr Moyle by Hilary Townsend) In previous diaries I have noticed how various occupations have changed. Childbirth has changed greatly, becoming now much safer and much more likely to take place in hospital than at home. Terms like Confinement and Lying In are never used and it astonishes me to see how quickly new mothers now seem to be out and about with their babies and generally back to normal. So if you are feeling gloomy about the general state of this country or if you have been watching the TV series `Call the Midwife` do please remember that some things have got better over the years. © Hilary Townsend
January 2021 |
Discover Dorset – Blackmore Vale Dovecote Press 2004
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Blackmore Vale Childhood Dovecote Press 2006
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One Woman’s Fight for Architectural Heritage 2012
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Stalbridge to Siberia and other places - Silk Hay Books 2018
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Titles by Hilary Townsend
Hilary, from a family of yeoman farmers, grew up in Dorset. As a personnel manager in industry, and later lecturer in management subjects, she wrote magazine and newspaper features for UK and North American markets.
Hilary, from a family of yeoman farmers, grew up in Dorset. As a personnel manager in industry, and later lecturer in management subjects, she wrote magazine and newspaper features for UK and North American markets.
