The Prime Minister Mr Winston Churchill went down to Jamaica to recruit workers. These were his words: “England is the Mother Colony of the British West Indies. Come and help rebuild the country.”
Mary Nelson
My name is Mary Nelson. I was born in St. Kitts, one of the Leeward Islands in the British West Indies. I was brought up as an Anglican, christened and confirmed in the Parish of St Peter’s. I had 7 Siblings. Sadly, one passed away at 3 years of age.
Every Sunday morning we would go to church and Sunday school. I was schooled at the same church school. Every Wednesday, all the children had to go to church for half an hour except Jehovah’s Witnesses. On leaving school I achieved Grade1 School Leaving Certificate.
After the Second World War, while I was still at school, the Prime Minister Mr. Winston Churchill went down to Jamaica to recruit workers. These were his words: “England is the Mother Colony of the British West Indies. Come and help rebuild the country.” Some of the men who came were men who also fought in the war. On his return from the British West Indies, he sent Mr. Enoch Powell MP to recruit workers from the smaller British West Indian islands. Most of my friends were leaving for England, including one of my brothers, and I decided to join him 3 years later.
When I arrived in England my first impression, when I saw the smoke coming from the Chimneys, is that there are a lot of Factories. It won’t be any problem finding work. Secondly, the shock was how many people were living in the same house with one bathroom and one toilet.
Some landlords had written rooms to let but no Irish, no Blacks and no dogs. Same thing at the factory; vacancies, no Irish and no Blacks.
My first Job was in a factory making the patterns for pleated skirts. I enjoyed the work in spite of the low wages. Within six weeks in the country I became ill and had to have an emergency appendectomy.
I could not get over the racism I had faced in the Church of England. It still goes on. Some even refused to baptise the babies. If you were fortunate to live in the same county as one of the CofE ministers who had served in the West Indies you would be accepted.
After sixteen months of living here I went into nursing and midwifery. I am a retired Senior Midwifery Sister, having spent 30 years working as a midwife, 40 years working for the NHS.
After retirement I did voluntary work. These are as follows; mentor at high school for 10 years, trustee and volunteer for parents with children under 5 years who are stressed out and unable to cope, school governors, patients governor for the Foundation Trust for 3 years, bereavement support group, volunteer on the Appeal and Exclusion panel.
