What images are conjured in your mind when you read those words? The pyramids? Pharaohs? Desert? The Nile? Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz defeating the cursed high priest Imhotep? Hercule Poirot onboard the steamer Karnak solving another murder. Or perhaps if you’re a fan of the MCU, Marc Spector or Steven Grant may have popped into your head, with a backdrop of the pyramid of Giza and the “silly old bird”!
I’ve always held a fascination for ancient Egypt which never left me but rather became subsumed by everyday life and more modern history. Recently I’ve let myself rediscover one of my first loves, and it has been a most rewarding experience.
Now you may ask, what on earth would Northumberland Archives hold on Egypt? I asked myself that very same question and began to dig, connecting the dots, leading me back to the traces of ancient Egypt that are held within the walls of our strongrooms.
This blog will look at one of my first discoveries, a photograph album of a journey to Egypt.
ZCE/F/4/1/24 – front cover of album
We hold the collection of the Carr-Ellison family of Hedgeley, near Powburn, and the photograph album – seen above – is from that collection. It documents the journey of Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Henry Carr-Ellison and his wife, Alice, as they travelled to India in 1911. Their travels took them through Egypt, where they stayed for almost three months, sailing down the River Nile to Khartoum.
A journey of such distance was not unusual at this period. Thomas Cook had popularised the Egyptian ‘package holiday’ in the late nineteenth century, and by Ralph and Alice’s journey in 1911, there was a well-worn path of visitor attractions to see. Yet to have a photograph album almost exclusively made up of personal rather than professionally produced photographs is rare.
The photographs within the album chart the couples’ journey, and many show the forms of transport used by locals and tourists’ alike –
ZCE/F/4/1/24/37 A felucca (traditional wooden sailing boat) on the River Nile ZCE/F/4/1/24/38 The river steamer ‘Cedid’ on the River Nile ZCE/F/4/1/24/105 Alice Carr-Ellison riding a camel near the pyramids in Cairo
The album also shows the awe-inspiring monuments, sculptures and landscapes for which Egypt is famous for:
ZCE/F/4/1/24/41 Abu Simbel, Aswan – in their original position, before their relocation due to the creation of Lake Nasser ZCE/F/4/1/24/70 The Collosi of Memnon in Thebes – statues of Amenhotep III
By October 1911, the Carr-Ellison’s adventures in Egypt were over, as they headed to Ceylon [Sri Lanka], India and Burma [Myanmar], before returning to their home in London at the end of April 1912.
This fascinating photograph album was the starting point on a journey to find Egypt within the strongrooms of Northumberland Archives. I couldn’t wait to see where my journey led from here…
Yesterday we received the following, (with the information that it is “issued to the Press by the Unveiling Committee of Berwick War Memorial, for favour of publication”)- the anniversary of the Armistice will be a red letter day in the history of the Borough, for at 2.30 that afternoon the ceremony of unveiling the Memorial raised to the 480 sons of the Borough, who made the supreme sacrifice in the Great War, will commence.
BERWICK WAR MEMORIAL, REGISTRATION OF NAMES CIRCULAR: Ref No: BRO 794/39/1/029
It is fortunate that the anniversary falls this year on a Sunday, for this means that the maximum number of inhabitants and others from further afield will be able to witness the ceremony, and also by their presence pay honour to our citizens who fell.
The Committee too have been extremely fortunate in securing the service of the victorious Commander of the British Expeditionary Force-Field Marshal Earl Haig, of Bemersyde,-to perform the unveiling ceremony. His Lordship has since his return from active service, been one of the busiest men in the country, and at this time the demands for his presence elsewhere must have been very insistent. But we are sure he feels it a privilege and a debt he owes to his late countrymen from this part of the Borderland, in whose countryside he has taken up residence, that he should accept the invitation. Certainly, the citizens of the Borough will look upon his presence on such an occasion as a great honour and a recognition of duty nobly done.
AT THE SITE
The unveiling Sub-Committee have been very busy during the last few weeks endeavouring to organise the ceremonial so that dignified in every way, and memorable to those taking part.
Since the garden plot in front of Polwarth House is not to taken into the lay-out the difficulties with regard to the space available have been accentuated and have given a good deal of worry to the members of the Committee. Invitations have been therefore had to be curtailed to a minimum.
There is likewise the difficulty of estimating how many ex-service men will parade-certainly there are sure to be many more than have so far sent in their names to the Legion Secretary.
Naturally the relatives of the fallen have been given the place of honour facing the Memorial, and those, who have written for seats to be reserved, will be present to the number of over 200.
Around the Memorial will be four of the nation’s defenders on guard throughout the ceremony, representing the Navy, Army, Air Force and Territorial Army. They will be in the position of “rest on your arms reversed” till the tablets are unveiled when they will present arms with the guards of honour.
There will be two guards of honour – by per mission of Major C. F. Kennedy, the Depot K.O.S.Borderers will furnish that to Lord Haig, and “D” Company, 7th Northumberland Fusiliers (T.A.), that at the Memorial (by permission of Lieut-Col. N. I. Wright, D.S.O.) the former will receive Lord Haig with the general salute at the Town Hall, and after he has inspected it, will march to the site and face West. The Borderers will be under Capt. R. H. W. Worsley, D.S.O.
The Territorials’ guard of honour will be under the command of Lieut. E. A. Mackay and like the 25th, will be two officers and 50 other ranks strong. It will proceed direct to the Memorial and will face East.
Relatives will be seated facing North and on each side of the garden railings will be the companies of the British Legion and Ex-service men and women in fours under Capt. R. H. Dodds, M.C. On the North side will be the Royal Naval Reserve under Capt. R. E. Carr, R.N., the Northumberland Fusiliers – and K.R.R.C/ (Church Lads’ Brigade) Cadets under cadet Capt. R. D. Harvey, and the Boy Scouts under Scoutmaster B. A. Parkes. In rear of them will be any additional companies of Ex-service men.
Within the railings of St. Mary’s Church will be accommodated the Band of the 1st Battn. K.O.S.Borderers, who are attending by kind permission of Lieut-Col. P. A. V. Stewart, C.B.E., D.S.O. Also, on specially constructed platforms inside the railings will be a choir of about 50 voices, organised by Dr. C.T. gauntlet, and members of the Press. All these bodies will be in position shortly after 2p.m. and relatives must take their seats by that hour.
UNVEILING OF BERWICK WAR MEMORIAL, Ref No: BRO 1555-01
Invited guests – Glergy, magistrates, members of the County and Town Councils, Guardians, etc. will assemble at the Town Hall at 1.45p.m., where they will be received by the Mayor and Sheriff. About 2 p.m. they will be joined by the Lord Lieutenant of the County, the Duke of Northumberland, who will preside, and Field Marshall Earl Haig and Countess Haig.
A procession in column of fours will be formed at the Town Hall at 2.10 p.m. under the direction od Capt. F. B. Cowen, M.C., and will move off at 2.15.
At the Memorial, which the procession will reach just prior to 2.30, the service will be conducted by the Revs S. E. R. Fenning, M.C., H. Maishaman, and W. Jardine, M.C., late Chaplains of the Forces, and Rev. R. W. Hey. Vicar of Berwick. On the call of the Duke of Northumberland, Lord Haig will deliver a short address, and will unveil the Memorial, the guards of honour presenting arms, and the Buglers of the K.O.S.B. sounding the “Last Post.”
THE SILENCE
This will be followed by one minute’s silent tribute, the period being indicated by a “G” sounded by a bugler, and another “G” at its termination. The Band of the 1st K.O.S.B. will next play eight bars of Chopin’s Marche Funebre, after which the memorial will be dedicated, the Mayor will accept its custody on behalf of the Town Council, the Vicar of Berwick will pronounce the Benediction, and a verse of the National Anthem will be sung.
The hymns selected are well known and appropriate, being “Oh God our help in ages past” and “For all the Saints.”
Relatives of the fallen, who desire to place floral tributes at the base of the memorial, will then be formed up and under the direction of stewards. The mayoress will lay the first wreath on behalf of the Borough, and Lord Haig will follow with a tribute from the Berwick Branch of the British Legion.
His Lordship will inspect the troops and Ex-service men, etc., prior to the civil procession returning to the Town Hall, where the Mayor and Mayoress will entertain the guests and members of public bodies to afternoon tea.
The Depot K.O.S.B. and British Legion will march off as soon as Lord Haig commences his inspection of the other troops. The Legion will await His Lordship in Sandgate, where he will inspect the members and headquarters.
Lieut-Col. W. B. Mackay, C.M.G., T.D., is to be in charge of the stewards, who will see to the seating of the relatives of the fallen choir, public bodies, invited guests, etc., also the placing of wreaths round the Memorial at the close. Major Smail has been appointed Director of Ceremonial at the site.
TRAFFIC ARRANGEMENTS
Desiring to have complete silence during the speech of Lord Haig, and also to reserve the whole of Castlegate to those wishing to witness the ceremony, the Committee has arranged with Supt. Halliday to divert all North traffic up Tweed Street, and all going South via the Greenses, Brucegate and Scots Place between 1.30 and 4 p.m.
Motorists can go to any garage in the town, but cars cannot be parked in High Street or Castlegate between those hours. Those from the North car park in the vicinity of Northumberland Avenue, and those from the South on the Parade.
In case of accidents, the L. and N.E. Railway Ambulance Class from Berwick Station and the Queen’s Nurses will be on duty in the porch of St. Mary’s Church.
CHILDRENS’ CEREMONY
Weather permitting, it is hoped to hold a short service round the Memorial on Monday, 12th inst., commencing at 9.10 a.m., when the various schools of the Borough will be represented. The ceremonial pat will be conducted by clergy representing the various denominations. Programme (provisional) is as follows: – Hymn 185, “O Gid our Help,” 9.10 a.m.; short prayer; addresses, about 5 mins.; Kipling’s Recessional sung to tune of Hymn 380 (A. and M.); National Anthem (1st and 3rd verses); Benediction.
It is hoped to hold this on a similar ceremony round the Memorial near Armistice Day or school day nearest to Nov.11th.
This blog has been researched and written by Hilary Love, one of the volunteers on our maternity care project. Project volunteers are researching maternity care in Northumberland with particular focus on Castle Hills Maternity Home, Berwick, and Mona Taylor Maternity Home, Stannington. We are also researching in less detail some of the other Maternity Homes in the county. This blog provides a brief history of maternity provision at Beulah House, Bondicar Terrace, Blyth, Northumberland.
Beulah House appears to have started life as a private residence. A newspaper account of 10 November 1924 records the death of Ralph Gregory Dobson, a grocer, at his home, Beulah House. By 1929 Beulah House was used as a Training Centre For Unemployed Women and Girls. The Centre trained women and girls for domestic service. By 1936 Beulah House was described as a Home Training Centre – still training women and girls for domestic service. A photograph in The Blyth News of 28 March 1940 is captioned ‘Mothers have their babies weighed and examined at Blyth’s new Health Centre which has been opened by the Town Council at Beulah House’. Later in 1940 it was described as a municipal clinic. A report in The Blyth News of 17 June 1946 records that the Town Council is proposing that Beulah House becomes a maternity home with six beds. Two Army huts were to be acquired and erected at the back of the house to be used as reception rooms – an office, kitchen and staff room. It was proposed that the maternity would be staffed by a matron-midwife and two day nurses and two might nurses. Beulah House Maternity Home closed in October 1973.
Records held at Northumberland Archives have revealed more about the history of Beulah House. The minutes of the Blyth Hospitals’ House Committee, 1962-1974, give details of various statistics such as admissions. The number of patients admitted during December 1961 was 64 and the daily average bed occupancy was 12.8. There were 41 admissions during January 1962 and, during the two months under review, 94 out-patients were examined. As a comparison, the admissions in December 1963 were 47 and 56 were admitted in January 1963. During the two months, 98 out-patients were examined. Nursing staff in October 1962 numbered six Midwives and four part-time Midwives, two State Enrolled Nurses and one part-time Nursing Auxiliary. In March 1963 there were seven Midwives and four part-time Midwives and two State Enrolled Nurses.
In the minutes for June 1964, the Nuffield Report on Food in Hospitals is mentioned. Beulah House is referred to as a small, busy hospital. Accommodation is extremely limited and very little could be done regarding the kitchen and storage lay-outs without a new building. Rearrangement of the kitchen accommodation was currently taking place.
In the Minutes for the meeting on Monday 14 December 1964, costing returns for the year ended March 1964 are outlined. There was a slight increase in the cost per patient per week but this was only 9/2d (46p) above the regional average, which was extremely satisfactory for a hospital with only 13 beds and a separate Nurses’ Home to maintain.
A letter from the Wansbeck Hospital Management Committee was received in July 1968 and a copy of a letter from the Blyth Division of the British Medical Association about the future of Beulah Maternity Hospital. The minutes of the meeting record widespread opposition and outline various objections:
All deplored any suggestion of a closure of Beulah House. The maternity hospital was not an economic proposition at present but it was thought bed occupancy would rise as the population increased and the temporary fall in the birth rate due to the Pill and other reasons became modified.
Benefits to the patient: at present, approximately 500 patients per year are confined in Beulah House. The disadvantages of having to travel outside of Blyth to Ashington Maternity Hospital were discussed.
The disadvantages of patients’ husbands and other visitors having to travel further during ante and post- natal periods were discussed.
Benefits to the G.P.s in the town were mentioned but the general feeling was that the falling number of G.P.s and increased workload due to the increase in population, and a G.P. being out of town at another unit, would entail large numbers of patients being “at risk”. In Blyth, G.P.s, broadly speaking, were grouped around Beulah Maternity Hospital and were able to give prompt attention to all confined in Beulah House.
The future of the hospital is discussed at almost every meeting in 1971 and 1972 and the minutes of the meeting on 14 February 1972 contain the following:
‘Although no decision had been taken as to the future of the hospital, this was under review due to the low occupancy rate and consequent high cost per patient, and the Consultant Obstetricians were of the opinion that this provided the Regional Hospital Board with adequate grounds for the hospital’s closure.
Further lengthy and detailed discussions took place about future policy and provision of services in Blyth, including a smaller general, community hospital. There was still strong opposition to Beulah House closing.
In June 1972, the Group Secretary discussed with members future hospital services in Blyth. ‘The township of Blyth, being the largest in the Wansbeck catchment area, had a need for hospital beds and would continue to do so for some considerable time.
With particular reference to possible closure of Beulah Maternity Hospital, the Regional Hospital Board would consider this in the light of services now being provided at Blyth and the availability of obstetric services at Ashington Hospital’.
At the meeting on 12 February 1973, the Chairman maintained the view that some publicity was desirable to acquaint the public that Beulah Maternity Hospital still offered obstetric facilities for G.P. cases, despite the tendency of some G.P.s to refer maternity cases direct to Ashington Hospital. As the Hospital Management Committee had recommended that Beulah Maternity Hospital be closed, the Group Secretary reported that he had instructed the Committee Secretary to withhold any publicity as it would conflict with the Management Committee’s policy.
The minutes of the meeting on 9 July 1973 states that three letters referring to the proposed closure of Beulah Maternity Hospital had been received. The Committee Secretary stressed the fact that no official notification had been received regarding a definite date for the proposed closure.
That was reported at the meeting on 8 October 1973 when the date was given as 1 November 1973.
All staff had been or would be offered alternative employment at other hospitals within the Group. The Principal Nursing Officer’s intention was to notify former staff of any future vacancies which may become available at Thomas Knight Memorial Hospital, Blyth.
On 10 December 1973, it was recommended that a function was held to which all personnel employed at Beulah House at the date of closure would be invited to a) express the Committee’s appreciation of the services rendered by the entire staff and b) to incorporate the disbandment of the Blyth Hospital House Committee on 11 February 1974.
The Secretary stated that there was still nothing further to report in relation to the possible provision of a Community Hospital in the Blyth district.
It was reported that Beulah Maternity Hospital had closed on 31 October 1973. All staff had either accepted alternative employment or resigned voluntarily.
