Farnborough Hospital (Bromley Schools)

[wilfb]

I have posted the finding email on behalf of Mark Adams. Mark will hopefully join the forum himself soon, but meanwhile, if you can assist with any information surrounding this topic, please do reply. Will.

Hi:  I recently discovered your website and thought I would write to you about my mother, Madge Gogarty who, I think,  would have been considered an 'Irish Angel'.  She was born in Nobber, Co. Meath, Ireland in 1925 and attended the Farnborough Teaching Hospital in Farnborough, Kent, England and graduated as an R.N. as of Dec. 8, 1955.  Her RN # was 232454 recorded by the General Nursing Council of England & Wales in a letter issued by Miss M. Henry, S.R.N.  

finding her graduation she worked in Kent for a short time and then in February 1956 she entered the Rochdale School of Nursing in Littleborough to become a pupil midwife.  

My mother eventually did come to the U.S. and, as a result of her training and certification in England, expeditiously became a board certified R.N. here as well.  She spent the rest of her life working in hospitals and hospice care. Unfortunately she died pretty young (aged 65 years) and prior to her death I never asked many questions about the years spent in England.  What I do know is that she truly enjoyed her years in Farnborough, and was grateful for having had the opportunity to learn a vocation that she cherished, but I do not know much else about that time.

I have tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to locate some of the women who might have been at the Farnborough Teaching Hospital alongside her.  If you could offer any suggestions about how to potentially locate any of the women who would have been there around the same time or even in from her graduating class (1955) it would be truly appreciated.

Best regards,

Mark Adams

* Log in to view photograph - Lt click picture to enlarge/reduce image.

[Sarah Rogers]

Hi Mark, i live near Farnborough, our local paper often runs articles/pits in pieces about "hunts" like this, you could try emailing them and seeing if they would oblidge!
General enquiries
Email: reporters@sevenoaks-chronicle.co.uk
THAT IS PART OF A LRAGE LOCAL PAPER GROUP, SE IT WOULD NT JUST BE POSTED THERE, ALSO
;http://www.bromleytimes.co.uk/

BEST OF LUCK , lIZZIE

[markadams3000]

Hello Lizzie:  I am going to take you up on your idea and contact them.  Thank you very much for taking the time to post this suggestion.  I will certainly let you know if anything should develop out of it.  Mark

[Sarah Rogers]

Hi Mark, good luck!, I asked a old friend and she didnt know the name, but people from this part of kent tended then to go elsewhere to hospital ..nowadays we often get sent to the new farnborough hospital, happy hunting, best wishes, Lizzie
ps... do you have access to uk ancestry type search engine?..if not fell free to send me names and detials of her training buddies and we can try and track them that way!
Lizzie

[markadams3000]

Lizzie:  Regarding the UK Ancestry...I think so.  At this stage, the photo is a sea of unknown faces!  At some point, someone will probably recognize the Matrons in the photo and that may lead to something.  This is a Farnborough photo too...not sure if it was taken in a church hall or as part of the school but it was a play that would have happened there in/around 1952.  These kinds of forums are interesting because when we least expect it (could be years later) someone connected to information we are hoping to discover just happens to be in the right place at the right time.  Here's to that!  Mark

[wilfb]

Hi Mark.

You seem to have a reasonable number people looking at your posts, and one or two useful replies so far. Fingers crossed....

Our researcher has been on holiday but is now back. You should hear from her soon.  My own lead was a dud - pity the nurse I thought that I might have been able to identify had never worked at Farnborough, but it was worth a try...

Will.

[markadams3000]

Thanks Will.  Thank you for finding up with your lead and I will certainly look forward to speaking with the researcher.  B/r, Mark