WOMEN’S LIVES WOMEN’S VOICES 1947-1957
The Guide – 2013
Intergenerational history project – Women in Eastbourne and East Sussex
How it was… Rich and Poor Health and Home Life
Love and Marriage Hair and Fashion
Liberation and Servitude
Post-war Changes Dr Bodkin Adams Good or Bad? Full story page 18 Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957 – i
TIMELINE
CONTENTS Women’s Lives
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Frances Brinkhurst
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Research Advice
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Keeping Records
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Family Tree
Writing a Diary
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Doctor John Bodkin Adams Nurses Statements
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Poem – Adams and Eves
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Bodkin – Educational Ideas Notable Women
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Credits for the Project
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“ We were a family of four and Mum would send a little book through to the local grocer and it would come and it seems to me it was quite a small box of food. There wasn’t the choice that my grandchildren enjoy.” Diana Westgate
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1947–1957
Women’s Lives
1947: The Town and Country Planning Act made it illegal for people to change buildings or land without permission.
Eastbourne is perfectly situated on the South Coast surrounded by the spectacular countryside of the South Downs. Its genteel promenade, exquisite carpet gardens, wide tree-lined avenues and elegant town create a gracious, tranquil atmosphere.
The tradition begins of Norway thanking England for friendship during the Second World War by donating a Christmas tree to stand in Trafalgar Square every year. Indian Independence declared. Immigration to England is greatly increased from these areas. 1948: First Morris Minor Series MM quickly becomes a classic English design. The British Nationality Act gave preferential treatment to immigrants from “citizens of the independent Commonwealth countries”. The Great Tradition is published. SS Empire Windrush docks at Tilbury with passengers from Jamaica and Trinidad, the first in a wave of migration from the Caribbean to England. The National Health Service Act makes provision for free health care.
Yet in World War II, Eastbourne was one of the most bombed towns in the South East. So much so that evacuees had to be sent elsewhere, together with Eastbourne children. Extensive damage left the town in a ramshackle state and continuing shortages and rationing meant that resources for repair were in short supply. However, returning soldiers meant that there was plenty of manpower and willpower and so gradually Eastbourne was restored. During the war years mothers managed as single parents while coping with air raids, rationing, volunteering or part-time work, as well as the extra demands of ‘making do and mending so that nothing was wasted.’ Their single sisters worked or volunteered full time, taking the roles that the men had vacated. and they were good at it, gaining new skills and self confidence. The need for women’s labour during the war years was contrary to the long-held belief that a woman’s place was in the home. But after the war women were expected to return there, which was difficult after so much independence.
Changed Relationships Although Britain experienced a post war baby boom, there was a huge rise in marriage breakdown and divorce. Men returned to wives who had managed without them and women faced husbands who had changed as a result of their experiences. Children had to get to know fathers and share their mother with them and mothers had to get used to a man as ‘head of the household,’ despite having managed that role themselves, alongside that of homemaker. During this time there was great emphasis on celebrating the reunited family and domestic life in general. However times were still austere and rationing of such things as tea, cheese, sweets, eggs, milk, meat, Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957 – 1
poultry, petrol and clothes continued. So for women, part of their day was still spent in counting points and coupons and standing in endless queues.
Shops Most food shopping in the 1950s was done daily using local shops such as the bakers, butchers, fishmongers , greengrocers, and grocers. Some of these were delivered weekly by van or bicycle, and milk was delivered every day, due to the fact that few households had refrigerators. Only a handful of shops in the country were self-serve (now self service) The first Sainsbury’s to try this out was opened in June 1950 in Croydon. Most people walked, rode bicycles or used public transport because few except wealthy people and doctors, owned cars.
1949: George Orwell publishes his novel 1984 – which introduces the concept of “Big Brother”. 1950: Sainsbury’s opened its first supermarket. 1951: Clement Atlee’s party defeated. Winston Churchill is the new Prime Minister. The Festival of Britain. Events all over the country. The Miss World Beauty Competition starts. 1952: Teddy Boys are seen around London.
“‘ Powder and paint don’t make a girl look like what she ain’t’. My Dad always said that.” Sylvia Benge Families would listen to wireless programmes together, enjoying BBC’s Light programme (now Radio 2), which included female presenters such as Marjorie Anderson and Jean Metcalfe. Some popular family programmes on the station were:-
Identity cards and then food rationing ended.
The Billy Cotton Bandshow
Sing Something Simple
Hancock’s Half Hour
The Archers
Salk polio vaccine used to save people from polio.
Housewives Choice
Listen with Mother
Great Smog of London heralds the Clean Air Act. This compulsory use of smokeless fuels eventually ends smog and related deaths.
Housewives choice was a record request programme aimed at housewives, and Listen with Mother was designed for women with pre-school children. Woman’s Hour was aimed at women from all walks of life, and often featured items based on listener’s letters.
Woman’s Hour
Live music was broadcast from the BBC concert orchestra (Friday Night is Music Night) and other light orchestras, brass, military and dance bands including Billy Cotton and his Band, Anton and his orchestra, Cecil Norman and the Rhythm players and Jack White and his Band.
1953: The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Wealthy People There was a definite rich/poor divide in the town and people were judged according to where they lived. Before the war wealthier people had numbers of staff such as housekeepers, maids, butlers and chauffeurs. But gradually this reduced to just one or two.
Family Entertainment Family life was very ordered. Meal times were shared and children spent time downstairs with their parents, only going to their rooms to sleep. Writing letters was a common pastime and many had penfriends in other countries. 2 – Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957
Hillary and Tensing climb Mount Everest.
Popular songs from 1947 were Near You by Francis Craig and His Orchestra, That’s My Desire by Frankie Laine and White Christmas by Bing Crosby.The difference by 1957 is demonstrated by songs such as Elvis Presley’s All Shook Up, Lonnie Donegan’s Cumberland Gap and the Cricket’s That’ll be the Day.
DNA discovered by James Watson and Francis Crick. 1954: Roger Bannister broke four minute mile record. Diane Leather becomes the first woman to break the five minute mile. Lord of the Rings by Tolkien, is published.
Listen with mother? Eileen Morley, 1948
Television sets were rare and many gathered together to watch the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on the small black and white sets of the lucky few. However, by the end of the fifties around 70% of families owned a television. Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957 – 3
“ People were doing ballroom dancing but some of us did Jitterbugging and Jiving and used to get thrown out for it; but in the end they put a rope across a small area and put us all in there.” Betty (Elizabeth) Johnson
Social Life
1954: continued… Meat officially comes off ration.
Finding a husband was very important to young women and nobody wanted to be ‘left on the shelf.’ A man would be portrayed as strong and protective with the woman looking up to him adoringly and dependently, a far cry from the capable women posters of the war years.
First purpose built Comprehensive school opens in Kidbrooke, London Borough of Greenwich.
Young women attended dances at the Winter Garden or the ballroom at the end of the pier. However ladies from wealthier families would never be seen at these.
World Premiere of Benjamin Britten’s Turn of the Screw performed in Venice.
Big bands such as the Squadronnaires and the Ted Heath Band played at these events and favourite dances were the Foxtrot, Waltz and Quickstep, and from the mid fifties the Jitterbug and the Jive.
1955: Churchill retires.
Women went along with friends and usually bought one drink to last the evening. If a girl was with a man then he paid the entrance fee and bought the drinks. Popular choices for women were Babycham and brandy, or Port and lemon.
Anthony Eden becomes Prime Minister.
The Pictures
Radio comedy Hancock’s Half Hour first aired.
Going to ‘the pictures’ (the cinema) was cheap and most people went at least once a week. In Eastbourne they included the Trinity, the Classic, the Gaiety, the Picturedrome, and the ABC. Some favourite female film stars were Doris Day, Anna Neagle, Grace Kelly, Katherine Hepburn and Diana Dors with male stars such as Rock Hudson, Laurence Olivier, John Wayne and Dirk Bogarde to have ‘crushes’ on.
Commercial television begins broadcasting. Felt-tip pen introduced. Tests begin on fibre optics for future mass digital communication.
Courting couples often sat in the back row of the cinema and usherettes would regularly shine their torches along it to ensure the sweethearts did not get too much privacy!
The Suez Canal was nationalised with control taken away from Britain and France. 1956: Vanishing diplomats Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean reappear in Moscow in 1951. Granada television is launched. First performance of Look Back in Anger by John Osborne. Clean Air Act passed. 4 – Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957
Other popular haunts were the Lyons Tea shop, Forte’s Ice Cream Parlour and the various coffee bars in the town.
“ In those days a perm at the salon would cost two pounds ten shillings and a shampoo and set was four and six.” Marjorie Wotton Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957 – 5
Frances Brinkhurst Eastbourne through and through
1956: continued… Mollet’s proposal of a merger of France and the United Kingdom is rejected by the Prime Minister Anthony Eden. Dr John Bodkin Adams is arrested.
“ My husband used to come home on Friday and he would put his wages on the table and then take back enough money for ten cigarettes.” Sylvia Harker (with husband Bill – Honeymoon 1947)
1957: Anthony Eden resigns as Prime Minister and is succeeded by Harold Macmillan.
Love And Marriage Sex was a taboo subject for young women and in many cases even menstruation was explained in the scantiest of terms. This ignorance meant that it was not unusual for women to believe they might get pregnant from a passionate kiss. Knowledge and access to contraception was limited and the attitude to unmarried women who became pregnant, ‘fallen women’ as they were called, was harsh. They might be thrown out of home or sent away to have the baby and made to have it adopted. The euphemism ‘ovarian cyst’ was used to describe pregnancy or birth outside of marriage. Sometimes a current boyfriend or fiancée would accept the child and take it on as their own and at others the man responsible would have his arm twisted (sometimes literally) by the girl’s father to make him marry her; but obviously this was not a happy start to married life.
Television programme ‘The Sky at Night’ first presented by astronomer Patrick Moore. First premium bond winners are selected by ERNIE the computer. Frances Brinkhurst was born in 1933. Her father worked as a bus conductor and in 1951 at the age of eighteen she got a job ‘doing secretarial’ for Eastbourne Bus Corporation in the town.
Cartoon character Andy Capp first appears in Northern editions of the Daily Mirror.
Frances met her husband Fred in the pier ballroom at the end of the pier. They were married on 14th November 1954, at St Andrews Church. The bus company provided a bus to drive her from the church to the hotel reception which was at the Drive Hotel.
The Government reveals plans to allow women to join the House of Lords for the first time.
Fred built them their own house. In those days they had Marley tiles and occasional rugs. Cupboards were home-made and free standing. They had a Rayburn cooker, a forerunner of the Aga, and the boiler in the kitchen produced hot water. Washing was done by hand and put through a wringer (mangle). They grew all their vegetables in their garden and the three allotments that they had access to. 6 – Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957
Malaya becomes independent from Britain.
A woman would start to prepare for marriage years before she actually met her husband by making clothes and other items. This was called her trousseau or ‘bottom drawer.’
The Royal Christmas message is broadcast on television. After a 17 day trial John Bodkin Adams is found not guilty of murder. Sylvia Harker (19) – August 1945
For the wedding, family and friends in the community would rally round by helping to provide food and decorations. The wedding dress was home-made, usually of satin and brocade. Afterwards it would be re-used by shortening the hem and dying it to Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957 – 7
“ One thing we used to do a lot of was talking over the fence. People are more isolated now.”
“ I worked in Bobby’s and had to analyse all the takings. It was quite a good job actually.”
Amy Dyer
Ella Kenward
turn it into an evening dress. Bouquet flowers were apple blossom, wild flowers and roses with asparagus fern foliage. In order to have a wedding cake women would have to apply to the Ministry of Food for
Louisa Jones (née Hurd) 8 – Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957
Maureen Ferguson, 1952
Margaret Wooler – Wedding Day 1954
the ingredients to be sent to the baker’s address. There was always a celebration afterwards, usually in a room over a pub. If there was a honeymoon, it was usually a weekend away.
Dorothy Durrant, 1957
Eileen Doris Harffey
June Ackroyd, née Hoadley, 1949 Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957 – 9
Home Life Newly weds often started married life living with their in-laws and if they did manage to rent somewhere it was usually one room. They would start with one or two pieces of furniture donated by family or friends and create extra items from free resources such as orange boxes or wooden beams and bricks. The toilet was usually situated in a shed at the bottom of the garden and bathing was in a tin bath in front of the fire, with each person bathing in the used water of the last. Others visited the public baths at the Devonshire pool.
Fashion Women would look at fashions that film stars were wearing, but only the wealthy could have anything similar.Young women would try to copy the styles when they altered their clothes or made new ones. Clothes were more colourful after the war, but most women only had a very basic wardrobe of a skirt, blouse and cardigan, basic underwear 10 – Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957
Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957 – 11
Margaret Howell (and brother) – Eastbourne 1950
Margeurite Costin
Lucy Smith
and stockings, a taffeta skirt for dancing, black court shoes, a hat and gloves. Some had a two-piece (a suit) and a best dress. Nightclothes were made from parachute silk and it was common to wear animal furs. Torn clothes, including stockings and socks, were mended and most families had a sewing machine. Home-dressmaking was a significant feature in women’s magazines with reader’s letters about dressmaking concerns and regular free knitting patterns.
Hair Home perms were popular with family and friends doing each other’s hair at home. Henna was used for colouring although women rarely admitted to anyone, including their hairdresser, that they used it. This meant they ran the risk of hairdressing chemicals reacting with the henna to turn their hair green. Young women wore make-up but some had to put it on after leaving the family home and wash it off afterwards. Lipstick, powder-puffs and rouge were all used to 12 – Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957
Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957 – 13
“ In those days you didn’t have big aspirations. You kept within your limits.” Evelyn Ravenhill
create their favourite film star look. Housewives were encouraged to wear makeup and look nice for when their husbands returned from work. Perfume was expensive but in larger department stores there were perfume plunger machines which would squirt perfume onto them for a few pennies. By 1957 it was more common for married women to work part time, although they were still doing all the housework. Middle class women were now doing the majority of their own housework. Labour-saving gadgets such as vacuum cleaners were becoming more affordable but advertisements for these still showed that housework was ‘women’s work’ and they were always portrayed as wives, housewives and mothers rather than as working or professional women. Women’s magazines still focussed on home making, beauty and motherhood but items such as ‘How to have a Skiffle party’ Woman, August 1957, and ‘How to shop for Home Renovations’ Good Housekeeping, April 1957, hinted at further changes to come in women’s lives.
Research Advice www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/A2A
This website allows you to search for documents at your local record office before making a visit. You can also contact the record offices directly. Some records offices have a dedicated Learning and Outreach Officer who can visit schools/groups or facilitate visits to the record office. A2A is part of the UK archives network. The A2A database contains catalogues describing archives held locally in England and Wales dating from the eighth century to the present day. Search for specific words or phrases and date periods and then put in the place, the area and the repository if you know it.
Advertise through school newsletters, the local press, community notice boards and the library for people with information about your research subject. Ask if they would be willing to visit your school or club to talk, or be interviewed. They might bring in photographs and other memorabilia. If a few people respond you might like to have an open day and invite them all in at once. Make sure you take photographs of them and any interesting photographs or documents that they bring in. Make lots of notes or record them if they are happy for you to do so. Depending on your project, available equipment and permission from your volunteers, you might be able to film the interviews.
Some other useful websites are; www.yrn.org.uk
The Young Researchers Network/National Youth Agency. This has a free research toolkit and other useful resources.
www.ohs.org.uk
The Oral History Society
www.ancestry.co.uk
There is a free 14 day trial that will give you access to records before choosing to pay a fee to continue.
www.massobs.org.uk/index.htm
Mass Observation Archive
www.sussex.ac.uk/library/specialcollections
University of Sussex Archives
www.eastsussex.gov.uk/leisureandtourism/localandfamilyhistory/esro East Sussex Record Office, The Maltings, Castle Precincts, Lewes BN7 1YT
www.westsussex.gov.uk/leisure/explore_west_sussex/record_office_and_archives.aspx West Sussex Record Office, West Sussex County Council, 3 Orchard Street, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1DD 14 – Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957
Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957 – 15
Keeping Records
Family Tree
Girls from Moira House School and Eastbourne College presented their research 1947 to 1957 in the form of scrapbooks making a visual representation of the period.
Creating a family tree is a good way to start researching your own family history and discovering individual stories of your ancestors which could be compiled into a scrapbook. A good place to begin is at http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory
Scrapbooking is a good method to use for preserving history whether it be family, school, club or society. Photographs, artwork, notes, sketches and souvenirs such as tickets or autographs can all be included as well as embellishments which are materials such as ribbon, lace, sequins or stickers for decorating the pages. Keeping a scrapbook box means you can keep scraps and materials from packaging, greetings cards, presents and old scarves and other accessories as a form of recycling.
http://www.scrapbooksbydesign.net/how-to-make-a-scrapbook.html Although some people prefer compiling a scrapbook with physical resources, digital scrapbooks have grown in popularity because it is possible to include more variety of materials, and is cheaper to create and easier to store.
For further information see http://www.serif.com/digital-scrapbooking/ http://www.smilebox.com/scrapbooks.html
FILMS
Writing a Diary A Diary gives a remarkable insight into a particular period and an individual’s life. It also reminds somebody’s older self of their younger personality, life events, hopes and aspirations. Some famous female British diarists are Frances (Fanny) Burney, Violet Bonham Carter, George Eliot, Vera Brittain, Virginia Woolf, and Marianne Faithfull. Starting one is easy and, similarly to scrapbooking, it is possible to keep one on a PC or online rather than on paper. Some people publish diaries in the form of blogs, but doing this restricts what the writer feels should be shared.
http://www.wikihow.com/Keep-a-Journal
STUDENTS FROM MOIRA HOUSE SCHOOL AND EASTBOURNE COLLEGE PRODUCED SOME 1950’S THEMED DRAMATISATIONS…
The family film deals with changing roles, servitude and economic realities.
Teddy boys had started appearing in London, but not in Eastbourne.
Nurses consider the opportunities for women in post-war Britain but also touch on the Dr Bodkins Adams case – worries and secrets! 16 – Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957
Making and mending clothes was a normal part of life, and considered a woman’s role.
The main aspiration for most young women was to get married and start a family.
Upset over a suspicious death. Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957 – 17
Doctor John Bodkin Adams Good or Bad?
WOMEN’S LIVES TRUE STORY!
John Bodkin Adams who was once the wealthiest GP in England, was tried for murder in 1957 in a trial which appeared in newspaper headlines around the world. Few other doctors could afford his luxurious lifestyle, which included Savile Row suits, shooting parties and Rolls Royce cars, as well as his imposing Victorian house, Kent Lodge in Trinity Trees, Eastbourne; but Dr Adams was fortunate to receive legacies from private patients, many of whom were elderly wealthy women. He had a great influence over them and their business affairs and when they died he was usually the last person to see them alive. Gossip and controversy surrounding their deaths, and the legacies of valuables, money and even cars which were left to him, reached a crescendo in 1956 and led to his arrest and subsequent trial.
EARLY LIFE John Bodkin Adams was born in 1899 in Randalstown, Ireland. His family belonged to a deeply religious Christian group called the Plymouth Brethren, and John himself remained a member all his life. After graduating, he took up a position as assistant houseman at Bristol Royal Infirmary. After a fairly unsuccessful year, Adams applied for a GP role at a practice in Eastbourne and in 1922 moved to live at Kent Lodge with his mother and cousin. He later borrowed the money to buy the house from wealthy patient, William Mawhood. Mrs Mawhood considered Adams a scrounger as he would arrive at meal times with his mother and cousin in tow and charge items to their account. When her husband died in 1949, Adams visited uninvited and took a 22-carat gold pen saying he wanted “something of her husband’s”. Around 1933 Adams became engaged to a local lady, Norah O’Hara, but called it off a couple of years later. However, they did remain lifelong friends. Adams stayed in Eastbourne throughout the war but was aggrieved at not being included on a ‘pool system’ where GP’s treated the patients of colleagues who had been conscripted. He had a diploma in anaesthetics and worked at the Princess Alice hospital once a week, but they considered him a bungler as he ate cakes, fell asleep and even mixed up the anaesthetic gas tubes. However, many of his patients would not hear a word against him. He was in turn, considered hardworking and considerate, kind and compassionate, sinister and creepy, grasping and 18 – Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957
John Bodkin Adams
“ There were that few people who were determined to see the doctor put in jail for murder. No way was that man a murderer and I’ll stick to my guns until the day I die.” George Turner manipulative or a bungling fool, and to this day opinion is divided as to his skills, and his guilt in ‘easing the passing’ of elderly patients. The patient who instigated Adams arrest was only 50 when she died. Gertrude Hullett, known as Bobbie, became depressed after the death of her husband Jack four months earlier. Both were Dr Adams’ patients and at the centre of wealthy society in Eastbourne. In fact Dr Adams was a frequent guest at their parties which included theatre directors, actors and other show business personalities. It was a close friend of theirs, music hall entertainer Leslie Henson, who tipped the police off anonymously about Dr Adams, after Gertrude Hullett’s death.
JACK AND GERTRUDE HULLETT Jack Hullett died suddenly of heart failure in March 1956. He was being treated for pains in the lower leg and breathlessness due to bowel cancer. The day before he died he seemed to be doing well, even visiting the local pub. The doctor gave him an injection of morphia and he died that night. Later Dr Adams stated on the cremation form that he had Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957 – 19
no pecuniary interest in the death despite being fully aware that Jack had left him money.
NURSES STATEMENTS Sister Grace Osgood
Gertrude Hullett (Bobbie) was constantly in a drugged state after Jack’s death, due to the medication Dr Adams prescribed for her. She stated frequently that without Jack she no longer wanted to live, and four months after Jack’s death, on 27 July 1956, she died.
“ Dr Adams general attitude towards the patient was repulsive to me; He would sit and hold their hand. I considered his treatment most unprofessional. I did not like him before I nursed Colonel Gwynne but after nursing this patient who was prescribed medication that was far too strong, I intended to refuse any further patients of Dr Adams.” Sister Mary Gartley
Adams recorded her death as a brain haemorrhage, but the pathologist Francis Camps accused him of ‘extreme incompetence, ’ arguing that she had been poisoned with Kent Lodge, Trinity Trees, Eastbourne. sleeping pills. There was an official investigation which found the cause of her death to be barbitone poisoning. The verdict was suicide. An unfinished letter to her daughter found in a deed box, began, ‘My darling Patricia, If I should die and you read this, please be happy for me. I love you very dearly but I don’t want to go on living without Jack. You will be unhappy at first but it will pass…’
“ He lived well and extravagantly but he was also very generous. He had a way of creating friends and enemies.” James Gray
Dr Adams was left a Rolls Royce and a legacy. Prior to her death she also wrote him a cheque for £1000, which he had specially cleared. Despite investigation by Scotland Yard, this cheque, required as an exhibit, disappeared without trace. The key points of concern regarding her death were that despite her fragile state of mind, Dr Adams was supplying her with enough barbiturates for her to accumulate a fatal dose and he had made no effort to prolong her life once she had lapsed into a coma. His action in having the cheque cleared quickly indicated that he suspected she might die before it cleared normally.
THE INVESTIGATION Detective Superintendent Herbert Hannam of Scotland Yard was put in charge of the investigation, supported by Detective Sergeant Charles Hewett. However they were hampered by the British Medical Association sending a letter reminding doctors in Eastbourne 20 – Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957
“ Dr Adams was very congenial and easy to work with. Patients always had implicit faith in him and couldn’t seem to get on without him.” Sister Doreen Henagulph “ The doctor always tried to endear himself to the patients. He would have an almost hypnotic effect on them, sitting close to them and gazing into their eyes.” Sister Mary Goodchild “ Although Dr Adam’s bedside manner was always extremely friendly, I did not like working with him as he would not explain the patients’ treatment nor the names of the drugs prescribed. He supplied the drugs himself. On one occasion I asked what the tablets were and I received such a rebuff that I never asked again.” Nurse Anne Masters “ When I came on duty one morning Admiral Prendergast was comatose and never came out of the coma and I am quite convinced that the injections of morphia Dr Adams gave him hastened his death.” Matron Nellie Spencer “ I always found Dr Adams to be kind and attentive and he never hesitated to come out when called at night.” Sister Idina Penny “ Mr Swift was in distress because of his breathing. He was sitting up and supported by pillows and The Doctor, to my astonishment, removed several of the pillows and laid the patient in a recumbent position on his left side.This treatment was wrong for his condition! He passed away about 2am on Christmas morning.”
Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957 – 21
of Professional Secrecy (patient confidentiality) if interviewed by the police, despite the fact that said patients were dead. Sir Reginald ManninghamBuller (who prosecuted all cases of poisoning) met with Dr Macrae to try to convince him of the importance of the case and passed him Hannam’s confidential report on Adams. Macrae took the report to the President of the BMA, returning it the next day, but it is thought that he passed a copy to the defence. However, the BMA did drop their opposition to doctors talking to the police. The four cases with enough evidence for prosecution to be warranted were Gertrude Hullett, Edith Alice Morrell, Clara Neil Miller and Julian Bradnum. Adams was charged with the murder of Edith Morrell, despite it being considered the weakest case, with the case of Gertrude Hullett to be prosecuted afterwards.
EDITH ALICE MORRELL Mrs Morrell was 81 when she died on 13th Nov 1950. She was treated with phenobarbital, sleeping tablets and even heroin as well as regular morphine injections. Dr Adams told the nurse not to let Mrs Morrell regain consciousness in the last three days of her life. On the night she died, he gave her an injection and told the nurse to give her another if she did not quieten. The nurse did so but felt that it had killed her. After examining the chemist lists of medications used, Mr L.C. Nickolls, head of the Metropolitan Police Laboratory at New Scotland Yard wrote to Hannam stating ‘that in the last week of life she was dispensed sufficient morphine, sulphate and heroin to be lethal to anyone but a confirmed drug addict.’ Mrs Morrell regularly told her solicitors that she felt that she would not still be 22 – Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957
Adams – Soldier / Victor / Pensioner.
“ In my opinion he did not like females” George Turner alive if it weren’t for the excellent treatment and care she received from Dr Adams and left him a chest of silver and a Rolls Royce. Although they were never prosecuted, there were two other cases with enough evidence to do so – Clara Neil Miller and Julia Bradnum.
CLARA NEIL MILLER Clara died in February 1954 aged 87. She lived in Annie Sharpe’s guest house with her sister Hilda. Dr Adams would be alone with her for up to twenty minutes at a time. When she was asked about it Clara said he was assisting her in personal matters such as pinning on brooches or adjusting her dress. Earlier that month a nurse entered without Adams noticing. She saw Clara’s bed clothes had all been removed, her night gown was lifted up around her chest and the window in the room was wide open despite the extremely cold weather. When her body was exhumed she was found to have died from bronchopneumonia, not the heart problem which Adams put on the death certificate. There was no record of any treatment for bronchopneumonia. Dr Adams was the sole executor of her estate and she left him £1,275. He charged her estate a further £700 for his services as her GP.
JULIA BRADNUM Julia was in very good health and the day before she died, in May 1952, she went for a walk and did housework. When she suddenly became ill Dr Adams gave her an injection, telling a nurse ‘it would be over in three minutes.’ Julia died minutes later. What Dr Adams had injected her with was never discovered. He put the cause of death as cerebral haemorrhage and cardiovascular degeneration, but the exhumation showed no cerebral haemorrhage. Adams was the sole executor of her estate and received £661. Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957 – 23
“ He was clinically sound. His judgement, advice, diagnosis and treatment were all, in my opinion above repute. He would attract support and interest because his patients not only liked him but got better. From that point of view he was well sought after.” James Gray Chemist, Detective, Pathologist.
ADAMS AND HANNAM In October 1956 Dr Adams encountered Hannam and asked “You are finding all these rumours untrue, aren’t you?” When Hannam raised the matter of Adams’ patient’s deaths and the legacies he received Adams responded, “A lot of those were instead of fees, I don’t want money. What use is it? I paid £1100 super tax last year”. He also admitted forging a prescription saying “…I have had God’s forgiveness for it”. When Hannam asked him why he had lied about ‘pecuniary interest’ on many cremation forms, Adams said: “Oh, that wasn’t done wickedly, God knows it wasn’t. We always want cremations to go off smoothly for the dear relatives. If I said I knew I was getting money under the will they might get suspicious, and I like cremations and burials to go smoothly. There was nothing suspicious really. It was not deceitful.” When Adams’ house was searched under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1951 he was asked where he kept his Dangerous Drugs Register and he responded: “I don’t know what you mean. I keep no register.” Amidst the shooting trophies on the wall in his consulting room were two medicine cupboards in which police found chocolate, margarine, butter and sugar as well as various drugs. Adams hid two bottles of morphine in his pocket which he said was for a patient who had died over a week before, a Mr Soden, but later police found that Soden had never been prescribed morphine. 24 – Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957
Adams and Eves An anonymous poem circulating at the time of the arrest and trial. In Eastbourne it is healthy And the residents are wealthy It’s a miracle that anybody dies: Yet this pearl of English lidos Is a slaughter house of widows – I their bank rolls are above the normal size. If they’re lucky in addition In their choice of a physician And remember him when making out their wills. And bequeath their Rolls Royces Then they soon hear angel voices And are quickly freed from all their earthly ills. If they’re nervous or afraid of What a heroine is made of Their mentality will soon be reconditioned So they needn’t feel neglected They will shortly be injected With the heroin in which they are deficient. As we witnessed the deceased borne From the stately homes of Eastbourne We are calm, for it may safely be assumed. That each lady that we bury In the local cemetery Will re-surface when the body is exhumed. It’s the mortuary chapel If they touch an Adam’s apple After parting with a Bentley as a fee So to Liquidate your odd kin By the needle of the bodkin Send them down to sunny Eastbourne by the sea.
Elsewhere in the house police found brand new car tyres, stocks of alcohol, and unused silver and china. One room was full of guns in glass fronted cases, while another was full of expensive photographic equipment.
THE ARREST
Adams was arrested on 19 December 1956. When told of the charges he said: “Murder… murder…can you prove it was murder? I didn’t think you could prove it was murder. She [Edith Morrell] was dying in any event” and “easing the passing of a dying person isn’t all that wicked. She wanted to die. That can’t be murder. It is impossible to accuse a doctor.”
THE TRIAL The committal hearing was on January 14 1957 in Lewes. Sir Roland Gwynne, Chairman of the magistrates stepped down because of his friendship with Adams. A key point used in Adam’s defence was that the charge was mainly reliant on testimonies of nurses who attended Mrs Morrell. Eight notebooks overlooked by the police, were produced at the trial and contained details of Mrs Morell’s treatment over several years. Individual nurses’ verbal evidence did not correlate to the notes they had written making them seem unreliable and possibly influenced by the surrounding gossip. The trial was presided over by Mr Justice Patrick Devlin and took seventeen days. On April 15 1957 Adams was found not guilty of the murder of Edith Morrell. It had taken the jury just 45 minutes to reach this verdict. After this the Attorney-General had the power to prosecute Dr Adams for Gertrude Hullett’s death, but in an extraordinary move he chose to enter a Nolle Prosequi, a power historically used on compassionate grounds when the accused was too ill to be tried. Adams was known to have powerful friends and there was speculation about strings being pulled at the highest level, and of a homosexual relationship between him, Sir Roland Gwynne and a senior policeman. Scotland Yard’s files on the case and those of the Director of Public Prosecutions were closed until 2033, which was unusual considering the advanced ages of all those involved. Special permission to open them to the public was granted in 2003. Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957 – 25
In July 1957 Adams was convicted of 8 counts of forging prescriptions, 4 counts of making false statements on cremation forms and 3 offences under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1951. He was fined 2,400 pounds plus costs. His license to prescribe dangerous drugs was revoked and he was struck off the Medical Register. He was reinstated as a General Practitioner in 1961 and remained in Eastbourne until he died from heart failure in June 1983. He was 84.
“ He was a conspicuous doctor in Eastbourne – particularly appreciated among the wealthy fraternity amongst his patients and there were many, and because he looked after people well they liked to leave him things.” James Gray LEGAL CHANGES The trial of Dr Adams led to certain changes in the legal system. The ‘Principle of Double Effect’ was that if a doctor gave treatment to a seriously ill patient with the intention of relieving pain or suffering, and as a result, a person’s life was cut short, then the doctor would not be guilty of murder.
“ He was a purely professional man. He put the patient first and was a quiet and shy man.” Joan Wheeler February 1950
Amy Ware (76) Dr Adams would not allow visits from relatives. She left Adams £1000 but a copy of the will showed that she had changed it from £100 to £1000. Amy died within days of signing this will and was cremated within two days. November 1950
Tenth Duke of Devonshire (55) Bodkin Adams – Double Effect?
The Criminal Justice Act 1967 restricted what could be published about committal hearings in order to prevent pre-trial publicity. Changes in Dangerous Drugs Regulations require that schedule IV poisons require signed and dated records of patient details and the dosage used.
“ It is strange. I live for my work. I gave a vow to God that I would look after my national poor patients. I am not taking on any more but I have kept my vow. Day and night I will turn out for them and I never asked anybody else to do it for me. I think this makes people jealous of me. I get up at 6.30 each morning, listen to the 7 o’clock news, then visit a patient or go to the Esperance… then I go to the hospital and get back here at 9 for private patients… I also do more surgeries than my partners. If only the others worked as hard as I do.” John Bodkin Adams 26 – Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957
Other suspicious cases 1947 – 1957
The Duke died very suddenly of a heart attack. Dr Adams signed the death certificate without notifying the coroner as he should have. December 1950
Annabella Kilgour (89) Doctor Adams gave her an injection which sent her into a coma from which she did not recover. The nurse was convinced that the injection was too strong, or wrong. She left Dr Adams £200 and a clock. November 1952
Mrs Julia Maud Thomas (72) Three days prior to her death Dr Adams instructed her to take pills which made her sleep until the next day when she was given 2 more. She went into a coma. The doctor injected her and she died that night.
November 1952
Annie Dowding (78) Adams stated on the death certificate that her death was due to bowel cancer but relatives had no prior knowledge of her illness and her death was sudden. His strange instructions to undertakers were that her coffin must not be opened under any circumstances. February 1954
Hilda Neil Miller (86) Hilda (the sister of Clara Neil Miller) was so heavily medicated, that Mr Nickolls of the Metropolitan Police stated that ‘no qualified doctor could possibly prescribe drugs in the amount shown without some peculiar intent’. November 1956
Annie Sharpe Annie was the owner of the guest house where the Neil Millers died. Adams diagnosed cancer and gave her a prescription. She died five days later. Hannam regarded her death as remarkably suspicious as she was a major witness. However her body was quickly cremated precluding further investigation into her death. May 1955
James Downs (88) Mr Downs (brother in law of Amy Ware) was sent to the Esperance to recuperate after a fractured ankle. He died four months later after signing a new will in which Dr Adams was to receive £1000. Dr Adams saw Mr Downs twelve hours before he died (he was in a coma for 36 hours.) There was no post mortem.
Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957 – 27
Doctor John Bodkin Adams
EDUCATIONAL IDEAS Prosecution and Defence Students divide into groups and after reading the story of Dr John Bodkin Adams, prepare arguments for his guilt, or for his innocence. They then present these to each other, leading to further debate.
Write a play based on the story, or on the theme of euthanasia. Hold a mock trial on the case of Dr Adams
Debating circle The first person says, Dr Adams is guilty because…and gives a reason. The second says, No he’s not guilty because….and gives a reason and so on. Reasons cannot be repeated so students have to try to remember all the evidence and come up with new ones on their turn. Those who can’t drop out. The same activity can be repeated with associated ideas such as ‘helping somebody who is suffering to die is right, or wrong because….
FILM
Write the story from different perspectives: Dr Adams, Detective Superintendent Hannam, or one of Dr Adams’ patients.
Let students take the roles of judge, usher, court clerk, prosecution and defence lawyers, witnesses for the prosecution and the defence, the jury and Dr Adams.
See www.citizenshipfoundation.org.uk/main/resource.php?s100 Encourage students to research the case for and against euthanasia You can then hold a class discussion or debate.
See www.parliamentweek.org/schools/create-the-debate/
STUDENTS FROM MOIRA HOUSE SCHOOL AND EASTBOURNE COLLEGE PRODUCED A DRAMATIC BODKIN ADAMS RECONSTRUCTION…
Dr Adams rarely explained or discussed his treatment of the patients with the nurses.
Dr Adams did not like to be interrupted when he was with his patients. 28 – Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957
Tim Couzens playing the role of the controversial GP.
Nurses were interviewed – some of the statements didn’t tally with their notebooks.
Detective Superintendent Hannam’s encounter with Dr Adams. Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957 – 29
Notable Women
Mary Rand (Athlete. Born 1940)
Some notable women’s achievements 1947 – 1957
Invited as a guest of the Olympic squad at a training camp in Brighton, where she beat Britain’s best high-jumpers (1956).
Elizabeth II (Born 1926)
Barbara Hepworth (Sculptor. 1903-1975)
Married in 1947. Became queen in 1952.
Margaret Thatcher (Politician / PM 1925–2013)
Rejected for a job at ICI, after a personnel department assessment said she was “headstrong, obstinate and dangerously selfopinionated.” Joined the local Conservative Association. (1948) Qualified as a barrister (1953) and went on to become Britain’s first woman Prime Minister (1979-1990).
Started her drawings of operating theatres (1947). Founder member of the Penwith Society of Arts in Cornwall. (1949). Two works commissioned for the Festival of Britain (1950-51) Designs sets and costumes for Sophocles’ Electra at the Old Vic Theatre, London (1951) and The Midsummer Marriage and major exhibition of her work at Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (1954). The Tate often exhibits her sculptures.
Barbara Castle (Politician. 1910-2002)
A high-profile Bevanite and an advocate of decolonisation and the Anti-Apartheid Movement (1950s).
Arrived in Africa (1957), and met palaeontologist Louis S. B. Leakey who later asked her to study a group of wild chimpanzees in Tanzania. 30 – Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957
Doris Lessing
(Writer. Born 1919)
Agatha Christie (Writer.1890-1976) Rosalind Franklin (Scientist. 1920-1958)
A postdoctoral researcher, she became knowledgeable about the use of X-ray diffraction as a method for analysing molecular structures. Worked at King’s College London applying this technique to DNA (1951-1953). This led to two Cambridge researchers developing the double-helix DNA model.
Caroline Harriet Haslet (Elec. engineer. 1895-1957)
Jane Goodall (Primatologist. Born 1934)
Received a scholarship for post-graduate work at Newnham College, Cambridge (1947). Published Sartre: Romantic Rationalist, beginning a lifelong critique of existentialism. Taught moral and political philosophy at St Anne’s, Oxford (1948-1963). Under the Net, the first of her 26 novels, was published (1954).
Began career as writer with novel The Grass is Singing (1949). Seven novels (1949-1957). Received Somerset Maugham award (1954).
Edith Summerskill (Politician. 1901–1980)
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food (1945–50.) Minister of National Insurance (1950–51). Member of the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee (1944 to 1958) Chair of the Labour Party (1954-5). Wrote Letters to My Daughter (1957).
Iris Murdoch (Novelist and philosopher 1919 - 1999)
The only female member of the Council of the British Institute of Management (1946– 1954) First female Chairman of the British Electrical Development Association (1953 -1954.) Edited the Electrical Handbook for Women and Household Electricity. President of both the British Federation of Business and Professional Women and the International Federation. Honoured as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1947). JP for the County of London (1950-1957).
Helen Bamber (Campaigner. Born 1925)
Worked with Holocaust survivors after the war and helped to establish Amnesty International (1947 onwards).
Sue Ryder (Charity worker. 1923 - 2000)
Established homes for ex-prisoners and people with illness or disabilities (1952) and the Sue Ryder Foundation (1953). Awarded the OBE at the age of 33 (1957).
Elizabeth David (Cookery writer. 1913-1992)
Ann Davison (Sailor. 1914–1992)
First woman to sail the Atlantic Ocean single-handedly (1952).
15 Crime novels, three romances published (1947-1957). Her play The Mousetrap opens (1952) and Witness for the Prosecution (1953) Honoured as Commander of the British Empire (1956).
www.sueryder.org – ‘60 years of Incredible Care’.
Published first cookery book Mediterranean Food (1950). Followed by French Country Cooking (1951), Italian Food (1954), and Summer Cooking (1955). Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957 – 31
Mary Quant (Designer. Born 1934)
Boutique on the King’s Road, London (1955).
Sybil Thorndike (Actress. 1882 - 1976)
Mrs Squeers in Nicholas Nickleby (1948), Queen Victoria in Melba (1952) and the Queen Dowager with Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier in The Prince and the Showgirl (1957).
CREDITS
Audrey Hepburn (Actress. 1929-1993)
Films, Monte Carlo Baby, Roman Holiday, Sabrina, War and Peace, Love in the Afternoon, Funny Face (1952–1957) Theatre– Gigi (1951–1954). Oscar and BAFTA awards (1954). Golden Globe Award (1954, 1955).
Marguerite Patten (Chef. Born 1915)
Following work for the Ministry of Food during the war she published her first cookery book “Recipes by Harrods” and was the first ‘celebrity chef’ on television (1947). Popularised cooking with SPAM and became a household name (1950s).
Vera Lynn (Singer. Born 1917)
Forces sweetheart, remained popular post war. She recorded the first record by a British performer to top the US charts with Auf Wiederseh’n, Sweetheart in 1952.
Gracie Fields (Entertainer. 1898-1979)
Household name from 1930 and war years. Had her own radio programme (1947). Headlined at the London Palladium (1948). Opened Festival of Britain (1951).
Joyce Grenfell (Entertainer. 1910-1979)
Various one woman shows, monologues and films including the St Trinian’s Series (1947-1957). 32 32 – Women’s Lives, Women’s Voices, 1947-1957
Elizabeth Taylor (Actress. 1932–2011)
Child actress. Last adolescent role was as Amy in Little Women. (1949). Applauded for her performance as Angela Vickers in George Stevens’ A Place in the Sun which was pivotal to her future acting career.
Julie Andrews (Actress and entertainer. Born 1935)
Youngest ever performer in the Royal Command Variety Performance, at the London Palladium (1948). Broadway debut in The Boy Friend (1954). Cast member in BBC radio comedy Educating Archie(1950 1952). On stage as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady (1956). Theatre World Award (1955).
Some other famous women born during the period.
Twiggy (Model. 1949) Princess Anne (1950) Victoria Wood (Entertainer and Comedienne. 1953) Anne Diamond (Television presenter and journalist. 1954) Diane Abbott (Politician. 1953) Valerie Amos (Politician. 1954) Angela Berners Wilson (Priest. 1955) Carol Ann Duffy (Poet. 1955) Lorraine Heggessey (Television Executive. 1956)
Written and produced by Dee Sharpe with the Sound Architect Creative Media Team: Jane Metcalfe, Zoe Ganderton, Anita Broad, Jacqui Brookes, Vicky Richards. INTERVIEWEES Maureen Ferguson Irene Forster Marguerite Costin Eileen Harffey Diana Westgate Joan Wheeler Vera Otto Eileen Morley Sylvia Potter Margaret Howell Lucy Smith Betty Johnson Sylvia Benge Dorothy Durrant Maureen Parker Louisa Jones June Ackroyd Marjorie Wotton Ella Kenward Sylvia Harker Amy Dyer Margaret Wooler Evelyn Ravenhill George Turner James Gray David Visick Henry McKendrick Inesa Vinciunaite Frances Brinkhurst
Moira House RESEARCHERS Tara Granea Jasmina Manville Jasmine Castledine Rosie Toner Jessica Horne Sonya Sharma Clara Gott Samar Al Shamaa Eastbourne College RESEARCHERS Beth Stephens Alice Walker Jessica Lees Bliss Verna Kajal Radia Molly Goss-Turner Katie Forster Lydia Davidson Marianne Smith Hannela Matthews Izzy Chaloner Volunteer Researchers Carol Roberts Joan Burne Jane Elvy Henry McKendrick
Elaine Koksvik Emma Jobes Alison Gamester Zara Cosgrove Vera Otto Julie Stevenson Pat and Ron Maddison Special thanks to the following for their contribution to the project: Mass Observation Archive Eastbourne Homes: Riverbourne House and Derby House WRVS Eastbourne Library Phaze One Pamela V Cullen author of A Stranger in Blood The Costume Place Graphic Design
WWW.BACONDESIGN.CO.UK
Jonathan Bacon
WOMEN’S LIVES, WOMEN’S VOICES, 1947-1957 Women’s Lives is an intergenerational oral history project focusing on Women in Eastbourne and East Sussex from 1947-1957. It recorded the events (socially and historically,) the changes and the adjustments in women’s lives in post WWII Britain. This period was a springboard that changed women’s lives forever. Britain was battle scarred with bomb sites with crumbling buildings set amidst a new kind of architecture, half-built blocks of flats which were the first signs of redevelopment. Throughout Britain, people still produced identity cards and housewives queued on chilly pavements, nursing their ration books. Then in 1951, Churchill gave new hope to all when he was re-elected to power under the Conservatives. Through research, interviews, drama and the resulting film, this project has examined women’s new roles in the light of changing attitudes, work, liberation and restriction, rationing, jobs, fashion, families, music and culture. It serves to record and celebrate local women who lived during those recuperative years of 1947 to 1957. For a DVD of the film, please contact Sound Architect on 07592 021590.
With special thanks to East Sussex County Council Library and Information Service.