Wilby Hart

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Wilby Irvine Hart
RVO
Born(1881-08-31)31 August 1881
Bombay, India
Died11 September 1967(1967-09-11) (aged 86)
Eastbourne
Alma materThe London Hospital
Occupation(s)Stone mason, sculptor and nurse to royalty

Wilby Irvine Hart RVM (31 August 1881- 11 September 1967), was a stone mason and sculptor, and nurse to royalty including HRH Prince Albert, later Duke of York and George VI. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Hart was an early supporter of the College of Nursing (now Royal College of Nursing), and of nurse registration. [1] [2] [3] [8] [9]

Contents

Early life

Wilby Irvine Hart was born on 31 August 1881 in Bombay, India. [1] She was one of at least four children born to her mother Keturah, and her father William, a barrister in the Indian Civil Service. [10] In 1891 they were living in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. [10]

Career

Sandringham House where Wilby Hart nursed royalty Sandringham - Sandringham House - 20210515143626.jpg
Sandringham House where Wilby Hart nursed royalty

In 1904 Hart commenced training at The London Hospital under Matron Eva Luckes. [1] Hart completed her training in 1908, and joined the hospital's Private Nursing Institute. She worked as a private nurse until at least 1923, and during her time cared for Prince Albert in 1917, for which George V awarded her the RVM. [1] In 1923 she was sent to Sandringham where she nursed Princess Victoria who had pneumonia. [1] Whilst Hart was there Empress Maria, the Dowager Empress of Russia and Queen Alexandra's sister, became ill and Hart also cared for her alongside Lord Dawson, the King's physician and a London Hospital doctor. [1] During the seven weeks she spent at Sandringham nursing royalty, Prince Albert, who was by then the Duke of York, got engaged to Elizabeth Bowes Lyon (later Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother) and brought her up to Hart's room to meet his former nurse. [1]

Honours

Hart was awarded the Royal Victorian Medal - Silver, in 1917 for her nursing services to HRH Prince Albert. [1]

Retirement and death

Hart retired to Eastbourne by 1931/1932, and shortly afterwards she had a stroke. [1] [11] [2] She retrained as a stone mason, and later on also worked as a wood carver and sculptor. [1] [4] Hart exhibited extensively in Eastbourne. [5] She died on 11 September 1967 in Eastbourne and left over £29,000 in her will. [12] She left her 'mother and child' sculpture to the Towner Gallery, Eastbourne. [3] [6] [7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Money, Jenny (2012). From Ragamuffins to Royalty: The Private Diaries of an Edwardian Nurse. Bloomington, USA.
  2. 1 2 3 "Nurses League Journals". The Nursing Record . 82 (1987): 22. February 1934 – via Female Forerunners Worldwide Collection: Historical Nursing Journals.
  3. 1 2 3 "Display by Local Art Group is of High Standard". Eastbourne Herald : 10. 15 June 1968 – via wikipedia library.
  4. 1 2 "Towner Gallery Exhibitions". Eastbourne Chronicle : 13. 11 April 1936 – via www.findmypast.co.uk.
  5. 1 2 "Local Artists First Post War Exhibition". Eastbourne Herald : 14. 6 March 1948 – via wikipedia library.
  6. 1 2 "A Sculpture". Eastbourne Gazette : 7. 8 April 1959 – via wikipedia library.
  7. 1 2 "Gift to Corporation". Eastbourne Herald : 19. 17 February 1968 – via wikipedia library.
  8. ↑ UK & Ireland, Nursing Registers, 1898-1968 for Wilby Irvine Hart, College of Nurses Register, 1916-1919, 8602.
  9. ↑ UK & Ireland, Nursing Registers, 1898-1968 for Wilby Irvine Hart, 1931, 7770.
  10. 1 2 William Hart, and family including Wilby, 1891 Census for Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England and Wales Census.
  11. ↑ The earliest Electoral Roll that Hart is in for Eastbourne is 1931/32, but she may have moved here ealier.
  12. ↑ England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995, for 1968, Hart, Wilby Irvine, 175
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