Continuing our blog series written by volunteer, Katherine Bett, about the diaries of Winifred Hoyle (1880-1952). Catch up on Part 1

Chapter 2: Health

One of the Archives’ earliest accessions is a collection of household accounts and diaries of “Mrs F J Hoyle of Sonning”, and they provide a unique insight into middle-class life in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

They are the accounts of Winifred Bower Hoyle (b. 30th April 1880, d. 23rd June 1952 aged 72), who kept these diaries when she was aged 45-54 and living at 37 Devonshire Road, Palmers Green, North London. Her husband, Frederick (Fred), who worked as a clerk in the War Office was from Sonning; they later moved there, and it was where she died. Winifred’s diaries were given to the Archives two years after her death by her husband and were catalogued under the reference D/EX88. 

One of the things that sticks out to the modern reader in the diaries is just how many times this family of six was unwell! They got measles, the flu, whooping cough, scarlet fever, chicken pox, earache, and many, many colds.

Medical details are occasionally lacking in the diary entries. For example, Winifred’s son, Thomas, had an operation at St Mary’s Hospital Paddington when he was 5, but there are no details about what the operation was for.

However, in other cases there are lots of details about the illnesses the family suffered. Thomas got the measles in February 1928 and had to be isolated in his mother’s room. Then in April of the same year he got the mumps and had to stay confined for three weeks. He clearly passed it on to his mother, as Winifred also spent three weeks in confinement, including her 48th birthday.

[24 Tuesday - Mother mumped

Thomas de-mumped]

At the start of 1930, her son Russell got scarlet fever and was ‘taken to Southgate Isolation Hospital’. He stayed there for nearly a month and did not go back to school for another three weeks after that. In this time before antibiotics, scarlet fever was an extremely serious illness and most often seen in children. Those infected were often quarantined in order to stop the disease spreading. Clearly Winifred was concerned - there are many updates in the diaries from the hospital. She wrote that he was ‘very poorly - restless night’ and when she fetched him from hospital you can feel the relief in her comment that he ‘looks + seems very well’.

[11 Tuesday - Russell left Isolation Hospital this morning 11a.m. looks & seems very well. I went for him.]

What is incredibly wholesome is how the whole family supported each other when they were unwell. On one occasion, Winifred ‘cannot stop coughing’. The next day, Fred took a day off work ‘to look after me and I stayed in bed’. A few days later, four of the six of them had a cold and the eldest Freddy, who by this point had a junior civil service job, ‘brought all our breakfasts in bed before he went to business’.

However, the frequent illnesses were draining on the family. 1928 had clearly been a poorly year for the family and towards the end of the year, Winifred seemed to be nearing her breaking point. On the 3rd December everyone went to school - no one was ill and at home for the first time in six weeks! Winifred’s exasperation over this situation is clear. Furthermore, it was costly. The doctors bill for that year totalled £29 13s 7d - more than 5% of her total expenditure.

[3 Monday - All gone to school this morning am at home alone (with Fd [Fred]) the first time for 6 weeks.

The family also appeared to be accident-prone, with her second child, Russell, seemingly the worst off. In June 1928, Winifred wrote that ‘Russell had accident in Park, with [illegible] thrown. Hit ground + shot up into Russell’s face. Called Doctor’. In April 1929 he was bitten on the leg by a dog. Then in November 1931, ‘Russell had accident to his eye with ball at school. Glass broke + cut eyelid. He can see alright + no pain’.

On some occasions, Winifred does seem to be over-cautious with Russell and his injuries. In November 1928, he was kicked in the hip whilst playing football. When he came home, he was sent straight to bed. Four days later the doctor came and sent him straight back to school!

Winifred herself also had a few injuries. In November 1930 she ‘scalded chest with tea from teapot’. Luckily she described it as ‘not very bad’. However, one year later she describes a worse accident after missing her bus stop: ‘I told Bus Conductor + he pulled Bell + I thought it had stopped + jumped off to find myself lying prone on the road. I suffered a little from shock + a grazed knee which Roy Boyne iodined in Scout hut’.

Another interesting aspect of the diaries was the discovery of big crosses on certain days. Making a note of which days they appeared, there seemed to be a monthly pattern, presumably tracking a menstrual cycle. Based on it not running throughout all her diaries, it is probably tracking Winifred’s daughter Dora’s period.

The most striking aspect of all these entries is just how much time was spent either being unwell or looking after ill family members. It dominated Winifred’s life in a way that most people now are lucky enough to find strange. It disrupted family life, impacted the children’s education and was a considerable expense. It is clear to see how antibiotics, vaccinations, and healthcare that is free at the point of access has made a difference to families across the country.

Winifred spends so much of her diaries writing about her children, so in the next blog I want to focus on the woman herself.