Sarah Mitchell

Born 1805, died 1890
Nurse at Mitford and Launditch Union Workhouse, 1863 – 1876

Researched by Bridget Howarth

Sarah was 58 when she was appointed as a Nurse in the infirmary at Mitford and Launditch Union Workhouse, Gressenhall and she continued working until she retired from ill health at the age of 70.

Sarah was born in Hoe in 1805 and baptised in the parish church where her father, John Tuck, was Parish Clerk.  She married farmer and publican Robert Mitchell in 1828 and they had four children.  Robert died in 1843 but Sarah continued to manage The Angel public house for a while. Despite being widowed, she had another child in 1846.  The father’s name was not recorded.

In 1851 Sarah was a farmer with 46 acres, but over the next ten years, her children having moved away, Sarah may have decided the farm was too much for her to manage alone.

In January 1863 she began work at the Workhouse near Gressenhall, earning a salary of £20 per annum, with board, washing and lodging included. In common with most workhouse nurses at this time, Sarah had no nursing qualifications but was required to be able to read and write.  In 1866, her son, George, joined her as porter, working at Gressenhall until 1871 when he left to get married.

In 1868, Poor Law Inspectors recommended significant changes be made to the buildings and facilities in the workhouse. They made it clear that a second nurse was needed to help Sarah. Rebecca Baker was appointed in March 1869 and her arrival will have made a significant difference to Sarah’s working life. One Nurse took responsibility for the male ward and the other the female ward and were each given a bedroom nearby so that they were always available. Typhus, smallpox and scarlet fever would all have been a constant worry, and among the inmates some will have been classified as ‘weak minded’ or ‘imbeciles’, requiring additional care.

Sarah will have received help and advice from senior staff, and more from the Medical Officer when he was present in the building, but on a day-to-day basis, she and Rebecca will have been left to cope alone. Until 1874, the Guardians used a midwife from Dereham when required, but when she resigned, Sarah took over her duties too, receiving a small increase in salary.  

Over the course of 7 years, Sarah saw five assistant nurses come and go.  Elizabeth Flood stayed for four years, but was dismissed for insubordination, while others were at Gressenhall for a matter of months. As well as coping with this constantly changing staff, Sarah also faced the upheaval of the major structural changes that were beginning at Gressenhall. These works were completed over the next year or so, but continual improvements and changes were a feature of the remaining years of Sarah’s time here.

By 1876 Sarah was finding the work increasingly difficult; she was 70 years old and by the end of July she clearly wasn’t coping.  She was given a fortnight’s leave of absence, extended by a further month in August before the Guardians finally concluded that she was unwell to reliably carry out her duties. Sarah wrote a formal letter of resignation to which the Medical Officer, Dr Vincent, who added a very touching, personal comment: “I have also much pleasure in bearing my testimony to her excellent conduct as Nurse during the time she was under my observation.” The Guardians agreed a superannuation award of just over £20 a year. 

After retirement, Sarah lived in East Dereham with her brother’s widow, Sophia Tuck and in the 1881 census Sarah was described as a superannuated nurse. Sophia’s granddaughter, Emily Rix was listed as their companion.

Sarah died in East Dereham, at the age of 84, in October 1890 but was buried back in her home village of Hoe to lie alongside the husband she had lost 47 years earlier.