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I have her nursing badge, a Maltese Cross in the case of St Marys. As it is hallmarked she would have been from before girls were called up into nursing during ww2 and the badges enamel on silver plate. That is why I am unsure whether my CAS was from Portsmouth, not usually associated with silver spoons and "gels".

The RCN badge is round, silver with a blue circle.

I have both badges for my mother who qualified 1944.

The RCN do not offer any kind of gateway to archives of nurses who are long retired. They do not seem to have these archives. I shall follow up very useful the suggestions given. Thank you

I am not given to forking out £ 10 for certs on the basis of guesswork. I only do this when I have a reasonable amount of evidence, more than GRO records for sure.

Please follow the links I have given you - there is info on there for the time you mention.

Dea x

Rollo
If you have her Hospital Badge then she would only have received that if she had done her SRN Training at St Mary's... cant speak for the years in question but at one time you needed to complete 4 yrs at your Training Hospital before you were awarded the Hospital Badge....a carrot if ever there was one to encourage Nurses to stay on an extra year after qualification...to many (myself included) your Hospital Badge was more important than the silver SRN one.

Between 1921 and 1983, there were three General Nursing Councils (GNC) in existence in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The councils had clearly prescribed duties and responsibilities for the training, examination and registration of nurses. They also approved training schools for the purpose of maintaining a register of nurses for England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

Register of nurses
The register of nurses was first published in 1922, and was produced annually until the late 1940s. These volumes list the nurse by name (including maiden name where appropriate), registration date and number, permanent address at that time, and where they qualified with dates. Later volumes were produced in the 1950s, which list only new nurses for each year and do not give the address.

GNC (General Nursing Council) Registers held at British Library
Welcome Library
RCN Archives

My mother was awarded her nursing badge at St Marys - I have the hospital paperwork for the ceremony listing all the nurses in her year. The badges were awarded by the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth. Two years later she was a staff nurse in London.

I am too busy to pay a visit to the British Library. I am therefore going to try and get the records for my mother and her friend by contacting the B.L. directly. When I contacted the RCN thery were unable to give me this information. Queen Alexandra's Hospital in Portsmouth were even less helpful.

Rollo....You have to be a member of the Royal College to access their site..I am not but have a sister who is will ask her to help out....
Why were you contacting the QA Portsmouth...?

Rollo - you are a very lucky person to have Erin on your side !!

Best of luck,

Dea xxx

St Mary's Hospital Nursing Badge...Motto......"Heavens Light Our Guide" .....made by Toye and Co.London

Realised QA and The Royal were part of the St Mary's School of Nursing Group

Thanks for that Dea...good to hear from you...!