VAD Jean Dobson

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Jean Dobson

Nursing, Surgical Nursing Duties

Jean Dobson was born Jane Ann Dobson was born on 12th May 1895 in Easington, Durham, to John Charles Dobson and Rebecca Jackson Dobson nee Doxford of Corbie Farm, Thornley in Durham. She was one of eleven children.

Her siblings were Cecilia Isabel (1886), Jacob Doxford (1888), Annie Maud (1889), Thomas William (1891), John Wallace (1893), Hannah (unsure of year of birth), Mary Elizabeth (1897), Kathleen (1900), Rebecca (1903) and Lily Blanch (1904).

The census of 1901 and 1911 show the family living at Corbie Farm. As the children aged, they appear to have been working on the farm with their father.

Jane began working at the War Hospital in Keighley in July 1916, working full time undertaking surgical nursing duties, and she remained there until July 1917.

She must have developed a love of nursing as she went on to train formally at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary from 1917 until 1921, and then moved to Manchester. She became a Queen's Nurse in 1922 which was a specific qualification for district nursing.

Jane's entry on the Queen's Nursing Institute Roll of Nursing

Unusually for the times, Jane continued in nursing even after marrying. She married George Herbert Haines, a widowed pharmaceutical chemist on 2nd December 1924 at St. Thomas' Church, Dixon Green in Chorlton.

Jane Ann Dobson's marriage to George Herbert Haines

They remained in the Manchester area for much of their lives. They had one son, Kenneth, born in 1926, as well as George's son Frederick from his first marriage. In 1939 they lived at 22 Cranmer Road in Manchester where George was working as a pharmaceutical chemist in the optician field with Frederick working as his assistant. Jane was described as a housewife, though the last entry on the Nursing Register I have found for her was from 1940.

The 1939 England and Wales Register

George died in 1972, his death registered in Lancaster. Jane died at Bay View Nursing Home in Grange over Sands on 8th March 1982.

Sources:

England and Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915

1901 England Census

1911 England Census

1939 England and Wales Register

UK & Ireland, Nursing Registers, 1898-1968

UK & Ireland, Queen's Nursing Institute Roll of Nursing, 1891-1931

England and Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007

England and Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995

 

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