<—Olga, Nursing & a Declaration of War Olga’s Diary (Continued) Life goes on: A strange thing happened this morning, a gentleman called out. “Nurse” It took a few moments before I realized he meant me. It was a bit of a shock, but a very pleasant one. Sister Tutor says even in wartime there [...]
Posts Tagged ‘London 1939’
St Giles Cottage Hospital London 1940 – 1941
Posted in Family History, Family Saga, History of my ancestors, Jamaican Genealogy, Jamaican History, Memoirs, tagged Browney family, Carmen Browne, family, Jamaica, London 1939, London Blitz, nursing WW2, Outbreak of WW2, St Giles Cottage Hospital, St. Mary's Hospital on December 17, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Olga, Nursing and a Declaration of War
Posted in Family Historian, Family History, Family Saga, History of my ancestors, tagged Browney family, Carmen Browne, London 1939, nursing WW2, Olga's diary, Ross family, St Giles Cottage Hospital, St. Mary's Hospital, WW2 on November 29, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Olga’s Diary (Continued) Dear Diary War: Moores and I were in Oxford Street, when the air raid siren went, shopping for a new dress for her date that night with an army officer. We’d just reached John Lewis when it sounded and we knew it meant we were going to be bombed [...]
Olga – A Student Nurse at St Giles Hospital 1939
Posted in Family Historian, Family Saga, History of my ancestors, Memoirs, tagged Browney family, Carmen Browne, family story. roots, London 1939, nursing WW2, Olga Browney, Olga's diary, paddington, St Giles Cottage Hospital, St. Mary's Hospital on November 17, 2009 | 1 Comment »
<—Sydney Comes to London – 1939 Olga, Nursing & Declaration of War —> (Olga’s Diary Continued) Dear Diary St Giles Hospital: I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Not too long ago I was spending my mornings sitting on a park bench in Regent’s Park feeling sorry for myself and now I’m [...]
Sydney comes to London -1939
Posted in Family Historian, Family History, Family Saga, Genealogy, History of my ancestors, Memoirs, tagged Carmen Browne, London 1939, Olga Browney, Olga's diary, paddington, Ross family, St Giles Cottage Hospital, St. Mary's Hospital, Sydney Browney on November 6, 2009 | 2 Comments »
<—-Aunt Martha, Paddington Olga – A Student Nurse –> When I asked my mother (Olga) how safe she felt in London during the first part of 1939, she said she wasn’t worried because people felt that war with Adolph Hitler had been averted. Maybe the previous war was still fresh in people’s minds (after all in 1939 it was less than 20 [...]
A Change of Plan for Olga – London 1939
Posted in Family Historian, Family History, Family Saga, Memoirs, tagged Jamaica, Joanne, London 1939, Olga Browney, Olga's diary, outbreak of war on October 6, 2009 | 1 Comment »
<—London 1939 Aunt Martha, Chilworth Street, Paddington—> Even after all these years I still struggle to understand how my grandmother, Becky, thought it was safe to send my mother, Olga, to London in April 1939. The threat of war between Britain and Germany had not receded in spite of Neville Chamberlain securing Adolf Hitler’s promise that he would not invade [...]
London 1939
Posted in Family History, Family Saga, Genealogy, History of my ancestors, tagged Browney family, Jamaica, London, London 1939, Lyons Corner House, Martha Ross, Munich agreement, paddington, Ross family on September 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
<—-Kingston 1938 – A Dangerous Place A Change of Plan for Olga—-> My mother, Olga Browney, arrived in London from Kingston, Jamaica on 1st April 1939 intending to stay only a few months. The plan was that Olga would stay with her Aunt Martha in Paddington. Although in the months before there had been talk [...]
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Why I Wrote ”Olga – A Daughter’s Tale”
In 1994, my mother, Carmen Browne, was admitted to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton in the UK seriously ill. As she slowly recovered I realized that had she died so too would the chance of my finding out about her past, her family in Jamaica and, of particular importance to me, who my father was information she had consistently refused to share with me. So I decided to find out for myself.My first discovery was that my mother’s real name was Olga Browney, born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica and one of eleven children from a close-knit, coloured Catholic family. A kind, naïve and gentle girl, my mother arrived in London in 1939 and lived with a malevolent, alcoholic aunt, intending to stay for only six months. However, world events, personal tragedy and malicious intent all combined to prevent her from returning home to Kingston.
"Olga - A Daughter's Tale" is based on a true story about cruelty, revenge and jealousy inflicted on an innocent young woman and about moral courage, dignity, resilience and, in particular, love. It is the story of a remarkable woman, who because of circumstances, made a choice, which resulted in her losing contact with her beloved family in Jamaica, until nearly half a century later, when her past caught up her.
What I discovered about my mother filled me with such admiration for her that I wanted her story recorded for future generations of my family to read so that they would know about this remarkable woman whose greatest gift to me was her unconditional love. That's why I wrote “Olga – A Daughter’s Tale”.
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