Hello, my name is Valerie Hearn daughter of William (Billie) and Phyllis Adams and granddaughter of Jack and Marjorie Adams (née Britton). Marjorie was the eldest daughter of Daniel and Alice Britton of East Yarde Farm, North Devon. Unfortunately, she died in 1955, before I was born, but I’d like to tell you her story so that I can get to know her, and so that my extended family comes to know something about what it was like to cope with serious illness in rural Devon in the mid-twentieth century.  To do this, I’ve had to rely on stories told to me by Marjorie’s nieces, Greta, Audrey, Joyce, Rosalind and Lynne. They knew Grandma better than I did.

Marjorie married Jack Adams and lived at Bagbear Farm, Little Torrington, before moving to Homer Farm in 1937. This farm is now National Heritage Listed for England. Pictures show Marjorie working hard on the farm, but unfortunately she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and suffered for twenty years until her death at the age of 54.

At home, Jack used to brace himself against the wall to carry his wife, Marjorie, upstairs to bed, but eventually she was cared for in the sitting room at Homer by my Grandad and my parents.  It was a difficult life for them all living at a time when disability aids were less available than they are now. Mum and Dad often said how Marjorie was such a gentle lady who never complained, but Joyce remembers that she often despaired, and my great-grandmother, Alice Britton, wrote of her heartache about her daughter’s plight. I can remember, with horror, when mum told me that Grandma Marjorie had pressure sores the size of saucers and that, near the end, she couldn’t even swallow. It fills me with even more horror, thinking how she must have suffered, as the analgesia back then was probably non-existent.

A district nurse, called Christine Williams, use to call weekly to give her a bed bath. Incidentally, the same nurse delivered me into the world and, later, I had the pleasure of meeting and caring for Christine, when I became a district nurse. I think this kind of continuity, and sense of community and belonging, really is the strength of rural health care. It has certainly been the joy of my working life.

Social life was restricted for all farmers in North Devon because the daily round of caring for animals kept them at home. This was particularly true for Grandma and Grandad as Marjorie became increasingly disabled. They did manage to go to East Yarde Farm on Sundays where the family gathered to visit Daniel and Alice Britton – Marjorie’s parents. The men played darts and Grandma and her daughters got a meal ready which they all ate together late in the evening. My cousin, Joyce, recalls seeing Jack carrying Marjorie into the house so that she could be there on these occasions, and my cousin Rosalind wrote about how Marjorie was strapped to the chair to assist her to stay upright:

“On occasion, Uncle Jack would bring Auntie Marjorie to visit, he would carry her in and strap her onto a chair … Latterly we would visit her at Homer Farm where she was bed-ridden and in the tender care of her daughter-in-law, Phyllis. I think it was the last time I saw her: I carried the flowers in and put them on the bed. Mum (Gwen Britton) told me to hold them up so that Aunty could smell them. It was then I realised how totally incapacitated she was. How it must have broken Grandma’s heart to see her daughter suffer so.”

I grew up on Homer farm, where Grandma Marjorie and Grandad Jack had lived. I’m the only child of Billie and Phyllis Adams. My childhood was typical of Devonshire children. Our food was wholesome, and home-made Devonshire cream regularly appeared on the table I went to the same local schools as many members of the Britton family, and trained to be a nurse at The Princess Elizabeth Orthopaedic Hospital at Exeter, followed by the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital, Wonford. I returned to north Devon, married Peter James Hearn (09.08.1978), and became a district nurse, followed by Sister & Clinical Nurse Manager at Torrington Community hospital. After our daughter, Lisa Jane Hearn, was born (24.12.1987) I became a Practice Nurse & Nurse Prescriber. I do sometimes wonder how much the stories of Grandma Marjorie’s suffering influenced my choice to work in the health care system.

The birth, marriage and death life-cycle of my family continued on. My Dad, Billie Adams, died in 2002. Mum lived on until 2010. My daughter, Lisa, Marjorie’s great-granddaughter, married Harry Miller (03.08.2019), retaining her surname Hearn. Lisa and Harry blessed us with our first grandchild in April 2022. When baby Leonardo (Leo) Frederick Miller Hearn grows up, I hope that he will take an interest in my story so that he can come to an understanding about how this part of his family history has contributed to making him who he is.