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Killearn Hospital
Killearn Hospital was one of five commisioned in 1938 in preparation for the war. Building started in 1939 and also complete in 1941 in time for the air raids on Clydebank and other Clydeside towns, which could be seen and heard in Killearn.
Local people had been asked to assist in getting the hospital ready to meet the emergency. As well as air raid casualties it was used for treatment of sick and wounded servicemen, injured seamen from convoys arriving in the Clyde, essential war workers, pensioners and Prisoners-of-War. It played an important part in the Clyde Valley Scheme for urgent treatment and care of war workers and was also used for emergency cases from the surrounding population.
The hospital had close links with Glasgow Western Infirmary but had several special units of its own. The orthopaedic and neurosurgical units were famous throughout Scotland, the latter being transferred to the Southern General Hospital.
The hospital was desgined to provide 640 emergeny beds, but after the War its total bed complement was 404.
The distance from Glasgow casued problems with the transportation of emergency cases and of visitors and nursing staff.
The hospital was eventually abandoned in the early 1970's.
Also see Killearn Hospital images on Flickr.
162 Responses to "Killearn Hospital"
My mother, Mary (Clark) Ray, worked in this hospital during WWII as an Occupational Therapist. She was brought over from Canada, and asked to help set up an OT department. However, when she arrived, the superintendent of the hospital didn't think OT was very valuable and made the establishment of OT services very difficult initially. However, Mom was successful enough he began to appreciate the value and by the time she left to come back to Canada, he admitted she would be sorely missed.
The Ontario Society of Occupational Therapy is gathering things for their archives so if anyone can share some information that would add to the stories of OT's making a difference for rehabilitating people, I would be delighted.
My mum worked there with sick kids before it went to Ruchill, about 1967. she didnt really enjoy it there but went to Ruchill which she loved
I trained as an orhopaedic nurse in killearn hospital from 1968-1970 & those were very happy times.It is heartbreaking to see the place in ruins now.I have so many great memories from there.It was such a friendly enviroment.Too bad it had to close.
never say goodbye
Hi Stan the scan!I never did say goodbye.Killearn will always be in my heart & all the great people I met there!
tell me Gabrielle what are you up to last I heard you were in Canada. Every time I think of the old scan room it is with nothing but affection. Every time the old memory cells construct a picture of you you have a smile on your face, and that can be nothing but good. I am now living in Australia which is a good place for a wobbly to grow old disgracefully
Well Stan,I'm still in Canada & still smiling but with a few wrinkles.My youngest daughter was out in Australia for a year,Melbourne &then Sydney,she returned here last August reluctantly.Where in OZ are you?
We had a wee bit of a reunion in September at Killearn with some of the folk we trained with & it was really nice to get together but very sad to see the hospital in ruins.
lovely to hear from & do keep in touch.
Hi, My name is John Young and went to Canada in 1981. My home for many years was in Strathblane.
Killearn Hospital is a place I new fairly well as my friend was a nurse there. I have learned that he died some time back. Tommy married a nurse from the hospital. Its so odd, I remember her name like it was yesterday Valery. At that time I was in love with a nurse, Jean Porte. Fantastic times which I still hold so dearly.
Any old school mates can email me. Would love to here from them. firstname.lastname@example.com
Went to Balfron high school. Still have contacts, like Mike and Sheila Rennie in Killearn, Rina Taylor, now Chranston. on and on. Miss you all. John.
Well Gabrielle I am in the swinging city of Adelaide. I have a son in Paris (chef) and a daughter here in Adelaide (lawyer- about to make me a grand dad). I am on facebook as Robert Stanley Orr with a picture of a gorilla.
Did you know my mum Sheila MacFarlane? She did her orthopaedic training their too.
Did your Mum marry Eddie Manderson who was a male nurse there.If it's the same Sheila I remember her well.
Yes that's her
Hi Gabrielle. George McLachlan here! I was ordering flowers for my son and his wife when the lady told me about this website! How are you and yours? I have two children and three grandchildren that keep me really busy. Are you in contact with Rosemary or any of the others in our set? I have fond memories of the church service in ward 6 remember?! And our trips to the Black Bull! Best wishes.
What year ?
Can you remember my mum. She was in Killearn hospital from 1961 until around 1968 with severe head trauma. A slate went through her skull. Her name was elizabeth collins.
I was a patient in the children's ward 1969 for almost a full year. Sister Dallas was in charge of the ward. Anyone remember her?
I was a patient at Killearn Hospital around 1967/8, I was in for a brain tumour, I remember the smell of the place and the nurses especially one nurse who I called auntie buntie, I was in hospital for a long time and I was always allowed to visit the female patients and they would let me have a drink of coffee. The gardens where beautiful and I can remember rabbits running about. If it wasnt for the staff at Killearn I wouldnt be here today
My mother was a patient in ward 1 at Killearn, nursed by Staff Nurse Ward and her team. I later trained there as a nurse and especially remember Sister Cronin who kept me on the straight and narrow. Such a shame to see what has happened, it was absolutely beautiful grounds and so peaceful.
Just been reading the comments about Killearn Hospital.I was brought up along from there at the sawmill and remember seeing all the buses at weekends taking all the visitors to the hospital.Also when we got on the bus for school there were never any seats for us until the bus emptied at the hospital with all the staff going to work.When the hospital closed the buses stopped going round that way.It is indeed very sad to see the place in such a state.Miss Ward lived in the village with her sister until a few years ago and they are now both deceased.
HI nancy, my nana lived up the road by the saw mill, her name is Kathleen Russell aka Kathy, she passed away 6 years ago, if you new her is there anything you could tell me about her, i obviously know an awful lot but its nice to find out from others to, and pictures if you have any, she also worked at the hospital as a nurse, i have a staff pic of her and her colleagues i could scan it on.
Hello Kat,yes I knew your nana.The family came to Lettreburn when Samuel was a baby.I moved from there when I married in 1972 and lived in a cottage nr the smithy on the other side of the hospital.My dad was the blacksmith at Blane Smithy and sometimes the patients would walk along to the smithy and sit on the barrel inside the door and get a haircut! That would have been in the forties I think.Anyway,I have been in the village since 1982 and didn`t see your nana much after that.I see Samuel most days when he is in the village for shopping. Which one of the family do you belong to? There was David,Elaine,Valerie,Robert and Samuel.
Sorry I have not been checking here for a while.
Wow I cant believe you remember so much about her and my uncle Samuel, I belong to Elaine she has 4 of us altogether and now 2 grandchildren by my elder sister. The village is such a lovely place to be I have so many happy memories growing up 🙂
I completely forgot to check this, I am so happy to hear the above. My mum is Elaine 🙂
Ah ! Sr Cronin ! She was a guiding ightning for me. Matt Rodgers. Started my lifelong nursing career there in 1965 .
I grew up at the Blane Smiddy and can remember Killearn Hospital in its heyday, I remember as a wee boy delivering the News papers to the Wards, getting autographs from all the football players that were having cartilage operations, helping my Mum & Dad fill up the vending machines, I can also remember the nurses returning from the The Black Bull and Knocking on the shop door at 11pm looking for cigarettes discussing with each other on how to get back in without the Matron catching them.
Just remember don't just blame the asbestos for the way the hospital is now, when it closed there was allot of interest in redeveloping it but the do gooders kept on rejecting the numerous plans that were put forward.
Anne,are you Rachel,s daughter? I was very friendly with her until she passed away. I did not
realise you had done EN training at Killearn,obviouslt many years after I trained in orthpaedics
there. Would like to hear from you again. I still live in the same place. I tried to phone you,
but there is no response to the number I have.
I remember Killearn Hospital very well, My mother was a patient in there, I think around 1966, for Asthma. I was at school in Killearn and stayed out near Croftamie, and remember you too Duncan Goodwin! (you were in my class at school)
Killearn Hospital was set in beautiful gardens, it is such a shame to see the place go from rack to ruin, the site should be cleared and perhaps another hospital built in the grounds, it is such a peaceful setting
Hi Fiona,I remember you very well too.I still live in the village and it`s a blast from the past to see your name here.Hope you are well.
my gran Margaret Brown (cairns. worked in kllearn for years as an auxillary nurse. she had always dreamed of becomng a nurse but her mother would not let her as she was requred to bring home money for the family. she talked fondly of her time at killearn
I remember the hospital very well as I lived at Crosshead Roadin the village. I used to work at weekends in the farm across the road from the hospital, collecting the cattle and driving them to the farm, also watching the helicopters arriving with the injured from the Cairngorms and surrounding areas.
Can someone please give me the postcode for Killearn Hospital or the nearest possible postcode as would like to visit
Killearn, Glasgow, G63 9PT
thats the postcode for oakwood nursery and cafe, the hospital is just over the road from there and your best bet would be to park in there car park and walk over to the side of the road that the hospital is on.
I was a spinal injury patient at Killearn Hospital 1964 under the care of consultant Mr Shorstein for whom I have a great deal praise, he spoke to you the patient not as was common in those days to discuss your proposed treatment with everyone around your bed space, totally ignoring the person in the bed. His expertise gave me the ability to walk again, but warned me I may suffer associated problems later in life which has happened.
A few years ago returning north by train from London Euston I was joined at the seats opposite by a Father and Son from Glasgow who had spent the day at the House of Commons / Lords. I mentioned during my service in the Royal Navy at Faslane I spent some time at Killearn with a spinal injury. I mentioned the Consultant by name, the father replied his mother was treated by the same person at Killearn around the same time, his mother always said he had saved her life. That day on the train was the first time both they and I had heard the name Shorstein by someone outside their family. I do not remember the ward number, memory loss is a problem, but I have just recalled a nurse by the name of Port thank you for your care should you by chance read this comment.
Joe Shorstein was not just a great medical professional but a philosopher. Sadly, he seemed to have lived a very tortured inner life, as described by R.D.Laing (who worked at the hospital in the late 50's) in his autobiography. May he RIP.
My mom came from Germany in 1949 and worked as a nurses aide at Killearn Hospital. I remember her telling me stories of going to dances on her days off with her girlfriends. They had to walk quite a long way from the hospital before catching a bus.
She met my dad at one of those dances…just 2 weeks after arriving in Scotland. She had fond memories of the place, as it was the beginning to a very happy marriage!
I spent a very happy 5years at killearn Hospital and would be delighted to hear from anyone who was there between 1967-1972
Hi Elaine,I remember you.If I'm correct you were an enrolled nurse.I have just been in contact with Noreen Devenney,actually I stayed with her when I was home in Ireland.I'm now living in Canada.Would love to hear from you.
I was an orthopaedic student nurse at Killearn Hospital I started PTS in September 1967 and would love to hear from anyone who was there with me I was Hazel McVean then.
I was there when you were there(elaine McCartney) you will also find Noreen,cathy &Gabrielle on this site.We had a reunion in Killearn last year which was a wonderful catch-up.Love to hear from you do you remember Pat Harkness and Sheena Ross and loads more?
This is Margaret Johnston. I was there also with Pat, Sheena, and Noreen
Hi Margaret,how are you?This is Gabrielle Mc Grath.We had a reunion in Killearn a few years ago with some of the girls we trained with.I can't believe it will be 50 years in September since we started our training…wow how the time has flown!I live in Canada & have been here for 43 years.I'll give you my email address as I would love to hear from email@example.com
Do any of you remember a Mary Mackenzie
Hi Margaret, I remember you I was in the next room to you in the nurses home.They were the best days. Where are you now? I retired a few years ago.I would love to hear from you There are a few of us who are still in touch.
Hi Hazel. I remember your name but unfortunately i cant place your face. The old memory is not up to much these days..Do you remember me. I was in the Sept 1968 pts. I hope you are keeping well.
I must have known you as I was there from Sept 1967 until Dec 1969.I remember just a few names Joy Mac Namee ,Mary MacAteer and Mairead somebody and I would recognise others if I heard their names.It was such a lovely place to work so friendly
If it helps you Mairead's second name was Aitchison
Hi Hazel
I was speaking about you to a friend recently. I remember you giving me a lift in your new car when we were in first year! I have fond memories of Maraid too. Hope you are well. George.
Hi, you may have know my Dad Jack McKellar who worked there at that time
hi elaine my name is george wilson i was theyre i can only remember being there sufferining from perthis one of the nurses was like a surrogate mother to me i cant remember much due to ptpost traumatic stress all my memories have been erased i know i was ther long enough to not know my own mother i was broken hearted when they took me home use where all t the family i knew what i remember was a nurse bringing her little sister in so i could celebrate xmas and one time the the farmer giving me a tour inbetween changing the tape on my weights use where all beatifull people wish i could remember i know the memorys where good wish could find someone who remembered me thank use all for your service yous where true angels
Hi Elaine,I remember you from Killearn.You were an enrolled Nurse there.I met up with Noreen Devenney in the summer & she hasn't changed!I'm living in Canada & I would love to hear from you.
Hi Gabrielle, It was lovely to hear from you.Where abouts in Canada do you live? Ian and I lived in Calgary for years and now our daughter and grandson live in Burlington Ontario in fact we spent Xmas with them. We came back to U.K. in2005 and settled in Somerset,but spend our holidays flying back and forth to Canada. How is Norren does she live in Canada? I often think it would be lovely to keep in touch with people so if you have time it would be lovely to keep in touch and give me all your news
Hi Elaine,thanks for responding. Noreen is back living in Ireland.She had lived in England for a while.I live in Winnipeg & have been here for 36 years….where has the time gone?So sad to what has happened to Killearn Hosp.I think those were the two happiest years of my whole nursing career.My email address is email@example.com you been in contact with anyone else from the old days?look forward to hearing from you.
Hi Gabrielle,I was delighted to hear from you.My e-mail address firstname.lastname@example.com Thanks for yours and I have pit it into my contacts and will keep in touch that way as it is not too easy getting into this site either that or Iam not too clever with the computer!! I do not have any contact with anyone from the hospital but I did register with friends re united and there are a few onthe site i.e. Hazel mc Vean,Rosemary Devine,and I think Eddie Manderson-he married Sheila mcFarlane so it is a good contact site-do you remember any of them? It will be great to reminise with you and see how much we both remember. Noreen was at my wedding 41 years ago.I wonder if she remembers? Does she have an e-mail as it would be nice to chat to her also. I have worked in hospitals in Canada and here and none of them matched Killearn ,I now work in an Endoscopy unit 2days a week its o.k. it pays the flight to Ontario twice a year!I went back to college and did my r.n.course as they faced out the Enrolled nurses here(cheek) but I am now semi-retired you are right time flies. Iwill go now but will talk to you soon.
I was Hazel Mc Vean now Hazel Goldsmith,I really loved my years at Killearn,it was such a situation and was such a happy place.I was so sad when I saw what has become of the site
Hi Elaine,I tried your email address but it didn't work.Please send again.
Hi Gabrielle, the e-mail is= firstname.lastname@example.com I will send you an email and see if it goes to you ok if not we will need to keep in touch this way though it is not so good to chat on this one
Hello Gabriell & Elaine
Great to be catching up with more old friends. Thanks for the call today Gabrielle, I'm looking forward to catching up with you now Elaine. Gabrielle will give you my email address. Of course I remember your wedding, I remember your husband is called Ian Ritchie (hope I am right) would love to see some of the pictures, have you still got any. I thought you had went to Australia, I was surprised when Gabrielle said you went to Canada.
In my head Killearn was the best time of my life. Did not always think so at the time. ha ha But it sure is a great time to look back on. We had some laughs along the way. Wouldn't it be great if we were able to make contact with more people from our time in Killearn and have a reunion. I'd love that.
I have e-mailed you hope it went through I have filled you in with allmy news hope you wont be bored!
my e-mail address email@example.com I sent you a long e-mail but it has been returned.Can you send me one and I will try it again incase I have copied what Gabrielle sent me down wrong
My great gran margaret brown (cairns) worked there it looks terrible but didnt used to would love to visit it now but prob aspesdos in the wall
I trained in orthopaedics at Killearn qualifying with honours in 1957 thanks to our
wonderful tutor Jenny R. I went on to gain further qulifications,to marry and have
children and continue in a long career in nursing. Killearn was the best of all, I think
because of the close sense of community which prevailed there helped by the relative
isolation. The hospital site is a mess now,with trees growing out of the wards,and a
couple of herds of evileyed belligerent goats roaming around,the billies looking for
a fight and making it impossible to get one's bearings.It occurred to me that at almost
80 I could not climb out of the Home windows now, even if I could find it in the
current moonscape. I should be very interested if anyone out there has any knowledge
of supernatural incidents in ward one. I experienced this on night duty on this ward
and would be keen to learn of other experiences. This manifestation is still going on
and is well known to tocal people.
It is a while since I left a comment about my time in Killearn Hospital the comments from your former staff colleagues proves your point there was a great community spirit at Killearn.
Which made for quality care for the patients.
I was in the end ward turning right at the ambulance delivery door down the passage the ward was on the left thinking back I do not recall ever knowing the ward number.
Your comment about climbing out of the home window gave me a real good laugh just the tonic I needed.
Nice to hear from you Malcolm. Glad you got a laugh out of my comment about climbing out of the Home windows -you would get an even bigger laugh if I tried it now! It was an essentially more innocent
time and the student nurses used to go up to the dancing at Killearn Kirk,sometimes enjoying things
so much that they often stayed until the end of the dance at 10pm, which made it impossible to get back to the hospital before locking up time,but we provided for this eventuality by leaving the windows
of our rooms on the latch so that we could climb back in. We often referred to the Home as "Stalag Luft"because of all the restrictive rules,not realising that the matron was in loco parentis and that
we must have caused her many a grey hair.The nursing standards were second to none and they are
with me yet – I shall remain a Killearn nurse until I shuffle off this mortal coil. I have photographs of my
time there, and first my children and now my grandchildren fallabout laughing at the uniforms.
Regards, Mary
Mary the comment you make about the high standard of care at Killearn, in my case the nursing care was excellent.
Matron was once a nurse possibly pre NHS, she knew who was who and turning a little blind eye to your late return, you gave a little extra to the patient making everyone happy.
The reason I laughed was two fold (1) thinking of you scrambling through the open window shoes in hand making as little noise as possible and thinking you had got one over on Matron.I would hope today you are able to stay out past 10.00pm and you have a front door key.
(2) When I thought my recovery was almost 100% I made an attempt to go to the village instead of going through the front door, I thought the best escape route was walk on the grass next to the ward to the wall along side the road how misguided, I managed to sit on the wall but my attempt to get one leg on and over the wall resulted in the most tremendous pain leaving me stranded on the top of the wall fearing the next strike of unbearable pain should I attempt to move.
I was rescued by a Postman.
I have been told a good laugh works wonders.
Do you remember Mr Shorestein ?
Malcolm – I most certainly do remember Mr Schorstein, or "Joe" as he was known to his many friends and colleagues at Killearn. In collaboration with his fellow senior consultant Mr Sloan Robertson he built up an international reputation for clinical excellence for the neuro unit in the field of neurosurgery,and the orthopaedic high-flyers established a similar international standing for the hospital in orthopaedics. Over time, a "chair" was established in orthopaedic s at Glasgow University, the first professorship being awarded to Roland Barnes of Killearn. A professorship in neurological sciences took a bit longer, too late I think for the two gentlemen who had done so much wonderful work although I believe they were both awarded honours for their services to medicine. The first professorship was awarded to an "incomer" There is a bronze bust of MrSloan Robertson in the foyer of the Institute of Neurological Sciences in Glasgow – I do not know if Mr Schorstein is similarly honoured somewhere
I have found some interesting stuff about Killearn on my wanderings around the net. There is mention of a book "Silent Heroes" by John Miller which includes an account of the experiences of a nurse who worked there during the war years. Your local library will be able to reserve a copy for you if you are interested – I have a reservatiion at our local branch which I will pick up tomorrow. There is also an interesting and amusing account of
the experieces of a young English boy who sustained what appears to have been a peripheral nerve injury after an argument with a land mine, who found himself ultimately as a patient in Killearn.. He describes the "serene beauty" of the surrounding countryside,which was also a factor to those who were treated there or who worked there
He seems to have enjoyed himself playing cards and popping out to the local hostelry- where were you off to,Malcolm,when you were making your escape? Killearn always did have an understanding attitude to patients who were able to get about and a sympathetic eye was always extended if anyone returned to the ward five sheets to the wind. The name of the latter book is, I think, MY WAR, by Douglas Vass. Just keep on clicking on the links at the bottom of the Killearn site and something usually turns up! There is one post which has what appears to be a photograph of part of the orthopaedic unit with Dumgoyne in the background and features some of the beautiful gardens
Yes, Malcolm I do now have a front door key but it is not half as much fun as climbing in and out of the windows
Cheers, and lang may your lum reek!
It is surreal to read of Mr Schorstein, without whom, together with his team (including Mr Sloan Robertson I think) I almost certainly would not be here to write this now. Does anyone know what happened to him, and if there is any surviving family?
S King try entering into your search engine Joseph Schorstein – R.D. LAING,S RABBI good luck. I have been trying to pass this information to you for siome time but could not get the site to work
Dear Mary, do you know if there are any surviving family of the Schorsteins? I heard there had been some tragedy, but I would love to be able to pass on my respects.
My mum & dad, Kitty (nee Gibson) & Alex Knox, met in Killearn Hospital where they both worked in the 1950's-70's when it closed. My dad worked in the Neuro theatre & my mum worked in the kitchens initially & was then an auxillary nurse. My Gran, Winnie Gibson also worked there.
My family paid a visit to Killearn today & drove past the old hospital & reminisced about the good old days. Sad to see it in the state it's in today but glad to be able to show my kids where it all began!
Does anyone recollect an auxillary Nurse called Elizabeth Tyronney from Inverness. She worked there (I believe it would have been in the 1950's sometime) until she married my Dad in 1959. She sadly passed away last October but used to fondly remember her time there and all the people and things they used to get up to. Please let me know if anyone can recall her.
Hi my name is Sydney Brown from Killearn village and started working at the great hospital as an orthotic technician,then when it moved to Gartnavel hosp I became an Orthotist and have lived down in Harrogate for over 30 years ,and do miss my village so much ,but always get up to killearn 3 to 4 times a year.Nice to meet all my village pals who we went to school with.My mum Rose Brown worked at our hospital to and she is still in village.God Bless you all and a merry christmas.
xx Syd Brown.
My Dad, David W Knowles, had a cerebral haemorrhage around 1967 (aged 40 – when I was about 5 years old) and had his life saved by the excellent surgeons at Killearn Hospital, a long trip by ambulance from Johnstone, Renfrewshire, where I still live. My Mum told me that she fainted when told that he would be blind, but he was lucky for his sight to be spared. He recuperated at Hawkhead Hospital in Paisley. He lived another 25 years, taken by cancer in 1992. My niece now lives in Balfron with her fiance.
I started my nursing career in Killearn Jan 1965 .When I left I took with me a young lady by the name of Anne Mitchell We married in1967 and there we remain . During my afterlife from Killearn I actually nursed Mr Shorstien at trhe time of his death . Incidentally , I visited the Hospital 24 Feb 2013 and took some photos .Be nice to hear from those who trained there around 1965
I myself was a patient in Killearn Hospital in 1966. I had TB and an abcess in my lower back, after being in full length plaster for a month then an operation to remove 2 ribs I was we'll on my way to a full recovery, thanks to the nurses and doctors, one was Staff nurse Williamson,then made up to be a sister. Another nurse I remember was nurse Campbell who was also very kind as they all were and were always smiling.
The young lad who was in the bed next to me was a lad called William Alexander, who's girlfriend if I remember rightly was killed in a motorbike accident in which he lost an arm. Even although I was feeling very poorly it was the staff,as they were absolutely brilliant no matter what,day or night,so please give yourselves a big pat on the back for anyone who worked there. Thank you all so very much.
Thank you for your kind recognition of the nurses at that time .It is nice to know we contributed to the recovery of our patients . Incidentally ,the Nurse Campbell would be Wilma who was and is a close friend of ours to this day .
You all deserve recognition for the fantastic work you all did and I do know that as a patient we all had a moan from time to time but as ever you all took it in your stride. Please say hello to Wilma Campbell from me and I do remember she smiled with her eyes and she lit up the ward as soon as she entered it. My fondest regards to you all.
as a 10 year old patient at Killearn about 1970 due to a hand injury I remember a nurse with blonde hair called nurse lennon who was great and I think my doctor was called Dr Parks
my email address was incorrect
Nurse Lennon was Mary Lennon a student nurse at that time. Mary qualified in orthopaedic nursing and went on to train in general nursing afterwards. I believe I was in the same class as Mary 1969 /1971 loved every minute I was there great place great people .
Sorry ment to say Mr Parks was the consultant hand surgeon .
I trained at Killearn Hospital 1949-1951. It was a great hospital.Athol Parker's was my brother in law
Hi Derek how are you? It's been a long time since those days.
Is this place still standing?
most certainly still standing. Most of the wards accommodation blocks and theatres there . feb 2013. .. 15and. 16 missing.
I remember Killearn hospital from visiting my father{ Peter} every Sunday during the summer holidays in the mid sixties. He was eventually diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis wh
ile he was there. It took most of the day to visit from where we lived in Moffat and, only being 6 or 7, hated the journey. I do remember being made a fuss of by the staff as very few children were encouraged to visit these large nissen type wards, I also remember taking walks in the lovely grounds which surrounded them. Really would like to see the place regenerated
I was a in-patient at Killearn in Spring to Summer of 1963 due to a spinal abcess. Dr Schorstein was an amazing surgeon who showed much care for all his patients. I was in a plaster cast for the time that I was at Killearn but was wheeled out into the sunshine which improved all our spirits. My family could only visit occasionally so it was great that it was such a friendly atmosphere.
May Armstrong
Does anyone remember a mary mckenzie that worked in killearn hospital
I was an 8yr old boy admitted to Killearn Hospital spring 1945 ,I sustained a right wrist
Injury that severed the arteries & tendons.
I was there about 4 months, I was the only kid in my ward with all the service men , my Doctor
Was a Dr. Parks. I would dearly love to see a photo of this man who saved my right hand .
I remember a high hedge , I think down by the main Rd that I called my Spitfire .
I also remember that patients and nurses would go for 'walks' I was along as lookout !
Which was rewarded with candy.
So many memory's forgotten till I stumbled on this site, hope someone replys to this,
Sincerely, John (Ian) Angus Brown
Athol Parker's was my brother in law.Unfortunately he died in his seventies, far too early, he had lots planned for his retirement.If you let me have your e mail address I can send you his photograph.
I trained at Killearn in 1949-1951, It was a wonderful hospital
Thsnks Mabel. Does he have his bow tie on? firstname.lastname@example.com
your consultant surgeon was Athol Ross Parkes; he was an extremely tall,charming man who always wore a bow tie. He must have been quite young when you were his patient as it is on record that he and his fellow surgeons came to work to establish what eventually became an international centre of excellence in orthopaedics and peripheral nerve surgery in the west of Glasgow after returning from war service. I remember working with him in theatres, and he always went the extra mile to obtain the best outcome for his patients. May he rest in peace – there are many who will remember him with affection and gratitude
Mary Maltman
My father was a patient at Killearn for a brain tumour around 1947. He was 11 at the time. I think he may have been operated on by Sloan Robertson. He now has dementia and is unable to tell me anything about that time, so I would welcome any experiences of the hospital back then.
Hi there, my dad was also a patient there for a brain injury in the late 50's. I actually took him along to the hospital and he remembered what part he was in. Good luck with your findings, I'm also keen to find out more
I trained at Killearn Hospital in 1949-1951. It was an excellent hospital
Athol Parkes was my brother in law..He died far too early, he had so much planned for his retirement
I remember being rushed to the hospital with an acute appendix in a taxi.It was 1947 and I was eight years old. My father , Martin Nichols ,was one of the neurosurgical team then. In the RAMC,he had been released from a POW camp at the end of the war and found work at Killearn with Sloan Robertson from 1946 to 1948 .After that he went to Aberdeen to develop the new neurosurgical unit there.
We rented a house on Station Road–Benview, I think it was called, and I would walk to school ( the old school!) up a narrow path between two fields. Lovely!
Judy Cameron
Hello Judith,
I have just read your comment about Killearn Hospital.I haven`t been on this website for a while.My great grandfather built Benvue, at top of Station Road,along with his brother.They started up A&J Sinclair,Joiners.My great grandfather lived in the house on the right of the building. My grandfather was born there and sadly when his youngest sister passed away the house was sold.I was born 1951 and went to the old school too until the new one was built in 1961.It is now made into houses which cost a fortune.
Hi did you no Dr Barclay? Just found out my Auntie had we girl around 1950 and Dr Barclay got her adopted ? Thanks
Hi Amanda could I have a little more info on this. Thank you xx
hi stacey it was my mums sister that had the little girl and Dr barclay got her adopted they called her baby Norma but i would think her name would have been change , she would be my cousin and it would be great if we can find her , do you have any info ? baby norma has 2 sisters and brother all alive and well .Thank You very much for getting in contact x
I was a student at Killearn from September 1967 and I have really fond memories of my time there.I remember nursing the patients in their Plaster beds on the verandahs and..I also remember a Sister Dallas on the childrens'ward and James Tulloch Brown a Consultant,can't remember the Prof's name but his registrar was Mr Woods.Happy days.
i was a student nurse started jan 1967 left in 196because i decided to get married the professor was barnes and i remember trying to stop him coming into the ward during rounds not knowing who he was i loved my time at killearn and have many good memories
Hi Christine I vividly remember that incident and frequent relate it to my friends as an example of how respected the Consultants were in those days.Hazel (McVean)Goldsmith
My fathet Jackie Cameron was a patient at Kilearn about 1967….just wondering if anyone remembered him when he was there.Thank You
Hi Hazel,I remember you and There are a few of us on this site that were all there with us.We had a reunion 2years ago we all had got older but it was the same family atmosphere that we had all those years ago.
Hi Hazel,I remember you and There are a few of us on this site that were all there with us.We had a reunion 2years ago we all had got older but it was the same family atmosphere that we had all those years ago.
I was seconded from the western infirmary as a student nurse for Paediatrics experience in 1962. For some reason we could not be accommodated at Yorkhill. Since it was out of the way, parents could not visit daily. I remember a 3 year old with Spina Bifida whose mother told him ( at the end of visiting time) that she was just going to the toilet, but she never came back; her way of saying goodbye without upsetting the wee lad.. He kept his eyes on the door every waiting moment for days. Heartbreak for us all, but how do you rationalize with a 3 year old?!
Rag I've just found this site & read your post. I'm wondering if I could be the child describe? I was a spina bifida patient and Something similar happened to me with my mother but I was 5 in 1962.
Actually, Morag.
My late father, George Thompson (dob August 1929) was a patient at Killearn as a young man. He had a tubercular infection in his hip and spent long periods (perhaps recurring) at Killearn, I think in the late 40's-50's and possibly early 60's. He had previously been a patient as a very young child at Mearnskirk and was evacuated to Millport during WW2. I realise that it's unlikely that there will be many surviving patients or staff of his vintage still alive, but I would love to know more about Killearn during these periods. My Father was oddly very happy at Killearn and spoke with great affection of the WW2 vetrans who helped "educate" him and make up for the gaps in his education that had occurred due to his illness. And also of the nursing staff and doctors who cared so brilliantly for the patients. I think he had fun at Killearn, although the administration of streptomycin straight into his hip joint didn't sound fun at all. When he died, he asked for his ashes to be scattered on Dumgoyne, close to Killearn. If anyone does have any memories or information about the hospital or my Dad's during his time there, I would love to hear from them. His doctor may have been Dr Sloan???? Thank you, Laura Thompson.
Hello Laura. My father was in Killearn Hospital late 40s to 50s to treat TB hip as a young boy. He also speaks fondly of his time there and had a very similar treatment to you father. Dad remembers a Nurse Bradly from Paisley and a Nurse Grant. Dad's name is John Walker and he's from Paisley.
I was in Killearn Hospital for about three weeks when I was 14. I had been suffering from petit mal seizures. I think it was in January 1964 because outside it was bitterly cold, but inside lovely and warm. Along with EEGs, I had an exploratory operation where (under local anaesthetic) I had a hole drilled in the side of my head to allow some sort of gas to be pumped in and X-rays taken – I think to observe the absorption rate to differentiate between normal and tumourous cells? Anyway I was told during the op. that he (the surgeon) would now use a brace and bit for the drilling and as it was just above my ear I could hear the grinding and the bone chips falling. I couldn't stop laughing because all I could think was "this man's drilling a hole in the side of my head" which just seemed so surreal :). I remember also that I was allowed to smoke! Apparently, I found out long afterwards, that they had originally thought it was an aggressive tumour, and that the son of similar age to me of people my parents knew had had one and died within three months. They knew I smoked and asked special permission. The staff were all so kind and caring.
After reading through all the comments again, I know recall that the neurologist who got me admitted to the hospital was Dr Gaylor and the surgeon who led the operations was Mr Sloan Robertson.
The photos on this site and Flikr bring back poignant memories – many thanks.
Does anyone remember my grandfather.he was a patient ward 14a in 1958.I think he had an operation for a brain tumour.sadly he didn't survive.I have a letter he wrote to my gran while he was in kilearn hospital.his name was HENRY ROBERT STOCKLEY.
Hi my name is Colin Duffy and I was a patient (spina bifida) at Killearn on a number of occasions from my birth in 1957 until at least 1964, possibly later. My parents are now dead but have contacted the NHS archivist for details of my stays. I recall a surgeon by the name of Mr Blockey. Does anyone else remember him?
I visited the hospital site yesterday for the first time since I was a child……..the visit evoked powerful memories!
Hi my name is Theresa Daly I was a patient for TB spondilite. I remember Mr Blockey how can I forget the person who saved my life. Sorry for my English but I left Scotland more than 50 years ago
Hi Colin I was in Killearn in 1957 as a baby with a club foot. It was one of the worst Mr Blocky had seen so himself & I believe a Mr Wright did the first of its kind op as my leg was nearly back to front & my toes were curled like claws…leg is shorter than the other & foot one size smaller. I had 10 operations for them to turn my foot round but they did achieve it & I have went on to have as near a normal life as possible considering how bad it was…I remember seeing a picture of how it looked & I couldn't believe the wonders these two men had made of it. I attended Killearn every year till near closing then going to Glasgow. As a teenager I was to meet both these gentlemen so they could see how things had developed but due to family issue the appointment was not kept which even now at 62 I so wish the appointment had been kept as my life would have been so different.
PS I didn't know this site was here had only been trying to find information regarding hospital name when I came across it….its been lovely reading the messages & I wish to thank all the nurses etc who would have been working at the time I was in Killearnon.
Kind regards Jo x
Both my wife and myself started our nursing career there around 1963/1964 . Mr Blockey was one of the Orthopaedic surgeons there Think he went to Gartnabel general hospital if memory serves me right . My wife did some spells in the children's ward. Her name then was Anne Mitchell
Matt – many thanks for that. Yes, I recall Mr Blockey at Gartnavel now that you say it. I wonder if your wife nursed me? I was born 12.1.57 and attended Killearn on numerous occasions both for my spine & my club foot. It's a long shot…,,,!
Hi Matt do you remember a nurse called Mary Mackenzie x
Hello, I am trying to find out some details of my grandfather James May that died at Killearn Hospital on 30/03/1965, He was from Glasgow and I know he died of a head injury. There is a story that he may have got knocked down.
Hi, My name is Anne Routledge, sadly my Dad passed away 8th October 2014 aged 95 years, We have just found his Royal Naval Diary, no one new he kept one!.
He mentions being an Inpatient at Killearn Hospital and went on leave with his leg in plaster June 1941 and the being transferred to The Cottage hospital in Oban….he damaged his leg quite badly in the Docks at Tobermory ? and was in the hospitals for about a year . learning to walk again.The Doctors manged to save his leg thank goodness.
He mentions Nurse Molly Yates and ? Helen Grant….
His name….. Mr Russell Simpson form Lynemouth Northumberland.
Hi there does anyone know of a Mary Mackenzie that's worked here?
Hello, Wondering if any Nursing Staff recall my two year old sister, Laura Dalgleish admitted to Killearn Hospital in October 1969. She was there for six months if I recall correctly. Her injuries were severe due to a high fall from a window. She was later sent to The Homeopathic Hospital in Mount Vernon once it was established nothing further could be achieved. Would dearly like to know the names of the Surgeon[s] and nurses who were so diligent in their care for Laura and to thank them, at a time that was extremely distressing for my parents, siblings and extended family.
My friends mother worked at Killearn from 1964-65 as a domestic servant her name was Mary Mackenzie. Please can anyone remember her please contact me.
Does anyone remember Mary Mackenzie who was an auxiliary nurse in 1965
I was in Killearn for seven weeks in 1967 for surgery on my feet .I remember it being very friendly and happy in kids ward and was allowed to wander the grounds in my wheelchair and visit the canteen where a lovely lady would give me tea. I had a walk round the place today it is in a terrible state .
My brother Ian Mills was taken to Killearn Hospital in 1961 after a car knocked him off his bike. He was initially taken to Falkirk Royal Infirmary where doctors said the only place he could be treated was Killearn but warned that he was not likely to survive the journey. They changed their minds on whether to even attempt the journey after my grandfather put up a prayer.
He was operated on by a Professor Dot and after 10 days in a coma began a road to recovery that sees him still with us today.
Others in the same ward also had severe head injuries;one was a wee boy called Danny (mcbride?) who had been thrown out of a window in the Gorbals.
I remember the smell to this day and will always be grateful to the wonderful staff.
We made many journeys from Falkirk and after one visit stopped in a village to ask the score in that afternoon's match at Wembley. We were told England 9 Scotland 3. Must be the village idiot, said my Uncle Robert…
Hi my name is George Wilson I was a patient in killearn I was aresident theyre for a long time I was in traction being treated for Perthis disease . I remember being dragged away from my mum screaming and kicking I know I was theyre for a long time I know that because the nurses and doctors became my family I was screaming and kicking when I left killearn I had a retired head mistress as a tutor one nurse I remember brought her baby sister into visit me Xmas and the local farmer took me round on a pony to show me round the grounds of the hospital as I was strapped to a bed and hadn't seen the grounds I remember every nurse and doc came in to say hello with a big smile to me alot I think I was part of the furniture I would like to know how long I was ther for anyone know me
Hi George..i was a patient too about 1967/8..i was three..perthus as well..my physiotherapist was I believe a guy named Butch ?..another patient was a boy named Biscuits ?..jog any memories ?
Hi George, not sure how old you are ? My Dad was in the hospital for a year, 2nd world war injury. Regards Anne.
im 51 and i havent got many memories of me as a waen vague ones trying to piece it together if if i dont know my past an what made me me if i canfind out wer im fae it will help me know wer im gone
Hello, I.ve just found this site and it has brought back so many memories. I was admitted to Killearn hospital when I was eight in 1957. Mr Shorstein, who I see has already been mentioned, I believe saved my life. I had meningitis and was very ill. I remember the excruciating headache and lying on a bed in a freezing room as they tried to bring my raging temperature down. My parents were wrapped up against the cold! I wish I could remember the names of the nurses who gave me my six injections a day and the gentle doctor who made the horrible lumber punctures almost bearable.
When I got a bit better they let me deliver the letters that had come in the post to the others in the ward. I suppose it encouraged me to get back on my feet after so many weeks in bed. I remember a Mrs Clark who was another patient.
It's good to read these comments from others who have been in the hospital. We lived in Paisley. It's just good to talk to people who were there. The hospital looks so sad now.It did so much good work.
I was a patient in the childrens ward in 1957. it was a wonderful place I spent six months there, Mr Blockey was my surgeon. how times have changed I was in plaster from my waist right down my left leg to my toes, had to learn to walk again. now you are home in a few days for the same operation. I loved Killearn Hosp. some of us slept outside in our beds when we could walk,teachers came to the ward every day and the scouts came once a week I really looked froward to that as they played games and it was great to talk to them. I have very wonderful memories that I will never forget. Thank You
Hello my name isTheresa Daly I was in Killearn in the same period mr, Blockey was also my surgeon you cant immagine how many years I'm searching for people who have shared the same experience. I live since 1964 in Italy as you noticed my English is not perfect. I'd like to know more about these memories. Maybe we wear bed neighbors. Reading your post seems like reading my story, the same things,the same sweet memories.
My grandfather Robert McKendrick spent 6 weeks at Killearn in 1961 or 62 after having brain aneurysm and sadly died there so I never knew him. Would anyone remember? He would have been visited from Bearsden by his wife Grace and son Garry, then aged 17 or 18 and possibly also by his daughter Kathleen who was severely Down Syndrome. It is still too painful for my Dad to want to discuss much. Any time I drive by Killearn and the hospital, I feel the urge to go in and walk round.me
I wonder if anyone knows of my gran Agnes Mccomb who worked here in the early to mid 1960's but sadly died of a brain tumour at only 36 years old?
i come from Balfron and met a trainee nurse at the dancing in killearn hall cannot remember her name but I made a big mistake letting her go she had long red hair about 1962/3 just like to know where she ended up
hi norman do you remember a lady called mary Mackenzie who lived in balfron?
My mother Elizabeth Collins (now Myles) spent 5 years in killearn hospital from 1961 to 1966. She was 12 years old taken in with severe head trauma. A slate fell from a roof in Partick paralysing my mum from the neck down. She was firstly in the neurological ward and remembers Nurse Barnes and an auxiliary nurse Gourley and nurse Robb. She was then transferred to ward 1 and remembers nurse Ward and her sister May. She also remembers these others. Jill Farkison – physiotherapist. Butch Hawekwell – worked in the gym. Sister Nan Hunter. Ann Knox – physiotherapist. Ms Andrews ?? (Could be wrong) head physio.
Does anyone else share the memories my mum has? We took a drive out to killearn hospital very recently and it brought so many memories back for mum. She remembers so vividly the smells, sounds, faces! She remembers lying on a veranda looking out to countryside and remembers how pretty the scenery was. Mum has often told me and my sister and brother how she owes her life to the surgeons, nurses and doctors at killearn hospital. Mums 66 now, she has been married for 40 years and has 3 children and 10 grandchildren. She would love it if anyone had shared memories or remembered her. Xx
I am sure I remember your Mum as I to was in Killearn Hospital in 1966. They used to wheel us down to an empty ward to watch a film, to alleviate the boredom no doubt. One film I remember watching was Blazing saddles and another was called Summer Holiday starring Cliff Richard. I hope all is well with her and please send her my regards.
Mentioned to my wee wife we were both student nurses in me sixties ,Her name was Anne Mitchell and she worked with the Ward sisters . .She remembers your mum well as will our lifelong friend Wilma nam Campbell from Ardrishaig .she now lives in Oban while we live in East Kilbride .Matt Rodgers
thanks for your reply i envy your memory i was born in 1964 due to my post traumatic stress i remember brekingmy heart leaving my mum and being taking to killearn by the time i left killearn it was my home i remember being taken back to my family i didnt know them killearn was my surrogate family one nurse in particular became my mum she even brought her wee sister in to meet me an celebrate xmas with me the farmer took me round a tour of the hospital on the rare occasions i wasnt strapped to a scaffold with a weight attached to me to treat my perthis thank you for trying to help o appreciate it
Ia was a patient at Killearn in 1960 I was taken to Killearn with a burst anurysim in my brain, I was 20. My Dr. was Mr. Patterson he was a great man if not for him I would belong gone. The staff were amazing. I always remember the young woman across the ward from me she had a baby and was unable to move, she cried a lot. Some days when they were busy the nurses would let me feed her soup in a little jug that looked like a teapot. I would love to hear what happened to her every so often I think of her and hope she made a good recovery. God bless all who worked at Killearn.
My dad Jimmy Robinson was a patient in Killarney in the late fifties following a head injury. I have very vague memories of waiting outside the ward in the gardens while my mother visited him. I was only about six or seven at the time. The fantastic care he received saved his life and must also have influenced myself as I trained to be a nurse and loved every minute up until I retired a few years ago. Sadly my dad died just this morning, aged 92. Thanks to the care he got at Killearn he enjoyed many more years of life.
I was in Killearn with perthus in 1967 when I was 3..i remember a guy called Butch and another wee boy who was called " Biscuits ". One day I refused to do my physio..the reason being Bisciuts got new crutches..i wanted new crutches too..eventually I got my new crutches so all was good..my name is Billy Smith and I came from Clydebank..i know it's a long shot but have I jogged anyone's memory ?
I you did that timeline fits and i fit profie always craved orange dillutin. Juice with t biccys or digestives. Always leathered for stealin my das jaffa dnt remember being bicuit we wer in same time i remember nurses singing simple simon says my legs are pure bald because of getting tape that held the calibres on was sore
I am trying to find a Elaine McKay..that id her maiden name..I believe her marriage name is Petersen..She is living in Kilern and she is in nursing..How else could I locate her???? I am from America. .
Hi billy ty for your. Memorys . i was born 1964 we r simular in age.and time we wer theyre as i said i. Dont know if i wad nicknamed biscuit but i defo fit the profile .the nickname biscuit cant seem to get that out my heed.back then i didnt have many visitors.so i wasnt one fir crying after my mum.i remember the xmas presents of killearn church members.i said remembr
R farmer takung me round the hospital grounds inbetween changing my brown elasticated sticky tape.i thought it was a donkey he showed me wer i had been staying.i often thought it wasnt a donkey it was a goat but dnt think you can ride goat.lol see my heed would like to hear more if you have any .but as.if your stull local wouldnae mind wee chat i went from the butney maryhill to the bundy clydebank never dull moment as you could imagine im a atone throw fae the bundy staying .
Started my orthopaedic training in Killearn 1970. Loved every minute, have vivid memories of being locked out and climbing through windows.
Phyllis Law (was Mason).
I think it was actually 1971 that I started.
Hi George,
Great to hear from you.We had a wee reunion at Killearn about three or four years ago & stayed at the Black bull.The ones that were there & were in our class were Noreen Devenney&Cathy Hedges,there were also others there who were behind us but I don't know if you would remember them or not.
Are you still living in Glasgow?I'm in Canada (Winnipeg) & have been here for 42 years ….hard to imagine.
Where the time has gone.I have three children,one boy & two girls & one grandson
Have you retired?I retired a couple of years ago but do work on a casual basis.
I have no idea what happened to Rosemary or Sheena.
My email address is email@example.com love to hear more from you & if you are in contact with any of the old gang.
Hi all. I have just found a letter , with the hospitals address on written to my mother ( from her grandad) when she was working at the hospital. Her name was Gunilla Leven and was from Sweden. This was what i can gather 1958/59. I can recall she mentioned " climbing out of windows" . My mum passed away 1991, 52 years old only.
She did take me to the area when i was maybe 6-7 years old as i remeber we visited what i asume a matron living close by. This matron lived in a big house and was very nice so my mum must have got on well with her for taking myself and my dad on a trip all the way to Glasgow from Sweden.
I live in Wiltshire, married to an Englishman .
Faboulus to read your stories.
I was a patient in Killearn for food surgery. I was about 11 or 12 years old around, 1970-1972. Mr McPherson was my consultant. I remember all the wonderful nurses and how hard working and caring they were. I particularly remember a nurse June or Judith Dawson, who came on secondment from Yorkhill Children's hospital. She was the kindest nurse ever and inspired me to enter the profession as a adult.
The grounds were lovely in Killearn with the environment being highly beneficial for the patients. All the fresh air and relaxed surroundings, the canteen was great and staff were so kind, every day I ordered a roll and salmon. Delicious! You could go and visit other patients in your wheelchair in the different wards.
There was a tennis court and I remember the staff used to play after a busy day on their feet. They must have been exhausted.
Thank you to all the staff who looked after me all these years ago!
Hi everybody
I am trying to help my husband's aunt locate her half sister who was born at Killearn Hospital in Sept 1965. Her mother was Mary Mackenzie who was a Nursing Assistant at Killearn but came from the Newburgh, Fife area. The baby's birth was registered by an R Ferguson who we believe to have been a senior member of staff. The birth was not registered until 9 weeks after the baby was born, Mary having been in Perth Infirmary due to an underlying condition.
I have a few questions – firstly, did you know Mary and know that she was pregnant? Did Killearn have a Maternity Unit or would this birth be unusual? Do you know who R Ferguson could be?
Thank you for taking the time to read this far, Linda has been trying for years to locate her younger sister named Christine Mackenzie at birth and this will likely have changed as she has been adopted.
All the best, Annie
My mother-in-law Mrs Clementine McKeich worked as a nurse at Killearn Hospital. In March 1951, she took a bus to work from her home in Fintry. She got off outside the hospital, walked round behind the bus, which then reversed over her and she was tragically killed. She left a husband, Archie, and three-year-old twins, Elizabeth and Stewart. With the help of relatives and friends, Archie, who worked on the Culcreuch Castle estate, brought up the twins; Elizabeth trained as a nurse in Stirling and Stewart joined the army and saw service in Borneo, Aden and Northern Ireland. When Archie died in 1971, Elizabeth moved to St Albans in Hertfordshire, to live with her aunt, Clementine's sister. This was where we met, and where we were married in 1977. After 38 years of happy marriage, Elizabeth died in 2015. We had three children and I now have three grandchildren. Stewart lives in Plymouth with five children and ten grandchildren, mostly living locally.
There can be few left alive who remember the tragic death of Clementine. At the time, it was seen as a great family tragedy, but I cannot help reflecting that without this event, I might never have met Elizabeth and had the family that I have. Elizabeth was a committed Christian and a wonderfully caring person, to whom many turned for comfort and advice. We both appreciated the significance of the Bible verse "All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purposes" [Romans 8, 28]. I was always sorry never to have met Clementine or Archie.
I trained at Killearn Hospital in 1949-1951 and would love to hear from anyone who was there about the same time
My sister was there too but much earlier than me. 1942 onwards
My brother in law was an orthopaedic consultant( Athol Parker's )fro the early 40 s tuntill he retired in the 70 s
Before my time Mabel but remember a specialist hand surgeon in orthopaedics.anamevwas I think Atholll Park or Parkes.When he retired he used a vintage car to take tourists around Scotland .Was there 64-66 .Soent many hours watching him transplant fingers to damage hands etc
I did my orthopaedic training at Killearn from 1968-1970.I remember Athlol Parker well.Killearn was the best two years of training…..many happy memories!
That was well after my time(trained in 1948-1951) but it was an excellent training school then too.My brother in law was Athol Parkes.My sister was also at Killearn but in the early forties.
I have only just discovered this website and I find it so interesting to read so many good reports of Killearn5
Does anyone remember PC William McEwan who was stationed at Killearn Police Station. Only asking because I remember him speaking a great deal of the many injured people he rescued from car accidents and escorted to Killearn Hospital. We arrived and took up residence in the village when he was stationed there in the 60s. I have so many fond memories from this time. He didn't work shifts, was more on 24 hr call which meant we sometimes wouldn't see him for long periods of time when there were emergencies, like the terrible storm which had trees falling all over the village. I remember my mother hosting a young woman from Middlesburgh whose husband had a brain trauma. She stayed with us for several weeks so she was able to visit him – I think her name was Brenda. My Dad often helped out at the mortuary. I am biased I suppose but he was a very good policeman and his job was his life. In his rare spare time he would work in his garden which was at the top of the village next to the tennis courts – it brought him calm I think in dealing with so many horrific sights in his career. See the Police House and Station is now a private residence and on occasional visits to Scotland from Greece, where I live now, my first port of call for a drive is always Killearn and the area around it. So many changes and very sad to see the hospital as it is now when it once was a very vibrant and necessary part of the community. I remember Dr Barclay and Dr Campbell very well as they lived just up the road from the Police House.
I just brought a book from BetterWorldBooks in the UK, The Scots Kitchen, on the inside it says Killearn Hospital Presented to Joar-McKirlay Orthopaedic Nursing PRIZE, just wondering if anyone would remember this person.


text:
The Defense Department aims to create a more accepting environment for service members seeking help for post-traumatic stress disorder in its latest behavioral health guidelines, according to a pair of documents obtained by The News Tribune.
The Army Medical Command released its new policy in April in the thick of an investigation at Madigan Army Medical Center. The probe centered on a team of doctors known as forensic psychiatrists who sometimes downgraded behavioral health diagnoses for soldiers receiving medical retirements.
The Pentagon published another set of guidelines in August, presumably after the Madigan investigations concluded. It lifts some language from the Army policy and compels a standard approach to PTSD across all the Armed Forces.
Both documents discourage doctors from relying heavily on medication to treat PTSD, favoring therapy over drugs. They note that a class of psychoactive drugs called benzodiazepines carries "risks that exceed benefits."
They stress that doctors should not become overly focused on the possibility that patients might embellish symptoms to gain disability benefits. That was an issue at Madigan, where critics said the forensic psychiatrists reversed PTSD diagnoses out of an exaggerated concern that patients were misrepresenting their symptoms.
The Army guidelines state that PTSD tends to be underdiagnosed and undertreated because of a stigma in the military that discourages troops from seeking help for mental health issues.
"The majority of service members do not seek treatment, and many who do seek treatment drop out before they can benefit," reads an April 10 memo signed by former Army Medical Command Chief of Staff Herbert Coley.
The new guidelines de-emphasize one of the two main criteria doctors use to diagnose PTSD -- that patients feel a sense of overwhelming "fear, helplessness or horror" during a traumatic event.
That requirement was laid out in a manual of mental disorders that sets the standards psychiatrists and psychologists use when they meet with patients.
Both the Army and the Department of Veterans Affairs are moving away from that diagnostic criterion, because they found that service members tend to be unwilling to admit to feeling a sense of "helplessness" in combat.
"Fear" is another symptom that doesn't always register with service members.
"Although they may experience fear internally, they are trained to fall back on their training skills," Coley wrote in the April memo.
Meanwhile, they suffer other symptoms of PTSD, such as reliving disturbing memories, being easily startled and feeling emotionally numb.
An updated version of the manual is due out later this year, and the military anticipates the criteria for diagnosing PTSD will change in it.
Coley wrote that Army Medical Command anticipates the manual will revise the PTSD criteria from focusing on a specific traumatic event, such as witnessing a fatal explosion, to experiencing less dramatic "repetitive threats" that soldiers often face in war zones.
Coley's memo contrasts with PTSD guidelines the Army and the VA used in recent years. One Army Medical Command briefing on diagnosing PTSD from 2008, for instance, stresses that a service member must experience a traumatic event and that the soldier must obtain a witness or Army documentation to prove the incident took place before a doctor could endorse a PTSD diagnosis.
"Trust but verify," the briefing says, urging doctors to contact platoon sergeants or officers to back up testimony from their patients.
VA memos from that time period are even more explicit in their emphasis on patients feeling helpless in a single event.
"Mere service in combat zone (is) not enough to support a diagnosis of PTSD," a 2006 VA briefing says.
"A person must have been exposed to a traumatic event in which the person experienced or witnessed ... an event that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury," it says.
Both of the earlier VA and Army PTSD guidance documents were obtained by the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The organization pursued them through the Freedom of Information Act after learning of complaints at an Army hospital in Colorado where doctors felt pressured not to diagnose PTSD.
The organization submitted another FOIA request for the Army's most recent PTSD guidance and for investigations into patient complaints at Madigan. The Army denied the request, as it has done for similar appeals from The News Tribune, The Seattle Times and public radio station KUOW.
Army leaders say they resolved issues at Madigan, but they have declined thus far to describe any changes they've made aside from curtailing the widespread use of forensic psychiatrists at the hospital south of Tacoma.
Forensic psychiatrists are commonly used in court cases to make an objective opinion about a defendant's state of mind.
At Madigan, the forensic doctors sometimes gave PTSD diagnoses to patients who came to them with diagnoses for less serious conditions. They also looked for service members who embellished their combat records to obtain benefits, and occasionally caught soldiers in lies, according to Madigan documents The News Tribune obtained last year.
Four years ago, Army leaders endorsed Madigan's forensic psychiatrists as an example of "best practices" in military medicine because the extra research they carried out resulted in a higher degree of diagnostic accuracy.
Their ascendency crashed at Madigan early last year when an Army inspector general obtained a briefing that urged doctors to consider the long-term costs to taxpayers of a PTSD diagnosis, suggesting the Army would pay out $1.5 million in benefits over a soldier's lifetime for that diagnosis.
Some doctors in the hospital had already expressed concerns that the forensic psychiatrists' drive to root out fraud and malingering was causing Madigan to mistreat patients who should have received help.
The new Army guidelines move toward a more broad-minded view of PTSD.
"There really has been a big change," said one Madigan doctor who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern for his career.
Others bristle at the suggestion they downgraded diagnoses to save money.
"Our interest was in diagnostic accuracy, not in monetary issues," said Juliana Ellis-Billingsley, a forensic psychiatrist who resigned last year when she became convinced the Army was "fixing" diagnoses to appease political leaders.
Senior Army officers insist Madigan was the only military hospital to rely on forensic psychiatrists so extensively.
Yet the second Defense Department memo obtained by The News Tribune maintains a role for them in behavioral health medicine.
The memo, signed by Assistant Secretary of Defense Jonathan Woodson, says doctors should continue to consult with forensic psychiatrists or forensic psychologists in certain cases.
"Where profound symptom embellishment or malingering seems manifest, consider consultation with experts in such matters, such as forensic psychiatrists or forensic psychologists," reads Woodson's Aug. 24 memo.
Ellis-Billingsley said that guidance resembles her former purpose at Madigan.
Army Medical Command spokeswoman Maria Tolleson said the service still has "a limited number" of forensic behavioral health specialists. She said they no longer participate in disability evaluations as they did at Madigan. Instead, they're consulted in legal cases and certain administrative hearings.
The Army in November announced that it changed diagnoses for 267 former Madigan patients, including 150 who received PTSD diagnoses. Their cases were considered under the new Army guidelines.
Woodson wrote that differences in diagnoses should be expected even among experienced behavioral health specialists.
"Diagnostic variance among highly competent clinicians is inevitable," he wrote. "Clinical diagnosis is both an art and a science."

subset: commoncrawl


text: Aleksandrov, 44 and director of Tor, an independent television company based in Slavyansk, Donetsk Region, in eastern Ukraine, was attacked on the morning of July 3. Unknown attackers assaulted Aleksandrov with baseball bats as he entered Tor's offices, according to local news reports. Tor deputy director Sergey Cherneta described the attack to the regional newspaper Donbass: "All of a sudden we heard...blows and screams, after that we heard a moan. I ran downstairs....Our manager was lying in the lobby in a pool of blood with his head cracked open. Two large baseball bats were left nearby." Aleksandrov was rushed to the local city hospital, where he underwent surgery. The journalist never regained consciousness and died from the head injuries on the morning of July 7. Aleksandrov's colleagues believe the murder was connected to his television program, "Bez Retushi" (Without Censorship), which featured investigative coverage of government corruption and organized crime. The program often criticized Slavyansk municipal authorities. Soon after the attack, Donetsk regional prosecutor Viktor Pshonka launched an official investigation. The chief of the Donetsk Administration of Internal Affairs, Gen. Vladimir Malyshev, stated that revenge was the leading motive in the murder but did not elaborate. Aleksandrov became well known in 1998, when prosecutors brought a criminal case against him for insulting the honor and dignity of a parliamentary deputy. The Slavyansk City Court initially found the journalist guilty but later reviewed its decision after criticism from Ukrainian journalists and international human rights organizations. The deputy withdrew his defamation complaint against the journalist last year. That removed the immediate legal threat but did not clear Aleksandrov's name, since his conviction was still technically under review. Claiming damage to his professional reputation, Aleksandrov appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, where the case was pending at the time of his murder. In late August, law enforcement officials arrested an unnamed suspect, according to local press reports. The officials claimed that Aleksandrov's murder was a case of mistaken identity and was not connected with his journalism. A parliamentary investigative commission was established in September to examine Aleksandrov's murder. In December, the commission voiced its doubts about the validity of the "mistaken identity" theory and stated that it knew who had really killed Aleksandrov, according to local reports. While the commission refused to forward this information to law enforcement officials, it accused the Ukrainian Security Service of falsifying evidence in the case. In mid-December, the General Prosecutor's Office officially charged the suspect detained in August, Yury Verdyuk, with Aleksdandrov's murder, local and international sources reported. On December 27, the Donetsk Regional Court scheduled Verdyuk's trial for September 11, 2002. The journalist's colleagues and family maintain that he was killed for his work, local sources told CPJ.


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Teresa's Personal Shopper: Day 1
Viewer Comments
I am still having fun... making all of the cards, shown. I really love the acrylic flowers and leaves, that came with the kit.... hundreds of them.. and it takes only 30 seconds... to make a neat embelishment... This kit was so fun... and all the fun stuff!! Thanks again!!
I love the tulle recently I've also seen feathers and tulle added to cards
Thanks for all the great ideas about how to use vellum! I have always been intrigued by vellum, but could never think of any way to use it except to mask over wording inside, say, a wedding invitation or a Valentine, for a softer look.
Finally got around to watching the end of this webisode. Lots of terrific ideas! Thank you!
I see the new name, Ann! Congrats! I wondered when the special day would come. BTW, great idea for the kits.
This is beautiful and full of ideas. Thank you. My congratulations to you Ann.
Congratulations Ann! I see the new name, hope to see some photos soon. Thanks for the webisodes, I love them!!! Paulette, you are not forgotten, you make everything look so easy and so fun.
I'm so excited for another week of webisodes - I always get such great ideas!! Congratulations Ann, I would love to see some photos also :)
Love this webisode and am looking forward to the rest of the week. Congratulations, Ann! Hope we get to see a wedding picture - I know you were a lovely bride! Thanks for all the new ideas - it was fun to get to watch the webisode early!
Love this idea and really love seeing some great scrapbook pages. Also congratulations Ann!! So happy for you and best wishes to you and the hubs on you journey.
Thanks for showing the uses for the innies. I've been a bit scared to use them. Love seeing wedding pictures especially of the bride & groom. Please, Ann.
Congratulations Ann! You must have gotten some gorgous cards for your big day.
Love the webisodes.
Love these ideas and they way you give inspiration the scrapbook ears AND card makers. Going to check my stash and use your ideas.
What beautiful projects!! I love dazzles and now I guess I better start using the 'innies'. To think I have been wasting them. DUH! Thanks for the ideas.
Love Webisodes. I saw the name change and also would love to see a picture, Anne. Congratulations !
Congratulations from Germany!
Thanks for a new twist on old stuff!
It looks like your company has done it again. I love all your webisode. thank you
Wonderful! Thank you for the inspiration, and these amazing kits.
The Floral collection is one of my favorites, how fun to see new ideas. Thank you so much for all the wonderful ideas. Congratulations Ann, I kept watching for news when you were getting married. I hope we get to see a wedding picture!
Always waiting for webisodes for new ideas and items to buy. Can't wait for Money saver to arrive.
Paper Wishes Weekly Webisodes feature free scrapbooking video classes and card making video classes! Every week Paulette and Gail bring you new online scrapbooking or card making classes demonstrating the very latest paper craft and scrapbooking techniques. Each of our free card making and scrapbooking classes also gives you unique project ideas and tips from Paper Wishes' Design Team. Come back often so you don't miss any of the fun in our card making and scrapbooking classes! You are sure to be inspired! Also watch for our "Week of Webisodes" events where we feature new scrapbooking video classes daily!


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Medical Center, Honolulu, HI
Tripler Army Medical Center, Tripler Army Hospital, HI
University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI
Return to: Facility Reports and Information
Return to: Resources and Links
Rats, mice, birds, amphibians and other animals have been excluded from coverage by the Animal Welfare Act. Therefore research facility reports do not include these animals. As a result of this situation, a blank report, or one with few animals listed, does not mean that a facility has not performed experiments on non-reportable animals. A blank form does mean that the facility in question has not used covered animals (primates, dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, pigs, sheep, goats, etc.). Rats and mice alone are believed to comprise over 90% of the animals used in experimentation. Therefore the majority of animals used at research facilities are not even counted.


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Aaah, too many pun possibilities here, pun-overload!
Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R has ticked off Pfizer and Viagra by using their familiar little blue bill shape as a visual in an ad poster for Virgin airlines. In their poster, the pill is inscribed with "Virgin" and the copy reads: "Virgin Upper Class Suite. The biggest, firmest, longest bed in business."
Pfizer didn't see the funny in that and complained saying the diamond shape is trademarked and these Virgin posters are infringing on Pfizer's intellectual property. Virgin has agreed to remove the posters within the next few days. Another Virgin poster they'll no longer run reads: "We're bigger than BA in the bedroom department".
click on image for a larger version.
(in October 2009 I turned comments off on this post, Viagra-spammers are attracted to it like flies to honey)


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Dave Einsel / Getty Images file
A sculptor's rendering, part of an exhibit focusing on the 3.2-million-
year-old hominid called Lucy, shows how she might have looked in life.
The world's best-known skeleton of a human ancestor - whose name, "Lucy," came from a Beatles song - now lies splayed out in Seattle's Pacific Science Center like ornaments in a glass jewelry case. Or, more aptly, like 3.2-million-year-old pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
Anthropologists are still working on the puzzles about human origins that have been posed by Lucy and other fossils, including a major find that was made just a couple of miles away from the place where Lucy was found 34 years ago.
The long-running mystery surrounding the "First Family" - a grouping of fossil bones representing up to 17 of Lucy's kin from Ethiopia's Afar region - is just one of the many unresolved plot threads in the scientific story about our long-ago ancestors.
"Lucy's Legacy," an exhibition that began its Seattle run last weekend, recaps the story so far. The traveling exhibit made news last year when it came to the Houston Museum of Natural History, because it represented the first time the Ethiopian government allowed Lucy's skeleton to be displayed abroad. Since then, the cultural controversy has settled down - but scientific controversies continue.
Almost human?
Lucy and the rest of her species (named Australopithecus afarensis, Latin for "southern ape of Afar") were not human, in everyday terms or technical terms. They looked more like apes than humans, and stood only about three and a half feet (1 meter) tall. But the point is that they stood at all: An analysis of Lucy's pelvis and leg bones indicated that she was capable of walking upright, making her the earliest known specimen exhibiting solid evidence for that trait.
© Pacific Science Center
|The skeleton of a 3.2-million-year-old hominid
named Lucy is displayed at the "Lucy's Legacy"
exhibit at Seattle's Pacific Science Center.
Other bones revealed a blend of simian and human features. As I stared down at the jewel case, on display at the Pacific Science Center's "Lucy's Legacy" exhibit, I was most struck by Lucy's V-shaped jaw, lined with fossilized teeth. That, more than anything, gave me a sense of how small and strange-featured Lucy must have been.
For Donald Johanson, the Arizona State University paleoanthropologist who was one of Lucy's discoverers, the jaw told much more: The shape of the bone, the alignment of the teeth and even details about the cusps of Lucy's premolars all told him that Australopithecus afarensis was more apelike than humanlike from the neck up.
The implication was that Lucy's upright walking came before the bigger brains of her descendants. Today, the mainstream view is that australopithecines like Lucy first became bipedal - perhaps as part of an adaptation to living on Africa's savannahs instead of ape-friendly forests. That evolutionary development opened the way for more dextrous hands, and then brains more suited for manipulating tools.
Upright walking has thus come to be considered the key dividing line between the evolutionary branch leading to humans (a category of creatures known as hominids) and the other branches leading to today's non-human primates.
Even assuming that's the right story to tell, there are plenty of gaps in the narrative: Does Lucy really represent the single branch leading to humans, as Johanson proposed? Or is the lower part of the human family tree more like a tangle of shoots and roots, with bipedalism and other humanish traits emerging on multiple fronts? Exactly what kinds of evolutionary pressures were at work? How much did hominids have to cope with natural predators and ancient climate change?
These questions are being pursued by researchers spread out across Africa, from Ethiopia down to South Africa and northwest to Chad. Several years ago, the discovery of a 6- to 7-million-year-old skull in Chad sparked a debate over whether upright walking went much farther back in the family tree, and that debate is still not entirely resolved.
3 million-year-old cold case
Some of the biggest questions surround the First Family, the fossils found by Johanson and his colleagues a year after Lucy's discovery. The collection of more than 200 bones came from the same time frame in which Lucy lived, from the same place, and apparently from the same species. Thirteen to 17 individuals are represented, ranging from juveniles to adults.
To anthropologists investigating the First Family's demise, the mystery is, if anything, even juicier than Lucy's saga.
"It's very much like a forensic case, where you've got an unexplained death ... and you're trying to figure out what happened, only this case is 3 million years old," said the Smithsonian Institution's Anna Kay Behrensmeyer, who has been studying the case for years.
Even Johanson has said the First Family is as deserving of fame as Lucy. According to South African reports, he's trying to nail down the evidence for the cause of death by consulting with an expert on prehistoric predators.
In the past, investigators have suggested that the entire troop of hominids might have died in a flash flood, or were done in by a bout of food poisoning. But Behrensmeyer said the current prevailing theory is that they were the victims of a "surplus killing" by blood-crazed predators. "This is documented as a natural phenomenon," she said.
Behrensmeyer noted that the biggest predators of the time were saber-toothed cats. One scenario suggests that the cats massacred a whole troop of hominids, perhaps leaving behind remains to be scavenged by the ancestors of modern-day hyenas.
But anthropologists are still only in the early stages of the investigation. Some still question whether the First Family was actually a familial unit, or instead represented a variety of hominid species whose bones were cached together by scavengers. Additional pieces of evidence could produce dramatic plot twists, just as they do in the TV crime dramas.
"It's important to get the facts straight," Behrensmeyer said. "What's critical about this is, first of all, to determine whether all these specimens were buried together."
The time frame was far too early for the type of intentional burials that early humans and even Neanderthals were capable of performing, she said. Nevertheless, unraveling the case of the First Family will add a new chapter to the story of Lucy and our other long-ago ancestors.
"It does say a lot about how they died, and how they lived," Behrensmeyer said.
More resources
For much more about the Lucy exhibit, check out the "Lucy's Legacy" Web sites for Houston and Seattle, as well as coverage from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "Becoming Human" and the Institute of Human Origins' Web site delve into paleoarchaeology in general and Johanson's work in particular. You can also check out the Smithsonian's Human Origins Program and the Leakey Foundation. Our own special report on evolution, "Fast Forward," features an interactive graphic on human origins as well as potential human futures.
If you're looking for books about human origins, you can sink your teeth into one or all of these three, which serve as this month's triple selection for the Cosmic Log Used Book Club.
- "Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind," by Donald Johanson and Maitland Edey.
- "The First Human: The Race to Discover Our Earliest Ancestors," by Ann Gibbons.
- "Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors," by Nicholas Wade.
The CLUB Club highlights books with cosmic themes that you should be able to find at your local library or secondhand-book shop.
Update for 2:15 p.m. ET: A sharp-eyed commenter recalled that Lucy's bones were brought to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History after their discovery. At the time, Johanson was a curator at the museum, and he worked out a deal with the Ethiopian government to bring Lucy to Cleveland for study in 1975. The bones were returned to Ethiopia in 1980, without going on public display. I've revised this item to make allowance for Lucy's scientific sojourn.


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The long-range vision of Attachment Parenting is to raise children who will become adults with a highly developed capacity for empathy and connection. It eliminates violence as a means for raising children, and ultimately helps to prevent violence in society as a whole.
The essence of Attachment Parenting is about forming and nurturing strong connections between parents and their children. Attachment Parenting challenges us as parents to treat our children with kindness, respect and dignity, and to model in our interactions with them the way we'd like them to interact with others.
Attachment Parenting isn't new. At its essence, Attachment Parenting is our biological imperative - the source of our most instinctual behaviors. In the last sixty years, the behaviors of attachment have been studied extensively by psychology and child development researchers, and more recently, by researchers studying the brain. This body of knowledge offers strong support for areas that are key to the optimal development of children, summarized below in API's Eight Principles of Parenting.
The following links will lead you to condensed versions of each of the Eight Principles. API Co-Founders Lysa Parker and Barbara Nicholson's book Attached at the Heart delves into API's Eight Principles of Parenting. The book is available in the API store.
Please read the introduction first, as it contains important information that applies to all Eight Principles. If you have questions about applying the Eight Principles in your family, please contact an API Parent Support Group Leader near you or API Headquarters.
See the API Principles in Spanish, in Portuguese, in Hungarian.


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Heart, Albert King, Randy Newman, Public Enemy, Rush and Donna Summer have been selected as the 2013 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
Red Hot Chili Peppers' bassist and 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Flea made the announcement Tuesday at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.
Lou Adler and Quincy Jones were chosen to receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performers.
Scheduled for Thursday, April 18, 2013, the 28th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held at the Nokia Theatre, the first time since 1993 that it will be held on the West Coast. The ceremony will again be open to the public, as it was in 2009 and 2012 in Cleveland.
Also read: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Is Out of Touch
The induction ceremony will broadcast on HBO on Saturday, May 18 at 9 p.m. "We are excited to team up once again with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for what is sure to be an incredible evening of one-of-a-kind performances," Michael Lombardo, president of HBO programming, said in a statement.
The performer inductees were chosen by more than 500 voters of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. To be eligible for nomination, an individual artist or band must have released its first single or album at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination. The 2013 Nominees had to release their first recording no later than 1987.
For the first time in its history, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame offered fans the opportunity to officially participate in the induction selection process. The top five artists, as selected by the public, comprised a "fans' ballot" that was tallied along with the other ballots to choose the 2013 inductees.


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I'm more than a bit of a geek. Doctor Who. Sherlock. Star Trek. The list goes on and on really. My absolute favorite actor is Benedict Cumberbatch. He's brilliant. Truly one of the best actors of our time. The man can pull off anything from Shakespeare (pick a play…any play) to Khan in the newest Star Trek film to one of the best Sherlocks…ever. So what does this fantastically talented actor have to do with the subject of this post? Not much directly, but it was my love of his acting that introduced me to 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup.
12 Years a Slave was one in a series of movies that Mr. Cumberbatch has out in 2013. I saw the preview for the movie several months ago and it looked excellent. It spurred me to go out and get a copy of the book. It's a true story I might add and I was stunned by what I read. Solomon Northup was a free man who lived in New York. He had a wife and children. He was an excellent musician. He was lured to Washington DC in 1841 under the pretense of a few weeks of lucrative work. He was then drugged and awoke in chains and sold into slavery.
As you can tell by the title of the book, Mr. Northup remained a slave for 12 years. He regained his freedom in 1853. He was one of the few free black people that were kidnapped and sold into slavery to regain freedom. The majority did not. Of course, there's no way to even begin to guess how many free black men and women suffered this fate. They were given new names and histories when they were kidnapped. Solomon Northup became "Platt" and was told that he was a Georgia slave. He fought this at first, but was brutally beaten until he willingly answered to his new name.
Reading this book made me wonder about genealogical brick walls. Genealogy is seldom far from a genealogist's thoughts. I spent last week thinking of how the whereabouts of my 3rd great grandfather may have been lost had it not been for a letter found and shared by distant cousins that told of his demise on a shipwreck. How much more difficult would it be to trace these free black men and women that were sold into slavery and given new identities? All but impossible.
I'm not saying that I read this book and thought only of genealogy. I'm not saying that I watched this movie and thought of brick walls. That would be impossible to do. Doubt me? Read the book. See the movie. What occurred to me after reading the book was how many dead ends could this sort of story account for? Even more…why is this a story I've never heard of? Why did I not know that this happened? A failure of our educational system…and I always believed that I had been well educated.
Sadder still? This movie was released 2 weeks ago in select cities. Then last week in a few more. Finally, this weekend it was set for "wide release" according to IMDB and the movie's Facebook page. A few days before this "wide release" I jumped on Fandango to see which theater I would be patronizing this weekend. None locally. I live near Colorado Springs. A city and surrounding area that boasts of having a population of more than half a million people and the movie was not playing here. Denver was the nearest city showing this film and you can be damn sure that I drove there!
Why is this movie not playing everywhere? Why do we continue to hide things that happened? Pretend that they didn't? The theater was packed. There was hardly a chair empty when the film began, and it started almost 15 minutes late because people were still getting tickets. You will hear more about this movie even if it never plays in a city near you. This will most likely win the Academy Award for best picture. Maybe then it will get the exposure it deserves.
As genealogists we should be familiar with history that impacts our research. Do not ignore this film. Do not pass on reading this book. Yes, the book is different from the movie. So much had to be left out. The book gives quite an insight into slavery from the viewpoint, the struggles of an enslaved, educated black man.
Steve McQueen did a phenomenal job with this film and it's star, Chiwetel Ejiofor, will move you to tears. I had read the book prior to attending this film and I still found myself crying as I walked back to my car after it ended. Sobs could be heard throughout the theater at its end. Watch this movie. Hopefully, it will make you want to read the book. The movie only touches lightly on what the book goes into. The complex issues that Solomon faced, a better explanation as to his rescue, and everyday struggles and victories.
One of the only problems I had with the movie was when it shows "Platt" telling his first owner William Ford that he was a free man and Ford ignoring him. Not caring. This never happened. Northup never admitted to Ford that he was a free man. He was afraid to reveal this to anyone even though Ford was, by far, the kindest of his owners. I suppose I can understand why Steve McQueen would alter the movie this way. I know when I read the book I found myself willing Northup to tell Ford. He respected Ford as much as any subjugated individual could. When he fled another master (something the movie also did not show due to time constraints) he fled to Ford. In changing the movie I suppose McQueen finally lets Northup say those words and illustrates to the audience that even a "kind" slave owner was still a slave owner.
I don't have any ancestors that were slaves or slave-owners, but this story is significant in our American history and in some genealogies. It is a story that needs sharing. A story that I would never have heard of if I hadn't been such a geek.
NOTE - This book wasn't easy to find when I originally went looking on Amazon.com a few months ago. I'm delighted to say that when I checked this evening there were many publications in various forms available!


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A joint initiative between the American Immigration Council and AILA seeks to change the playing field for immigrants facing deportation.
AILA's Featured Issues pages provide a one-stop shop on current immigration-related issues that AILA is actively tracking. This includes government actions and resources, AILA's policy recommendations, and materials and talking points to engage with Congress and the press.Start Your Research
AILA Doc. No. 13071061 | Dated July 10, 2013
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
|George Tzamaras
|Belle Woods
Washington, DC - Today, the House of Representatives' Republican caucus met to discuss prospects for immigration reform. The leadership then released a statement that rejects the bipartisan, compromise bill the Senate passed two weeks ago.
"The Senate bill, while far from perfect, was approved by more than two-thirds of the Senate and would have been the right starting point for the House. It is a shame that they have chosen a fractured, incomplete approach-an approach that, to date, has failed to address the estimated 11 million people living undocumented in this country. Nevertheless, perhaps the process of reform still can be salvaged if the House pursues a more balanced approach," said Doug Stump, AILA President.
"House leadership has thus far disappointed American businesses, families, and communities, by bringing forth either hostile bills on immigration or bills that, standing alone, do not provide the balance needed to make our immigration system work. These narrowly-focused bills are not sufficient. The House should either craft its own bipartisan, common-sense reform bill or take up the Senate bill which contains the essential elements of immigration reform that AILA has long supported: legalization with a path to citizenship for the undocumented, reforms to the family and business immigration system, and components for enforcement and border security. Failing that, it needs to ensure that all the key elements of reform are covered in the pieces that it moves forward. Our country deserves at least that," concluded Mr. Stump.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.
Cite as AILA Doc. No. 13071061.
American Immigration Lawyers Association
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Washington, DC 20005
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American Immigration Lawyers Association.