Transcript Detail
| Transcript Title | Buck, Ivy (O2021.6) |
| Interviewee | Mrs Ivy Buck (IB |
| Interviewer | Frances Green (FG) |
| Date | 01/10/2021 |
| Transcriber by | Frances Green |
Transcript
Hertford Oral History Group
Recording no: O2021.6
Interviewee: Mrs Ivy Buck (IB)
(Also present: Dr Mark Buck (Ivy’s son) (MB)
Date: 1st October 2021
Venue: North Road, Hertford
Interviewer: Frances Green (FG)
Transcriber: Frances Green
Typed by: Frances Green
************** unclear recording
[discussion] untranscribed material
italics editor’s notes
FG: This is Frances Green. It’s Friday the 1st of October, 2021. So today I have the great pleasure of interviewing Mrs Ivy Buck and I’m here with her in her home in North Road.
The initiative for this recording came when, in the Hertford Oral History Group, we reviewed a recording and transcript from the late Dr Dorothy Anderson and, while the recording is very interesting, it stops short before any record of her time as a GP in Hertford. And Peter Ruffles helpfully suggested that Ivy, having known and worked for Dorothy Anderson, might help us paint in a little of this local history.
And Ivy herself is very remarkable because she is 103 years old! And when I came to talk to her about doing the interview, there was a whole line of birthday cards – er, which have gone now, but, 103! So you have a great stock of memories Ivy I think to help us paint this little picture in.
So, if you’re ready to start Ivy, can you just say when you came to Hertford, and how did you come to know Dr Anderson?
[pause]
IB: My husband was in the navy and Fleet Air Arm during war service. And after war service he joined the national health service at its very beginning in 1948. His first post in the national health service was in his home town of Weston-super-Mare. Shortly afterwards he was moved to Derby which is where I met him and that is my home town. After serving a while, he was moved to Bedford, and then in 1975 was moved to Hertford.
We moved to 6, North Road in 1976. And Dorothy Anderson came to 4, North Road, next door, very soon afterwards. She came from Hoddesdon. And she moved her surgery to 4, North Road. I remember making tea for all those present helping her to move in, including her elderly mother and her daughter and her brother. Her brother Ted and her mother lived with her at 4, North Road.
FG: That’s excellent, thank you. Yes.
MB: Yes, that’s the first question there.
FG: That’s brilliant, thank you very much. That gives me a great sense of how you came to know her.
So, Ivy can you tell me, how was it that you came to start to work for Dorothy Anderson?
IB: Yes. My daughter Kay was tragically killed in an accident in Ireland in 1983 and at that time Dr [Anderson] was needing more staff for the office work. And Dorothy approached my husband Ray to see whether it would help if I was to work for her, to help out with the extra office work. That was very typical of her. She was very thoughtful for other people. Obviously, Ray said I could work for her and I began shortly afterwards. I was joined by two other staff to cover the surgery work; Mrs Roseanne Garton and Mrs Jane Rex.
FG: That’s really helpful. So it obviously was an offer of work that came along at the right time for you Ivy.
IB: Yes.
FG: Now, one of the things that will interest anybody reading about the history of Hertford is what the surgery, Dr Anderson’s surgery, looked like inside. And I wonder if you can describe what it would have looked like to a patient coming in for me?
IB: The surgery was composed of a prefab building on the left hand side of the main house. That was used as a waiting room for patients. As the daughter…(laughs)…the daughter! As the doctor interviewed her patients they came into the house, the first room being used as our office room. And when doctor was free to see the patient they filed in through the office into a bigger room which was the doctor’s own surgery. And I would say that the rooms were comfortably furnished for people who were probably not well, waiting to see the doctor.
FG: That’s really helpful, thank you. And I’m just interested Ivy in the work that you did for Dr Anderson. So can you describe that for me as well?
IB: Yes. Well the office work was general office work with a medical nature obviously. So there was making appointments and writing prescriptions which had to be signed by the doctor of course…
FG: I’m relieved to hear that (both laugh).
IB: …and keeping records of all her patients. And the work generally was divided between the three of us but I took on doctor’s own correspondence because I was a shorthand writer and I was able to cope with the correspondence. The other two ladies did mostly what we call general office work, filing and keeping records, and keeping the records up-to-date and… odd jobs (laughs).
The working week was divided between the three of us to fulfil our duties and, by this method, it meant that the surgery work which the doctor needed was fully covered. Because in the case of illness or anything special where we couldn’t attend our duties, there was always someone to cover for you. And as I was… I lived next door was comforting in that I was there in the case of short notice.
FG: Yes, I can see that would have been very helpful.
And I will also just say, for the recording, when I came round to see you before you mentioned your Pitmans shorthand speed and I think you said it was 140 words a minute? I think we should record that Ivy, it’s very impressive.
[The interviewer was wrong in her recollection! Ivy in fact achieved an officially recorded shorthand speed of 160 words per minute and an unofficial 170 words per minute.]
So can you tell me, obviously… did you enjoy working for Dr Anderson? Did you like the work?
IB: Well, I worked for her until she retired herself and I was very comforted by what she said when we were discussing retirements because she was coming up for retirement and I was past retirement (laughs) but I said I would carry on. She said: ‘I want you to stay with me until the end.’ So, the end meaning the end of the practice (both laugh). Yes. I think she was nearly eighty by that time. And I do know that she helped out after her retirement age, she helped out with locums and the other surgeries until she gave up the surgery here. Here! I always think of it as being here.
FG: Nearly next door!
IB: Yes.
FG: So Ivy, just to draw things to a close, can you tell me what you remember of Dr Anderson as an employer, but also a friend and neighbour? And really anything else you would like to add?
IB: As an employer she expected efficiency and punctuality and showed a remarkable [measure] of understanding for you as an employee. She was generous too. On one occasion she gave me a donation towards my air fare to the United States to see my daughter and her family. She was very friendly…if she had odd jobs to be done she would approach Ray for help. And she was always very complimentary about the help he gave her. We all had mutual respect for each other.
She was highly musical, contributing to the Hertford Dramatic Society musicals. She had two pianos in her front room at 4, North Road and often invited Mark to play to play Bach double piano concertos with her. He had great respect for her.
She was a lovely lady, and a very good and loyal friend.
FG: Fantastic. Ivy you have been a star. Thank you so much. That’s been really helpful.
IB: [… ] Was it fast enough Mark?
(all laugh)
FG: Thank you. I’m going to close the recording now. You’ve been absolutely spot on Ivy. Thank you very much.
END OF RECORDING
Additional recollections, provided in subsequent email correspondence, from Dr Mark Buck
With regard to my own recollections of Dorothy Anderson, she was one of the most impressive people I have known. She had a capacity for sympathy and a strong discerning pastoral sense that went hand in hand with being highly practical and efficient. She confronted her own terrible personal family tragedies with very great fortitude.
Her cultural interests were broad. She was a good pianist and I greatly enjoyed evenings we spent playing Bach two piano concerti and other pieces in the front room of 4 North Road. Her conversation was wide-ranging, engaging and well-informed.
Above all she was a very kind person. So very many are greatly indebted to her, not least my mother and myself.