The Green Lady, Made sure the house was clean Options

[jaybee]

Luceo, I too have a recollection of them much later than 1946. I have stated before that when I went home to Scotland on holiday I felt like a "green lady" knocking on doors. Just as a comparison to how many relatives and friends expected I should visit them when home. I have a funny feeling they are now called District Nurses. Could be wrong. Jaybee

[stratson]

The "Green Lady" was a sanitary inspector.

[Gallusbisom]

Hi Stratson,

Just for "us yins" that have been away for a while, what is a "sanitary inspector"? Don't mean to sound daft but I don't know. (Now don't you be laughing at my lack of "edumaction" )

GB

[Heather]

I remember the Green Lady coming to the house just after our son was born. She checked him over and asked how I was keeping. She only came a few times, but she was a nice person and she was always dressed in green, as it was the uniform for the home visitors where there was a new baby. Hence the, ' Green Lady '.

I never knew they inspected house's. I always thought they visited to see how the new baby and mother were. The one who came a couple of times to our house, never inspected it.

[penny dainty]

The Green Lady was still coming around in the 60's, yes she was the health visitor, but I'm not familiar with the sanitory inspector

[Luceo]

The sanitary inspector was formerly a person responsible for ensuring that standards of hygiene were adhered to, both in the home and in commercial establishments. In the days of overcrowded living conditions the sanitary inspectors performed an important public health function. Today similar duties are performed by environmental health officers whose work is overseen by the public health inspector.

Luceo

[maryhillgal]

Luceo, they were there until at least the 70's. By the time my 3rd son was born in 1978, I never had any visits from the green lady.

[Melody]

What a cheek when you think about it, in many cases people were living in slum conditions, and they sent in sanitary inspectors! Maybe they should have sent in housing officers instead, with an offer of good living conditions. Then maybe they never viewed it as the householders fault if things were not as they should be in the home. Maybe they realised that housing conditions needed improvement.

[Luceo]

The introduction to Victorian Britain of the Sanitary Inspector (and, indeed, the Inspector of Nuisances) was seen as an important public health initiative.

It is my understanding that the sanitary inspectors had the power to force landlords to improve sanitation and sewage arrangements where it was deemed necessary. They also had responsibility for ensuring that schools and other public places met basic sanitary needs with the provision of toilets, running water etc.

I am not sure how much of the Green Ladies' time was involved with child welfare and what part of it was devoted to the role of sanitary inspector.

Luceo

[stratson]

We lived in a new corporation house(well it was then, built in 1927, my parents were first tenants, it was a 2 bedroom and bathroom house. )My parents had 5 children when allocated this house,another 5 after that date, so you could say we were overcrowded.

[glasgow lass]

Nice big family Stratson,,,

[jakka13]

Just found this and I do remember the Green Ladies .When you were pregnant and planning a home confinement you contacted the Queens Nurses .They would visit once a month at first and then every two weeks and then once a week as your time came close .When you went into labour you called and they came out to your house and delivered your baby .Within the first week of this baby's life a Green Lady came to see if the welfare of the family (,not just the baby )was alright .
This was in the sixties .You got the tinned milk,orange juice and any other vitamins from the local Clinic where the baby got checked out weighed and inspected .

[Elma]

It was the District Nurse who was with me when two of my babies were born. She visited like Jakka said both before and after the births. She wore blue, would that be different?

[stuarty]

it was a health visitor that came to my quarters and she said turn the heating down as I was doing everything by the baby book and she only checked the babies weights and my stitches and was very satisfied but if she seen me hoose no she would die as am a hoarder of many things and a love my clutter as i have said before as my house is not a show house its a lived in house

[weelew]

Just catching up with some of these old posts And i can remember that the sanitary inspector was called the sanny man and it was him that you reported any sort of sewage problems which would occur in the old tenements ,he in turn had to get the factors to carry out repairs .The green lady was what we now call the district nurse and she would visit houses with new born babies and try to help the mothers for the first few weeks ,she also worked in the schools and was what we all called the nit lady ,she would look yer hied as the saying went then and if she found any nits or pully's then she she would tear into your head with a bone comb and send you home with a bottle of the foulest smelling conconction that was meant to kill them. If you struggled or tried to get out of the chair she woul skelp you round the napper with an open handed slap ,not that it ever happened to me .In they days although most kids got an infestation at one time or other all the mothers would talk about the kids and say keep away from him/her the'v got a dirty heid.

The word pully's came about because some kids would scratch about their heads locate a beastie PULL it out and crack it between their thumb nails .