Letter from the hospital

Date: 26 Jun 1938 [unknown]
Location: Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom
Surname/tag: BENTING

Letter to my grandmother Gladys May Benting, nee Pollard

This is a transcript of the original letter that was found with my grandmother's effects when she passed away in 1993 and which is now in my collection of family memorabilia.

The Letter

The Childrens Hospital, King Edward VII Memorial, Ladywood Road, Birmingham 16

26 : 6 : 39

Dear Mrs Benting

I am sorry to tell you that your child Fred died today at 2pm.

Please do not come up to the Hospital for a certificate because the Doctor's Certificate of Death is required by Law to be sent direct to the Registrar, and you will be informed by letter when this is done. In the meantime you can make the necessary arrangements with the Undertaker.

Relatives may visit the Mortuary to view the body of the deceased on week-days (Monday to Saturday) between 2-30 and 4-30 p.m.

Please pin the enclosed card on to a nightdress and send the garment to the Hospital as soon as possible.

Yours truly

L K Day Sister - Ward 2

The funeral

Frederick John was buried at Yardley cemetary, the funeral was a horse drawn hearse (two horses) and the Undertakers were William H Painter Ltd of Acocks Green. The bill came to £4 15s 0d and included the removal of the body from the hospital, the coffin with fittings, the digging of the grave and cemetary charges.

My thoughts

It must have been devastating to receive this letter. What I find particularly hard about it that it is a generic letter with gaps for the hospital to fill in the specific details (typed in italics above). We are so lucky today that if our children are ill, at least in the U.K., that provision is made so that we, as mothers, can usually stay at the hospital with them.

It is also sad because my grandmother had already lost her five month old daughter Barbara in January of this same year and would lose her husband Alf in the coming August. What a year for them all.

I find it really touching that my grandmother kept this letter all her life. Yvonne Benting Benting-27 15:17, 25 July 2022 (UTC)