Veronica

Veronica came to England from Jamaica when she was 9. Her mum was just 25 and had given birth to Veronica when she was a teenager and still at school.

Everyone knew Veronica's mum as Pearl, and she was a talented seamstress. Veronica's dad, Charlie, worked for British Rail. He was also a skilled carpenter and picture framer and could make and repair shoes as a hobby. They settled in Clapham in SW London.

For newly arrived West Indian families, inherent racism from the banks and the fact that they had no history in England meant that getting a bank account was very difficult. Because of this, many people from the Caribbean set up 'Pardner' Schemes.

The Pardner system was initially brought to Jamaica by enslaved Africans and used to purchase freedom.

The scheme is based around a group of friends, neighbours or relatives agreeing to contribute money into the pot each week over a fixed term. Each month, a member of the scheme gets the whole pot which means they get a lump sum to help pay for a deposit on a flat, set up a business or get a car or similar. This scheme is based entirely on trust, and only people with a good reputation are allowed to participate.

Veronica's family used the Pardner scheme a lot in those early days in the UK.

When Veronica was small back in Jamaica, she fell from a verandah and injured her head. Her family didn't think her injury looked that bad and just gave her some sugared water (A Jamaican cure-all). They never took her to the hospital.

When she came to school in England, the teachers noticed something wasn't quite right and advised her to see a doctor. The doctor said that she had damage to the back of her skull, restricting the blood supply to her brain. The facilities in London meant that Veronica started getting the medical treatment she needed.

She had a seizure in her late teens and then had an operation to put a stent into the arteries in her neck head to improve the blood flow to her brain, which seemed to help at the time.

After school, Veronica worked in a factory in Battersea that made nurses' uniforms.

In her early twenties, when she was still living at home, Veronica got pregnant and had a baby girl. The relationship with the baby's dad didn't work out, so her mum helped her with the baby.

Although they were no longer a couple, the baby's dad would often call around in his bright yellow Triumph Dolomite and remained a part of Veronica and his daughter's life.

A few years later, Veronica met Winston at a house party. He was also from Jamaica and worked in a plastics factory in South London. They had a son and, in 1978, decided to get married.

Veronica's mum, Pearl, who by then was known as 'Auntie P', made the wedding and the bridesmaids' dresses. It was considered bad luck for Veronica's 7-year-old daughter Michelle to be a bridesmaid. Michelle remembers being jealous of her cousins getting dressed up on the day of her mum's wedding.

The pair married in St Barnabas Church on Clapham Common, and Winston bought up Michelle as his own daughter. Her real dad was still very much on the scene. In fact, he was good friends with Winston.

Veronica got on very well with Winston's mum. Her mother-in-law loved cooking and taught Veronica how to bake. Veronica was a quick learner and perfected the art of bun making and baking Caribbean Black Cake.

For many years Veronica worked as an Auxiliary nurse at Chelsea Hospital. She remained happily married to Winston for 37 years until he passed away in 2015.

Winston's death had a devastating effect on her, and she was 'quite lost' for a while, but a friend helped her through it and reintroduced her to crocheting, which she did when she was younger.

As Veronica got older, the accident she had as a child started to affect her cognitive function, and she had another seizure in 2021. She managed to get through it, but it affected her memory. The doctors said that Veronica should have had regular check-ups since that first operation when she was a teenager. Perhaps through some bureaucratic error, she received no aftercare support from the NHS and was left to get on with her life as best as she could.

Veronica retired from nursing at 60 and now lives alone. She crochets all the time and finds it relaxing and therapeutic. She also visits a local community centre where she meets other Caribbean elders, many of which are also retired nurses. They, along with her family have been a great support to her.

Veronica still loves baking cakes, and according to her daughter Michelle, who helped me with this interview, she 'still makes the best bun in Battersea'.