Four Generations, One Family, One NHS
This Windrush Day, we celebrate one family’s remarkable contribution to the NHS.
Here’s the story of a four generation family, whose involvement in the NHS stems throughout.
Ruby Marion Inniss. Born 1912. Manchester Royal Eye Hospital — Caterer.
Ruby Marion Inniss came to England in 1959 as part of the Windrush generation that arrived to help build post-war England.
She was born in St Vincent in 1912 and moved to Aruba as a young adult to support her husband who worked with the Largo oil refinery. Her friends and family were leaving the West Indies to make a life in England and so she arrived in September 1959.
Manchester was chosen as her destination as she already had a brother who lived there. She spent a few months with him and his family, who were really helpful in settling her in, assisting her to navigate the new environment where she successfully obtained a job and somewhere to live.
After initially taking on a number of factory jobs, she got a post in 1960 at Manchester Royal Eye hospital in the catering department.
Ruby worked there for 18 years before retiring in 1980. She loved her job there. She always said the daily walking commute from her home in nearby Hulme kept her fit and healthy, and it was a good opportunity to meet people from different nationalities as all the doctors converged in the dining room for their daily lunch.
Once she retired, she helped to establish the ‘African-Caribbean Care Group for the Elderly’ in Manchester and was one of its founding members. Ruby died in Manchester in January 2010 aged 97.
Elaine Dolores Unegbu (nee Inniss). Born 1941. Manchester Royal Infirmary — Nurse.
Ruby’s first daughter, Elaine, was training to be a nurse when Ruby came to England after winning a scholarship to study nursing in the Netherlands.
On completing her training, Elaine came to England in 1963 to join her mother and two siblings. She worked for a short period in Manchester Royal Infirmary and then moved to the Northern Hospital, where she worked as a staff nurse and a nursing sister.
Elaine got married, and her husband was keen to return to Nigeria after he had finished his studies in Manchester to help rebuild his country that had been affected by the Biafran war. Elaine moved to Nigeria in 1974 but returned to England to be with her family after her husband died in 1990. On her return, she continued to be involved with the NHS and volunteered for many years.
Ngozi Elaine Edi-Osagie (nee Unegbu). Born 1964. St Mary’s Hospital — Neonatologist
Ngozi, Elaine’s first daughter was born in 1974. She studied medicine in Nigeria and did her postgraduate paediatric training in Manchester and London. Her first paediatric job was on Acorn ward in St Mary’s Hospital in 1992. Ngozi was appointed as a Consultant Neonatologist at St Mary’s Hospital in 2002 and really enjoys working with families. She is married to a gynaecologist, Edmond, who is also a consultant at St Mary’s.
Ndidi Edi-Osagie. Born 1995. NHS volunteer and 4th year medical student
Ndidi was born in St Mary’s hospital in Manchester and is now a medical student at King’s College London. She plans to become an interventional radiologist.
Find out more about Windrush Day by visiting www.windrushday.org.uk or follow #Windrush #WindrushDay on social media.
