Rehabilitation teddy bear: Assistant Matron Nellie Mansell Simcox, Hadfield House

White artificial fur teddy bear made with moveable arms. The bear is constructed from 13 separate pieces, and has glass eyes and a black wool embroidered nose, mouth and claws. It was originally clothed with a dress and red bonnet.

This teddy bear was made by a wounded British soldier as part of his rehabilitation therapy at Hatfield House, England, during the Second World War and given to the Assisatant Matron there, Miss Nellie Mansell Simcox, originally from Great Wickham. The Jacobean house had been requisitioned from the Cecil family for use as a hospital specialising in physiotherapy. Miss Simcox served in both world wars with the Territorial Nursing Service. She served at Salonika in Greece from 1916 until 1919. During the Second World War she served at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, and then as Assistant Matron in a Belgian Hospital towards the end of the war, in 1945. She promised the maker of the teddy that it would not leave her family, and in 1951 sent it to Australia as a present for Helen Pitcher, her infant great-niece who was partially deaf.

Helen was two years old at the time and played with both the gollywog and the bear until she was about seven. She learnt about the gift from her great aunt when she was 17. She remembers the teddy was female with a red flannel bonnet and the gollywog was male. The sewn repairs evident on both figures are Helen’s work – reattaching the arms and resewing the gollywog’s neck. The attached photo taken in 1953 shows Helen aged three and a half years old, dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood, and holding the teddy bear. Present in the photo are her brother, Jim (far left) and her sister Rosiland (obscured on far right) also in dress-ups. Close inspection of the photo will reveal the wire from the hearing aid Helen had to wear running down her neck. (Details from Helen Pitcher visit 7/11/2017)