Arrivals: Blanche Hines
In June 1958, aged 18, Blanche Hines emigrated to the UK from a small town called Bunkers Hill in Trelawny, Jamaica. Blanche paid approximately £99 for her flight from Kingston.
Blanche’s first impression of England was its size and how dirty the buildings looked. This was industrial Britain and not the images portrayed in the brochures circulating in the Caribbean at the time.
She was met at the airport by a close family member from Doncaster with whom she would spend her early days in England. Whilst living in Doncaster Blanche’s only aim was to find work.
Within two years of her arrival in England and despite having no formal qualifications, Blanche enrolled as a trainee nurse at St James Hospital, known as St. Jimmy’s.
Blanche recalls her time staying in the nurse’s home whilst studying, living on a diet of cornflakes and cold milk. “I couldn’t cope with the food being served at the nursing home. Looking back it was probably okay, but I wasn’t used to it.” Like many travellers of the time, Blanche had only intended to stay in England for a short time, roughly five years. However, once she had settled, had children, made a home and had steady work her plans of returning to Jamaica changed. Blanche does not regret not returning home and is glad of the decision she made to travel to the UK all those years ago.
