Treva Irving

Treva Irving (also known as Aunt Maud, born 1928 in Barra Town, St James parish, Jamaica; died 2019) provides a narrative of migration, skill, and endurance in her role as a seamstress within the National Health Service (NHS) at the Royal Hospital in Wolverhampton, illustrating the contributions of Caribbean women recruited in the post-war period to support Britain’s rebuilding efforts, including non-clinical roles essential to hospital operations. Influenced by her mother, a seamstress who “taught her how to sew” and sold garments in the local community, Treva developed a passion for the craft from a young age. She enjoyed sewing because “she was able to express her flare and creativity,” making sheets, curtains, clothes, and repairing garments in Jamaica.

Following World War II, when “Britain had become decimated” with “many lives were lost and also many house, buildings and factories were destroyed,” the NHS launched “a huge recruitment drive in the Caribbean for Nurses, Midwives, cleaners and seamstress.” At age 19, Treva responded to an advertisement in a local Caribbean newspaper “without her parents’ permission,” driven by enthusiasm and excitement to travel to the “Mother land.” She journeyed by ship a three-week voyage stopping in Spain arriving at the London docks before travelling with a young lady met on board to Wolverhampton, where she remained thereafter.

Treva’s expectations of “working as a seamstress within the NHS” were of “a very opulent, posh environment” and learning new skills, but reality differed: she found herself “having to teach some off the seamstress how to sew.” Her duties included “making uniforms for Doctors, Nurses, auxiliary nurses midwives and porters, making bed sheets, curtains, slings and support bandages doing repairs, sterilising, repairing and maintaining surgical clothes, ironing and sometimes she would be placed on laundry duties.” The sterilising and repairing of surgical clothes was “quite a surprise,” as she anticipated focusing solely on uniforms.

Despite her high skill level understanding patterns and designs Treva encountered racism from management and colleagues, who “would allocate her the hardest sewing tasks to do by herself.” Life as a seamstress was challenging: many were “overqualified, but yet offered very low paid roles,” working long night shifts (up to 12 hours) and occasional days in the hospital basement with “no windows,” where “the room would get quite hot, due to the steam form the irons.” This environment felt “very suffocating and isolating,” as colleagues took breaks while Treva “would just work straight through.”

Her talent shone despite setbacks: when a work colleague needed a wedding dress made quickly, “she approached Treva because she knew she was the best at what she did.” Treva completed it in days, and the bride “so happy with the dress… had mentioned to management about how beautiful the dress looked.” However, the manager “did not want to acknowledge that Treva was one of the best seamstresses” or that she had been asked to make it. Treva sometimes felt “upset, ignored and quite deflated” due to the racism endured.

Treva began work in 1948 at the Royal Hospital in Wolverhampton her only job in England and “never taking a day off sick,” even when unwell, demonstrating dedication. She worked over 50 years before retiring, fuelled by “passion” for sewing.

Her story reflects the Windrush generation’s broader legacy: Caribbean women recruited to fill essential support roles in the nascent NHS (here in sewing rooms vital for uniforms, linens, and sterile supplies), facing racism, low pay, arduous conditions, and lack of recognition, yet contributing reliably through skill and perseverance in Wolverhampton’s hospitals for decades.