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Trying To Find Out About An Old Family Friend-Dr Pettigrew


Guest JonF

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My great grandmother's and my mother's cousin Robert both had the same doctor which we believe had a surgery in Bocking Road in Bradway.

The doctor was called Dr Pettiigrew and he was still practicing medicine when my mother was into her teens so we reckon he was active as a doctor from the 1930s until at least the 1960s

When my mother was aged about 10,she started horseriding with a Mrs Hemmingway and this is how she met Dr Pettigrew.He was one of the instructors who also owned the horse which my mother learnt to ride on.

What I have been told about this man was that he was supposedly a prisoner of the Japanese in WW2 and it was said he had been beaten and his back had scars on it from these beatings.

Unfortunately we can't recall his first names

I have used familyrelatives.com to obtain copies of the medical registers of 1940 and 1943 and have found several Dr Pettigrews in the Sheffield area,but none of them seem to mention working in Bradway,just Attercliffe and Ecclesall. There are some Dr Pettigrews in Sheffield Local Studies Libraries' Sheffield Telegraph Obituaries,but all of them died prior to 1960 when my mum knew the man in question

Interestingly there was a William Douglas Bruce Pettigrew who qualified as a doctor in 1939 and was registered in Ecclesall.I found a man of the same name being mentioned in the London Gazette in 1939 as being promoted in the Royal Army Medical Corps.

Strangely enough though no person by the name of Pettigrew is listed on the database of Japanese prisoners at cofepow.co.uk,which throws this story of our doctor being a FEPOW into some doubt

Our Dr Pettigrew also was associated with hunting and my mum has found memories of him

Does anyone recall a Dr Pettigrew from Sheffield at all or may know the Hemmingways horse riding tution?

Thanks

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We had a Dr Pettigrew in Totley in the 1950's/60's. He rode a horse and when you went to see him there was always a dog under his desk. It might have been a doberman or something like that and there was generally a scottie dog as well. I think his wife was also a doctor but I don't remember ever going to see her. I shall have to ask my mum and dad to see if they can remember his christian name.

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Re Doctor Pettigrew at Firth Park - she was my doctor in th 1950/60s - called Enid, her father was also a doctor before her on Firth Park Rd and I believe they lived at Crabtree, certainly in the 1920s/30s I think. A single lady Enid Pettigrew surprised everyone by marrying after her retirement.

Lyn

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Thanks alot for the amount of replies I 'll need to chat with my mum again mentioning the info you've all recalled or found out

A Daniel Hamilton Pettigrew is listed in the London Gazette in December 1941 as being in the Indian Army and being promoted to a lieutenant.I wonder if this man could have been captured by the Japanese in Burma/Singapore?

After using a Commonwealth War Graves data search engine engine it appears that there were many Indian army FEPOWs who originated from Britain.Some of these men are not listed on the COFEPOW database.The COFEPOW database supposedly lists those that survived and those that died in captivity

Therefore there seems to be gaps in the COFEPOW records regarding Indian army men which may explain why no Pettigrews appear on their database.

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Re Doctor Pettigrew at Firth Park - she was my doctor in th 1950/60s - called Enid, her father was also a doctor before her on Firth Park Rd and I believe they lived at Crabtree, certainly in the 1920s/30s I think. A single lady Enid Pettigrew surprised everyone by marrying after her retirement.

Lyn

Thanks for that Lyn. She was my doctor too at that time. I remember her as a thin, rather severe looking lady, always in tweeds, and peering at you over small spectacles.

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Re Doctor Pettigrew at Firth Park - she was my doctor in th 1950/60s - called Enid, her father was also a doctor before her on Firth Park Rd and I believe they lived at Crabtree, certainly in the 1920s/30s I think. A single lady Enid Pettigrew surprised everyone by marrying after her retirement.

Lyn

Hello Lyn

While I was searching the internet I found out certain details about your Dr Pettigrew and her father.I read about a partnership between another doctor and her father at on the Firth Park Road site in 1937.This was mentioned in the London Gazette.

When looking through the British Medical Journal index using my university library card there is a mention of an obituary for Dr Enid H Jamieson whose maiden name was Pettigrew.After reading your post about her marrying after retirement I think the obituary might relate to her

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Yes that is right - Dr Pilling went on to become the Coroner for Sheffield. Dr Ridgeway went there around 1965ish I think and Dr Shawcross in around 1974/5. Dr Lloyd was also another good doctor there. There used to be chap who was a locum in the 70s - Scots I think and he was stone deaf and thought everyone was too. As you entered the consulting room he would in a booming voice shout out your surname then spell it out to make sure he had the right patient.

Lyn

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Yes that is right - Dr Pilling went on to become the Coroner for Sheffield. Dr Ridgeway went there around 1965ish I think and Dr Shawcross in around 1974/5. Dr Lloyd was also another good doctor there. There used to be chap who was a locum in the 70s - Scots I think and he was stone deaf and thought everyone was too. As you entered the consulting room he would in a booming voice shout out your surname then spell it out to make sure he had the right patient.

Lyn

I remember the Scots doctor- saw him once, "You have got Dysentery laddie " he said. "Don't have anything for 5 days but glucose water , then you can have a dry biscuit" ! The dry biscuit tasted like a piece of steak when I had it on the 6th day!!

Dr Ridgeway lives in Millhouses area. I have met him on a few occasions over the years, most recently at the St Oswalds Centenary celebrations about 2 years ago.

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I can confirm that Dr Pettigrew was still practicing on Bocking Lane in 1972.

I see from free BMD that a Daniel H Pettigrew married a Jean A Broughton-Alcock at Westminster in 1944 & I note from a post above that Dr Pettigrew graduated in London, so it seems likely that this is the same chap.

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Dr Pettigrew was my Uncle and worked at the surgery with his wife Alien, my aunt,she retired first due to illness But Dan carried on into the 1960's. Dan was not a POW as he served over in India with my other Uncle. They were both keen on riding and had a scottish terrier. Dan died in the late 70,s and Alien died about 1990, they did not have any children. I hope this helps you.

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Guest Julie A

He was my doctor , i remember him coming to do a home visit when i was about 8 or 9 and he diagnosed viral meningitis .

His surgery was a bungalow on Bocking Lane and was always lovely and warm , i think if im right , he always had a sleeping dog in his surgery as well

Lovely bloke

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Yes, he had his surgery in the bungalow at the top of Bocking Lane, Greenhill and was certainly there from 1954 until 1966, as he was also my family's GP at that time. He occasionally rode to the surgery on his horse and tethered it outside whilst doing his consultations. The front room of the bungalow, on the left as you went in, was the patients' waiting room and his consultation room was across the hallway in the other front room, on the right. He frequently had dogs sleeping under his desk.

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