MOTHER OF POLICE.

Waikato Times, Volume 108, Issue 18140, 3 October 1930, Page 5

MOTHER OF POLICE.

OLD LADY’S DEATH. The police of the whole of England mourn Miss Catherine Gurney, 0.8. E., of Ashley Gardens, S.W., who died at Hove, Sussex, recently, at the age of 82. She was the fairy godmother of every young constable who joined the force in the last fifty years, the kindly nurse of veterans and the sick, and the friend of all policemen’s families. Over half a century ago Miss Gurney, who was the daughter of Mr Joseph Gurney, a member of the firm of shorthand writers to the House of Commons, was talking to a young constable about life in the force, when he said jokingly, “we have no one to look after us at alll’’ Miss Gurney thereupon decided that the police needed “mothering,” and from that day she devoted all her energies to helping policemen, their wives, and children. Police Homes. She founded convalescent homes at Hove, and at Harrogate, Yorkshire, several police orphanages in the provinces, and the International Christian Police Association, and in 1889 started the Police Institute in Adelphiterrace, W.C., where young candidates from the provinces are cared for before joining the London force. In addition to organising the , various institutes, she worked amohg the sick and visited the homes of policemen in all parts of the country. Miss Gurney also equipped and carried on auxiliary' military hospitals at Hove and Harrogate during the war, and for this work, together with her other activities, was awarded the Order of the British Empire.