The CBB
http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/

Staff: The Matrons
http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4365

Author:  jennifer [ Wed Apr 16, 2008 6:46 am ]
Post subject:  Staff: The Matrons

Although the naming and descriptions of the Matrons during the series are highly confusing we have basically

Matron Wilson: first Matron, arrives after Jo of and leaves before Princess
Matron Webb: hired at short notice when above left, fired about three weeks later
Matron Lloyd: The Matron aka Matey - occasionally called Matron Gould. The matron with the sharp tongue and rule of discipline.
Matron Gould: Tall and Welsh, was assistant matron in Austria
Matron Besley: hired as assistant matron, only lasted a term because she was silly and didn't like Joey.
Matron Venables: for a few terms
Matron Rider: originally Matron of St Scholastica's, joined the main school and disappears when the school moved. Reappeared as the Matron of St Mildred's.

Interestingly, Matey appears to be the sole Matron in England.

Matron Henschell - old girl who rejoins in Switzerland
Matrons Bellenger, Duffin, Wood - random Matrons in Switzerland.

-----

What do you think of the role of the Matrons in the school? Were Besley and Webb really as bad as they were portrayed? What do you think of Matey and her iron control over everyone from students to mistresses to old girls?

Author:  Maeve [ Wed Apr 16, 2008 12:26 pm ]
Post subject: 

I'd have to say that with the exception of Matey, (Matron Lloyd) they are all indistinguishable for me (is that a word?). Which is a little bit surprising, given that EBD managed to give the staff some semblance of individuality. I guess the difference is that the matrons don't have as many reasons to be in the story as the staff do, and so there isn't room for EBD to treat them individually.

As for Matey, she is a bit of a stock character, hard on the outside, soft in the middle, but I have a fondness for her, maybe simply because she is such an old character. And her softness is not reserved solely for her favourites, like Joey. There's that scene in Eustacia after the accident in the chem lab and Matey finds that Eustacia has cried herself to sleep.
Quote:
The domestic tyrant of the School set down her tray, and drew the clothes closer round Eustacia with a softer expression than most people had seen on her face. ‘Poor little soul!’ she murmured pitifully. ‘Poor, untrained little soul!’
Rather touching IMHO.

Author:  JayB [ Wed Apr 16, 2008 12:42 pm ]
Post subject: 

Matron Webb was certainly wrong for the Chalet School at that stage of its existence. She might have done better in the Swiss years when there was a much more rigid framework of rules and someone she would actually recognise as an authority figure - middle aged, experienced Hilda, rather than young, inexperienced Madge.

I think Matron Besley has to go down as a Chalet School failure. Matey, I think, could have done more to support her. A pupil wouldn't have been written off so quickly. She was young and silly, but neither of those are irredeemable faults. Jo was leaving at the end of term, so that problem would have been solved.

And I have some sympathy for Matron B regarding her problems with Jo. Jo by that time was used to being the centre of attention, and had been treated with favouritism at times. It's an earlier version of the Kathie vs Mary Lou conflict in New Mistress - an adult coming in unaware that these girls are not subject to the normal rules of adult/schoolgirl interaction.

I really dislike Matey at times. She jumps on the girls for no good reason quite often - if I'd been a CS girl, I'd never have wanted to go to her if I'd felt ill or had a problem that required a sympathetic ear.

One thing that sems strange to me is that (certainly in the English/Welsh years, not sure about Switzerland) the room in which Matey sorts linen and interviews pupils is also her bedroom. She's one of the senior staff in the school, in level of responsibility, age and length of service, yet she doesn't have her own private space. The mistresses aren't expected to do schoolwork in their bedrooms, why is Matey expected to use her room for work?

Author:  Alison H [ Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:13 pm ]
Post subject: 

I feel a bit sorry for Matey - she has a lot of work to do, and even has to give up her Saturday nights to supervise people who were banned from dancing or whatever! And she seems quite isolated - unless she was pally with the Nameless Nurse.

It gets a little annoying that we're always being told that she's hard on the outside and soft on the inside, in the same way that every time Marie, Luise or Karen are mentioned we're told that they rule the kitchen with a rod of iron, every time Marie or Wanda von Eschenau are mentioned we're told how beautiful they are, etc - it's like some sort of signature tune! In Excitements (or whichever book it is) it's quite interesting to see her after her sister's death, if only to see the real person under all the "Matey" stuff. The mixing up of Matrons Lloyd and Gould is annoying but just EBD!

Possibly during the War years the school only had one Matron because trained nurses were mentioned elsewhere? The other Matrons don't feature very much in Switzerland, though, even though we know that they're there.

Matrons Webb and Besly both get rather a rough deal IMHO, and Miss Bubb is a victim of the same thing. I know that in any sort of organisation you have to follow the system or things will get chaotic, but the school just can't cope with anyone who does anything slightly differently (reminds me of some people at my crap office!).

Author:  Sunglass [ Sat Apr 19, 2008 11:04 pm ]
Post subject: 

Does anyone else think that poor, exhausted, un-robust Margot Venables could not possibly have made a passable matron, unless the girls were strictly instructed that here was someone they had to treat with kid gloves, because of her connection to the Founding Family/and or her sad past? I know someone says when the idea is first proposed (after the Matron Beesley debacle) that Margot will have an easier ride because she knows her limitations, but I have huge difficulty imagining her dealing with the Middles, even on their best behaviour! The fact that she dies not very many years afterwards also suggests that she was never physically strong again after her return from Australia...

I think I posted about this back on the Stephen and Margot Venables thread, but I've always wondered why Margot took the Matron job for which she seemed pretty unsuited and unqualified. Surely Jem could have supported her, or handed back the inheritance she lost when she was cut off for marrying Stephen, especially when taking a live-in job away from the Sonnalpe meant she was not able to her see her only two remaining children daily? Given how autocratic the CS doctors are about female fragility, how is it that Margot is 'allowed' to take the job? Or is Jem still so disapproving of her marriage that it's too uncomfortable for her to stay living at Die Rosen full-time? Or is Jem punishing her, and the job is his idea?

Author:  JayB [ Sat Apr 19, 2008 11:39 pm ]
Post subject: 

Yes, it all seems a bit strange to me. As you say, Margot doesn't seem at all a strong enough character to deal with the Middles. And it's all decided quite quickly, if I recall, before it could have been clear how far Margot was going to recover from all she'd been through.

And I'd have thought it would be considered inappropriate for the sister of the head of the San to be working in a relatively subordinate post. We're not given to understand that Margot insisted on working because she wanted to support herself.

If Jem was happy to support Joey, who was young, healthy, with no dependents, and perfectly capable of getting a job when she left school, I don't see why he couldn't have supported Margot.

Author:  jennifer [ Sun Apr 20, 2008 2:47 am ]
Post subject: 

I find Matey a bit wearing at times, not so much when she interacts with the girls, but when she cows mistresses and old girls alike. There's one time when Joey comes over to the school, as an adult and mother, and Matey decides she needs a dose, and makes her take it.

It's a good point about Margot. I could actually see her being really good with the young juniors, six-eight year olds, but not the Middle house. It's probably similar with Matron Besley. She's new and inexperienced, and is given the most difficult group of girls, with no backup. She definitely oversteps her authority and doesn't have much sense, but is repeatedly squashed in favour of the four prefects whenever there is a conflict.

Author:  Alison H [ Sun Apr 20, 2008 7:23 am ]
Post subject: 

Doesn't it say somewhere that Margot had trained as a nurse before her marriage? I agree that it's odd that she goes to work at the CS, though. Some women might have been too proud/independent to let their brother support them, but Margot just doesn't really come across as that sort of person - she'd come all the way to Australia to Austria to find Jem because she felt unable to cope alone.

Incidentally, other than the fact that EBD expected everyone to adore Joey, why was Joey "Matey's heart's darling" :roll: ?

Matron Besly is one of various examples of new, inexperienced staff members not being given much advice or support - not atypical of the times, but I feel a bit sorry for her. New Mistress is IMHO one of the best of the Swiss books because we get to see it al from the viewpoint of an inexperienced teacher with no previous CS connections.

Author:  Mel [ Sun Apr 20, 2008 10:50 am ]
Post subject: 

Why didn't Margot become Matron of the Annexe? Close to the San, her own children and in the 'life-giving'air.' As an aside, what did the five matrons in Switzerland actually do? Surely there is only so much linen sorting, giving out doses etc, but not enough to fill a working week?

Author:  JayB [ Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:27 am ]
Post subject: 

They didn't have housekeepers, so I suppose the Matrons were responsible for everything on the domestic side - staff other than the kitchen staff, arranging for minor maintenance work to be done, checking for wear and tear on dormitory and common room furnishings and arranging replacements, etc.

One of the rows between Matron Besley and Jo was because Matron B went into the prefects' bedrooms, which Jo said she wasn't supposed to do.

Yet in Len's last term, Matey goes into her bedroom (it's stated in Prefects that she has a separate bedroom) to do a tidiness inspection - and hauls her away from supervising prep to tidy it.

The question of whether Matron is allowed to go into the Head Girl's room is presumably an EBDism. But even without that, it seems an inappropriate way to treat a girl who is well over eighteen, in her last term at school, and is Head Girl. And sending for Len when she was supervising prep seems wrong, too. The Middles did take advantage of Len's absence to get up to mischief. If the tidying had to be done, shouldn't Len have been required to do it in her free time?

I know the plot required Len to be called away from prep, but I'm sure there must have been better ways of doing it.

We hear a lot about Matey hauling girls out of lessons to tidy their drawers - but really it's rude to the mistresses concerned; the implication is that having tidy drawers matters more than whatever they're doing and is important enough to disrupt lessons for.

Author:  Alison H [ Sun Apr 20, 2008 1:48 pm ]
Post subject: 

It wasn't very appropriate, really! The girls whom Len was supervising must have sniggered their heads off when the Head Girl was hauled off to tidy her drawers - couldn't she have been called away to answer a phone call or something? - and the mistresses must have gone mad when their lessons were interrupted over things like that but probably didn't dare to complain about someone who'd been there so long.

I've never been to boarding school so don't know if the level of Matron's authority at the CS is accurately depicted or not, but she seems to be very involved with things that aren't obviously related to the job of Matron. I know that she was in charge of unpacking and uniform, but was it really for her to confiscate "unsuitable" books or send "unsuitable" clothes home?

Author:  jennifer [ Sun Apr 20, 2008 2:37 pm ]
Post subject: 

JayB wrote:
We hear a lot about Matey hauling girls out of lessons to tidy their drawers - but really it's rude to the mistresses concerned; the implication is that having tidy drawers matters more than whatever they're doing and is important enough to disrupt lessons for.


If I were a mistress, I'd be livid at having girls hauled out of class on a regular basis to do dormitory chores. It not only takes the girls out of lessons, but disrupts the rest of the students. Besides, I can see girls leaving their drawers messy to get out of a disliked lesson.

In the beginning, they have one Matron for about 50-60 girls, so in Switzerland having five Matrons for 400 girls is not unrealistic.

What would a Matron do in a real boarding school and how would it overlap with Nurse's duties?

Matey seems to be in charge of all matters pertaining to tidiness (including dormitories, lockers, unpacking and mending) and household matters such as laundry and linens. She handles medical stuff such as first aid, keeping an eye on the girls' health, administering doses and handing out medication and special treatments, checking teeth, is on call at night if someone is ill, oversees punishments, and makes jam for the sale.

Author:  Mrs Redboots [ Mon Apr 21, 2008 5:24 pm ]
Post subject: 

Mel wrote:
As an aside, what did the five matrons in Switzerland actually do? Surely there is only so much linen sorting, giving out doses etc, but not enough to fill a working week?


I don't know about today, but back in the 1960s at the school I was at, the Matrons acted as housekeepers in the various boarding-houses, as well as seeing to girls who weren't well and standing in for the housemistress on her weekly day off.

Author:  Fiona Mc [ Wed Apr 23, 2008 8:03 pm ]
Post subject: 

I think Matron Besley did get a bit of a raw deal and wasn't supported by the mistresses or Matey, especially over being scared of a storm, I do think she made a rod for her own back by instigating her own rules without discussing it with any other mistress was a bit on the stupid side on her part.

Matron Webb was straight out nasty and seemed tobe out to make herself as unpleasant as possible,culminating in locking Robin in the closest simply because she had been sent on an errand

And I cannot believeMargot would have wanted to work over being with her children and agree ith the other comments that if she had to work, why not the annexe. This is in the days where brothers financially supported the single and widowed female members of the family as par for course.

Matey as beloved as she was did rule everyone with a rod of iron and it wouldhave been nice to see someone stand up to her about girls being sent off to tidy their drawers during classes

Author:  Miriam [ Wed Apr 23, 2008 8:13 pm ]
Post subject: 

Fiona Mc wrote:
IAnd I cannot believeMargot would have wanted to work over being with her children and agree ith the other comments that if she had to work, why not the annexe. This is in the days where brothers financially supported the single and widowed female members of the family as par for course.


THe Annexe was very small. It was built to hold a maximum of fifty, and at the time of 'Exile' it only had twenty seven. With these numbers they probably didn't have a matron, just as the main school didn't have one until the numbers were well over thirty, in two houses. Juliet, Grizel and other staff would have split the Matrons duty between them.

THis is quite interesting to read, since I have a feeling that last time this issue was discussed, the general feeling was in favour of her wanting to be independant and earn her living, rather than relying on her brother.

Author:  evelyn38 [ Wed Apr 23, 2008 10:10 pm ]
Post subject: 

jennifer wrote
Quote:
and makes jam for the sale


and such prodigious quantities of it too ! I always wondered where she found the time, and fruit, and whether Karen liked her taking over the kitchen for several days at a time to make it. Somehow I doubt it.

Author:  Pado [ Thu Apr 24, 2008 12:50 am ]
Post subject: 

Perhaps Margot and Madge didn't get along? Or, having lived as an independent woman for some time, she discovered that her brother had turned into an overbearing bore? So there was mutual agreement that she needed to get out of the house but remain close enough to see the girls occasionally...

Author:  Maeve [ Mon Apr 28, 2008 1:49 pm ]
Post subject: 

Jennifer wrote:
Quote:
JayB wrote:

Quote:
We hear a lot about Matey hauling girls out of lessons to tidy their drawers - but really it's rude to the mistresses concerned; the implication is that having tidy drawers matters more than whatever they're doing and is important enough to disrupt lessons for.



If I were a mistress, I'd be livid at having girls hauled out of class on a regular basis to do dormitory chores. It not only takes the girls out of lessons, but disrupts the rest of the students. Besides, I can see girls leaving their drawers messy to get out of a disliked lesson.


But in Rosalie we read:
Quote:
Anne Webster very kindly showed her[Rosalie] how to tackle the bed, warning her that after the first day or two Matey would think nothing of coming and yanking her out of any lesson if it were not done to her satisfaction.
“So it’s really best to do it right at first,” Anne wound up. “The staff are so ghastly if that happens.”

which implied that the staff were livid-- and that this was part of Matey's strategy. "If you don't keep your space tidy, I'll pull you out of lessons and the mistresses will be angry with you, not me." I suppose this jives with all the comments among the girls about how much tidiness is emphasized at the school.

All times are UTC
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/