Annette Smith

Stories Seldom Told

Annette Smith (née Julien) was born in December 1927 on the small Caribbean Island of Grenada into a privileged family. She was educated in Trinidad and returned to Grenada where she completed a year of nursing before embarking on a journey to England aged just 18. She travelled completely alone and this was her first trip abroad. In 1946, post-WWII, Annette became the only black nurse at the Guildford Royal Surrey Hospital. She married a Londoner and had three children before returning to her nursing profession as a community nurse. She has many interests including poetry, singing, the arts, sport and continues to be a positive member of community.

"I arrived to do my nursing training in England, and we got into Southampton. And of course, in those days, everybody came by ship. And I remember standing on the deck and looking at the luggage being handled by white porters. And I never, ever thought white porters would do that job. Because out in the West Indies and the Caribbean, black people always did that. So that was an example of unconscious bias. And I just couldn't get over it."