Blue plaque to recognise ‘ayahs’
A BLUE PLAQUE has been unveiled on a building which formerly housed stranded and abandoned south and east Asian ayahs.
The term “ayah” was given to women who served the British in India and other colonies as nursemaids, children’s nannies and lady’s maids. These women often travelled with the families they served on trips from British colonies to other parts of the world. While they were sometimes required to care for babies, children and mothers on the long sea voyage to England, they weren’t often expected to serve the families on arrival.
Once off the boat, the ayahs were usually either contracted to wait until needed for the return journey, with some making that trip multiple times, or arrangements were made for their passage home. However, some families didn’t honour the promise of a return journey or ticket, in some cases the ayahs weren’t provided with means to survive in the interim. This led to them being abandoned and forced into the workhouse or lodging houses.
The home for ayahs at 26 King Edward’s Road in Hackney, London was created to provide shelter for these women. Its 12 rooms housed around 100 women a year between 1900 and 1921, when the home relocated to 4 King Edward’s Road where it operated until 1943.
English Heritage’s chief executive Kate Mavor said she hoped the plaque would recognise this important part of British History.
“We will never know the names of all the women who stayed in this Hackney refuge, but we do know they showed remarkable courage to come here…This blue plaque recognises their lives and their bravery,” she said.
Mavor also described the abandonment of the ayahs as “shameful”. As well as providing them board, the owners of the ayah home catered to the diverse tastes of the different women. While the dormitories separated the women by nationality and caste, they spent most of their days together.
Farhanah Mamooje, proposer of the home’s blue plaque, said it was “a safe haven for so many abandoned Asian women from all over the empire.”