Greg Buttar (left) said he was delighted to receive his grandmother's certificate from Rod Gordon.
Greg Buttar (left) said he was delighted to receive his grandmother's certificate from Rod Gordon.
A child's homework resulted in a nursing certificate being presented at a graduation last month, some 85 years after it was first printed and signed.
The certificate, a final certificate of competence issued by Stratford Hospital in 1931 belonged to Mary Buttar, the great-great-grandmother of the child with the homework. GregButtar, Mary's grandson, was formally presented with the certificate in a small informal ceremony last week at the Pioneer Village.
Greg showed the group a picture of his grandmother when she was a little girl. Mary, pictured second from right, next to her father, Alexander, with the rest of her family (l-r) Mary's mother, Jessie, her sisters, Annie, Margaret and Isabella
Rose Secker, president of the Stratford Hospital Museum group, says the certificate had been found, with a few others, during a clean-out of the Stratford Hospital before it closed in 1998.
"Since then, we have been trying to reunite the certificates with their rightful owners." Greg Buttar contacted the group, after becoming interested in genealogy, looking for information about his grandmother.
The certificate which has finally been presented to Mary's descendants.
"My grand-daughter had some homework about family trees and genealogy and that got me interested. I got hold of some electoral rolls for the late 1920s and early 1930s and found Mary in them, listed as being at the nurses home in Stratford, so I started trying to find out more."
His research led him to the Stratford Hospital Museum group, and members were able to pass the certificate on to Greg, says Rose.
"The certificate was signed by Dr Bill Gordon, so we invited his grandson, Rod, to present the certificate today to Mary's grandson Greg."
Rod said he was sure his grandfather was watching, to make sure he did a good job. Greg thanked the members of the Stratford Hospital Museum for looking after the certificate for so long, adding he was thrilled to now have it in his possession.
