SYLVIA (NANNY) SUTTON

Earlier this year I received a letter from a Mrs Gill West-Eacott who lives in Haywards Heath as she had been given my name and address by East Sussex Record Office with whom she had been in touch. Mrs West-Eacott was trying to find information about her aunt Miss Sylvia Sutton who had worked as a nanny at Hill House, Wadhurst in, she thought, the 1960s. She had not found any information via the Parish administrator about Sylvia’s burial in Wadhurst and indeed had not received calls or replies back from two other people she had contacted whom she thought might be able to help her.

I first of all rang Doreen and Harold Meech and Doreen recalled “Nanny” Sutton well and said she definitely had been the nanny at Hill House and that she certainly went into Gobles, the sweet and toy shop, where she worked. Nanny apparently always wore grey which Doreen felt probably was a uniform of sorts. Both remembered Nanny living for a while at Fazan Court but were unable to say when or for what reason she left there. The interesting piece of information that Doreen did give me was that Inge Greig (of Greig’s Garage) but now living in Australia, came to England as an au-pair to work at Hill House. This was the first lead to someone who could have known her.

A call to Inge’s son Malcolm who owns the garage, gave me further information because he remembered Nanny Sutton quite well and visited her first with his mother at Hill House and then at Fazan Court. He told me that his mother had photos of them and Nanny in the garden at Hill House in her album. I was asked to take a copy of my letter from Mrs West-Eacott to him and that he would email it to his mother in Australia. Within days Inge replied with more news.

She first of all corrected Mrs W-E’s spelling of the Milln family surname and said that her employers had been John and Diana Milln and they had three children, (not two that Mrs W-E had first thought) Christopher, Joanna and Mark.  She recalled Nanny Sutton being exceedingly kind and helpful to her whilst she was au-pair and after having her own children she remembers many happy teatimes with Nanny and the Milln two younger children, Christopher being at Eton by then.

The photographs that Malcolm mentioned were, Inge said, left in store in England so I had to tell Mrs W-E that unfortunately to get a copy showing her aunt was not possible at this time.
Inge confirmed that Nanny did live at Fazan Court for a while and that Malcolm also visited with her. She said that, when Nanny became confused and began wandering, she believed Mr and Mrs Milln were informed.

I duly passed on all my information to Mrs W-E and suggested she contact Wealden District Council who might be able to corroborate dates of when her aunt was at Fazan Court.
Very quickly I had a call from her to say she would follow up leads with Wealden and contact Inge Greig too. She mentioned that she thought the Millns had a title and that they went to Princess Margaret’s wedding with Nanny accompanying the children to see that they behaved. It was at this point she said her next step would be research via the net and see what Wealden DC and Inge could add.

Our next contact was to be some months later but Gill West-Eacott had been busy during this time and was able to complete the story about her aunt’s time in Wadhurst right up to her death from the leads given to her.  By searching the net she found that John Milln had an entry on a Peerage page as did Christopher. She followed this by a look at Burke’s Peerage but has not as yet established his actual title. She did find listed with them Louisa but no mention of Joanna and Mark who Inge said Nanny had looked after, and whom she had helped with.

She next followed the Etonian lead and the College Archivist wrote to John Milln about her enquiry asking him to get in touch with her. This he duly did and they spoke at length by telephone.  He said Sylvia Sutton joined the family in 1953 in London and the family, plus Nanny, moved to Hill House Wadhurst in 1956 and she was there until 1972. Mr Milln gave a glowing report of Nanny’s work looking after his three children, working long hours and sometimes giving up her spare time to do various things for the family. He said she was truly dedicated to her job.

In 1972 Nanny took up an appointment at Temple Grove School as Under Matron during term time and returned to Hill House and the Milln family during the holidays.
It was in l973 that Mr and Mrs Milln moved her into Fazan Court, Wadhurst.  From there she went into a nursing home in East Grinstead where the Milln family visited her I was told. Mr and Mrs Milln sold Hill House in 1974, after 18 years of residence, to Mr and Mrs Courtauld, and went to live in Hampshire.  Nanny was at the nursing home for a few years and struck up a friendship with the Assistant Matron which was apparently kept up after she left her job there. This lady took Sylvia to visit Mrs W-E’s parents once or twice before she died in Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, in 1977 age 68.

This is a heartening story of dedication by Nanny Sylvia Sutton to her job and, importantly, one of appreciation by her employers.        Rachel Ring