THERE was a touch of nostalgia when a new maternity unit in Oxford celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1956.

Mrs M Stroud, mother of the first baby to be born there, was invited to unveil two plaques officially naming it the Nuffield Maternity Home.

Her daughter, Jean Elizabeth McTavish, had been due to perform the ceremony, but she had left England for Hong Kong, where her husband, Army Staff Sergeant Alistair McTavish, was serving with REME, the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

Mrs McTavish, who by then had two children of her own, had been named Elizabeth after the Duchess of York, later our much-loved Queen Mother, who had officially opened the maternity home at the Radcliffe Infirmary on October 22, 1931.

The picture shows nurses forming a guard of honour for the Duchess, who is accompanied by Sir William Morris (later Lord Nuffield) and Mr W M Goodenough, the hospital treasurer.

Sir William, creator of the Cowley car empire and a great benefactor to Oxford, had given £40,000 to build and equip the maternity home, which replaced one at the corner of Parks Road and Museum Road. He later gave more money to extend the buildings.

At the silver jubilee celebrations, Mrs Stroud unveiled two plaques bearing the name of the home and was presented with a bouquet by 12-year-old Judith Embrey.

A toast to the future prosperity of the home, coupled with the name of Lord Nuffield, who was present, was proposed by John Stallworthy, Oxford regional director in obstetrics and gynaecology, who described how the home had “grown and grown”.

He said it had been conceived by Sir William Morris so that the wives of men working in his factory could have their babies in security and comfort.

But since then, the increasing influence Oxford had had in medicine meant that the purpose had changed, and mothers came from further afield for the special service offered.

In reply, Lord Nuffield spoke of his great pleasure that such “wonderful work is being done in this establishment”.

Guests were told that 28,500 babies had been born at the home since it opened, 540 medical students had been trained and nearly 1,100 nurses had qualified as midwives.

The cost per patient had risen from £1 10s (£1.50) per week to £23 13s (£23.65).