How Churchill's nurse cared for him (and the pet budgie) in his final years

[Batgirl]

By Stephanie Condron
Last Updated: 09/11/2006

A notebook kept by Sir Winston Churchill's nurse has revealed a regimented routine in his final years which included her looking after his pet budgerigar.

Muriel Thomson looked after Sir Winston as he neared death and, in addition to making sure he had his cigars and whisky to hand, was expected to put the bird 'to bed'.


Sir Winston's nurse kept notes of his routine

The former prime minister was an animal lover and it seems that, towards the end of his life, his budgie was seldom far from his side, even accompanying him to dinner.

"Whisky and soda, specs, cards; bird to be brought into dining room near his chair," Nurse Thomson wrote in her notes. "Tweeds; hanky in top pocket; boiler suit — slippers" and "after dinner… put bird to bed!!"

She logged her meticulous instructions on 22 pages of a tiny ring-bound notebook entitled The Form, which was shared by those caring for Sir Winston at his London home and Chartwell, the family's country house in Kent.

The notebook has been made public for the first time by Bloomsbury Auctions in London, which announced that it was being put up for sale next Thursday.

One of the nurses' jobs was to ensure that Sir Winston had police protection at the quiet cul-de-sac in Kensington, west London, that he shared with his wife, Clementine.

Nurse Thomson instructs the other nurses how to get to 28 Hyde Park Gate from Victoria station: "The Number 53 bus or underground Tube to Kensington High Street; not far to walk from there," she wrote. "Check policeman on duty."

The duty nurse was expected to wake the budgie in the morning and make sure Sir Winston was given two breakfasts.

"When he rings his bell, tell the chef first and take papers up," Nurse Thomson wrote. "Draw the blind, put bedjacket ready on the table; bird cage over on a shelf; breakfast (two lots), orange juice to cool in fridge."

Her list of what to remember for trips between the London house and Chartwell includes "cigar case, the bird cage and stand."

Sir Winston, who was born at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, was used to being served Edwardian-style, so Nurse Thomson's pedantic notes do not necessarily reveal any level of incapacity suffered before he died at the age of 90. Indeed, the notebook reveals that in the final months he was still expecting the daily papers to be brought to his bedroom.

Sir Winston died on Jan 24, 1965, 15 days after suffering a stroke.

He was known to be fond of budgerigars and kept one called Toby, which was allowed to play on the dining table and peck at his cigar.

An itinerary also being sold next week refers to Nurse Thomson leaving with Sir Winston and Toby for a holiday in Nice. There are also stories of him taking one budgie for drives in his car.

But he also liked cats and once neglected a lunch companion by spending the whole meal chatting to his cat, said Piers Brendon, a historian and Churchill biographer.

"He was very keen on animals; he had an anthropomorphic attitude to them," said Dr Brendon.

"He had budgerigars, goldfish, cats, dogs and he loved pigs. You name it, he loved it.

"He treated them like human beings and talked to them. It's all a bit of a mystery towards the end. He was old and frail and deaf and depressed."

But he added: "He was absolutely devoted to animals."

Telegraph