In 1873, Herkomer moved to Bushey in Hertfordshire, a village to which he became increasingly devoted: he even helped fund the nurse depicted in the present picture. As well as building 'Lululaund', a magnificent house of Wagnerian proportions designed by the American architect H. H. Richardson, the artist founded The Herkomer Art School there in November 1883. One of his most distinguished pupils was Lucy Kemp-Welch (1869-1958).
The village was to provide inspiration for several of the artists's paintings, the most notable being Our Village, exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1890, no. 143. An exhibition of his and his pupils' views of the village were shown at the Fine Art Society in 1892.