tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63741230594885977552024-03-14T11:41:12.277+11:00The History Bucket"History is a commentary on the various and continuing incapabilities of men. What is history? History is women following behind with the bucket."
[Mrs Lintott, "The History Boys" by Alan Bennett]Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.comBlogger153125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-29560190980097577312022-07-05T12:52:00.003+10:002022-07-05T12:59:06.487+10:00The Ladies of the Committee - (6) Dr Ella Scarlett Synge<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The final member in this
series of posts on the members of the Ladies Committee is perhaps the most
colourful and fascinating – and a tad mysterious - with a remarkable career
that took her not just to South Africa, but also to Canada, America, Germany, Italy and Korea where she became
the personal physician to the Emperor. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">She was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Campbell_Scarlett" target="_blank">Dr Ella Campbell Scarlett</a>,
another controversial early female doctor with an aristocratic lineage, being
the daughter of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Scarlett,_3rd_Baron_Abinger" target="_blank">third Baron Abinger, William Scarlett</a>, and his American
wife, Helen Magruder, daughter of Commodore George Allan Macgruder of the U.S.
Navy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Born in 1864 at Abinger
Hall in Surrey, Ella would have been expected to live the usual social life of
a young high society woman. Her name is often found in newspaper reports of
presentation at court, balls and similar grand occasions. In 1873, she presented a bouquet to Queen
Victoria during a visit to <a href="https://inverlochycastlehotel.com/" target="_blank">Inverlochy,</a> the ancestral home of the Scarlett
family. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ella seems to have had wide-ranging interests.
She cycled, took photographs and was handy with a gun and, in 1892, she received a first-class degree from
the Vienna Conservatory of Music for piano. Yet </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">she still felt
constrained by life. Not having made a suitable early marriage she was well into her thirties when she commenced medical training at the London School of Medicine for Women. Apparently,
she was inspired to do so after meeting a female Russian doctor.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">One newspaper description of Ella is that she
was “small and dark, with bright eyes, and any amount of “go” and pluck”. There are only a couple of grainy images of her to be found online, but there must be unpublished photographs or portraits to be discovered in archival or family records. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5CDrQdktTNP98LqBhHue22JKLxyufcFsGRIA7I81G0UA9PfAWy58vHd8DRPoCz8B-Vdb1JgNX8v2pR5MvnqRfvJABKBaKFk7yg_4a12SlHeiSUQN6-eaRCS2q_fG2M4A-R67FTxYID_3IuKinDriMucis7yOIRuQOKN37krbU--RA57_c-CyVgamG/s300/Hon-ella-scarlett-synge_1916.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="208" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5CDrQdktTNP98LqBhHue22JKLxyufcFsGRIA7I81G0UA9PfAWy58vHd8DRPoCz8B-Vdb1JgNX8v2pR5MvnqRfvJABKBaKFk7yg_4a12SlHeiSUQN6-eaRCS2q_fG2M4A-R67FTxYID_3IuKinDriMucis7yOIRuQOKN37krbU--RA57_c-CyVgamG/s1600/Hon-ella-scarlett-synge_1916.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Plucky she certainly was, for in 1900 Ella was busy. The medical registry records show she received another degree in Brussels and worked as a doctor in Dublin before she travelled to Korea (spelt Corea at that time). As can be seen from this report from
the <i>Bury and Norwich Post</i> of 8 May 1900, she was also interested in fauna and
flora. (Apparently, she also took a course in taxidermy before her travels
there!)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b><i>LADY DOCTOR GOING TO
COREA.<o:p></o:p></i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b><i>The Hon. Ella Scarlett,
who has been appointed medical adviser to the Emperor of Corea, has sailed to
take up her new position. Miss Scarlett is the first lady doctor to settle in
Corea. She has a taste for natural history, which she will have an opportunity
of indulging out there, as very little is known of the fauna and flora of that
part of the world. Miss Scarlett intends, so far as her duties will permit, to
make a thorough zoological investigation of the district of Seoul, and has
promised to send home the material, to be worked out by specialists here.</i></b></span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">It has proven difficult to
find anything much about Ella’s time in Korea and exactly what type of service
she provided to the court. A collection of Korean objects were donated by her
to the <a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/" target="_blank">Wellcome Collection</a> in the early 1920s, but there doesn’t seem to be any
substantial written memoirs or reports of her time there. (<a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/photos-of-koreas-imperial-family-4123056" target="_blank">Images here of early 20th Century Korean royalty</a>.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTE-ds9PnpNx2Uu2_kUbH4JhGbut1f53ZBK04_ErQqpsgsQ961IXjMw5fKRUApyu5Bm8JoeXF8fK6ynvguzia_ygUqy9QIafwijHZKJPhv5E2rCDZZlnrlFmfKmMHM17QnEXk0T-f9PG9B4TvWny_1dxo0fn1KFCCVuGaha02wXwABPtYprWQoLrsZ/s323/Gojong_of_the_Korean_Empire_02.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="323" data-original-width="220" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTE-ds9PnpNx2Uu2_kUbH4JhGbut1f53ZBK04_ErQqpsgsQ961IXjMw5fKRUApyu5Bm8JoeXF8fK6ynvguzia_ygUqy9QIafwijHZKJPhv5E2rCDZZlnrlFmfKmMHM17QnEXk0T-f9PG9B4TvWny_1dxo0fn1KFCCVuGaha02wXwABPtYprWQoLrsZ/s320/Gojong_of_the_Korean_Empire_02.jpg" width="218" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gojong_of_Korea" target="_blank">Emperor of Korea</a> in 1900</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">She couldn’t have been in
Korea for very long as within a year or so she was involved in the war in South
Africa where she became the first female doctor in Bloemfontein and was the
resident doctor at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norvalspont" target="_blank">Norvalspont Camp</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOMYwCSOX5TudH-z6Sa5H9jJyC6aC7bvfp4cWOFE4v7EPKmt0ubcO4LnaqwivNJVKwhPqY0YJaC2s-CMeY_8Aoyb3Axjw8QfqCXELyyQkzlz8mTXzfBUnww1Wv5OkOPauFXDAClXp-7OlSq6ZHILgeB0VJo0e5Gc36veSk4qrjSdBwnJYjrqwn4gqn/s400/Norvalspont-24.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="232" data-original-width="400" height="373" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOMYwCSOX5TudH-z6Sa5H9jJyC6aC7bvfp4cWOFE4v7EPKmt0ubcO4LnaqwivNJVKwhPqY0YJaC2s-CMeY_8Aoyb3Axjw8QfqCXELyyQkzlz8mTXzfBUnww1Wv5OkOPauFXDAClXp-7OlSq6ZHILgeB0VJo0e5Gc36veSk4qrjSdBwnJYjrqwn4gqn/w640-h373/Norvalspont-24.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The concentration camp at Norvalspont.</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ella often made herself
unpopular with those in authority. Her fellow Committee member Lucy Deane
thought her a little mad (apparently eccentricity ran in the family) and she
got up the noses of the officers in charge of the camps. (See the <a href="https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Person/1983/Ella_Campbell_Scarlett_Synge/" target="_blank">comments in this page </a>from the British Concentration Camps website!)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">While in South Africa, she
also made what seems to have been an impetuous marriage to Lieutenant Percy
Hamilton Synge, eight years younger than her and described by Lucy Deane as
good-looking, good-natured but “with not much brains” and it was Millicent
Fawcett who gave the bride away. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">How long they lived
together as a couple is hard to establish, but Percy survived WW1 and retired as a
Major. He obtained a divorce from Ella in 1921 and later remarried. He died in
1941 and his second wife Eliza in 1962. They had no children.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">After the Boer War, Ella briefly
set up a clinic in Kensington, London, in 1904 but then moved to Canada, and
destined to be the first woman doctor at <a href="https://rch150.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/royal-columbian-hospitals-first-woman-doctor/" target="_blank">New Westminster’s Royal Columbian Hospital. </a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">During her time in North
America, she also worked in Seattle, Washington, and in Oregon. According to
this <a href="http://archive.macleans.ca/article/1916/9/1/one-of-the-great-women-of-the-west" target="_blank">Maclean’s article</a>, when living in Edmonton, Alberta, she held Saturday
evening gatherings, that were “<i>probably the nearest approach to an old-world
salon ever held in Alberta’s capital. It is true that her rooms were sometimes
inconveniently crowded and that teacups were at a premium but one might depend
on the company being congenial</i>.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">On the outbreak of WW1,
she helped to establish the Women’s Voluntary Corps in Canada then returned to
Europe where she created more trouble for herself when she went to Serbia. With
her knowledge of German, she became involved with the Red Cross there and
reported on conditions in the prisoner-of-war camps, even suggesting that the
British soldiers weren’t too badly off with plenty of activities and the
Germans weren’t so bad. This outraged the British public, seeing her as
sympathetic to the enemy. As a result, her application to work in a fever
hospital in Birmingham was turned down.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">After World
War I, she worked for a number of years as an assistant medical officer at the
<a href="https://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/peckhamhouse.html" target="_blank">Peckham House Asylum</a> in Camberwell. And, after her divorce and in 1923, she pops up
at the <a href="https://oldthing.de/Nordholz-Kr-Lehe-Kinderheim-des-Roten-Kreuzes-Deutsch-Amerika-1926-0029805357" target="_blank">Children’s Home run by the German Red Cross </a>in Cuxhaven, Lower Saxony. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ella apparently retired
around 1927 and then settled among English expatriates in Italy at <a href="https://www.palazzocastri.com/" target="_blank">Palazzo Castri</a> in Florence (now a boutique hotel). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She died at the Royal Free Hospital, Grays Inn
Road, on 30 October, 1937, her last address shown as 44 Belsize Park, Hampstead.
Her probate documents show she left a modest estate of only around 248 pounds,
all going to a niece, Dorothy Wilson, the wife of one Reginald Wellesley Wilson
an engineer whose name appears in a number of patents for gears linked to the
firm established by Sir W.G. Armstrong.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Controversial
and eccentric in many ways – as were the other women with whom Ella served on
the Ladies Committee – Dr Ella Scarlett Synge had a fascinating life of female “firsts”
and deserves to have someone research her in depth for a proper biography.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">This concludes my series
of posts on the ladies who formed the Committee that investigated the conditions
in the South African concentration camps. As a result of their findings,
changes were made to improve the hygiene and food, but the British arrogance and prejudices
towards Boers and their womenfolk remained an obstacle. Besides, the worst
damage been done long before their arrival. The peace treaty was signed in May,
1902. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Emily Hobhouse remains the
most important female figure connected with trying to end the suffering in the
camps and also in helping with reparations after the war. She related to the refugee
families on a far more human and sympathetic level than the Ladies Committee
and thus earned an esteemed place in South African history. There have been a number
of biographies about her, but I would highly recommend the one by Afrikaans
journalist, Elsabe Brits, <a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/search?q=hobhouse" target="_blank">“Rebel Englishwoman, The Remarkable Life of Emily Hobhouse</a>.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-ladies-of-committee-introduction.html" style="font-size: 12pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Introduction to the Ladies</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-ladies-of-committee-millicent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Millicent Garrett Fawcett</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-ladies-of-committee-2-lucy-deane.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Lucy Deane Streatfeild</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-ladies-of-committee-3-katherine.html" style="font-size: 12pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Katherine Blanche Brereton</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-ladies-of-committee-4-lady-alice.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Lady Alice Knox</span></b></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-ladies-of-committee-5-dr-jane.html" target="_blank"><b>Dr Jane Waterston</b></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-ladies-of-committee-6-ella-scarlett.html" target="_blank">Dr Ella Scarlett Synge</a></b></span></p>Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-1111531142296422552022-05-31T15:35:00.026+10:002022-07-05T12:57:20.660+10:00The Ladies of the Committee - (5) Dr Jane Waterston<br />While she may be better-known as South Africa’s first accredited female doctor *, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Elizabeth_Waterston" target="_blank">Dr Jane Elizabeth Waterston’s </a> story of perseverance, dedication and compassion deserves wider recognition<br /><br />Here is some of what Millicent Fawcett in her memoir “What I Remember” had to say about Dr Jane:-<br /><br /><br />“<i>She was an ardent defender of the rights of the native races of Africa, but full of common sense and practical wisdom upon this and other subjects. It was a joy to walk down Adderley Street, Cape Town, and watch the glow of ardent affection and reverence which lighted up the dark faces of almost every native we met as they recognized her. She was an indefatigable medical visitor at Robin [sic Robben] Island, the Leper Settlement near Cape Town. Her male colleagues wrote and spoke enthusiastically of her professional work, but rather annoyed me by referring to her as the best man among them! It is so difficult for most men to understand that it is a very left-handed compliment to a woman to say when she shows intelligence or force of character that she might be a man. ...<br /><br />Throughout our camp work all the most difficult and fatiguing jobs were voluntarily undertaken by our dear Dr. Jane. Such things as the source of water supply to be investigated, involving a tramp of a mile or more over the veldt; slaughter places, drainage and sanitation to be inspected – these were the jobs which Dr. Jane claimed as hers by divine right. She was a great politician and an out-and-out Britisher by instinct, and training; but in the presence of a sick child or woman she was nothing but the skilled and tender physician sparing no pains or cost to restore the invalid to health.”<br /></i><br /><br /><br />Born in Inverness in 1843, Jane was originally inspired by fellow Scot, David Livingstone, to become a missionary and in 1866 she accompanied the <a href="https://electricscotland.com/history/men/stewart/chapter11.htm" target="_blank">Reverend James Stewart,</a> who had been involved with Livingstone’s Zambezi Expedition **, to South Africa where she became the head of the Girls’ Institution of the Lovedale School, training young black women. She realised, however, her heart wasn’t in school teaching and in 1874 returned to England and enrolled as one of the first students at the London School of Medicine for Women. <br /><br /> <br /><br />Five years later she was back in Africa, in Nyasaland [Malawi], where she joined the <a href="https://www.malawitourism.com/regions/north-malawi/livingstonia-mission/" target="_blank">Livingstonia Mission.</a> This proved to be a disaster. Her fellow male missionaries were dismissive of her abilities and qualifications and she, in turn, was appalled at the way they treated Africans. She lasted barely six months and returned to Lovedale where she opened a medical clinic.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6IU24pTKLhnCXhGjhyh4dNGs95rlOak3YP2KVARVk5bpYjvPiv8oPW6DLKVINGiTfq0mwdKh2WhDE4-EX8owMEpmnXUIMXqxZgERKyq7RmtxgR54UFh4lXCP8RI-PmXeyVA5IBspoUX8Q7cWLT-Ql6MulJI33oP0uPc41WQ0n2_m_l6NcpcnL3xAV/s1024/JaneWaterston1.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6IU24pTKLhnCXhGjhyh4dNGs95rlOak3YP2KVARVk5bpYjvPiv8oPW6DLKVINGiTfq0mwdKh2WhDE4-EX8owMEpmnXUIMXqxZgERKyq7RmtxgR54UFh4lXCP8RI-PmXeyVA5IBspoUX8Q7cWLT-Ql6MulJI33oP0uPc41WQ0n2_m_l6NcpcnL3xAV/w410-h640/JaneWaterston1.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">The younger Dr Jane Waterston</div><div style="text-align: center;">Copyright <a href="https://www.ambaile.org.uk/" target="_blank">ambaile.org.uk</a></div><br /> <br /><br />In 1883 she moved to Cape Town and was working there when the three English ladies (Millicent Fawcett, Lucy Deane, Alice Knox) arrived at Cape Town to investigate conditions in the concentration camps.<br /><br />Held in high regard by Sir Alfred Milner, Governor of the Cape Colony, Jane was appointed to the Ladies Committee but, given her past history, she must have been a force to be reckoned with given her main focus was in treating women and especially the black poor. Although she’d been involved in helping with relief services for Afrikaners during the war, her opinion of their treatment of black people did not endear her to them. <br /><br />She was not openly active in the suffrage movement but a believer in the benefits of the British Empire and thus Jane may seem a contradictory figure when viewed through the eyes of modern or revisionist history, but there is no denying the impact she made.<br /><br />Her <a href="https://www.oxforddnb.com/" target="_blank">Oxford Dictionary of Biography</a> entry tells us:- <br /><br /><br />"Although she was the only woman doctor in a country not noted for its enlightened attitude to women, she was accepted by the local medical profession. This was partly because of her tact and strength of character, and partly because she chose to practise among women, the poor of Cape Town, and the Xhosa dock labourers, whose language she spoke.<br /><br />... In her later years honours were showered upon her. In 1925 she was elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, the second woman to achieve this honour, and in 1929 she was made an honorary doctor of laws by the University of Cape Town.<br /><br />This recognition was due partly to Waterston’s political activity. Although she never openly supported women’s suffrage, she lived opposite the Cape houses of parliament and regularly attended sessions there. She lobbied vigorously for the protection of black education and increasingly, from the 1880s, the promotion of the British empire.<br /><br /><div>... when she died there [Cape Town] on 7 November 1932 her funeral procession was one of the largest ever seen in the city."<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpNEPKavWiDwtOPTcxSCG-_e3kBSJIsrug6qWJW7EODnyMVPRirSv9XuyWjRQYp4RF-8bjCIP8UjqumejGk6N_yfetDB3asV36DUokhrgurUzzApc3W1F5IkI3V8kUI91TD0p0Snov6H2D2U5GLU1x7aaQxsUxdA1ZvAiCjP6RkdAyz9HTzP6x_klg/s400/Jane%20Waterston2.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpNEPKavWiDwtOPTcxSCG-_e3kBSJIsrug6qWJW7EODnyMVPRirSv9XuyWjRQYp4RF-8bjCIP8UjqumejGk6N_yfetDB3asV36DUokhrgurUzzApc3W1F5IkI3V8kUI91TD0p0Snov6H2D2U5GLU1x7aaQxsUxdA1ZvAiCjP6RkdAyz9HTzP6x_klg/s320/Jane%20Waterston2.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The elderly Jane on her way to collect an honorary degree</div><br /><br /><br /><br />* Dr <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Barry_(surgeon)" target="_blank">James Barry </a>is often considered the first female doctor in South Africa. However, Barry was officially a male doctor during his service there and it was not until after his death that it was revealed that he may have been a woman forced to disguise her sex. <br /><br />** For more information on this disastrous Zambezi Expedition, see the series of posts on my companion blog, <a href="http://dustyheaps.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-rocks-in-gods-highway-zambezi.html" target="_blank">Digging the Dust.</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Samples of more information on Jane Waterston:-<br /><br /><a href="https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/sage/jane-elizabeth-waterston-southern-africa-s-first-woman-doctor-9e7nz8b4rG?key=sage" target="_blank">Journal of Medical Biography</a><br /><br /><a href="https://hipsa.org.za/publication/the-letters-of-jane-elizabeth-waterston-1866-1905/" target="_blank">Historical Publications South Africa</a><br /><br /><a href="https://hyperleap.com/topic/Jane_Elizabeth_Waterston" target="_blank">Hyperleap</a><br /><br />Gender, professionalism and power: The rise of the single female medical missionary in Britain and South Africa, 1875-1925 (this thesis is downloadable in PDF, H. Ingram.)<br /><br /> <br /><br />Links to other posts in this series about the members of the Ladies Committee sent to investigate the Concentration Camps in South Africa:-<br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-ladies-of-committee-introduction.html" style="font-size: 12pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Introduction to the Ladies</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-ladies-of-committee-millicent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Millicent Garrett Fawcett</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-ladies-of-committee-2-lucy-deane.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Lucy Deane Streatfeild</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-ladies-of-committee-3-katherine.html" style="font-size: 12pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Katherine Blanche Brereton</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-ladies-of-committee-4-lady-alice.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Lady Alice Knox</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-ladies-of-committee-5-dr-jane.html" target="_blank"><b>Dr Jane Waterston</b></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-ladies-of-committee-6-ella-scarlett.html" target="_blank">Dr Ella Scarlett Synge</a></b></span></p><br /><br /><br />Personal library sources include:<br /><br /><br />"The Concentration Camps of the Anglo-Boer War, A Social History" by Elizabeth Van Heyningen<br /><br />"Rebel English Woman, The Remarkable Life of Emily Hobhouse" by Elsabe Brits<br /><br />"The Compassionate Englishwoman" by Robert Eales<br /><br />"The Boer War" by Thomas Pakenham<br /><br />"Those Bloody Women, Three Heroines of the Boer War" by Brian Roberts<br /><br /><br /> <br /><br /> </div>Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-80161551189363218502022-04-15T12:04:00.008+10:002022-07-05T12:56:46.241+10:00The Ladies of the Committee - (4) Lady Alice Knox<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">In some ways, Lady Alice Knox is the odd woman out in the
Ladies Committee. At the time of her appointment, she wasn’t a public campaigner for
women’s rights or actively involved in improvements to education nor was she
involved in health. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Thus, she’s a shadowy figure, the wife of an important
military man,<a href="https://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/rhawilliamknox.htm" target="_blank"> Sir William George Knox</a>, of the Royal Horse Artillery, who had
served in all the famous British Empire conflicts of the latter 19th Century – the Abyssinian, Ashanti, Afghan and Zulu Wars and ultimately the Boer
War. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(In appearance he looks to be the
absolute epitome of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Major-General.)</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo4Mjbm1DBSHuCZ9ek70D3nokVHkCR6xXTU_tNJyAKYuYf9VgT2oM3-bi3wxQJXwuZkLrFj2L1RoNVVaK8MjneG8SFKPM21z9J7tvcpUEfbp6fIhBvckiaEmf5MDA4POPk4OzV6jkM1Dqh7zzIFcGyLFZH2954PhoyC1MeKICMTFn7qehldBtD7oOK/s814/williamknox.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="814" data-original-width="493" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo4Mjbm1DBSHuCZ9ek70D3nokVHkCR6xXTU_tNJyAKYuYf9VgT2oM3-bi3wxQJXwuZkLrFj2L1RoNVVaK8MjneG8SFKPM21z9J7tvcpUEfbp6fIhBvckiaEmf5MDA4POPk4OzV6jkM1Dqh7zzIFcGyLFZH2954PhoyC1MeKICMTFn7qehldBtD7oOK/w242-h400/williamknox.jpg" width="242" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /> <o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alice was most likely recruited because of her husband’s
connections in South Africa during the time the Ladies Committee was travelling
and reporting on the concentration camps, so she might best be described as a “facilitator”
and purely there to smooth the way through authorities and red tape. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alice and her husband had been trapped in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Ladysmith" target="_blank">Ladysmith</a> during the
famous siege so she did have some frontline experience although there is no record
of her ever having talked or written about it afterwards.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Again, it is difficult to find any portrait or photo of the adult Alice
and the only one readily available in the <a href="https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw298261/Marion-Hamilton-Cox-ne-Dundas-Miss-Alice-Knox-ne-Dundas-Sir-Robert-Dundas-2nd-Bt?LinkID=mp164993&search=sas&sText=alice+knox&role=sit&rNo=0" target="_blank">UK National Portrait Gallery</a> is this one of
her as a child with her brother and sister. Perhaps she is the one wearing a hat.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiEA2Qqm91Q2poOjP7kCVIQFYilaCxHDEUJDvZ0auo6IgVYUROeAc9EN2PWC3XwtOUaHfu7YLKmRSPCibjXTwSOlg0u7Td7P80sKTpqhDNkcQb7jWbqFrXnh6BjXaJD2AjywM9bCOOuWClC-cq5o_l5c4CbfFxKpgLOmGnxNdYHJ1dajXgbTlvJaUJ/s826/AliceDundasChild.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="826" height="621" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiEA2Qqm91Q2poOjP7kCVIQFYilaCxHDEUJDvZ0auo6IgVYUROeAc9EN2PWC3XwtOUaHfu7YLKmRSPCibjXTwSOlg0u7Td7P80sKTpqhDNkcQb7jWbqFrXnh6BjXaJD2AjywM9bCOOuWClC-cq5o_l5c4CbfFxKpgLOmGnxNdYHJ1dajXgbTlvJaUJ/w640-h621/AliceDundasChild.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /> <o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Below is an image of Alice’s mother, Emily, from the <a href="http://www.dundasfamily.co.uk/dundas%20of%20arniston.htm" target="_blank">Dundas family website</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn3bRysloQlRwNHB4hDwVOl2Kci7q2XlBi-eyhbLAZnaDli3SgzkcoTXqHWr32G93YxAjoVTEXCFcLVcEy4wgs_QCLtd54myFbs4QKnSpBOUpQpg5la6cEcMbeG060eikGwoBW239RQ6KRSsqbW69aMr9Vzyu8f79usktyE0oijQRQm-hSZZU1KfNe/s294/EmilyKnoxMother.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="294" data-original-width="218" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn3bRysloQlRwNHB4hDwVOl2Kci7q2XlBi-eyhbLAZnaDli3SgzkcoTXqHWr32G93YxAjoVTEXCFcLVcEy4wgs_QCLtd54myFbs4QKnSpBOUpQpg5la6cEcMbeG060eikGwoBW239RQ6KRSsqbW69aMr9Vzyu8f79usktyE0oijQRQm-hSZZU1KfNe/s1600/EmilyKnoxMother.jpg" width="218" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Alice’s birth date seems to vary. In some reports it is shown
as 1863, but Scottish records indicate that it was much earlier, 22 August 1855. Her
father was Sir Robert Dundas, 1</span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">st </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Baronet of Arniston and her mother,
Emily, was a member of the Knox family. Alice was a cousin of her future
husband. She was married to Sir William in St Paul’s Knightsbridge in July,
1889. They would have no children. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alice died at Marazion, Cornwall, on 5 August 1929 and left a
substantial estate in excess of 45,000 pounds, or around 3 million pounds in
today’s value.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">An obituary from <i>The London Times</i> of August 10, 1929 indicates
that Lady Knox was a council member of the Society for the Oversea Settlement
of British Women. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnSQcqx8NJk7z2fDV-11Vk5wDL14OMSz0sQKVOiO-YnfUnkchg4VJnahrsjcUIMs-ZR-03PvxH40Dx_ReuYzWuO_PfTMRS4bv_KEUVBZbW-Yk2GSA3sNil0BYYDGc09HjZz5V4DlQkAXLCrRITs93KLkgW-Q_yps6eKPfknQZVoIWVWoBHmWcflFhV/s1625/LadyKnoxObituary1929.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1625" data-original-width="691" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnSQcqx8NJk7z2fDV-11Vk5wDL14OMSz0sQKVOiO-YnfUnkchg4VJnahrsjcUIMs-ZR-03PvxH40Dx_ReuYzWuO_PfTMRS4bv_KEUVBZbW-Yk2GSA3sNil0BYYDGc09HjZz5V4DlQkAXLCrRITs93KLkgW-Q_yps6eKPfknQZVoIWVWoBHmWcflFhV/w272-h640/LadyKnoxObituary1929.jpg" width="272" /></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Society is an interesting body, long defunct and out of
fashion, but its main purpose was finding jobs for British women in the
dominions and colonies of the Empire. After so many men died in World War I,
there was “surplus” of women in Britain. According to the thinking of the time,
what better way to help them by despatching them around the Empire where they
could find jobs, and no doubt husbands, and where they could begin again with
new families and communities. <o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alice was also involved in a similar scheme resettling
soldiers and their whole families in a similar way. Like many of the grandiose soldier
settlement schemes following WW1, the success rate was low and by the time it
folded in 1930, Alice would be dead. Alice and her husband are both buried in
the churchyard at Temple, Midlothian, Scotland, not far from Alice’s ancestral
home at <a href="https://arnistonhouse.com/" target="_blank">Arniston</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaNyaRvxdLnEl5Sk48RlhDtdjBiD8ZX4-q4czl23Xf746wPK3GWxfeJaL9oMgkwEBOBm11nRx-xJ9-nvb2JKRWUl7ja08zdazw-EaVC1RlgLmGLARU4G04pScFAq1MMcj7_u6DBZd_1DFSuDyJFnaAkIsw8s0KjFnaUrt-KN8X3oKvdjW8YY0Y3zHs/s1600/GraveWilliamAliceKnox.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1043" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaNyaRvxdLnEl5Sk48RlhDtdjBiD8ZX4-q4czl23Xf746wPK3GWxfeJaL9oMgkwEBOBm11nRx-xJ9-nvb2JKRWUl7ja08zdazw-EaVC1RlgLmGLARU4G04pScFAq1MMcj7_u6DBZd_1DFSuDyJFnaAkIsw8s0KjFnaUrt-KN8X3oKvdjW8YY0Y3zHs/w261-h400/GraveWilliamAliceKnox.jpg" width="261" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The grave at Temple</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">There are some smatterings in archival newspapers of Alice
giving talks or reports on the overseas emigration scheme; here is a link to
one about the first army settlement in Western Australia in the </span><i style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/128646502?searchTerm=Lady%20Knox%20Oversea%20Settlement" target="_blank">Country Life Stock and Station Journal</a></i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/128646502?searchTerm=Lady%20Knox%20Oversea%20Settlement" target="_blank"> 17 February 1925</a>. Note that Lady Knox introduced the group to Queen Mary in Buckingham Palace shortly before their departure. It would be interesting to find out how the families fared.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Links to other posts in this series about the members of the Ladies Committee sent to investigate the Concentration Camps in South Africa:-</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-ladies-of-committee-introduction.html" style="font-size: 12pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Introduction to the Ladies</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-ladies-of-committee-millicent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Millicent Garrett Fawcett</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-ladies-of-committee-2-lucy-deane.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Lucy Deane Streatfeild</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-ladies-of-committee-3-katherine.html" style="font-size: 12pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Katherine Blanche Brereton</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-ladies-of-committee-4-lady-alice.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Lady Alice Knox</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-ladies-of-committee-5-dr-jane.html" target="_blank"><b>Dr Jane Waterston</b></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-ladies-of-committee-6-ella-scarlett.html" target="_blank">Dr Ella Scarlett Synge</a></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Personal library sources include:</span></p><p></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The Concentration Camps of the Anglo-Boer War, A Social History" by Elizabeth Van Heyningen</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Rebel English Woman, The Remarkable Life of Emily Hobhouse" by Elsabe Brits</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The Compassionate Englishwoman" by Robert Eales</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The Boer War" by Thomas Pakenham</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Those Bloody Women, Three Heroines of the Boer War" by Brian Roberts</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p>Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-74420412572985819982022-04-07T08:05:00.005+10:002022-07-05T12:56:02.223+10:00The Ladies of the Committee - (3) Katherine Blanche Brereton<p>Katherine Blanche Brereton was born into a prominent landowning family in Norfolk in 1861. Like her fellow Committee member, <a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-ladies-of-committee-2-lucy-deane.html" target="_blank">Lucy Deane</a>, she had connections to the upper classes and the military. Her father, Shovell Henry Brereton, had served in the Norfolk Militia and her grandfather had once been the vicar of the English church at Versailles. Her brother, <a href="http://forgottenpoetsofww1.blogspot.com/2019/03/cloudesley-shovell-henry-brereton-1863.html" target="_blank">Cloudesley Shovell Henry Brereton</a>, became a respected poet, translator and educator.</p><p>Katherine's father was opposed to her dream of becoming a nurse and she was nearly 30 years old before she defied him, left the comforts of Briningham Hall and commenced training as a "lady pupil" nurse at Guy's Hospital in London. She became the head sister of the Bright Ward (named in honour of Richard Bright who was an early pioneer in kidney research).</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfz5UthFpT3tzZD7-957lfq2pDZeXPF6oecYX26b-4Y3Q8nvdTeWzkLWuhLjYENq5K5-NoUqVOKwiNkhochtuIh0E6yUTHF7mHFd32KdEHDsVCgzw5dgdqCqNQ_iCOXoRxdbnVcYssNvncbZlY7ucJ8DBhLUihipVXk1qNWCX3_qe-0FskAbQItE6Y/s640/Briningham_House,_Briningham,_Norfolk_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2245552.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfz5UthFpT3tzZD7-957lfq2pDZeXPF6oecYX26b-4Y3Q8nvdTeWzkLWuhLjYENq5K5-NoUqVOKwiNkhochtuIh0E6yUTHF7mHFd32KdEHDsVCgzw5dgdqCqNQ_iCOXoRxdbnVcYssNvncbZlY7ucJ8DBhLUihipVXk1qNWCX3_qe-0FskAbQItE6Y/w640-h480/Briningham_House,_Briningham,_Norfolk_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2245552.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Briningham Hall<br />Wikimedia Commons</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>She also worked at the Birkenhead and Wirrall Children's Hospitals and trained in midwifery at the York Road Lying-In Hospital. Katherine returned home to Norfolk in late 1899 when her father died suddenly after falling from his horse during a hunt. A short time later in 1900 she joined the nursing section of the Royal Army Medical Corps and sailed out to the war in South Africa. </p><p>Katherine was involved in the establishment of hospitals at Pretoria and Elandsfontein, and served as night superintendent at the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital at Deelfontein. </p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIfAIDxz-L_dASpn1tmzPAyP0xLWQKrp-xIQDVKeI7m2bigsIOMoEOUPwbWmvjGGWj7LA31RSXcQeB_TcLW1dmoQgAXfkvrqB_SqziTpqvuxQMgGhGCdvsnj5U_FOmsC7PqcUaLuPdlTxg_yuX-om1Pc6nu0xqOomqtRUmwOL94WNOc8TFDGc1iIqf/s879/ImperialYeomanryHospitalFund.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="879" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIfAIDxz-L_dASpn1tmzPAyP0xLWQKrp-xIQDVKeI7m2bigsIOMoEOUPwbWmvjGGWj7LA31RSXcQeB_TcLW1dmoQgAXfkvrqB_SqziTpqvuxQMgGhGCdvsnj5U_FOmsC7PqcUaLuPdlTxg_yuX-om1Pc6nu0xqOomqtRUmwOL94WNOc8TFDGc1iIqf/w640-h422/ImperialYeomanryHospitalFund.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The imperious ladies of the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital Fund Committee<br /><a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/xwhz7nj8" target="_blank">Wellcome Collection</a><br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuC8Ga1hx3Mluvs14M08xRGKEqQpaeqmeIQQ5njmu1fXtnUyWI-f7Bj3hZPk53XNlllppoj4bLBs-iCo_B3MDgCFPMdKQ9Pt3EEthA9TJsBsErKZIfh-Nt8riBETIjQvZ49bhQaQDVjiJN0nEsYuvno9KaG4Qwsp9akJIPQ1WbH3Tdmy1Iii9DhkIJ/s880/DeelfonteinNurseandSoldiers.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="880" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuC8Ga1hx3Mluvs14M08xRGKEqQpaeqmeIQQ5njmu1fXtnUyWI-f7Bj3hZPk53XNlllppoj4bLBs-iCo_B3MDgCFPMdKQ9Pt3EEthA9TJsBsErKZIfh-Nt8riBETIjQvZ49bhQaQDVjiJN0nEsYuvno9KaG4Qwsp9akJIPQ1WbH3Tdmy1Iii9DhkIJ/w640-h348/DeelfonteinNurseandSoldiers.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unnamed nurse and patients at Deelfontein<br /><a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/jayb2b5a" target="_blank">Wellcome Collection</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDgv-6RwT1UWNY9SULRKQh0mhvgDcg1rpGXLwg1rv7emHsACP23H7Q8l1izFjMbaIbcgt1e9DKr2Zqv1TAyGuB3x05D6F5rjH2vfk3-Y6Hl0gwn-iJnjsviOsTo-NBHkIH8lpAIG8Uec917G5SxG-YQQqh6DFJYCEF-UL0RerceWi0JMo77Nvm60jc/s880/DeelfonteinNurseandPatient.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="880" height="514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDgv-6RwT1UWNY9SULRKQh0mhvgDcg1rpGXLwg1rv7emHsACP23H7Q8l1izFjMbaIbcgt1e9DKr2Zqv1TAyGuB3x05D6F5rjH2vfk3-Y6Hl0gwn-iJnjsviOsTo-NBHkIH8lpAIG8Uec917G5SxG-YQQqh6DFJYCEF-UL0RerceWi0JMo77Nvm60jc/w640-h514/DeelfonteinNurseandPatient.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another unnamed nurse and patient in a bed donated by<br />Queen Alexandra for use at Deelfontein<br /><a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/dhfx5qeg/items" target="_blank">Wellcome Collection</a><br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>(This <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elhAkxyCGBY" target="_blank">Youtube video</a> shows the sad state of the Anglo-Boer War hospital at Deelfontein as it is today.)<p></p><p>Apart from her important English establishment connections, it was her experience in the hospitals that resulted in Katherine receiving a letter from the War Office requesting her to join the Ladies Committee to investigate the conditions in the concentration camps. She became a good friend of <a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-ladies-of-committee-millicent.html" target="_blank">Millicent Fawcett</a> and joined forces with her again in 1903 on a special mission to promote the conciliation of Boers and Britons.</p><p>After she returned permanentlyhome to England, Katherine often gave talks about her nursing experiences and being a member of the Ladies Committee investigating the concentration camps. (There are several reports on her talks in <a href="https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/" target="_blank">British Newspaper Archives</a>). But she was always diplomatic and careful not to be overly critical of the camps or British policy in their operation.</p><p>Katherine's medal record for the Boer War shows she received the Queen's South Africa Medal and Clasp and also the highest nursing honour of the Royal Red Cross which she received at an investiture by King Edward VII in December, 1902.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQmmZcM8CKPrnHTc7PWUxrPzJNzC3lwyNqSpXvMFn37loNHWDA6KvT1GboIK4-Xb6JJrfDVB3vLFplKpjpIT8Ec_NfoFHRvmClIGrqmhTPlbWTbz-bFaLHSdE3nXlct2FqlUoYB2zmnLF_w7rxbQ_dhszjl4lNOlQWXGu-9NXzhKXm267m67Ju0H_0/s1593/GroupinRoyalRedCrossWarMedals.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1432" data-original-width="1593" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQmmZcM8CKPrnHTc7PWUxrPzJNzC3lwyNqSpXvMFn37loNHWDA6KvT1GboIK4-Xb6JJrfDVB3vLFplKpjpIT8Ec_NfoFHRvmClIGrqmhTPlbWTbz-bFaLHSdE3nXlct2FqlUoYB2zmnLF_w7rxbQ_dhszjl4lNOlQWXGu-9NXzhKXm267m67Ju0H_0/s320/GroupinRoyalRedCrossWarMedals.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are not Katherine's medals, but she would have had a similar set,<br />including the Royal Red Cross and Anglo-Boer war medals</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>Katherine spent the remainder of her life in Norfolk where she managed the family's estates and set herself to master the farming of several hundred acres. She also devoted herself to public work, was President of the Holt Suffrage Society (later the <a href="https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/9fb57391-f86b-482d-be37-1e31fcfe0d48" target="_blank">National Women Citizens Association</a>), also became a Justice of the Peace, served as a magistrate and was involved in numerous other causes. It seems she was also an avowed member of the Temperance Movement and may have not gained popularity by being instrumental in closing her local village pub!</p><p>When she died in October, 1930, she left her body to medical research. Her obituary in the feminist newspaper "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Common_Cause_(NUWSS_newspaper)" target="_blank">Common Cause</a>" sums her up as follows. </p><p></p><blockquote><b>"Her useful life of remarkably interesting and varied forms of service has come to an end; of her it may be said in the words proposed for the tablet to be erected in her memory: '<i>She asked nothing; she gave all</i>'"</b></blockquote><p></p><p>Sadly, there are no accessible images of Katherine Brereton to be found online although there must be some in family collections or records of the many organisations in which she was involved. </p><p>Bed hangings belonging to her ancestors were donated by her in 1929 to the Norwich Museums. Read about them in the following links.</p><p><a href="http://brereton.org.uk/brinton/bedhangings.htm" target="_blank">Brereton Bed Hangings</a></p><p><a href="https://frayedtextilesontheedge.wordpress.com/tag/family-history/" target="_blank">Frayed: Textiles on the Edge</a></p><p><a href="http://norfolkmuseumscollections.org/collections/objects/object-2721013805.html" target="_blank">Norfolk Museums</a></p><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-ladies-of-committee-introduction.html" style="font-size: 12pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Introduction to the Ladies</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-ladies-of-committee-millicent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Millicent Garrett Fawcett</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-ladies-of-committee-2-lucy-deane.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Lucy Deane Streatfeild</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-ladies-of-committee-3-katherine.html" style="font-size: 12pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Katherine Blanche Brereton</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-ladies-of-committee-4-lady-alice.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Lady Alice Knox</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-ladies-of-committee-5-dr-jane.html" target="_blank"><b>Dr Jane Waterston</b></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-ladies-of-committee-6-ella-scarlett.html" target="_blank">Dr Ella Scarlett Synge</a></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Personal library sources include:</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The Concentration Camps of the Anglo-Boer War, A Social History" by Elizabeth Van Heyningen</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Rebel English Woman, The Remarkable Life of Emily Hobhouse" by Elsabe Brits</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The Compassionate Englishwoman" by Robert Eales</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The Boer War" by Thomas Pakenham</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Those Bloody Women, Three Heroines of the Boer War" by Brian Roberts</span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br />Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-41154631032610662732022-03-04T10:50:00.006+11:002022-07-05T12:55:19.788+10:00The Ladies of the Committee - (2) Lucy Deane Streatfeild<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><br />As I began my research into the next member of the <a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-ladies-of-committee-introduction.html" target="_blank">Ladies Committee</a> sent to South Africa to investigate the concentration camps during the Anglo-Boer War, I was astonished to discover a fact unknown to me previously. Had Lucy Deane’s observations about the dangers of asbestos been taken seriously at the time and, better still acted upon, perhaps the lives of countless thousands of people, including my own husband, might have been longer. (He died of the asbestos disease mesothelioma.)</span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <br /><br />In 1898, just a few years before she was appointed to the Committee, Lucy Deane [later Streatfeild], wrote a report warning of the adverse effects on those working with asbestos in factories after she became aware of many individuals becoming ill and dying prematurely. <br /><br /><br />Lucy was one of seven women officially appointed by the Home Office as a female factory inspector. She travelled the length and breadth of Britain and Ireland, usually either by public transport or bicycle, studying and reporting on the working conditions of women in factories. At the time, it was vital that the inspectors didn’t reveal the nature of their work in order to protect the women themselves. <br /><br /><br />Lucy would raise many issues about working hours and conditions and it was during the course of this work, that she realised many women working in factories in which asbestos was being processed were suffering from severe bronchial and lung infections. She wrote:- <br /><br /></span><blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;">“<b>The evil effects of asbestos dust have also instigated a microscopic examination of the mineral dust by Her Majesty’s Medical Inspector. Clearly revealed was the sharp, glass-like jagged nature of the particles.</b>”</span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Why were her early warnings disregarded? The answer comprises several reasons, not least male prejudice against opinionated women during that era when the battle for women’s rights was causing considerable trouble. However, it mainly came down to the greed of powerful and influential manufacturers of asbestos products and factory owners who didn’t want some nosy inconvenient feminist rocking their lucrative boat. Tragically, it would be another century before those greedy corporations and industrialists would get their comeuppance, but little comfort to the countless people whose lives have been impacted by asbestos-related diseases.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">After discovering this, and other facts about the remarkable Lucy Deane, I warmed to her and wondered how she managed to get along with the intimidating and imperious Millicent Garrett Fawcett, the head of the Ladies Committee. (<a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-ladies-of-committee-millicent.html" target="_blank">See my earlier post here.</a>)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgL5RAjRz5LweEgmvAq0BmR1LlZzdbO9A8QCpFIbTN7zt3oF8N__o-oUGpdGYqONxuBCKHumW-O65HcsC5FmvZwyywTsDFblN1im_JUKgNC2NPWpOTWljy2XTo4VwpouDaSWl35pQr2iBjOGy2CVk1EEEM_8v6RpRkvdOk-WBepwbW46Us3z30-4ahb=s502" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="330" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgL5RAjRz5LweEgmvAq0BmR1LlZzdbO9A8QCpFIbTN7zt3oF8N__o-oUGpdGYqONxuBCKHumW-O65HcsC5FmvZwyywTsDFblN1im_JUKgNC2NPWpOTWljy2XTo4VwpouDaSWl35pQr2iBjOGy2CVk1EEEM_8v6RpRkvdOk-WBepwbW46Us3z30-4ahb=w263-h400" width="263" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lucy does not seem to have had many photos taken,<br />this being the standard one freely available online, c. 1918<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are a number of feminist academic theses available online that discuss Lucy Deane and all have used her letters as sources of information. Her South African experience can be found in those written to her sister, Hyacinthe Mary Deane. They show that although she managed to get on socially with the other ladies, she did complain of their unprofessional standards and felt that she was “one against five” on many issues.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><blockquote><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“It seemed to me that it would be most mischievous if
we split. It would be more white-washy than ever. So I have struggled and
fought and pleaded and argued for my main points and got nearly all of them. I
couldn’t prevent all the jam and blarney at the beginning.<o:p></o:p></span>”</span></b></p></div></blockquote><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Unlike Millicent, she was not an Imperialist and had no illusions about British failings. By the end of the tour following the distressing scenes they had witnessed, Lucy managed to get all the other ladies to agree that the camps had been “a huge mistake”. It was Lucy who insisted that the Ladies Committee must not shy away from criticism in the way the camps were handled. She didn’t pull any punches:-</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <br /></span><blockquote><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">“We brought the women in to stop them from helping their husbands in the War and by so doing we have undoubtedly killed them in thousands as much as if we had shot them on their own doorsteps, and anyone but a British General would have realised this long ago.”</span></b></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgI8g2dcmIfqT8Rwfso-sF9IkVEmxUhU7DK0gI4hs94s-k5RaniW5kRk8pZkSENme7vLBL6ejaa8peHKdclrKpb4DjY8iGO_1jPesLUHWh1QhoAGnb8N-hpLocL4iG0dzBnI78upC-6iAvuT72RXUbGkVadCLkHT5nPF0rjBHXwNRskGNo43i8mvLZj=s500" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgI8g2dcmIfqT8Rwfso-sF9IkVEmxUhU7DK0gI4hs94s-k5RaniW5kRk8pZkSENme7vLBL6ejaa8peHKdclrKpb4DjY8iGO_1jPesLUHWh1QhoAGnb8N-hpLocL4iG0dzBnI78upC-6iAvuT72RXUbGkVadCLkHT5nPF0rjBHXwNRskGNo43i8mvLZj=w640-h320" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Concentration camp women bury their children, Anglo-Boer War Museun</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /> </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIilUsK_iwQjGSySOmgKISzFQw_5UlWyfk39ZS4cV3Y9KwevZi4OPlJ7-OlbprnO-bWrBgCMrgnVElH4xtKe04SRGCI3T38vXJygCXi2639XTxbpGxTm03y2AWTM7Ub9oeCKbr2uOP1gI3IowP7NtHrK2yhYLFwjXD_53bz0CA_oBtQ5T5HevLxr6V=s221" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="198" data-original-width="221" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIilUsK_iwQjGSySOmgKISzFQw_5UlWyfk39ZS4cV3Y9KwevZi4OPlJ7-OlbprnO-bWrBgCMrgnVElH4xtKe04SRGCI3T38vXJygCXi2639XTxbpGxTm03y2AWTM7Ub9oeCKbr2uOP1gI3IowP7NtHrK2yhYLFwjXD_53bz0CA_oBtQ5T5HevLxr6V=w320-h286" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lucy in her later years</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>More biographical information on Lucy Deane Streatfeild</u>:</span></p><p><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">Lucy was born in Madras, India, on 31
July 1865. Her </span><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">parents were was </span><span class="name" style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Lieutenant-Colonel
Bonar Millett Deane</span></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"> and his wife, the </span><span class="name" style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Hon. Lucy Boscawen</span></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">, a sister of the </span><span class="name" style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">sixth Viscount Falmouth</span></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">. Her father served in India
and South Africa, and was killed at Laing's Neck on 28 January 1881 during the
Anglo-Transvaal War. Her mother died in March 1886.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the
1890s, <span class="name"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Lucy</span></span> trained as a health
worker and lecturer for the <span class="name"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">National Health Society</span></span>,
a body established to provide professional training for charities. In 1893 she was
appointed by St Mary Abbots in Kensington as a sanitary inspector of workshops
and factories that employed women. Subsequently, the Home Office appointed her
a factory inspector.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Her
work was arduous. The female inspectors faced antagonism from employers, male
colleagues and sometimes even the workers themselves. In Ireland, Lucy was
particularly angered by the truck system in which priests failed to support
workers and that there was “u<span class="inlinequote"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">tter disregard for law and
justice, terrible tales of the corruption of the magistrates</span></span>”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Following
her involvement in the Ladies Committee, Lucy’s health had begun to suffer, and
a few years later she resigned from the factory inspectorate and moved to
Westerham in Kent, where she lived until her death. In 1911 she married an old friend and architect, <span class="name"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Granville Edward Stewart Streatfeild</span></span>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lucy
remained an active voluntary worker. She was the first female organizing officer
for the <span class="name"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">National Health Insurance
Commission</span></span>, establishing infant welfare centres in London; she
was also a member of various trade boards, her local county council and the
Women’s Institute. She supported and lectured on female suffrage and was one of
the organisers of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pilgrimage" target="_blank">Great Pilgrimage and Rally</a> held in Hyde Park in 1913.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTYM4VUH0eKFFrbRoCs5kv9EoX5Db3ijBJdOfmU45x2Hgc8R1mGm1qtCUZSYnFx-v_lqal7UJxR5wnOjTggdX0rW4K-IAHAGKTNMpiPZwOy1pH6p6BP7zoBmrgdM2qBS17G-Wu9XVQjr4RGMaxqXRdolllgLI7eKitj5r1WkpWMSeDdSco2QNQwDZK=s850" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="850" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTYM4VUH0eKFFrbRoCs5kv9EoX5Db3ijBJdOfmU45x2Hgc8R1mGm1qtCUZSYnFx-v_lqal7UJxR5wnOjTggdX0rW4K-IAHAGKTNMpiPZwOy1pH6p6BP7zoBmrgdM2qBS17G-Wu9XVQjr4RGMaxqXRdolllgLI7eKitj5r1WkpWMSeDdSco2QNQwDZK=w400-h258" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Millicent Fawcett addressing the 1913 Rally<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">During
the First World War, <span class="name"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Lucy</span></span> was a
member of the executive committee of the <span class="name"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Women's Land Army</span></span> and the <span class="name"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">War Office</span></span> appeals committee, which adjudicated
on separation allowances for soldiers' and sailors' dependants, and of a
special arbitration tribunal to settle disputes over wages and conditions in
munitions works. In 1918 she chaired a committee of inquiry into the conduct of
members of the <span class="name"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Women's Army Auxiliary Corps</span></span> in
France, and received a CBE.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">After
the war <span class="name"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Lucy became </span></span>was
one of the first female Justices of the Peace. She was also an enthusiastic
producer of amateur theatre in her local village. She wrote</span><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"> numerous articles on factory work and industrial legislation. She died on 3
July 1950 at her home, Cottage on the Hill, Westerham, Kent. Lucy had no
children.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lucy
Deane Streatfeild was held in high regard by her contemporaries for her commitment and strong social conscience. Her legacy is just as important today as it was when she first stood up for the poor treatment of women and children more than a century ago.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: inherit;">Online sources include:-</span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.oxforddnb.com/" target="_blank"><br /></a></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.oxforddnb.com/" target="_blank">Oxford Dictionary of Biography</a></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><a href="https://www.asbestos.com/blog/2018/06/04/lucy-streatfield-asbestos-exposure/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Asbestos</span></a></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><a href="https://wilpf.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Streatfeild-Lucy-Deane.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">These Dangerous Women</span></a></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://archive.org/details/womenchildreninf00dean/page/n1/mode/2up" style="font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lecture by Lucy Deane to the Industrial Law Committee on Women andChildren in Factories, Workshops and Laundries and How to Help Them.</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Academic theses:-</span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2609/1/U615558.pdf" target="_blank">http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2609/1/U615558.pdf</a></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2609/1/U615558.pdf"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2609/1/U615558.pdf</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/36339/1/WRAP_THESIS_Livesey_1999.pdf"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/36339/1/WRAP_THESIS_Livesey_1999.pdf</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk/records/LAS/2" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Papers of Lucy Deane</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Most-ladylike-Occupation-Factory-Inspector/dp/1912362929" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Biography of Lucy</span></a></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgMU7sSG_FiwetCWewdviZxA3whYf8Az0_Wx7Vx3a7wZjv2r0rI-0WV2ikL9PAFZywsDc5OzVseKwIiRxQrBUJwUi94tKpNzfraw8Zb0bpusPYruVS21sMy1Db3D4TTIsaBzQcVwM-7cAxYNmRPg3Zh7MXZd1nDXjLfSS4-rxAMDWAni94-2yBp_XNs=s451" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgMU7sSG_FiwetCWewdviZxA3whYf8Az0_Wx7Vx3a7wZjv2r0rI-0WV2ikL9PAFZywsDc5OzVseKwIiRxQrBUJwUi94tKpNzfraw8Zb0bpusPYruVS21sMy1Db3D4TTIsaBzQcVwM-7cAxYNmRPg3Zh7MXZd1nDXjLfSS4-rxAMDWAni94-2yBp_XNs=s320" width="213" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-ladies-of-committee-introduction.html" style="font-size: 12pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Introduction to the Ladies</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-ladies-of-committee-millicent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Millicent Garrett Fawcett</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-ladies-of-committee-2-lucy-deane.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Lucy Deane Streatfeild</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-ladies-of-committee-3-katherine.html" style="font-size: 12pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Katherine Blanche Brereton</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-ladies-of-committee-4-lady-alice.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Lady Alice Knox</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-ladies-of-committee-5-dr-jane.html" target="_blank"><b>Dr Jane Waterston</b></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-ladies-of-committee-6-ella-scarlett.html" target="_blank">Dr Ella Scarlett Synge</a></b></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Personal library sources include:</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The Concentration Camps of the Anglo-Boer War, A Social History" by Elizabeth Van Heyningen</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Rebel English Woman, The Remarkable Life of Emily Hobhouse" by Elsabe Brits</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The Compassionate Englishwoman" by Robert Eales</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The Boer War" by Thomas Pakenham</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Those Bloody Women, Three Heroines of the Boer War" by Brian Roberts</span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><br /></span></p></div>Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-18819400279541126082022-02-18T09:33:00.000+11:002022-02-18T09:33:55.735+11:00"In Quisling's Shadow. The Memoirs of Vidkun Quisling's first wife, Alexandra" (Book Review)<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />This is not a new book, being published in 2007, but I was interested in it as part of some genealogical research I’m doing and it has relevance to this blog as its subject was certainly a woman forced to carry a history bucket. It also has contemporary relevance in light of the current frictions between Ukraine and Russia reflecting a resurgence of old feuds.</span><div><br /><div><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVqnSrWOKNE-DTnygkq3SFZX_yKvQLu82gRU0FooJCpuct7gEvkEuCwc4aA4q072YpkRQ4k3uw7PMaguOek1vsEpgS5187cMGwoECET1hWHXZ0CQqNYvCrWFoyMAKtw3EF982nlG7h51EpwAjR3sga7Cj0hDiAgwJcCBllOYkZ6AsuY2wyPu0Xob9E=s500" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVqnSrWOKNE-DTnygkq3SFZX_yKvQLu82gRU0FooJCpuct7gEvkEuCwc4aA4q072YpkRQ4k3uw7PMaguOek1vsEpgS5187cMGwoECET1hWHXZ0CQqNYvCrWFoyMAKtw3EF982nlG7h51EpwAjR3sga7Cj0hDiAgwJcCBllOYkZ6AsuY2wyPu0Xob9E=w426-h640" width="426" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><br />In 1921, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Voronin" target="_blank">Alexandra Andreyevna Voronina</a> lived in the city of Kharkov in the Ukraine with her mother. Once a very wealthy family, they had fallen on the hardest of times. Her father disappeared years earlier and it was never known whether he had deliberately abandoned them or was the victim of sinister action (common enough in the Bolshevik era). Not only had the region suffered the after-effects of the Russian Revolution and the ensuing Civil War, it was also devastated by an epic famine in which some starving individuals had resorted to cannibalisation to survive (there are verified images of this in the book).<br /><br />Originally training to be a ballet dancer, Alexandra had to compromise her dreams and do whatever work she could. She found it in the office established by the Norwegian explorer and humanitarian, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fridtjof_Nansen" target="_blank">Fridtjof Nansen</a>, from where famine relief was co-ordinated. Nansen’s representative in Ukraine was Captain <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidkun_Quisling" target="_blank">Vidkun Quisling</a>. Alexandra fell completely under his spell and, although barely seventeen years of age, married him. <br /><br />There follows a lengthy, and often depressing, litany of what today would be classified as spousal abuse – not physical, but definitely mental. Quisling, who has left a highly controversial mark on history being the man who led Norway and sided with Hitler during World War II and for which he was later executed, was controlling, cold and calculating, probably psychotic. He manipulated Alexandra into an abortion and then forced her to accept - and even share a bedroom with - the new woman in his life, another Russian, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Quisling" target="_blank">Maria Vasilyevna Pasetchnikov</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgwRw4W3PDbhUm79ZrhsnaF6HWgAxvmEGcLJTIloKbyOp2TifVbRYKirh-m3R4rqozlEK6bnCW8xd9aKZtG2oKCiLKaYVk_6YIuGL4jTVhJY-mPcBBAaqtonRqaAWVNFI1aNjCV4pnb_rwzAloxhOUOznhFNujUYzY9fXJnp_PWZVWqTtsye5zMFKtx=s300" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="202" data-original-width="300" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgwRw4W3PDbhUm79ZrhsnaF6HWgAxvmEGcLJTIloKbyOp2TifVbRYKirh-m3R4rqozlEK6bnCW8xd9aKZtG2oKCiLKaYVk_6YIuGL4jTVhJY-mPcBBAaqtonRqaAWVNFI1aNjCV4pnb_rwzAloxhOUOznhFNujUYzY9fXJnp_PWZVWqTtsye5zMFKtx=w400-h269" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A forcibly staged photograph of<br />the two "wives" <br />on the balcony of the Quisling apartment</span><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Maria, in turn, was a nasty character who may have been an agent sent to spy on Quisling and the Norwegian relief effort and she added further layers of scheming and subterfuge to the cruel treatment of Alexandra. <br /><br />Back and forth across Europe, Alexandra was often left to fend for herself in places where she knew no-one, then with little warning, was drawn back into Quisling’s net, then abandoned again. In spite of promises that he’d keep her safe and secure as long as she lived, he was erratic with money. In spite of all that he did to her, Alexandra still hoped that Maria would be sent packing, that she and Quisling would get back together again. <br /><br />My main quibble with her story is that some areas are overly detailed while others are glossed over and leave more questions. Alexandra often complained about being isolated for weeks or months in places, or left destitute without any means of support. She said she survived solely on a diet of bananas and cream for months on end - curious foods that may not have been as cheap as the poor person’s diet of bread and dripping (or the French equivalent). With Quisling being so mean in providing her with a regular income and unable to work, she must have had some regular source of money other than just help from generous friends. She would certainly have needed funds when travelling around Europe plus undertaking artistic and ballet studies in France and eventually being able to buy her passage to Shanghai. The latter part of her life in Shanghai and later in California includes two further marriages and a child, but this is all rushed through. The fact her mother was abandoned on her own in the Crimea for the rest of her life is also troubling and it would have been interesting to find out what efforts, if any, had been made to get her out<br /><br />Alexandra seemed overly naïve, compliant and trusting. From our more liberated distance of a century later, it can be hard to understand why she did not stand up to her treatment and find a way of being self-sufficient. But one has to remember the attitude of the times and the fact she was still in her teens, subservient to her husband’s whims and not financially independent. Her story has its sad echoes today with still far too many women at the mercy of unscrupulous and controlling men. <br /><br />Three stars.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Print copies may be hard to find, Kindle versions available from:<br /></span><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Quislings-Shadow-Memoirs-Vidkun-Alexandra-ebook/dp/B00VDHH3HM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2K9NCP9O04UTO&keywords=in+quisling%27s+shadow&qid=1645136016&sprefix=in+quisling%27s+shado%2Caps%2C370&sr=8-1" target="_blank">amazon.com</a></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Quislings-Shadow-Yourieff/dp/0817948325" target="_blank">amazon.com.au</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-45032818620773981732022-02-15T18:45:00.006+11:002022-07-05T12:54:29.846+10:00The Ladies of the Committee - (1) Millicent Garrett Fawcett<br /><br />Formidable. Frosty. Forthright. Just a few of the words that have been applied to Millicent Garrett Fawcett by her biographers and those who knew her. Even at this distance in time, and although being physically tiny in stature, she looms large among the campaigning feminists of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.<br /><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjO0KeXp3WprxWKQqdauU-MJ3f2iAXnlC3IgMOk-G2sQ_OhCh_WyGQKQzIVoPggwsxQNr3GOZvSDTO0B1m31tPOK66AjE6qqjQmI0AiTaYAWJi9OJuV2jwKgyuUWISKUeIJRMqs8MF5RHcUSvBKbr-a0TU-laUvKoR8nuKWU-5SShm3h_RcNzQ6OnvO=w640-h621" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: start;">Mrs Fawcett, 1890</span><br style="text-align: start;" /><span style="text-align: start;">Photograph by W. and D. Downey</span><br style="text-align: start;" /><span style="text-align: start;">National Portrait Gallery UK</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br />Whether she was the best choice to head the Ladies Committee to investigate the concentration camps in South Africa is debatable, especially in the middle of a war in which opinions were sharply divided. Millicent was a dyed-in-the-wool Imperialist with little tolerance of anyone with opposing views. Like many of that era, she believed Britain had a right to rule the world. It would not go well for any of her fellow Committee members who questioned that idea.<br /><br /><br /><div>In her memoir, "<i>What I Remember</i>", Millicent recalled it was in July 1901 that she received a visit from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Lyttelton" target="_blank">Edith Lyttleton,</a> the wife of the sportsman/politician <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Lyttelton" target="_blank">Alfred Lyttleton</a>, asking her if she would be prepared to travel at short notice to South Africa to inspect the state of the camps there. Edith had became a founding member of the Empire friendship organisation, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Victoria_League_for_Commonwealth_Friendship" target="_blank">Victoria League.</a></div><div> <br /><br />Millicent commented that Alfred "<i>was admired, beloved and trusted by all parties and all sections of the country as few men have ever been</i>" - rare praise for a politician - and he was most concerned about what was happening to the children in particular in the camps.</div><div> <br /><br />Edith informed Millicent that she would be joined by other women who were experts in health and child welfare. Millicent didn't hesitate but, when discussing her duties with the Secretary of War, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John_Brodrick,_1st_Earl_of_Midleton" target="_blank">St John Brodrick,</a> she was vehement that she would not speak to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Hobhouse" target="_blank">Emily Hobhouse</a> at all.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiwrvp3ACgIC-kfEsTiIR6Ev4X5MWEjzsCL7nRjDHt9bAcOyB0wU1UMPGKHblQWJ-HICiRjP-4dYo2Gov3aKGB1YyYs39S6GhqBtcatvjx8fr6HnCXI2EAzITwi4jaJOIHGXlVkUWtWS_okyvY2vEexGR7b5gF-dEz4ATtqyS48ndUB1SsdNPdmWrAN=s800" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="552" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiwrvp3ACgIC-kfEsTiIR6Ev4X5MWEjzsCL7nRjDHt9bAcOyB0wU1UMPGKHblQWJ-HICiRjP-4dYo2Gov3aKGB1YyYs39S6GhqBtcatvjx8fr6HnCXI2EAzITwi4jaJOIHGXlVkUWtWS_okyvY2vEexGR7b5gF-dEz4ATtqyS48ndUB1SsdNPdmWrAN=w276-h400" width="276" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emily Hobhouse<br /><a href="http://angloboerwar.com" target="_blank">angloboerwar.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /><br /> <br />While it is understandable that Millicent might prefer to see things for herself, she was already biased against Emily. Apparently the knives had been out previously between the two women over another matter when Emily supported some tenants in a building owned by the Fawcett family.</div><div> <br /><br />Added to this, although it was Emily’s exposure of what was happening in the camps that initiated the Committee, she had suffered from bad press, with words like "excitability" and "hysterical" attached to her, compared to Millicent's personality with its cool detachment and control.</div><div><br /><br />Emily's behaviour suggested she was more sympathetic to the Boer cause than she should have been, and she had been deported from the Cape for her activities. No wonder Millicent would have nothing to do with her.</div><div><br /><br />Millicent left England on 22 July 1901, accompanied by Lady Alice Knox, wife of General Sir William Knox then on service in South Africa and Miss Lucy Deane, a trained Inspector of Factories and an expert in infant welfare. Also on the voyage were Millicent's daughter Philippa, Lucy Deane's sister and Lady Alice's maid. The three other ladies to make up the Committee were already in South Africa.</div><div><br /><br />While on board ship, the women made plans and also learned from a fellow passenger a few words of the Cape Dutch<i> Taal</i>, although one can't imagine Millicent being that keen on learning what many English people disparagingly considered a pidgin or inferior language to the true Dutch of the Netherlands.</div><div><br /><br />When they arrived at Cape Town, the ladies were accommodated in the grand Mount Nelson Hotel before meeting up with the two female doctors, Ella Scarlett and Jane Waterston and the nurse, Katherine Brereton. Millicent's memoir described the violent, hostile factions that were evident in the city and the many other charitable and relief committees who had differing viewpoints as to what needed to be done in the camps. There were many "cooks" stirring the broth and the ladies were discouraged from calling at Government House in case of trouble.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEicQ48VUEyLCJb9Tu-OCcvmlLmKiioFWo6EBfEQOa1OrWAWypHzJOs2ZhFXB1AifxNg0ZNOUNaYfqocauYGH_pfzaYf2llYf_i9N52rzrF2VMA0tx6_5GTBwAN0I8oOxTMCon2QVHkMu7JjrFfPWV0kDB7_yCEROxq4dkljF9aDEdiJmyk63LCLiWhO=s1600" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEicQ48VUEyLCJb9Tu-OCcvmlLmKiioFWo6EBfEQOa1OrWAWypHzJOs2ZhFXB1AifxNg0ZNOUNaYfqocauYGH_pfzaYf2llYf_i9N52rzrF2VMA0tx6_5GTBwAN0I8oOxTMCon2QVHkMu7JjrFfPWV0kDB7_yCEROxq4dkljF9aDEdiJmyk63LCLiWhO=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.belmond.com/hotels/africa/south-africa/cape-town/belmond-mount-nelson-hotel/about" target="_blank">Mount Nelson Hotel</a><br />Still one of the world's grandest hotels</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>Emily Hobhouse had done much of her travel and investigation of the camps on her own, paying her own way, struggling with red tape permission, using primitive modes of transport and often going without food, water or a bath or shelter. She had experienced the deprivations of war at first-hand and wasn't impressed to learn that the Ladies Committee undertook their travels in a special train supplied by the Cape Government. Millicent described this as follows:<br /><br /><blockquote>"<i>Each of us had what was a second-class compartment fitted with sleeping accommodation. There was a large saloon for our meals, with a travelling kitchen attached, and we also had a Portuguese cook named Gomez, and the services of a young Tommy named Collins, lent to us by General Knox, Lady Knox’s husband. We looked all round the arrangements made for our comfort and security with interest, curiosity, and gratitude, for these railway carriages were to be our home for about five months</i>."</blockquote><br /><br />(Details of the progress can be followed through Millicent's memoir that is available online, <a href="https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.42718/page/n167/mode/2up?q=Africa" target="_blank">see Chapter XVII</a>. More of it will feature in further posts on this topic.)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><u>More biographical background on Millicent</u>:-<br /><br />Millicent Garrett Fawcett was born in Suffolk in 1847, one of eleven children of a wealthy industrialist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newson_Garrett" target="_blank">Newson Garrett</a> who encouraged his children in liberalism, to be outgoing and have enquiring minds. Millicent developed a passion for self-education, literature, the arts and there’s no doubt her elder sister, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Garrett_Anderson" target="_blank">Elizabeth Garret Anderson</a>, who would become Britain’s first female doctor, was a major influence on her.</div><div> <br /><br />At eighteen, she met the blind Cambridge professor and Reformist, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Fawcett" target="_blank">Henry Fawcett</a>, 14 years her senior, and they married in 1867. Her only child, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippa_Fawcett" target="_blank">Philippa</a>, destined to be a prominent mathematician, was born a year later. They were a radical couple for the time and their successful partnership was strengthened by shared interests in outdoor pursuits, women’s education and suffrage.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="826" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiv_Fnb-1fl-dIfql8aCJYjIp3KV5sNlDyJyKC49k4koQcHpceO5zGprb1B9XDFc-BXhRqR4-eo4zzWsJoRwN5I16MIcLNKLEuV2PJjxkzca6NOJb4LJQG1hJop-LeVxcgzo7-NRJ3pAQKrDyp7JB1r97KTJ2j-lQd9JaAeqSSrav4IQnOqbN6fbtOk=w400-h388" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Henry and Millicent by<br />Ford Madox Brown, 1872<br />National Portrait Gallery UK</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div> <br />Millicent developed her own writing and speaking career, specialising in politics and economics as well as women’s issues. It was rare for a woman to give a speech in public and, as still happens today, she had her critics than she must be neglecting her child while involved in such work.<br /><br /><br />When Henry died suddenly in 1884, Millicent was bereft and she and Philippa moved in with another sister<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Garrett" target="_blank"> Agnes Garrett,</a> who was a pioneering businesswoman in her own right, but she continued on the same path. She became the leading force in women’s suffrage and a frequent lecturer at girls’ schools and women colleges. <br /><br /><br />She also espoused many other causes including moral rearmament and backed campaigns connected to prostitution and the sexual exploitation of women and children, but her puritanism and inflexible attitude towards private morality were often at odds with her support for public reforms. She was appalled by the idea of free love out of marriage, yet ahead of her time in advocating divorce by consent. <br /><br /><br />The rest of Millicent’s life as regards her activities during World War I and the advancement of women has been well-documented. She was bestowed with many honorary doctorates, and received a Damehood in 1925. She died in 1929. <br /><br /><br />Some of her liberal Victorian attitudes may seem at odds with her feminism and modern women will find her a challenge to evaluate. This closing paragraph from her entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography seems to summarise her well.<br /><br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">"In contrast to the Pankhursts, she shrank from hero-worshippers and did not seek to be a charismatic leader. As a speaker she was persuasive rather than inspirational; she was not a good committee chairman. Victorian values lingered on in her sexual, social, and imperial politics. She took pride in her ‘Englishness’ and—not only in the context of war—had some of the defects that implies. Her statesmanlike qualities were nevertheless crucial in guiding the British women's movement. The range of her contributions to public and intellectual life in an exceptionally long and influential career has only recently been recognized. Once stereotyped as a narrowly bourgeois liberal feminist, she is now appreciated as a woman who also addressed the exploitation of working women and child abuse. She argued—while never adopting the language of ‘sex war’—for votes for women on the grounds that they had distinctive insights to offer and interests to defend. Changing fashions and values in politics and feminism, and her status as an emblem of the women's movement, have complicated the task of her biographers—and will continue to do so until it becomes possible to represent eminent feminists sympathetically as creatures of, as well as rebels against, their times."</blockquote><p style="font-style: italic;"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-style: italic; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQJBRodbK-nm1oZrdPwTvFUfrPT4U3IQRgExB2KKsRmtzIDbZSCskGh20d_kqWm-tRIMxjQ-Edjgo-m23Gsy_RNbLObbeorTlFDN2d-omhf04SnFCFo3b7Djdrkno_M_SmMG8sE5Q6Dxys8_mLJHQP117zHbcy2y6dF15bLTPQaVYcP5QPK_QzfoJq=s826" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="571" data-original-width="826" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQJBRodbK-nm1oZrdPwTvFUfrPT4U3IQRgExB2KKsRmtzIDbZSCskGh20d_kqWm-tRIMxjQ-Edjgo-m23Gsy_RNbLObbeorTlFDN2d-omhf04SnFCFo3b7Djdrkno_M_SmMG8sE5Q6Dxys8_mLJHQP117zHbcy2y6dF15bLTPQaVYcP5QPK_QzfoJq=w400-h276" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Millicent Fawcett, c. 1910<br />Photograph by Olive Edis<br />National Portrait Gallery UK</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-ladies-of-committee-introduction.html" style="font-size: 12pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Introduction to the Ladies</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-ladies-of-committee-millicent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Millicent Garrett Fawcett</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-ladies-of-committee-2-lucy-deane.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Lucy Deane Streatfeild</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-ladies-of-committee-3-katherine.html" style="font-size: 12pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Katherine Blanche Brereton</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-ladies-of-committee-4-lady-alice.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Lady Alice Knox</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-ladies-of-committee-5-dr-jane.html" target="_blank"><b>Dr Jane Waterston</b></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-ladies-of-committee-6-ella-scarlett.html" target="_blank">Dr Ella Scarlett Synge</a></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><br /></p><p>Personal library sources include:</p><p>"The Concentration Camps of the Anglo-Boer War, A Social History" by Elizabeth Van Heyningen</p><p>"Rebel English Woman, The Remarkable Life of Emily Hobhouse" by Elsabe Brits</p><p>"The Compassionate Englishwoman" by Robert Eales</p><p>"The Boer War" by Thomas Pakenham</p><p>"Those Bloody Women, Three Heroines of the Boer War" by Brian Roberts</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p style="font-style: italic;"><br /></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p style="margin: 0cm; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><br /></span><p></p></div><br />Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-34486305509927309122022-02-13T18:20:00.003+11:002022-04-23T06:36:02.891+10:00The Ladies of the Committee (Introduction)<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Women were actively agitating for the vote and equal or greater representation in many areas of British life when an all-female Committee was appointed to investigate the concentration camps created during the Anglo-Boer
War (1899-1902) in South Africa. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">This new series of posts will look at the women who were part
of that group. *</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">The leader, Millicent Garrett Fawcett, is perhaps the most famous. In 2018, she became the first woman to be commemorated with a statue in Parliament Square in London, unveiled by then Prime Minister, Theresa May.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Perhaps less well-known are the other members. They were Lucy Deane, Lady Alice Knox, Dr Jane Waterson, Dr Ella Scarlett and Katherine Brereton.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Emily Hobhouse brought the appalling conditions in the camps to wider knowledge in Britain and the world at large. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">Her explosive revelations caused outrage in the general
public and embarrassment to the UK Government. **</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like Emily, the members of the Committee were progressive
women in that era of struggle for feminist representation and advancement, but they weren't all compatible in their beliefs and ideals so the dynamic would have been an interesting one and Emily herself was not included or consulted.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">All of them hailed from the respectable upper classes but if one
bases success, achievement and historical recognition as being given
the accolade of an entry in the </span><a href="https://www.oxforddnb.com/" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">Oxford Dictionary of National Biography</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">, only three of them - Fawcett, Deane and Waterston – are included
in the ODNB. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSPFFt_Jn7PkWy4lYxrOeekMxkQ3K1zF1mBMrAGm55pzIRPKcI-2a-ZGr_o6jzyROJGa7TxSfM5gTajkl95Dwt3QZnoMHNCA48HdLjYElmwgSJ71tlKzFAJ9v9UGYPw4wf8oFy1Tdlkw3pqqt_p4mjNVS8yGn5cxherAByArDZZTxSApoF_S6HyEA4=s395" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="217" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSPFFt_Jn7PkWy4lYxrOeekMxkQ3K1zF1mBMrAGm55pzIRPKcI-2a-ZGr_o6jzyROJGa7TxSfM5gTajkl95Dwt3QZnoMHNCA48HdLjYElmwgSJ71tlKzFAJ9v9UGYPw4wf8oFy1Tdlkw3pqqt_p4mjNVS8yGn5cxherAByArDZZTxSApoF_S6HyEA4=w352-h640" width="352" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Image source unknown)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">* </span><span style="font-size: 16px;">Although often called the Fawcett Commission or Ladies Commission, it was not a </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_commission" style="font-size: 16px;" target="_blank">Royal Commission</a><span style="font-size: 16px;"> in the true sense.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16px;">** </span><span style="font-size: 16px;"> See my two previous posts about </span><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-only-bright-spot-in-camp-life.html" style="font-size: 16px;" target="_blank">teachers for the camps</a><span style="font-size: 16px;"> and a book about </span><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2020/03/rebel-englishwoman-remarkable-life-of.html" style="font-size: 16px;" target="_blank">Emily Hobhouse</a><span style="font-size: 16px;">.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-11801654762932951372021-11-13T14:54:00.002+11:002021-11-13T15:40:29.668+11:00What's in a name? (Or a bit of fake news)<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181a1c; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">I’ve been
researching and writing about lesser-known individuals and unusual or obscure
historical events for quite a few years now and one thing I learned early on is
never to fully trust sites like Wikipedia or other secondary sources
that often copy or cut-and-paste wrong information ad infinitum.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Also, one has
to be careful drawing direct attention to errors with certain historical
societies and interest groups as they often don’t like anyone meddling
with things taken as gospel and will stubbornly stick to old incorrect facts even
if new evidence shows otherwise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And, of
course, one has to be careful with archival newspapers as they are just as bad as
our modern ones with sensationalist reporting, blind copying of errors and
outright “fake news”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This leads me
to an example that seems to be fixed as fact when it comes to the origins of a name
of a place in Australia.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penneshaw,_South_Australia" target="_blank">Penneshaw</a> is a
community of around 300 permanent residents on Kangaroo Island, South
Australia.</span></span></span><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXUptlxBTxV2ndbFny8ymJLyfjbxfYQZU9E9ZW6SyIXf5SPd2Jb34QgeRhXN3VC7i32m9H9sKdPMoU4q4k5TdiqNJDz4liLm_rK_6eBuA7fNV1ZQK1q6gy7tsPghT1pbGiVO803ZTNh-k/s760/Penneshaw.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="760" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXUptlxBTxV2ndbFny8ymJLyfjbxfYQZU9E9ZW6SyIXf5SPd2Jb34QgeRhXN3VC7i32m9H9sKdPMoU4q4k5TdiqNJDz4liLm_rK_6eBuA7fNV1ZQK1q6gy7tsPghT1pbGiVO803ZTNh-k/w400-h266/Penneshaw.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Penneshaw and its beach</td></tr></tbody></table><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">According to numerous sources</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181a1c; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">,
the name came about when the Governor of South Australia, </span><a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/jervois-sir-william-francis-drummond-3856 " style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">William Francis Drummond Jervois</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181a1c; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181a1c; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">[pronounced “Jarvis”], renamed the town of
Hog Bay. He served as Governor from 1877 to 1882 and named or renamed a few
places in his time. It’s understandable if the Colony was hoping to attract new
residents to Kangaroo Island that Hog Bay might not sound like the most appealing address.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Wikipedia states the town’s origin is as follows:-<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>“Penneshaw was
named after a combination of the names of Dr. F.W. Pennefather, private
secretary to Governor Jervois, and Flora Louisa Shaw, <i>The Times</i> colonial
editor, a visitor to Government House.”</b></span><span style="color: #181a1c;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I stumbled upon this information while researching the life and times of the fascinating <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_Shaw,_Lady_Lugard" target="_blank">Flora Louise Shaw</a> and was immediately sceptical.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54lihDAsmBvDPrLwWsYrTd0zZ4RcqRjyvvSDSP3WxSfOjT5zdlj0swNNFXJmbG488VPEE_EgpSfLcx6bCbT0NSbTbpIGjxoD-D1z2aEeaBm1iiq9xourvUQMSJyFP1bzdXMphWqlba98/s697/Flora1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54lihDAsmBvDPrLwWsYrTd0zZ4RcqRjyvvSDSP3WxSfOjT5zdlj0swNNFXJmbG488VPEE_EgpSfLcx6bCbT0NSbTbpIGjxoD-D1z2aEeaBm1iiq9xourvUQMSJyFP1bzdXMphWqlba98/w288-h400/Flora1.jpeg" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flora Shaw, c. early 1890s</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #181a1c;"><br /></span><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The story certainly goes back to early 20th Century as it is mentioned in <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/208633429?searchTerm=penneshaw%20flora%20shaw" target="_blank">this 1908 article</a> in the <i>Evening Journal</i> of Adelaide on the Nomenclature of South Australia, suggesting it rests with someone called E.H. Hallack who wrote about early Kangaroo Island. </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 16px;">This <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/191253376?searchTerm=penneshaw%20flora%20shaw" target="_blank">“contributed” story </a>from the <i>Kangaroo Island Courier</i> in 1935 reinforces the idea:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">How Penneshaw
Was Named</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">(CONTRIBUTED)<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Penneshaw is a
double barrelled name (Penne-shaw). Penneshaw was named after Miss Flora Shaw, now
Lady Lugard, she married Lord Lugard a distinguished Governor of British colonies
at Nigeria in Africa and elsewhere. Miss Shaw married Lord Lugard in 1902.
Before her marriage Miss Shaw was for several years a member of the staff of
The Times, a London newspaper. She became head of its Colonial Department,
where her work was to collect news of Britain beyond the seas.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">The Times sent
Miss Shaw to Australia and New Zealand to study on the spot the problems of
those far away countries. She came to Adelaide and stayed at Government House,
and her abilities impressed the Governor and all who met her. At that time the
Governor’s private secretary was Mr William Pennefather, later he became
Professor Pennefather at the Adelaide University.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">During Miss
Shaw’s stay in Adelaide the Governor had to name a town situated on Kangaroo
Island. By combining the names of Mr Pennefather and Miss Shaw, His Excellency made Penneshaw.</span><span style="color: #181a1c;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Just before Jervois
was reassigned to be Governor of New Zealand, the first announcement of
Penneshaw appears when blocks of
land were being offered for sale. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181a1c; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">The first notice was published in the </span><i style="color: #181a1c; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/197765078?searchTerm=Penneshaw" target="_blank">Adelaide Evening Journal</a></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181a1c; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"> on 13 January 1882. (See also </span><i style="color: #181a1c; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/other/sa_gazette/1882/2.pdf" target="_blank">South Australian Government Gazette</a></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181a1c; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Frederick W.
Pennefather can be traced through the records. He was a barrister-at-law and
aged 28, and is shown on a passenger list from London into Williamstown, near
Melbourne, arriving on 3 July 1881 in the clipper ship “<i>Superb</i>”. He was
appointed Private Secretary to Jervois on 28 November 1881, see <i><a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/160151419?searchTerm=frederick%20pennefather%20jervois" target="_blank">Adelaide Observer.</a></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I haven’t investigated how Pennefather was appointed to the position, but it was
most likely through connections with persons of high standing in the colonial
service, both in England and Australia. He would later become a QC and lecturer
in law at Adelaide University.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">So, sometime
between his appointment in late November 1881 and the gazetted announcement of
the sale of land at Penneshaw in early 1882, the decision to give him half of
the name was made. It seems Governor Jervois had named a few places in South Australia
after people who worked for him (e.g. as in this <a href="https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/lifestyle/sa-lifestyle/the-az-of-the-meanings-of-south-australia8217s-town-names/news-story/eb38a61ae5809e40516b0b207a09a61b," target="_blank">A-Z of South Australia’s towns</a>)</span></span> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181a1c; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">One has to ask what was the reasoning for splitting the name between two
individuals and how is it even remotely possible that the “Shaw” half came
from Flora Louise Shaw who was nowhere near Australia in the early 1880s.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Born in
England in 1852, Flora was one of fourteen children of an Army Major. In her twenties she was already a published author of children’s books but she had
not yet embarked on her extraordinary journalism career that would eventually
see her become the Colonial Editor of <i>The Times</i> of London.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like many women of
that era, it was quite acceptable for her to write children’s literature
under her own female name but she was not expected to take on serious
journalism. When she did begin writing articles for newspapers in the mid-1880s, she used the name of “F. Shaw”, and would later be known as “The Thunderer”. It was not until after
she had written some amazing reports that her true identity became more widely known and she was grudgingly acknowledged by male editors.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But back in
1881, she was not yet 30 and living a somewhat impoverished existence as a
housekeeper or nurse companion with her income supplemented by her writing. She also
did charity work with the poor in the slums of London. Flora had been forced to leave home after
clashes with her father’s new wife. As she struggled to support herself, she
lived in a rented room in a small village in Surrey. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The furthest
she had been abroad in the early 1880s was to family in France. The likelihood
of her making the expensive, long and often arduous voyage to Australia and visiting Jervois in Adelaide is highly improbable. Nothing in the summary of her life in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, or the latest biography which is based on her own letters, diaries and
other academic sources suggests she made such a journey around that time.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Flora Shaw did
not have a formal education, but from a young age was fortunate in having mentors like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ruskin" target="_blank">John Ruskin</a>,
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Carlyle" target="_blank">Thomas Carlyle</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Meredith" target="_blank">George Meredith</a> to encourage her in spite of her sex. She
certainly would count governors, diplomats and politicians among her friends
and acquaintances, but all of this came much later in life when she was well-established. </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 16px;">At the age of 50 she married <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Lugard,_1st_Baron_Lugard" target="_blank">Lord Lugard</a>, who would become Nigeria’s first Governor General and who was also the Governor of Hong Kong.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So, is there a
chance she was a good friend of Jervois or his family? I can find nothing to
connect them, apart from the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich where Flora sometimes
did use the library when a girl and where Jervois had trained as a young
man, but whether their paths had ever crossed and Jervois was so impressed by
her that he kept her in mind for some naming acknowledgement seems doubtful. </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then there is the romantic angle. Could Flora have had some connection to F. W. Pennefather as they were about the same age, both with Irish family origins? Did they know each other and could he have been one of her many spurned younger suitors and he suggested to Jervois the combined name? It is possible, but how to prove is another matter!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was in 1892-93 that she travelled to South Africa and then Australia for the first time and officially as a correspondent, very likely visiting Government House in
Adelaide, but this was over 10 years after Penneshaw came into existence and a different Governor was in office. </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181a1c; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">I then
wondered if the “Shaw” part of the town’s name could be attributed to someone
else entirely and it didn’t take long to discover another man called </span><a href="https://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/jamesshaw.htm" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">James Shaw</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181a1c; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He was a
building contractor who helped to develop South Australia. He was instrumental
in the construction of many of Adelaide’s fine public buildings during the time of Governor Jervois, and also the new Government
House. Active in community service, he was an Alderman and would eventually
be a Mayor of Adelaide. Surely this would have qualified him for some sort of acknowledgement?
Even today, his track record would make far more sense than naming part of a remote town after a fiction author and budding female journalist, as Flora Shaw still was
in 1881. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181a1c; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">Somewhere along
the line, the story behind the naming of Penneshaw got twisted or someone (possibly E.H. Hallack) decided
it sounded better to have the name of a successful and charismatic woman
included in the town’s name, rather than just another pompous official or business
figure.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If anyone can
disprove the story about the naming of Penneshaw and/or provide me with evidence that Flora Shaw was beyond doubt the recipient of this honour, then please
do contact me!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This extensive
document detailing the origin of <a href="https://published.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/placenamesofsouthaustralia/P.pdf" target="_blank">South Australian place names</a> repeats the usual
legend although it does mention that someone thought it was to honour Alfred
Shaw, a local physician, so that shows some people weren’t so sure about the
Flora Shaw connection.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">And when it comes to naming places, Flora Shaw is allegedly the first person to give Nigeria its name and although this is based on an article written by her in 1897, some researchers are now starting to question it - so possibly a whole other story about fake news!</span></span><div><span style="color: #181a1c;"><br /></span><div><span class="bold"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguzC-v6orTHC8HLpYGbGIRecdM6AzgQ2_OJRLVNQXs5coB_ngUsnTMBQEuIIoulK3XmVoK1Dc2miVGCTmF2ZXfQ2MJAlUeNtahxq5u-iTFplXAqJILmM5hx6pXfTFxdkY0knIqEojJYHU/s978/MissAustraliatoMissShaw.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="978" data-original-width="702" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguzC-v6orTHC8HLpYGbGIRecdM6AzgQ2_OJRLVNQXs5coB_ngUsnTMBQEuIIoulK3XmVoK1Dc2miVGCTmF2ZXfQ2MJAlUeNtahxq5u-iTFplXAqJILmM5hx6pXfTFxdkY0knIqEojJYHU/w459-h640/MissAustraliatoMissShaw.jpg" width="459" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flora was an avid believer in populating the Empire with poor or disadvantaged English people but this cartoon from Punch suggests that Australia wasn't too keen on the idea! <br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;">Miss Australia to Miss Shaw -"Thank you so much, my dear, for all the nice things you've said about me. But - don't send out the invitations until I am quite ready to 'receive'.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="bold"><span style="background: white; color: #181a1c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></div></div>Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-32794652738333076302021-05-16T07:38:00.000+10:002021-05-16T07:38:43.563+10:00"The most merit of any woman in England" <p>It's been a while since I posted here. When I first started writing this blog way back in 2009, there were still not that many sites devoted to women missing from the history books; the forgotten or little-known, and the completely unheralded women who did something remarkable in their own way but were always forced to walk in the shadow of men. </p><p>I am glad to say that since then a plethora of information is now available as other researchers rediscover their stories and share them with others, although there are always going to be more and some women will forever be elusive depending on when or where they lived or what paltry records of their lives were left behind.</p><p>Just this week, I read this interesting blog by June Watson on <a href="https://www.northumberlandarchives.com/blog/" target="_blank">Northumberland Archives about Emma, Lady Tankerville</a>, who deserves to be better-known for her scientific mind as well as her exquisite botanical drawings. </p><p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwzgSVKz4MrZbXaMJw_qUap2-xzw8YgCI1tj0Mj8PWa6Jl1x1DirD9osqCYJVtJ2kSVmfQuvyMC37ZaDbXvsB-S2dWgsx4GnFAroqFj52eKi97gjLWZ8YbWfwPnSsS7yZbQYtKAc0ulNc/s998/Daniel_Gardner_of_Emma_Lady_Tankerville_and_children.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="998" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwzgSVKz4MrZbXaMJw_qUap2-xzw8YgCI1tj0Mj8PWa6Jl1x1DirD9osqCYJVtJ2kSVmfQuvyMC37ZaDbXvsB-S2dWgsx4GnFAroqFj52eKi97gjLWZ8YbWfwPnSsS7yZbQYtKAc0ulNc/w321-h400/Daniel_Gardner_of_Emma_Lady_Tankerville_and_children.jpg" width="321" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The only available portrait of Emma. See <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma,_Lady_Tankerville" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p>Admittedly she was an aristocrat with important connections and not many ordinary mothers with a big family would have the resources to find the time to indulge in her interests. Sir <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Banks" target="_blank">Joseph Banks</a> was a good friend and, according to the blog ..."Banks personally named a new Chinese swamp-orchid in honour of Emma, the Phaius tankervilleae. Emma was recorded as the first person to successfully cultivate the orchid after its introduction to England in 1778."</p><p>For anyone living in the area, the Northumberland Archives advises that a display of Emma's work from her time on the island of Madeira will be exhibited 1<b><a href="https://www.alnwickgarden.com/" target="_blank">8-26 September 2021 at Alnwick Garden</a></b> in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfuRVs_qi_f975QDEMWCZIEnCBoXyA0A69NRSY7F7dxS7Oa3LNgdYNfMWUxI6IatTW_ht7_62dj6PDbrz_ThzkOSMvS-u769tFpityH7-QOVJfpIjj3rUWFebDM9GJq8gJOgsrLoJiivA/s800/800px-Starr_070405-6795_Phaius_tankarvilleae.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfuRVs_qi_f975QDEMWCZIEnCBoXyA0A69NRSY7F7dxS7Oa3LNgdYNfMWUxI6IatTW_ht7_62dj6PDbrz_ThzkOSMvS-u769tFpityH7-QOVJfpIjj3rUWFebDM9GJq8gJOgsrLoJiivA/w400-h300/800px-Starr_070405-6795_Phaius_tankarvilleae.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first orchid cultivated in England. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaius_tankervilleae" target="_blank">See Wikipedia</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /><br /></p><p><br /></p>Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-90622451525553111852020-09-10T14:23:00.009+10:002020-09-10T14:51:37.180+10:00"Epiphany in the Snows" - the lost altarpiece<span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />This small print card in the collection of <a href="https://tansleyandco.com/" target="_blank">Tansley & Co</a>, Vintage Merchants of Maldon, is signed by the artist and it may well be a scarce surviving copy of an original painting that no longer exists. <br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqyerenA8QdTcwOZ_xyvnNUL5EdesM4V5WMGYDOR3TtU-lrbUq1U4S4RDveLNRBiZTyRtXXmPyengY4vMg8ZvZwWElJz8E5HANsYgjybWHVuon7HyqxZIFDk093wAq-4mPwib1GRou9q0/s632/Epiphany.jpg"><img border="0" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqyerenA8QdTcwOZ_xyvnNUL5EdesM4V5WMGYDOR3TtU-lrbUq1U4S4RDveLNRBiZTyRtXXmPyengY4vMg8ZvZwWElJz8E5HANsYgjybWHVuon7HyqxZIFDk093wAq-4mPwib1GRou9q0/w400-h284/Epiphany.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />Entitled “Epiphany in the Snow”, it is an unusual variation on the Nativity tale showing Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus being visited by the Three Wise Men who have travelled far, but with reindeer, malamutes or huskies rather than on the more familiar camels. <br /><br />The Star of Bethlehem hovers over the Christ Child and Mary, both of whom are dressed in ermine and wear moccasins on their feet. On their left is a man dressed as a Royal Canadian Mounted policeman, who may represent a protective Joseph. The kneeling visitor is an Inuit offering valuable walrus tusks. A Cree man holds a beaver and the crouching Hudson’s Bay Company man has a white fur in his lap, probably Arctic fox. All of these represent gifts of Canada’s wealth in a bygone age. <br /><br />But the artist, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violet_Teague" target="_blank">Violet Teague</a>, was an Australian, so how did she come to paint this unusual Christmas scene? And what happened to the original? <br /><br />Violet was born in Melbourne in 1872 to an English doctor and his Canadian wife. Well-educated at home and at a prestigious girls’ school, she travelled widely studying art in England and Europe. <br /><br />She was versatile and made woodcuts, painted portraits and both sea and landscapes, as well as writing poetry and illustrating books. She won medals for her work in places as diverse as San Francisco, Paris and London. Later in her career, she turned to religious subjects, doing altarpieces, two of her better-known Australian ones were for the Kinglake St Peter's Memorial Church and St James the Less at Mt. Eliza. For the Kinglake Church, she replaced the Nativity shepherds with Australian Lighthorsemen.<br /><br />She was commissioned in 1938 to do the altarpiece for the new All Saints “Arctic” Cathedral in the remote settlement of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aklavik" target="_blank">Aklavik</a> in the North West Territories of Canada. “Epiphany in the Snow/s” was put on show in Melbourne before being sent to be exhibited in London and then shipped to Canada where it was ceremoniously set in place by the Canadian Governor-General in 1939. (Image shows how it was placed.)<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwrmZ-fXyeg_XVuK_m8Uq0PT81AHEM_T8n5WIlF_3RF0E00YnPmCwa7minb1GpXVRD6lbVdsSquIMmRpOKQsQ6Eq_kINmCtYtriJ1kxLVK3bQUcfqYYOfxxt9b-vb92BVdktjmtmgVxKQ/s320/Cathedral1.jpg"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwrmZ-fXyeg_XVuK_m8Uq0PT81AHEM_T8n5WIlF_3RF0E00YnPmCwa7minb1GpXVRD6lbVdsSquIMmRpOKQsQ6Eq_kINmCtYtriJ1kxLVK3bQUcfqYYOfxxt9b-vb92BVdktjmtmgVxKQ/w400-h301/Cathedral1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />Sadly, on Palm Sunday 1974 [some sources say 1972], the Arctic Cathedral burned down. Despite much searching, I have been unable to confirm beyond all doubt that the altarpiece was lost at the time, but it is highly likely. The Cathedral was not rebuilt and most of the residents of Aklavik eventually relocated to the larger settlement of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuvik" target="_blank">Inuvik</a>. (Image below prior to the 1970s fire)<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcDAgrdW9bXlu-1Vk4x_l3Tx38eDCw34UlHOLeFBT30fHkxZkAoTdpikNG2TEqmk1PgC8ZS3kk3abydvHAAP4jiTtXJiACxpFOk9OmS6HxmXtYXaBPnbMURN60spCBdFGKZgqYbWmkqiw/w320-h226/Cathedral.jpg" /></div><br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Fortunately, Violet’s other altarpiece called “Adoration of the Shepherds” in the Kinglake Church did not suffer the same fate in the 2009 devastating bush fires, as the congregation had wisely relocated it a few years earlier to St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne and replaced it with a copy, which was destroyed along with that church. (Image shows the interior prior to the 2009 bush fire.)<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0mZpNuLQ1LpwXSsHIHmljcPdnl3HogV3YzIzk5723dMZAymOsWEzohyphenhyphenFddwB68uXnkbFBgOIwTjPYF9FnXNZzV2d90rGdJ76jz8eeL6u4i3UYq78nmfBXE86zTyEG2DKSrv_6kxKHWc/s479/Kinglake.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0mZpNuLQ1LpwXSsHIHmljcPdnl3HogV3YzIzk5723dMZAymOsWEzohyphenhyphenFddwB68uXnkbFBgOIwTjPYF9FnXNZzV2d90rGdJ76jz8eeL6u4i3UYq78nmfBXE86zTyEG2DKSrv_6kxKHWc/s320/Kinglake.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />Violet died in 1951, but her altarpiece at Mt Eliza is still intact (image below) and her other work occasionally appears in art sales or auctions or can be seen in institutions around Australia. <br /><br /> <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBQTrsMZOOruoYtv7kFc_BiWoADTQPSBb2CMLQpIqUcKtLHwqBOgVCrd98yB-WLjyuwostH59rWiIjM4uXFtAzmOu3lyUmbiRdLDcakyBDlHYwWz9k0hqNJxtkrBPKZwtB6NVg269jlQ8/s567/Mt-Eliza-St-James-2A.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBQTrsMZOOruoYtv7kFc_BiWoADTQPSBb2CMLQpIqUcKtLHwqBOgVCrd98yB-WLjyuwostH59rWiIjM4uXFtAzmOu3lyUmbiRdLDcakyBDlHYwWz9k0hqNJxtkrBPKZwtB6NVg269jlQ8/w300-h400/Mt-Eliza-St-James-2A.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />This is the concluding extract from the Australian Dictionary of Biography and sums up Violet’s appearance and lively character:<br /><blockquote>Less than five feet (152 cm) tall, with grey-blue eyes and masses of light brown hair, Teague was …. 'a small frail person … quiet of manner, yet with a surprising vitality and a more surprising sense of whimsy … she comes out direct in a mannered way and her eyes twinkle humorously'. She 'can talk on any subject from racehorses to the decline of Western Culture exactly and wittily'. </blockquote>Violet’s <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/teague-violet-helen-8768" target="_blank">more detailed biography can be read here</a>.<br /><br /><br />Some links to her art work <br /><br /><a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/?artist_id=teague-violet" target="_blank">NG New South Wales </a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/artist/554/" target="_blank">NG Victoria </a><br /><br />Short film by <a href="https://dl.nfsa.gov.au/module/1645/" target="_blank">NGA</a> Director Betty Churcher on Violet and her friend Jessie Traill <br /><br /><a href="http://citycollection.melbourne.vic.gov.au/portrait-of-colonel-robert-rede/" target="_blank">City of Melbourne</a><br /><br /><br />Other Information</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://penpaletteheart.com/2018/01/" target="_blank">Local Canadian story</a><br /><br /><br /></span><br /></div>Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-74949505670920720902020-06-11T12:45:00.003+10:002020-06-11T12:50:24.617+10:00Burning Questions<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">All this current hysteria involving the vandalising and
demolishing statues of historic individuals in various countries because of a tragic, nasty event in America that some consider to be the direct legacy of racism and slavery is worrying to all with a passion for history. <b>*</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There is a desperate need to stop judging our ancestors through modern eyes and to recognise the past is a different country that can never be changed, but must be acknowledged. We all have ancestors who were slaves in some form - serfs, peasants, indentured labourers - as well as more privileged others such as farmers, landholders and merchants who owned or controlled them. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Removing offending images from sight and memory will never solve current problems. If anything, people should have reminders of the wrongs of the past in order to strive for right in the present. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">History abounds with conundrums of moral conscience. A century from now, the principles and truths we hold dear may shock and horrify our descendants and memorials to our current heroes could cause some new and as yet unimagined offence. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thinking of examples of other distasteful monuments, I am reminded of a visit some years ago to </span><a href="http://www.stnicholasbuccleuch.org.uk/" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" target="_blank">St Nicholas Buccleuch </a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Church
in Dalkeith, Scotland, when I stood in front of an ornate and
impressive wall-mounted edifice to a minister of the church that was erected by his family in his memory. The flowery Latin description indicated that he had been a venerated individual; a loved father and respected pastor of his parish for more than twenty years from the mid 17th
Century.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But when I read the leaflet provided about the Church, I was
horrified. Reverend William Calderwood
was revered because he personally undertook the investigation, torture and
condemnation of 60 local women for witchcraft and who were subsequently
burned at the stake.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">D</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">uring his tenure as minister, trials were held weekly at Dalkeith and his partner in this "witch-pricking" was the local headmaster: tw</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">o educated men from whom one would have expected enlightenment but instead they were involved in this most macabre and cruel practice. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In his life and times, Calderwood was considered a good
man for doggedly searching out what he thought were the bad elements in his
society, the "Devil's spawn", and doing away with them. For this, he received the esteem of his
community much as we give out medals and awards today.</span><br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="293" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjAJoUnl_aEwcNn5Fxq3lbCNvFJNZZWgO8bBmKazYYKPAncofjOnju-TbylpPr4nUeWBk9eIYdqXqdPIrHkrPnpTNmQBZ9HzJeul0Z-Wp4S7BOnRr4c9wARK3BRpYxlAvYILUxto87G3o/s400/Calderwood.jpeg" width="207" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(This image comes from the church leaflet and it is difficult to find any others online, my personal photos being too dark to reproduce. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Perhaps being well aware of the unpleasant history behind the Calderwood memorial, the church's governing body prefers it remains low-key.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So - if one believes that monuments celebrating historic individuals who did offensive, cruel or wicked things should be desecrated or removed from public sight, then every single statue, effigy and plaque in every historic setting needs to be examined. Who is going to decide what goes and what does not? It is a ludicrous idea not far removed from book-burning and destruction of archives undertaken by many dictatorships. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh420y_LfC0ycQKRRokUAI1P5FE-eSqPO1FpnldiPnDw3JIhWnw3fFvAkh7xljN0-STXJhX274anUQ_GdgWZvGTtKYmiZp0HN_MU2P8zH-ky4LFyfsMvp_LANTVBAo94C9GXw4IE6oT_os/s1600/Witch_Burning-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="615" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh420y_LfC0ycQKRRokUAI1P5FE-eSqPO1FpnldiPnDw3JIhWnw3fFvAkh7xljN0-STXJhX274anUQ_GdgWZvGTtKYmiZp0HN_MU2P8zH-ky4LFyfsMvp_LANTVBAo94C9GXw4IE6oT_os/s400/Witch_Burning-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Edinburgh Witch Burning</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7hwbclGyTPzFH9LiUw-PWv4DJu0nInINHtafebErFWB9-TMHMyS_1Y81mjz0s1PJ6YsrsaLkJ7Zsphxsb5WZUprbv2O54RLdL07gbSSu30XlNfEzUjH96zYDMIwhgxDe4ygzsgTLW5g/s1600/BookBurning1933.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="486" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7hwbclGyTPzFH9LiUw-PWv4DJu0nInINHtafebErFWB9-TMHMyS_1Y81mjz0s1PJ6YsrsaLkJ7Zsphxsb5WZUprbv2O54RLdL07gbSSu30XlNfEzUjH96zYDMIwhgxDe4ygzsgTLW5g/s400/BookBurning1933.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Germany Book Burning</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There are no images of Calderwood himself to be found, but it also worth noting that the
paranoia against witches in Scotland was initiated at the highest level by King James VI (later to
be <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_VI_and_I" target="_blank">King James I</a> of England). It was he who gave free rein to men like
William Calderwood, encouraging them to do their best in ridding his country of
witches.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">King James VI (James I) can be seen in several places - there are effigies at the Bodleian Library in<a href="https://www.glam.ox.ac.uk/outinoxford-bod-statue" target="_blank"> Oxford</a> and at Trinity College, <a href="https://www.alamy.com/statue-of-king-james-i-or-vi-with-orb-and-scepter-on-the-west-tower-at-trinity-college-cambridge-university-england-image216481075.html" target="_blank">Cambridge</a>, as well as in the grounds of
Glamis Castle, childhood home of the late Queen Mother.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is doubtful anyone is going to deface or pull them down
anytime soon because of the hundreds of innocent women and men who died horrific deaths as a result of his own phobia.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJk5DQhuOGXwpzXF-LwsHXeYPymJHE_-ogJzANWAidB6hzoY9-_FomhTJAiU6qakBsCZSmEOH3IB4gU7miBnh8iUZT_QeLjKlnLVQ9Trjd-_rRmRt-vtL8SOMRRLaKF-XtBVEsvjfrt8k/s1600/king-james-VI-statue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="639" data-original-width="426" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJk5DQhuOGXwpzXF-LwsHXeYPymJHE_-ogJzANWAidB6hzoY9-_FomhTJAiU6qakBsCZSmEOH3IB4gU7miBnh8iUZT_QeLjKlnLVQ9Trjd-_rRmRt-vtL8SOMRRLaKF-XtBVEsvjfrt8k/s640/king-james-VI-statue.jpg" width="425" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">King James VI of Scotland and I of England<br />Glamis Castle, Scotland</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTm4uDArbkaTBj8Unp6SxDJIqTvtER7ve5hT8FQwvXMY06fZhQt-peUnPojZdaq60XNU8KpyRedhyphenhyphen1YwSVuet_xE4IIP0IaZw87ajeMbpj1KPH7onOhnnNMRPuEI_gknG8406lUAaX3RQ/s1600/The+Witches%2527+Well+Edinburgh_image+by+Mihaela+Bodlovic+%25289%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="909" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTm4uDArbkaTBj8Unp6SxDJIqTvtER7ve5hT8FQwvXMY06fZhQt-peUnPojZdaq60XNU8KpyRedhyphenhyphen1YwSVuet_xE4IIP0IaZw87ajeMbpj1KPH7onOhnnNMRPuEI_gknG8406lUAaX3RQ/s400/The+Witches%2527+Well+Edinburgh_image+by+Mihaela+Bodlovic+%25289%2529.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Witches Well Memorial -<br />site where witches were executed outside<br />Edinburgh Castle, Scotland<br />(Atlas Obscura)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daemonologie" target="_blank">The Daemonolgie</a>, written by King James VI/James I.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://witches.is.ed.ac.uk/" target="_blank">Map of Scotland </a>showing where witches were tried and/or executed. Lists 45 names in Dalkeith alone and includes a number of men.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.shca.ed.ac.uk/Research/witches/" target="_blank">Database of nearly 4,000 individuals</a> in Scotland accused of witchcraft.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><b>*</b></span><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is often overlooked that many African slaves sent to the Americas were the victims of their own race when warring or rival tribes captured them and transported them for sale to the Europeans at the coast. The Arabs perpetuated this shocking trade until well into the 20th Century (see my earlier blog on the <a href="https://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2012/06/cairo-home-for-freed-women-slaves.html" target="_blank">home for slaves in Cairo</a>.)</span></span></div>
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<br />Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-65622691884450659662020-05-22T16:19:00.002+10:002020-05-22T16:36:42.233+10:00Stirring the Devil's Porridge<div style="background-color: white; color: #1e1b1b; padding: 0px 0px 20px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ask the average person what they know about Gretna in Scotland, just over the border from England, and most likely the answer will be that it's that romantic place where people used to elope to and get married over the blacksmith's anvil, i.e. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gretna_Green" target="_blank">Gretna Green</a>. *</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">That is certainly true, but Gretna was also part of what was known as the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20200504-the-tiny-country-between-england-and-scotland" target="_blank">"Debatable Land",</a> a dangerous no-man's-land region between England and Scotland who had so often been at war with one another. In the 16th Century, it also became the haunt of the infamous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_reivers" target="_blank">Reivers</a> who held no allegiance to either side and ruthlessly raided, pillaged and laid waste to much of the countryside on both sides of the Border. It wasn't a place where you would venture willingly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the early 20th Century, the region again became a deadly no-go zone as factories were built along the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Esk,_Dumfries_and_Galloway" target="_blank">River Esk</a> for the manufacture of munitions for the First World War. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And so Gretna then became the place where they stirred the "Devil's Porridge", or </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordite" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" target="_blank">Cordite</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOqeydpj0r3o1aAJA4gSK9_RVXsth21HLzUxGsz87v3Kvv7LDyM7h1TyBxsGzyjzViZ3Vb-1k4smLflpp6OmxFe-I0RPnYO23ybKn4xT-ntvSstsiZRhCz6j_DGIRiwOY2TmkWmKVoURk/s1600/CorditeMixing2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="1229" height="445" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOqeydpj0r3o1aAJA4gSK9_RVXsth21HLzUxGsz87v3Kvv7LDyM7h1TyBxsGzyjzViZ3Vb-1k4smLflpp6OmxFe-I0RPnYO23ybKn4xT-ntvSstsiZRhCz6j_DGIRiwOY2TmkWmKVoURk/s640/CorditeMixing2.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hand-mixing Cordite (note no gloves!)<br />
Copyright Devil's Porridge Museum</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This was a mixture of gun-cotton (nitro-cellulose), </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">nitro-glycerine, sulphuric and nitric acids. When</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> detonated in shells and bullets it would burn, produce gas and explode. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (author of Sherlock Holmes) who was said to have given the process the name of the "Devil's Porridge" when he was one of the few journalists allowed to witness the work in which women were employed to stir the stuff with their hands before it was packed and transported to shell-making factories elsewhere. At the peak of the War, up to 1,000 tons of cordite were produced every week.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #404040; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thousands of workers, most of them young women, were recruited to this work of "feeding the hungry guns". But like all munitions work it could be deadly. Turning the cordite with bare hands, their skin turned yellow due to the sulphur component and their bones suffered, with many of them having their teeth fall out.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #404040; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Those female munitions workers who stirred that porridge are largely unsung and forgotten now but without them there would have been no shells, no eventual victory. </span><br />
<span style="color: #404040; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #404040; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">At a time when women were grateful to have well-paid regular work as well as being of the firm belief they were doing their patriotic duty and contributing to the war effort, few of them were likely to have been troubled by any moral conscience in knowing that what they were stirring would go on to kill and maim millions. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjslegQ8I_tPomuZfIZ0PDSxImwEasYboO38DbREE_uiRvJNp0elKqwAlg3N3zIQPqH7TKdHc3h_n3JdFFXbgUCYLVgUAYrtYKI-2AUGOW_NIEbyZ71YOPOHr7FcH1g_8U6Mw64FsME1Vg/s1600/Cordite-Mixing-Postcard.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="300" height="475" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjslegQ8I_tPomuZfIZ0PDSxImwEasYboO38DbREE_uiRvJNp0elKqwAlg3N3zIQPqH7TKdHc3h_n3JdFFXbgUCYLVgUAYrtYKI-2AUGOW_NIEbyZ71YOPOHr7FcH1g_8U6Mw64FsME1Vg/s640/Cordite-Mixing-Postcard.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting right into it!<br />
Copyright Devil's Porridge Museum</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #404040; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A lighter side to the deadly manufacture in these postcards:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFfgV_KQUnPNTvPFQmuZkE0yE_Wi1TTRohGlazh-s_v70TtU5LHKSzE6ccmtpaP5xgWPugwa5lb4YwAD55eN87xLBmH7T1EROYvsQC8iP_JE3bn715uX_hlTaDRJwN4ScfY29DEFQ09nk/s1600/MatchesGretna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="658" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFfgV_KQUnPNTvPFQmuZkE0yE_Wi1TTRohGlazh-s_v70TtU5LHKSzE6ccmtpaP5xgWPugwa5lb4YwAD55eN87xLBmH7T1EROYvsQC8iP_JE3bn715uX_hlTaDRJwN4ScfY29DEFQ09nk/s640/MatchesGretna.jpg" width="410" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #404040; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(Images and information from the <a href="https://www.devilsporridge.org.uk/" target="_blank">Devil's Porridge Museum</a> in Scotland, also see the following links.)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #404040; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-cumbria-26366036/world-war-one-at-home-producing-devil-s-porridge" target="_blank">BBC Cumbria</a></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1e1b1b; padding: 0px 0px 20px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://museumcrush.org/the-devils-porridge-museum-uncovers-love-in-the-munitions-factory/" target="_blank">Museum Crush</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/feb/10/debatable-land-graham-robb-review" target="_blank">Debatable Land: The Lost World Between England and Scotland</a></span></div>
<span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="color: #1e1b1b; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/feb/10/debatable-land-graham-robb-review" target="_blank"></a></span>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">* You can still get married at Gretna Green today if you so fancy!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1e1b1b; padding: 0px 0px 20px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.gretnagreen.com/weddings" target="_blank">Gretna Green Weddings</a></span><br />
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Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-81908556217799143182020-03-27T11:45:00.001+11:002020-03-27T11:45:24.226+11:00Rebel Englishwoman: The Remarkable Life of Emily Hobhouse<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs2uYhx7GEr20HqwBKgnLDklko8PxBKOg535Guxsf-HEfdrpp3FDNLzVPIgn7QZDpm69JFL0VymRBd7CuDhARNAV9DVGHTE4K2rA5ZXkaSf5Tw0n1F_zM4tg9r3YwaBegPtmt3RX1tnxw/s1600/Eily.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="306" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs2uYhx7GEr20HqwBKgnLDklko8PxBKOg535Guxsf-HEfdrpp3FDNLzVPIgn7QZDpm69JFL0VymRBd7CuDhARNAV9DVGHTE4K2rA5ZXkaSf5Tw0n1F_zM4tg9r3YwaBegPtmt3RX1tnxw/s400/Eily.jpg" width="257" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rebel-Englishwoman-Remarkable-Emily-Hobhouse/dp/1472140923" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Amazon</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mention “concentration camps” and most people will immediately
think of the Nazis and places like Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Dachau,
Ravensbruck and many others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But once there were other concentration camps with very
British-sounding names such as Balmoral and Belfast, Howick and Nigel. There
was even one called America. These were located in South Africa during the Boer
War of 1899-1902. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">These camps were imposed by the British, under the
command of Lord Kitchener, on the civilian population of South Africa.
Initially set up as “refugee” camps they soon deteriorated into squalid and
disease-infested open-air prisons. The numbers of women, children and elderly or sick men who died in tents in appalling conditions
vary depending on your choice of reference material and which statistics you
choose to believe, or whether they even bother to include the many thousands of
unknown innocent black and mixed race individuals who were also incarcerated in separate camps after being swept up in this now largely forgotten war. Officially, it is said at least 27,000 died, but the record-keeping is unreliable and the figure is more likely to be over 50,000. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Emily Hobhouse was the Englishwoman who first alerted the
world to the horror of these camps. For her efforts, she was labelled as “hysterical” and even a traitor. Although she did have the support of a small group of influential liberal friends, she was overwhelmingly vilified, despised and loathed in her
attempts to bring to light the conditions in the camps. In England and around the Empire no-one wanted to believe that the British were
capable of such inhumanity, especially towards the families of their enemy. When she tried to return to South Africa, she was deported.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Eventually, her actions did bear fruit and there was a softening in attitude although the hierarchy did not include Emily when the suffragist, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millicent_Fawcett" target="_blank">Millicent Fawcett</a>, headed up a commission of ladies to visit the camps for themselves and recommend improvements. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Emily made it her life’s purpose to promote the
rights of women and the cause of peace at all costs, and her actions are beautifully detailed in this magnificent biography by Elsabé Brits. With the aid of family archives hitherto unavailable to other biographers, the author reveals new information and delves deeply into the character of this committed and admirable woman. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Even after the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Vereeniging" target="_blank">Peace of Vereeniging</a> in 1902, the camps
continued for a long time as Kitchener’s “scorched earth” policy meant there
were no homes or farms for many to return to. Her efforts to create work for
women and girls by way of introducing <a href="http://emilyhobhouse.weebly.com/" target="_blank">lace-making</a> and spinning and weaving schools were
remarkable. In spite of poor health and diminished funds, Emily continued to
travel endlessly promoting peace and finding ways of helping those affected by
war. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">During the First World War, she again embarrassed the British by flaunting European travel restrictions in order to liaise with senior Germans in attempts to organise a peace process, for which she was castigated severely and narrowly escaped imprisonment. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">After the war
was over, she organised food for thousands of Germans left to starve in
Leipzig. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In spite of her enormous humanitarian efforts and commitment to peace, even today she still remains a controversial character with some (mostly conservative
male) historians. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Emily certainly had her faults in obstinacy and a refusal to compromise her
ethics and beliefs, but the best summation of her came from her friend </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Smuts" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" target="_blank">General Jan Smuts</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, Prime Minister of South Africa</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">:</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Let us not forget Emily Hobhouse. She was an Englishwoman
to the marrow, proud of her people and its great mission and history. But for
her patriotism was not enough. When she saw her country embark on a policy
which was in conflict with the higher moral law, she did not say: ‘My country,
right or wrong.’ She wholeheartedly took our side against that of her own
people, and in doing so rendered an imperishable service, not only to us, but
also to her own England and to the world at large.</span></b></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For this loyalty to the higher and great things of life she
suffered deeply. Her action was not understood or appreciated by her own people
… Emily Hobhouse will stand out … as a trumpet call to the higher duty … and
loyalty to the great things which … bind together all nations as a great
spiritual brotherhood …"</span></b></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p> </o:p> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Today, Emily is still revered by descendants of the
Boer women and children she strove to help and after she died in 1926, her
ashes were buried at the base of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Women%27s_Monument" target="_blank">National Women’s Monument </a>in Bloemfontein.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A five star biography about a five star woman.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDOQhVGsuLdH0VJRPLc18FcBx_aXJsUtGk0t08CAGuh8zw7mKZWxsU3lb0pxXEB2y1e6bkZnwaPgWnvrxYwwsncllzenSRPQZIxS6xwXjqXuITKbu6AnnMJiWEMDJhP7oR8i25VJ8K4Fs/s1600/Emily2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="297" data-original-width="170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDOQhVGsuLdH0VJRPLc18FcBx_aXJsUtGk0t08CAGuh8zw7mKZWxsU3lb0pxXEB2y1e6bkZnwaPgWnvrxYwwsncllzenSRPQZIxS6xwXjqXuITKbu6AnnMJiWEMDJhP7oR8i25VJ8K4Fs/s400/Emily2.jpg" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Detail - National Women's Monument, Bloemfontein<br />(Emily Hobhouse witnessed this very scene and worked with the sculptor in its design.)</span></td></tr>
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<br />Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-68950079143657993442020-03-25T09:25:00.003+11:002020-03-25T09:26:24.320+11:00Annie Egan and the Spanish Flu<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Although plagues might not be one's choice of entertainment at the present time, I highly recommend this informative podcast by Michael Adams telling the story of nurse Annie Egan and how the Spanish Flu impacted on Australia.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://forgottenaustralia.com/2018/11/11/episode-1-sister-annie-sydney-and-the-spanish-flu/" target="_blank">Forgotten Australia</a></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifaS5JqrdKGr-gAjW5KtxHGY6HTR-AxW4qeo3PKIf1ihOOxTiEnBD2FB1BpVtAeGYPjnVbOkgLNONhFducsPaYBN-m6_GDMpXPxAU3GZ39fWN1za7OfGs4AzfoaR0t8OU1tkkS-iqH4TA/s1600/AnnieEgan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="316" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifaS5JqrdKGr-gAjW5KtxHGY6HTR-AxW4qeo3PKIf1ihOOxTiEnBD2FB1BpVtAeGYPjnVbOkgLNONhFducsPaYBN-m6_GDMpXPxAU3GZ39fWN1za7OfGs4AzfoaR0t8OU1tkkS-iqH4TA/s400/AnnieEgan.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-11482973357790346712020-02-27T13:11:00.000+11:002020-02-27T13:11:04.882+11:00'Even a Woman Can Do It'<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First Officer Everard-Steenkamp was the last ATA (<a href="https://atamuseum.org/" target="_blank">Air Transport Auxiliary</a>) Spitfire pilot to die in the line of duty shortly after the end of World War II. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On 19 March 1946, while on a routine service delivery flight of a <a href="https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/150882" target="_blank">Spitfire XIV</a> between Hampshire and an RAF base in Shropshire, the plane's engine inexplicably failed and it crashed into some trees at Button Oak at full speed. Death was instantaneous. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Joining the ATA in 1944 and chalking up 4,000 flying hours in every type of aircraft available, Rosamund King Everard-Steenkamp was to become the first recorded woman to pilot a jet when it was still in the experimental stage. Wing Commander <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Bird-Wilson" target="_blank">H. Bird-Wilson </a>had asked her to fly the <a href="http://www.airvectors.net/avmeteor.html#m4" target="_blank">Meteor Mark III</a> to show that "<i>even a woman can do it</i>". She reached the speed of 600km per hour. In her personal log book she recorded the flight with one word: "<i>Wizard!</i>"</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8BivtoGGDjn38dBK35ZUPHVgna8wJ9mnwvd7irBbdYD_IJmCLKn9INIUvzXKK0i3QoZyqoR6tnILUnf4bAY7s5SjuzNr-FvJ6gSW-wr3H10STIK0LgwT3hkTIl-mcgfKoin_Tr_RfGU/s1600/RosamundtheInstructor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="197" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8BivtoGGDjn38dBK35ZUPHVgna8wJ9mnwvd7irBbdYD_IJmCLKn9INIUvzXKK0i3QoZyqoR6tnILUnf4bAY7s5SjuzNr-FvJ6gSW-wr3H10STIK0LgwT3hkTIl-mcgfKoin_Tr_RfGU/s320/RosamundtheInstructor.jpg" width="247" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Rosamund the pilot<br />(South African Military History)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As one of the often-unheralded female pilots of the ATA, Rosamund should be assured of her place in World War II history, but she was so much more. She had been a farmer, a qualified judge of Ayrshire cattle and a wool classer. She was an excellent rider and shot. In addition she was a musician but it is as an artist that she received her greatest acclaim. Her work is still in demand with art collectors today. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN1HixYXYUzLZkZrX3_wperlCZB9pO9HxWGVsi80PY7vGBK2T0GqFY7W1oTLhjTHMjjsq9YGMgxf4JklgMYuShyMf_6crWj6MijMQpfURTdZ8BYZBxhJvi6CQZG3piXNMgAS0ixxBEZnw/s1600/StillLifewithErythrinaCaffra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN1HixYXYUzLZkZrX3_wperlCZB9pO9HxWGVsi80PY7vGBK2T0GqFY7W1oTLhjTHMjjsq9YGMgxf4JklgMYuShyMf_6crWj6MijMQpfURTdZ8BYZBxhJvi6CQZG3piXNMgAS0ixxBEZnw/s320/StillLifewithErythrinaCaffra.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Still Life with Erythrina Caffra,</i><br />Copyright: everard-group.com</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Born on 20 July 1907, at Bonnefoi in the Carolina District of the Transvaal, South Africa, Rosamund was the second daughter of trader and farmer, Charles Joseph Everard, and his artist wife, (Amy) Bertha King. All the women in the family were destined to be artists of note. Rosamund's elder sister, Ruth, her daughter Leonora, and then granddaughter, Nichola Leigh, have continued the family tradition to the fourth generation. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhukeO2rgV9fFKNKZ10YZuDMXhfUarH0WVqAzITp4NyL23yTWzgKESre1XtO3iBHX-eEIJ6kEjhC6cO8tjuYyVmOQ-q5E5AIZsWnZM9EGXvHtCaelwQwIOZ94rjGjyZtcp69k_r4h1rM_Q/s1600/Rosamund.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="733" data-original-width="591" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhukeO2rgV9fFKNKZ10YZuDMXhfUarH0WVqAzITp4NyL23yTWzgKESre1XtO3iBHX-eEIJ6kEjhC6cO8tjuYyVmOQ-q5E5AIZsWnZM9EGXvHtCaelwQwIOZ94rjGjyZtcp69k_r4h1rM_Q/s400/Rosamund.jpg" width="322" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rosamund the artist<br />Copyright: everard-group.com</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To learn all about the <b><a href="http://www.everard-group.com/index.html" target="_blank">Everard Group</a></b>, please follow the link. The following is an extract from that website:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="background-color: white;">'Ruth and Rosamund</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">had inherited their mother's adventurous and determined spirit. After their unorthodox education on a remote South African farm, the girls were taken to Europe to further Ruth's artistic and Rosamund's musical studies. Here they were exposed to the vibrant and stimulating Parisian Art scene of the 1920's. Ruth and Rosamund developed the same liberated and strongly independent spirit that characterizes other remarkable women of the era. </span></b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="background-color: white;">Uninhibited, unconventional and beautiful, on their return to South Africa in 1926, the sisters brought back something of the glamour of the jazz age to their farm on the highveld. Always the extrovert, with the latest Art Deco- inspired dresses and jewellery from Paris, Rosamund threw extravagant parties and Bonnefoi became the social hub of the region.</span></b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Rosamund's paintings of the time dazzle with the enjoyment of Clarice Cliff type colour. The landscape undergoes an artistic transformation in a Rosamund painting as the mountains and valleys become a decorative pattern of flattened and simplified forms.</b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Although a successful farmer, Rosamund could not adapt to the conventional role accorded to women in farming communities and so, in 1935, embarked on a career as an aviatrix.'</b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rosamund had also studied violin at the Paris Conservatoire. An extract from a biographical article about her in the South African Military History Journal has this to say:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b> ' ...an idealist, in search of truth and beauty, her music lifted her up to sing among the clouds and inspired her with a passion for flying. As she wrote in her diary, "<i>I sometimes felt I was walking on the clouds</i>."'</b></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rosamund took up flying with her brother Sebastian and came to love the landscape of the Transvaal with its:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><b>'... panoramic views of the limitless, rolling veld where great billowing thunderheads came rolling over the green grass and the rainwashed sky was intensely blue.'</b></span> </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Exhibitions of her paintings were held Europe in the 1930s to which she flew in her own de Havilland <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Puss_Moth" target="_blank">Puss Moth </a>aircraft. After qualifying for a commercial licence, Rosamund took part in the <a href="https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVAEJQWDB1GJ6WSHZJIZWISY33DW-LEISURE-TRANSPORT-AVIATION-1936-HENDON-AIR-PAGEANT/query/HENDON+AIR+PAGEANT" target="_blank">Hendon Air Pageant </a>and her solo tour of Europe and North Africa culminated in an official reception in Turkey where she was the guest of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Kemal_Atat%C3%BCrk" target="_blank">Kemal Ataturk</a>. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rosamund and her plane<br />Copyright: everard-group.com</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5-arPueGN5BlSMkMxbNM97xEF56lwAQhEwXGTGZ1zO1-KiavQcpScNtWXrMNLN12tKonPLiww6tViYF0ZLQ8Y4qkvZrJBa3sl6Z95PeEPrbWHY1TkSw4Ho_2Vac_N4D9HKSi-c127En4/s1600/RosamundKomatipool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="1000" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5-arPueGN5BlSMkMxbNM97xEF56lwAQhEwXGTGZ1zO1-KiavQcpScNtWXrMNLN12tKonPLiww6tViYF0ZLQ8Y4qkvZrJBa3sl6Z95PeEPrbWHY1TkSw4Ho_2Vac_N4D9HKSi-c127En4/s320/RosamundKomatipool.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Komati Pool</i><br />Copyright: everard-group.com</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After gaining her Navigator's and Instructor's licences, Rosamund flew aircraft deliveries in Kenya. At the outbreak of war, she became the official flying instructor at the Witwatersrand Technical College and trained many pupil pilots who later distinguished themselves in the South African Air Force. Together with other female pilots, she flew<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Model_18_Lodestar" target="_blank"> Lodestar passenger aircraft</a> on the shuttle service between South Africa and Cairo. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One of her students had been Hermanus N. F. Steenkamp whom she married in 1940. Sadly, their marriage was shortlived as her husband died in 1942 (exact cause unknown, but possibly as a result of either war service or accident). Rosamund felt his loss keenly and was convinced that an all-female flying war ambulance service could have saved the lives of many men like her husband, but her attempts to get this off the ground were met with official disapproval.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This extract from the biographical article gives us further evidence of her determination to have women aviators recognised:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>'Hearing that the Russians employed women pilots, she decided to join the Russian Air Force. Getting a lift from the USAAF, she proceeded to Teheran, the wartime communication centre between the Russians and the Allies.</b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>At the Russian military headquarters she met nothing but suspicion and distrust. Air Commodore Runciman and the British Ambassador, Sir Reader Bullard, with whom she lunched, advised her that, even if the Russians did accept her, they would not give her the work she wanted to do but would callously try to break her spirit. Thus, all her dreams and schemes to achieve a more effective role for women pilots in the war were once again frustrated.'</b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The closing paragraph of the article well sums up the amazing and courageous life of Rosamund Everard-Steenkamp:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>It is significant that she met her end as a Spitfire pilot and thus emulated some of the immortals of the Battle of Brtain in her own 'finest hour'. Of Rosamund Everard-Steenkamp, talented musician, artist, agriculturist and flyer, it may be said, 'Whom the gods love, die young.'</b></span></blockquote>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEMWi4x-j3QZWleaZC5LAeuMDThJA-4WtSjO9efCqnIPqPdGa87Cj_8MlD5XBF5RMXZT737SznxkIUsnHIPBSTxm-x0mufuE-dfQotYzM36VqU0N7Hew_2esDOABg01XB231C_onNX1yo/s1600/CWGRosamund.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="999" data-original-width="666" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEMWi4x-j3QZWleaZC5LAeuMDThJA-4WtSjO9efCqnIPqPdGa87Cj_8MlD5XBF5RMXZT737SznxkIUsnHIPBSTxm-x0mufuE-dfQotYzM36VqU0N7Hew_2esDOABg01XB231C_onNX1yo/s640/CWGRosamund.jpg" width="426" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56138421/rosamund-king-everard_steenkamp#view-photo=13621493" target="_blank">Find-a-Grave</a>, All Saints Cemetery, Maidenhead, Berkshire<br />Epitaph reads: <i>Great-Hearted, Greatly Loved<br />Death has no dominion<br />over her.</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Follow these links to learn more</span><br />
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<a href="http://highveldheritage.co.za/tour/the-abandoned-town-of-bonnefoi/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Take a tour to the Abandoned Town of Bonnefoi</span></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.artnet.com/artists/rosamund-king-everard-steenkamp/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Artnet Collection of paintings by Rosamund.</span></a><br />
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<a href="http://rapidttp.co.za/milhist/vol035ss.html?fbclid=IwAR1idxy_y3PI2Xk0zdrNbrZmr4Wpyf4dSVznKRizPhxkx0vAiro8B3g_7pQ" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">South African Military History Society </span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.invaluable.com/artist/everard-rosamund-cdk5lktkg3/sold-at-auction-prices/" target="_blank">Auction prices</a> for Rosamund paintings</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.lifewithart.com/artists/rosamund-everard.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Life with Art page on Rosamund</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A book was written in 1980, <a href="http://www.everard-group.com/page5.htm" target="_blank"><i>The Women of Bonnefoi</i>,</a> but it is rare and copies are pricey.</span><br />
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<br />Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-13680890045095760502019-08-06T18:53:00.003+10:002022-03-16T12:55:12.741+11:00Women to the Front: the Extraordinary Australian Women Doctors of the Great War<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/women-to-the-front-9780143794707" target="_blank">Penguin</a></span></td></tr>
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Discovering stories about forgotten or marginalised women from history continues to be one of my passions. For the last ten years or so, this blog has attempted to bring some of them to light, and so it is always an enormous pleasure to see others publishing such enlightening books that will reach wider audiences.<br /> <br />Although many people are still surprised to learn that there were women doctors who served during World War I, this was something I’d always known from an early age, due to the fact that my late aunt had been a nursing VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) and she told me that she had worked with female doctors in hospitals on the island of Malta and on the Eastern Front at Salonika in 1917-1918. [See Note below.]<br /> <br />This book focusses on just twenty-four Australian women doctors who defied the prejudices and policies of the military establishment and made their own invaluable contribution to the war effort. Between them, they displayed extraordinary grit, determination and courage and saved untold numbers of lives yet their achievements remain shadowy at best. And when they returned home many had their experiences negated due to the attitudes of the time.<br /> <br />As the authors Heather Sheard and Ruth Lee state, neither the British nor the Australian National Archives carry any official service records for these women. They have had to rely on small collections of letters, diaries and other materials and it is impossible to know for sure how many Australian women doctors went to war. “<i>The paucity of official records for the women … and the lack of sources generally, has meant that while some women’s experiences are relatively well documented, of others there are very few traces</i>.”<br /> <br />The book is eminently readable as it weaves the experiences of these women within the timeline of the War at both the Western and Eastern Fronts, in the Mediterranean and Middle East as well as England and Scotland. Its last third contains more detailed biographical details of each doctor listed. With the aid of the index, this will be an invaluable resource for anyone researching a woman in particular to find out where and when she served.<br /> <br />This is a most important and worthy addition to the history of women in World War I and is highly recommended.<br /> <br /><br /><br /> <br /><b>Note</b>:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Also see my earlier review of “<a href="https://www.marinamaxwellauthor.com/book-reviews/isabella-and-the-string-of-beads">Isabella and the String of Beads</a>” by Katrina Kirkwood about another British woman doctor, Dr. Isabella Stenhouse. This book mentions <a href="https://www.maltaramc.com/ladydoc/g/greeneheema.html">Dr. Helen Greene </a>who was a friend of both my late Aunt, Peggy Atkins, and her fiance, Sgt. Alex Hennell, when they all worked together in Malta during World War I. Sgt. Hennell visited Dr. Greene when on leave in England and she and the other lady doctors of Malta are referred to in several of his letters.</span></div>
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Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-86752072171341078432019-07-23T09:01:00.000+10:002019-07-23T09:01:26.428+10:00A Life at the Edge of the World (Book Review)<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b>Elizabeth
Macarthur: a Life at the Edge of the World</b></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Michelle Scott Tucker</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN5NDRjtlU5dZPI8xttIZbhfVuWE8NnhVAoyKeX5TtlsXUWs2ZOhCokYUTFXmpZkGVU0Yf2yiL65VRg4fJ6dvvuXSpykwWUT2b-0jQhmZ8_KtQgNV3eu9kqaSlJ2NiXElAiO5tPN1iXtQ/s1600/Macarthur.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="549" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN5NDRjtlU5dZPI8xttIZbhfVuWE8NnhVAoyKeX5TtlsXUWs2ZOhCokYUTFXmpZkGVU0Yf2yiL65VRg4fJ6dvvuXSpykwWUT2b-0jQhmZ8_KtQgNV3eu9kqaSlJ2NiXElAiO5tPN1iXtQ/s400/Macarthur.jpg" width="261" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.textpublishing.com.au/books/elizabeth-macarthur-a-life-at-the-edge-of-the-world" target="_blank">Text Publishing</a><br /> (the cover shows the young Elizabeth and in the background Elizabeth Farm around 1826)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Those
who are interested in early colonial Australian history will be familiar with
the name of <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/macarthur-john-2390" target="_blank">John Macarthur</a>, who is credited with establishing the wool industry
with stock descended from Spanish merino sheep. He is equally known for being a
leader in the infamous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion" target="_blank">Rum Rebellion</a> in which he deposed Captain William Bligh
(of “Bounty” fame) as the Governor. Macarthur also passed through the pockets
of millions of Australia when the first $2 bill came out with his image
imprinted on it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Of
his wife, Elizabeth, less is known, although she has given her name to the NSW
<a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/about-us/research-development/centres/emai" target="_blank">Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute </a>and a high school, and <a href="https://sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/elizabeth-farm" target="_blank">Elizabeth Farm</a> is one of Australia’s oldest buildings open to the public.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For
years at a time, John Macarthur was absent from the family’s properties around Parramatta
and left Elizabeth to hold the reins. This book tells her side of the story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Married
in 1788 (the year the First Fleet arrived in New South Wales) 22 year-old new
bride Elizabeth and her arrogant, but almost penniless, army officer husband
John followed three years later and began to build their own empire “at the
edge of the world”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Although
she often longed to see her beloved Devon countryside again, Elizabeth would
never return to England and devoted the rest of her life dealing with the many
hazards and challenges of a tough and strange environment. Family issues
had to be negotiated alongside pragmatic business ones. In her husband's absence, she had to manage both
the household and business matters, attend to the employment of convicts. She
personally oversaw the processes of wool production, including washing, baling
and transport, as well as a breeding program to produce the best flocks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With
her cautious diplomacy, Elizabeth negotiated the inevitable feuds and
jealousies common to all small insular societies. She endured booms and busts
and tragic personal losses. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet through
it all she continued to love a husband who was notorious for his recalcitrance
and irascibility, and willingly deputised for him at a time when women of her genteel background were expected to be little more than decorations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Elizabeth
bore nine children, and progressively lost several of them before she herself
died aged 83. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of her sons was sent
to England at the age of seven and died thirty years later without ever seeing
his mother again. A daughter suffered from what might have been polio and needed
constant care for many years. There would be no quiet retirement for Elizabeth,
however, as John Macarthur increasingly suffered from insanity, finally being
institutionalised. Through it all, Elizabeth persevered in her steady and competent way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This biography is a fine and most fitting tribute to one remarkable woman.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSn0TCD6l8-YZ-1IqUKbH5hA-qLUQX8RAq_OxaFCqJeoW1iRcCoFBFYzdpabRhuHTxOX2gZTCKP25b_gAY8TrsR4iNodWPyDn6Fuq_LuYfodUOo-eU7TsZGE3MK0WOUzC_R9YOyBN4E0c/s1600/parramatta-elizabeth-macarthur-1845-smomacofcp1912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="658" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSn0TCD6l8-YZ-1IqUKbH5hA-qLUQX8RAq_OxaFCqJeoW1iRcCoFBFYzdpabRhuHTxOX2gZTCKP25b_gAY8TrsR4iNodWPyDn6Fuq_LuYfodUOo-eU7TsZGE3MK0WOUzC_R9YOyBN4E0c/s400/parramatta-elizabeth-macarthur-1845-smomacofcp1912.jpg" width="328" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elizabeth Macarthur, c. 1845</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMbxpltRsO3g5Mcbgj-DXbaJVXPsMUdYPm2LUM-SRqkrS4hAFDG2EUhgh8Kh3RPdlyxqdllncw4sepX21wqlRwudSxBC_6B00mT2EeDPgbkr4KAACh9l3XZgeb57_raigCDbpqs0Z6Wnk/s1600/ElizFarm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="745" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMbxpltRsO3g5Mcbgj-DXbaJVXPsMUdYPm2LUM-SRqkrS4hAFDG2EUhgh8Kh3RPdlyxqdllncw4sepX21wqlRwudSxBC_6B00mT2EeDPgbkr4KAACh9l3XZgeb57_raigCDbpqs0Z6Wnk/s320/ElizFarm.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elizabeth Farm as it is today, sydney.com</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">More here:</span></div>
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<a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/macarthur-elizabeth-2387" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Australian Dictionary of Biography</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://camdenhistorynotes.wordpress.com/2017/04/14/elizabeth-farm-parramatta/" target="_blank">Camden History Notes</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(Several photographs of Elizabeth Farm through the years)</span></div>
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<br />Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-6993665159043308542019-06-16T19:20:00.002+10:002019-06-17T07:15:14.137+10:00Two girls in a lifeboat<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When World War II broke out, there was a shift in the criteria for receiving a Lloyd’s Medal that was formerly “For Saving Life at Sea” and was changed to “For Bravery at Sea”. Only a handful of women received them.<b><span style="color: red;">*</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In 1942, the Blue Star vessel </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Avila_Star" target="_blank">SS Avila Star</a></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> was en route from Buenos Aires to England when she was torpedoed by a German submarine off the Azores in the North Atlantic. Those passengers who survived the initial explosions took to the lifeboats. Tragically, only one lifeboat was rescued after its passengers endured nearly three weeks at sea. The number of saved passengers was 29, although several more died in Lisbon in following days.</span><br />
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<br /><br />Among those few survivors were two young women, Mary/Maria Elizabeth (nicknamed “Johnnie”) Ferguson and Patricia Maud Traunter, born in 1923 and 1924 respectively. Both were daughters of Englishmen who lived and worked in South America and both were heading to England to sign up for the WRENs (Women’s Royal Naval Service) or the WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force).<br /><br />Mary Ferguson was to receive accolades for her actions and bestowed with the BEM (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire_Medal" target="_blank">British Empire Medal</a>) as well as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd%27s_War_Medal_for_Bravery_at_Sea" target="_blank">Lloyd’s Medal for Bravery at Sea</a> while Patricia did not receive any similar recognition although she went through the same ordeal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh772FFecXsdD40btZ9qe-hgBu-bUL8n9TQ1gF7YDQYEyekFyHymph90COpOgsrb-C3of0dmFiY3y_sems4tFcJAiGir0ToCiL_9zglWQemaH_9cVNUhMAkckIGoESe2Xy1jcoc1WbHlXk/s1600/Johnny1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="771" data-original-width="244" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh772FFecXsdD40btZ9qe-hgBu-bUL8n9TQ1gF7YDQYEyekFyHymph90COpOgsrb-C3of0dmFiY3y_sems4tFcJAiGir0ToCiL_9zglWQemaH_9cVNUhMAkckIGoESe2Xy1jcoc1WbHlXk/s640/Johnny1.png" width="201" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
<br /><br />Mary's exploits were told in a book published years later in 1963, <a href="https://www.manyhillsbooks.com/product/140490/A-Girl-Called-Johnnie--Three-Weeks-in-an-Open-Boat-Turner-John-Frayn" target="_blank"> <i>A Girl Called Johnnie: Three Weeks in an Open Boat </i></a>by John Frayn Turner. Unfortunately it is very scarce and unavailable to me at present, but some of what it probably contains can be read online in Chapter 16 of another book by the same author, <i><a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=FO4HBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA119&lpg=PA119&dq=johnnie+ferguson+avila+star&source=bl&ots=ifO-dUAdIe&sig=ACfU3U0kyFEP_S5T33IX6VQV0rgUODkspQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjmwKvmue3iAhVOf30KHQbgDGYQ6AEwCnoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=johnnie%20ferguson%20avila%20star&f=false" target="_blank">Fight for the Sea: Naval Adventures from the Second World War</a></i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The preview does not include the full chapter, but it is astonishing that nowhere in the available pages is there any reference to the second woman, Patricia Traunter, being in the lifeboat as well! <br /><br />Nor is there any mention of her in this detail from the <a href="https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30101137" target="_blank">Imperial War museum</a> attached to an item that belonged to Mary Ferguson, although in her obituary in <i>The Times </i>of 8 July 2006, there is passing reference to Patricia Traunter, that the two women were as one when they “<i>refused to accept any positive discrimination in their direction</i>” and when offered more water than the men “<i>stoutly declined it</i>”.</span></div>
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<br /><br />This amazing struggle between life and death is dramatic in itself but one has to wonder as to what went on between the two female survivors to result in rather different stories in the newspapers.<br /><br />This following article from the <i>Daily Mirror</i> of 15 November 1942 casts quite a different spin on the bravery of Mary Ferguson and in fact even goes so far as to make her look like the weak ninny of the pair. The newspaper image is difficult to read and the text too long to reproduce in full here but the two opening paragraphs display all the titillation for which the DM is famous:-<br /><br />“<i>Two girls in a lifeboat … men dying, men going mad … alone on the vast Atlantic …</i>” <br /><br />“<i>Patricia was in her slinkiest dance frock when the torpedo struck. That, a brassiere and panties, was all she was wearing when they dragged her, dazed and oil-smothered into one of the lifeboats</i>.” <br /><br />Being the DM, there are further references to how they were wedged close to men with their “<i>flimsy frocks clinging wetly to their bodies</i>” and how they had to slip over the side at certain times to discreetly attend to personal matters.<br /><br />Mary Ferguson plays a subservient role to Patricia throughout the DM article in which Patricia is the nurse in charge. It looks as if she might have told the reporter that her female compatriot certainly didn't deserve any medals:- </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“<i>Johnnie Ferguson would sit all day staring into space and Pat Traunter had to slap her to keep her awake.</i>” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The last line though hints that Patricia’s state of mind was understandably shaky and perhaps her retelling of the traumatic adventure couldn't be relied on:-</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">She [Pat] is being treated for a strange, though temporary, mental affliction.</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />Clearly it is the surviving men who would have reported back to the authorities that it was “Johnnie” who demonstrated extreme bravery in the circumstances and deserved the medals. What they thought of Patricia, who knows. She may have done her bit too. It would take guts for anyone to survive three weeks in a lifeboat with diminishing fresh water and food supplies plus dealing with daily death and madness around you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Other factors may have been at play as well, including the intractable British class system. Mary Ferguson had a posh Chelsea address whereas the Traunter family hailed from the working classes of Sheffield, Yorkshire. Even during the war, such social subtleties could make a big difference in who got recognition for their efforts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As in <i>The Times </i>obituary, Mary Ferguson died in Rutland, UK, in 2006, apparently unmarried. However, an announcement in that same newspaper back on 14 February 1945 is for her engagement to Lieut. P E Marsh, RNVR, son of Rev Sidney Marsh of Ryde. For whatever reason the marriage did not eventuate. The obituary also states that Mary went on to become a personal secretary after the War and concludes: “S<i>he remained steadfastly reticent about her wartime exploit</i>.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">An engagement notice also appears in some newspapers late in 1942 that Patricia was to marry a Welshman, Henry Griffith, who was serving in the Merchant Navy, but there was no subsequent marriage reported for this either, and instead she was married in 1944 to Lieut. Michael Timothy Hickie, destined later to become a Lieut. Commander in the Royal Australian Navy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">From the records, it appears that Patricia had at least two children, but did not make the headlines again. She also died in 2006, her last address being in Australia - Kalaru, near Bega, New South Wales. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Her husband Michael recently self-published <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/195057121?selectedversion=NBD55083847" target="_blank">a story of his life</a> and access to this might verify some more facts about his wife’s role in the famous lifeboat event. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />Ferguson's WRNS uniform jacket, bearing her medal ribbons, is now an exhibit in the <a href="https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30101117" target="_blank">Imperial War Museum </a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">There is a plot
here for an amazing drama of survival including possible rivalry and if anyone reading this
can tell me more about the lives of either or both of the young women who
survived the <i>SS Avila Star</i>, I’d be delighted to hear from you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red;"><b>* </b></span>See my earlier blog post on </span><a href="http://thehistorybucket.blogspot.com/2011/10/queens-goddaughter-who-swapped-her.html" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" target="_blank">Victoria Drummond</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, another WW2 recipient of the Lloyds Medal </span></div>
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Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-37702679315372823092019-05-21T17:02:00.002+10:002019-05-21T17:13:44.241+10:00Death and Duty. Eugenie Matelot<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The second woman
to receive a Lloyd’s Medal for saving life at sea was a Frenchwoman, Eugenie Matelot
(nee Bedex), born in 1884. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Her husband Alexandre
Matelot was the lighthouse keeper at Kerdonis, on Belle Ile en Mer off the
Brittany coast.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">On 18 April 1911, he
had been cleaning the automated mechanism that turned the light but before he could put
it back together correctly, he suddenly became unwell (appendicitis) and took to his bed in great pain. The nearest doctor was several
miles away and his wife dared not leave his side, plus she also had four
children to look after. Two other older children were away, one in
hospital, another at sea.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Her husband died
later that day. With dusk approaching, she kept vigil with her husband's body but it was also vital the light was lit and kept
turning. Although Eugene could not put the mechanism back together, she
knew enough about the timing of the light and, with the help of her older
children, aged 8 and 10, she managed to light the lamp, and then manually push it around, keeping it going all night. If the light had remained unlit, who knows how many vessels may have come to grief in those dangerous waters off the coast of Brittany.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">In spite of her
bravery, Eugenie Matelot was not entitled to immediately receive her husband’s
wages nor was she eligible for any pension as his widow, meaning
she and her children were left destitute. A local man, a tax
collector, was so outraged by this that he wrote a letter to the French newspaper <i>Le Figaro</i> to ask
for help for the family and the story spread like wildfire.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Newspapers tell the story with variations and it seems that an amount of money equivalent today to around 60,000 Euros was raised. This was definitely a case where getting the media involved created justice for
Eugenie and her family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">On 3 September 1911, the British Consul and a representative of Lloyd's attended on Mme. Matelot and presented her with a Lloyd's Medal for Saving Life at Sea.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Although perhaps still remembered in Brittany, Eugenie Matelot is another woman forgotten to history elsewhere even though she went on to be keeper in her own right at other lighthouses in
the region at Kernevel and Keroman in Lorient. She died in 1935. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">One English version of her story can be read via TROVE in the <i><a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/203457926?searchTerm=kerdonis%20matelot&searchLimits=" target="_blank">Adelaide Evening Journal</a></i> of 22 July 1911.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">These French websites give more details (Google translate will help) and all images are from them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k289238g/f3.item.langFR" target="_blank">Le Figaro Letter.</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> </span></div>
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<a href="http://enenvor.fr/eeo_actu/mer/le_drame_du_phare_de_kerdonis.html" target="_blank">Lighthouse at Kerdonis</a></div>
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<a href="https://amossan.blogspot.com/2019/03/le-phare-de-kerdonis-18-avril-1911-jour.html?showComment=1558092749007" target="_blank">Blog about Mme. Matelot</a></div>
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<a href="https://www.bretagne.com/fr/que-faire/visites-et-patrimoine/phares/le-phare-de-kerdonis" target="_blank">More on the Lighthouse</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><o:p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1gpcj5NM2uHXJyWg_4rXXeOeteo7DwkZ_TGvybGVmiotWhqwW3Sqs0OGiBAqs_YhkvIMUMZE5tB6KfDHBm9uBXWQ_n2cZATlQaH5w6E2Tbqjc5YBxKTtHc5XKmjYaOtw4i520W-Zr_VA/s1600/Belle-Ile_phare_Kerdonis_%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1gpcj5NM2uHXJyWg_4rXXeOeteo7DwkZ_TGvybGVmiotWhqwW3Sqs0OGiBAqs_YhkvIMUMZE5tB6KfDHBm9uBXWQ_n2cZATlQaH5w6E2Tbqjc5YBxKTtHc5XKmjYaOtw4i520W-Zr_VA/s320/Belle-Ile_phare_Kerdonis_%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lighthouse much the same today.<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lucille92/31166202657" target="_blank">Copyright</a></td></tr>
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Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-12745828257607186542019-05-12T16:23:00.000+10:002019-05-12T16:23:51.591+10:00Bravery at Sea. Stewardess Kate Gilmour<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">There’s been
recent discussion in the media about the appalling behaviour of passengers in air crashes,
some of them holding up swift escape because they insist on retrieving their
carry-on luggage. Why, when your very life is on the line, would you worry
about your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">stuff</i>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">On the positive side,
all credit must go to those cabin crew who have to handle such situations
without “losing it” themselves. While some individuals behave in strange and
irrational ways in life and death situations, others manage to rise to the best they can be. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">This is the
first in a series of posts about women who have remained cool in crisis
situations - especially forgotten heroines of the sea - and whose stories have slipped out
of history. Most don’t even warrant a Wikipedia entry so often there is no definite starting point for research into them other than a few lines in the
newspaper archives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Stewardess Kate
Gilmour was the first ever female recipient of the Lloyd’s Medal for Saving
Life at Sea in an incident sometimes known as Malta’s <i>Titanic</i>, the disastrous end to the
<i>SS Sardinia</i>. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">(</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The best website
giving comprehensive details of this tragedy is that of <i>The Malta Independent</i> -
<a href="http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-08-08/arts-and-culture/the-ss-sardinia-disaster-2280554497/" target="_blank">click here to read in full</a>.)</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sample of the medal from the National Maritime Museum</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Born in Edinburgh
around 1861, nothing can be found on Kate’s early life but by her thirties she was single and living in Liverpool. As she may have always been away from
the country at the times of the Census Returns, only one that can be confirmed
is that from 1891, when a Kate [Gilmore], occupation “Seas Stewardess”, was a
boarder with the Murray family at 34 Samuel Street, Liverpool.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">She appears in a number of Crew Lists as Stewardess, and among the vessels she served on were <i>SS
Rameses</i>, <i>SS Cretic</i> and <i>SS Orotova</i>, not always giving the same age, however, and she seems to have stayed 38 for quite a number of years! Her address in England was always the same, i.e. 128 Belmont Road, Liverpool.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKHu08IdZAUUt6b-OBpQ-_yugUc7F9dzwYaB8wVucwrvzkc1SEoVEfJpeHscmZGFJLm1hJd-991C41xVIRW-2i4TShSNSe2A3006y0MtW5CuVH8wQHh0N0wN10Gz8ex2u0bXpAndllXsM/s1600/Rameses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="631" data-original-width="990" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKHu08IdZAUUt6b-OBpQ-_yugUc7F9dzwYaB8wVucwrvzkc1SEoVEfJpeHscmZGFJLm1hJd-991C41xVIRW-2i4TShSNSe2A3006y0MtW5CuVH8wQHh0N0wN10Gz8ex2u0bXpAndllXsM/s400/Rameses.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?ref=18658" target="_blank">Khedivial Mail Line</a>, <i>SS Rameses</i> at Malta</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Kate was the sole
female member of the crew of the Ellerman and Papayanni Line </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">SS Sardinia</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> when it set sail from Liverpool in November 1908 with 25 first class, 6 second class passengers and general cargo,
bound for Mediterranean and Middle Eastern ports. Twelve of the original
passengers were still on board when the vessel left Malta for Alexandria
in Egypt and Jeddah, the port for Mecca. In Malta, the number of passengers increased
to around 200, consisting of a large group of Arabs on pilgrimage. Without
cabins, they simply pitched tents on the upper deck for shelter during the short passage.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">About one mile out
of Grand Harbour, Malta, at 11 am on<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 25 </span>November 1908, the steamer caught fire in the forward hold - it was believed
to have originated in a quantity of naphtha but the inquiry found that it may
have been through the carelessness of the pilgrims.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The fire was
witnessed from Malta and all kinds of rescue vessels set out, but the fierce wind
blowing made it difficult to assist. Captain Charles Littler did everything he
could to save his ship but he had to abandon the wheel and the
vessel circled helplessly close to the shore. Then came repeated explosions
with dense smoke and flames 200 feet high. Hatches blew off, killing all in the
vicinity. All in the engine room were trapped and perished. Eventually the ship foundered on the Riscasoli Rocks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">General panic
ensued. Some individuals including a number of crew members, immediately jumped
overboard, while others remained and strove heroically to try and save the ship
and its passengers in an orderly fashion with the use of lifebelts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">One of these was
Kate Gilmour who kept her nerve and did everything she could to ensure that the passengers - women and children in particular - were safely off before leaving the ship herself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">A survivor wrote:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background: white; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #353535; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“We left Liverpool with a full cargo of machinery and Manchester
goods for Alexandria. Our bunkers had been supplied with enough coal at
Liverpool to last us until our return to Malta.The Sardinia left Malta at 9.45
this morning.We had just got outside the harbour, and the crew were engaged in
securing the port anchors, when suddenly a cry of ‘Fire’ was heard and fumes
were seen to issue from a ventilator on the port side. A hose was promptly
turned on and a stream of water was poured down the ventilator. This, however,
did no good, as in a few minutes flames started out of the other ventilators
and in less than 10 minutes the whole vessel amidships was enveloped in flames.
The Arab passengers - 140 Moorish pilgrims, going to Mecca –were told to leave
the hatch, to which they clung desperately, but they declined to move. All of
those who remained forward perished, except some of those who jumped
overboard”.</span></span></blockquote>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYrqU1b2X_f-DKuRxe0Gb_-6qOhnpSV7C3u0FpsDBZ8M9gD7j5TF4CbhaPznGmrqq7N7AceCJkTwA27GioXFJaUrNKI8eiY_Z2fNlOIqN7mVLht5MaZpezj7dIZHe2r56r26LR4iaZjI/s1600/SardiniaMalta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="800" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYrqU1b2X_f-DKuRxe0Gb_-6qOhnpSV7C3u0FpsDBZ8M9gD7j5TF4CbhaPznGmrqq7N7AceCJkTwA27GioXFJaUrNKI8eiY_Z2fNlOIqN7mVLht5MaZpezj7dIZHe2r56r26LR4iaZjI/s640/SardiniaMalta.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://picclick.co.uk/Malta-Real-Photo-Postcard-1908-SS-333167182449.html" target="_blank">Copyright</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNUC6eK7ZpuQX0ZBcZvZ16JdtAiZLOhit4TlOXCATGF8KDD8e9uQD6aml8j3mr6P6PADAwXIiU0E5QFJPqpOCUZr6JDj_3KvYSRyxsjKli20MEHBXjd9unCIFmHVPk1hCFTmVQjRiSpM0/s1600/Sardinia1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="630" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNUC6eK7ZpuQX0ZBcZvZ16JdtAiZLOhit4TlOXCATGF8KDD8e9uQD6aml8j3mr6P6PADAwXIiU0E5QFJPqpOCUZr6JDj_3KvYSRyxsjKli20MEHBXjd9unCIFmHVPk1hCFTmVQjRiSpM0/s640/Sardinia1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So near yet so far ... the rescue in progress</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The final death toll was two European passengers - one of them being Douglas, four-year-old
child of James Gordon and Jessie Grant - 16 crew members - including the
Captain, First Mate, R. Frew, Chief Engineer, J. Niel, and 2nd Engineer D. Hislop, and more than 100
Arab passengers - although only 23 bodies were ever recovered. All the Arab pilgrims that were found were buried in the Turkish cemetery on Malta.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwVJDhHAK-Y6dhvq62z3T8jXIbxPRXdjuJkuzKqpubmjRfr1FLweU5PhcvydfAzLzL_nKa0AIqvqkyCI_f1EIXFNdhEynFoQzaQN1IW6n0xYTeF_CtipNzXVxS99EbPSA7rsbJt-DXQy8/s1600/Littler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="472" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwVJDhHAK-Y6dhvq62z3T8jXIbxPRXdjuJkuzKqpubmjRfr1FLweU5PhcvydfAzLzL_nKa0AIqvqkyCI_f1EIXFNdhEynFoQzaQN1IW6n0xYTeF_CtipNzXVxS99EbPSA7rsbJt-DXQy8/s400/Littler.jpg" width="351" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">British and international newspapers carried the story - this from the <i>Aberdeen Press and Journal</i></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SARDINIA
SURVIVORS<br />AFFECTING SCENE
ON ARRIVAL<br />How Young Grant
was Lost</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The remains of
Captain Littler of the Ellerman Liner, Sardinia, destroyed by fire at Malta
were to-day taken from the Venetian at Liverpool and removed to Birkenhead for
the funeral tomorrow.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Survivors of the
crew with the exception of five still in hospital at Malta, also returned by
the Venetian, and affecting scenes were witnessed on the quayside.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Survivors, who
had evidently been cautioned not to make statements, refused to say anything when
questioned about the disaster. They were escorted to cabs and rapidly driven
away with friends.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Miss Kate
Gilmour, stewardess of the Sardinia, who remained on the Venetian, spoke
feelingly of the loss of Mr and Mrs Grant’s little boy. He was a great
favourite on board, she said, passengers calling him the fourth mate. A brave
effort to save him was made by the second officer, who strapped the lad on his
back and jumped into the sea, but the boy was washed away.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<div style="background: white;">
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">A month later, the newspaper reported: -</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">THE SARDINIA
DISASTER<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">LLOYD’S MEDAL
FOR A STEWARDESS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> T<span style="text-align: justify;">he Committee of
Lloyd’s have decided to bestow the silver medal of the society upon Miss Kate
Gilmour, stewardess of the steamer Sardinia, which was destroyed by fire off
Malta on November 25, as honorary acknowledgement of her extraordinary
exertions in contributing saving life that Miss Gilmour, her coolness and
courageous conduct greatly contributed to saving many lives, as she remained
aboard encouraging panic-stricken Arabs to avail themselves of the only means
of escape, and it was not till the women and children were rescued that she was
persuaded to board a boat.</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">This is the
first occasion which Lloyd’s medal for saving life at sea has been bestowed
upon a woman.</span></span></blockquote>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And in July of the following year: -</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">INVESTITURE AT
BUCKINGHAM PALACE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The King [Edward
VII] held an investiture at Buckingham Palace yesterday, at which he personally
bestowed the insignia of various honours conferred on the occasion of His
Majesty’s birthday. Subsequently His Majesty received a number of men, a boy,
and a lady, and bestowed upon them awards for gallantry in saving or attempting
to save life by land and sea. Miss Kate Gilmour received a silver medal for
gallantry on the occasion of the burning of the Sardinia in Malta Harbour. Miss
Gilmour who is the first lady thus decorated, was stewardess of the Sardinia
and was almost the last to leave the ship after being instrumental in saving
many lives by her coolness and courage.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After being awarded the Medal, Kate promptly disappears from the records and she does not appear to have continued with her career as ship’s stewardess.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What happened to her? Did she emigrate? Did she marry? Or did she simply change her name in order to escape her brief moments of fame? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Research is ongoing. If anyone reading this knows anything else about Kate Gilmour, please do contact me.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivQmc16r4ze3EdhyNlBItekW-oRDZPs0WCsPYto9cKKjkj8kS-C7aDlQtIdhx7Blt8_C8EUxLRw5XkAqdCu3g_sG9eIYTUlF2TioHhfmcH8JvsjjcM9m-6LnVQ5cHkNSZ34NoqtgFwqqY/s1600/Gilmour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="636" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivQmc16r4ze3EdhyNlBItekW-oRDZPs0WCsPYto9cKKjkj8kS-C7aDlQtIdhx7Blt8_C8EUxLRw5XkAqdCu3g_sG9eIYTUlF2TioHhfmcH8JvsjjcM9m-6LnVQ5cHkNSZ34NoqtgFwqqY/s1600/Gilmour.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">The story of the brave stewardess Kate Gilmour was told many years later in the <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11910442?searchTerm=kate%20gilmour%20sardinia&searchLimits=#" target="_blank">Melbourne Argus</a></span><a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11910442?searchTerm=kate%20gilmour%20sardinia&searchLimits=#" target="_blank"> </a><span style="font-size: small;">3 September 1936</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span>Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-3747691720362639692019-01-25T16:19:00.001+11:002019-01-25T16:19:52.170+11:00Matthew and Ann, a love story<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The recent announcement of the discovery of the grave
of Captain <a href="http://www.flindersmemorial.org/" target="_blank">Matthew Flinders</a> (1774-1814) during the excavations at Euston Station brings to mind the romantic and poignant love story of him and his wife, Ann Chappelle, from whom he was
separated for most of their married life. <o:p>(</o:p>There is also some irony that the archaeological skills used
to find and identify his body will owe much to the methodology established by Flinders’ famous grandson, the archaeologist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flinders_Petrie" target="_blank">William Flinders Petrie.</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimi_CCMCrEh4KgX8io3WEZMYgD65ia8XPmvwGPkqGngWcSa8hcYc4Mtz3cDBpYUWs5_XbfUerVtH_zapoL4-xopK6cpCjCa6rzPFIXQr8HI7XMDeMqROiu0vkdSSRMDdiVCvWB8p_6hz8/s1600/AnnChappelleFlinders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="650" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimi_CCMCrEh4KgX8io3WEZMYgD65ia8XPmvwGPkqGngWcSa8hcYc4Mtz3cDBpYUWs5_XbfUerVtH_zapoL4-xopK6cpCjCa6rzPFIXQr8HI7XMDeMqROiu0vkdSSRMDdiVCvWB8p_6hz8/s400/AnnChappelleFlinders.jpg" width="292" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ann Flinders (right) with her half-sister Isabella Tyler (left) <br />standing is her daughter Anne (later Petrie)<br />(Copyright unknown)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ann Chappelle was a little
older than Matthew, being born on 21 November 1772.
Her father John Chappelle had been a merchant navy captain who died of illness
in the Dutch East Indies in 1776 and as a result Ann had been reluctant to tie herself to another
mariner. But her love for Matthew won out and they were married by Ann's step-father, the Rev. Wiliam Tyler in St Nicholas Church
at Partney, Lincolnshire, on 17 April 1801. Just three months later Matthew sailed on <i>HMS
Investigator</i> to commence his famous circumnavigation of Australia.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPxz4wtqiJ3euQtid5fhjKksf9nqYV6og96cevKGNt4aXpdM07oHS6IIEWxupKJQvJ9PBQ1ZNcK1X1_XpArxxoctTpkNaISLJ9RGvo7ysY4Ve41kiTETEpmj0npvf0dEzF60NTjs-BctA/s1600/GBPRS_LINCS_PARTNEY_PAR_1_3_0838.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="643" data-original-width="1600" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPxz4wtqiJ3euQtid5fhjKksf9nqYV6og96cevKGNt4aXpdM07oHS6IIEWxupKJQvJ9PBQ1ZNcK1X1_XpArxxoctTpkNaISLJ9RGvo7ysY4Ve41kiTETEpmj0npvf0dEzF60NTjs-BctA/s640/GBPRS_LINCS_PARTNEY_PAR_1_3_0838.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQk8mdlatx22Zyqtih3EBBjjzj5kr_gUKwNkZ-Jbu6riLqA9pGKFaFrlf_rIgBKxjP6pctF6GIvIaJLdNurG-F9XjuNaBzaXIanio6jtxG3YRJ1nAthYswN2S-jk7A2sKjUykRXUy7a6Y/s1600/Partney057h600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="896" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQk8mdlatx22Zyqtih3EBBjjzj5kr_gUKwNkZ-Jbu6riLqA9pGKFaFrlf_rIgBKxjP6pctF6GIvIaJLdNurG-F9XjuNaBzaXIanio6jtxG3YRJ1nAthYswN2S-jk7A2sKjUykRXUy7a6Y/s400/Partney057h600.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Extract from Parish Records for <a href="https://lincolnshirewolds.info/partney/index.html" target="_blank">St Nicholas Church, Partney, Lincs.</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Matthew had wanted Ann to sail with him and brought her onto the ship but the Admiralty was furious and wouldn’t permit her to remain on board. She would not see her husband again for
nine years, for six of which he was held prisoner of the French in Mauritius. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He returned to England in 1810 and they lived in a number of
rented houses in London while he prepared his <a href="http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00049.html" target="_blank"><i>Voyage to Terra Australis</i> </a>for
publication, and their only child, Anne, was born in 1812 (baptised St. Giles,
Middlesex, on 1st April), when her mother was forty years old.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.daao.org.au/bio/ann-chappelle-flinders/biography/" target="_blank">The Design & Art Australia website</a> states that Ann was
apparently blind in one eye “<i>by lancing due to smallpox</i>” but she had “<i>above
average mental powers, considered clever, with a sweet and perfect temper,
beloved by all who knew her, witty, generous, nervous, with aptitudes for
poetry, literature, singing, verse, and painting flowers from nature</i>”. The DAAO
also mentions that her watercolours of flowers have been shown in exhibitions,
although none of these appear to be available on the internet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Matthew named <a href="http://www.australiaforeveryone.com.au/Mt-Chappell-Isld.html" target="_blank">Mount Chappell/Chappelle</a> in Bass Strait after
Ann.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_isFRlyekKr1oC9mWprgRo6Yz3dxgit5fAkiYt_iRWx4reecXVafeOX0s3AelYWvYqFh5om36rhwKCU1hXYmjTM29DhprkPXkzwyeRH7L2cvEfWAOg2gjaFzWnUf-XkSDqqTHGphNuK4/s1600/Mt-Chappell-Island.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_isFRlyekKr1oC9mWprgRo6Yz3dxgit5fAkiYt_iRWx4reecXVafeOX0s3AelYWvYqFh5om36rhwKCU1hXYmjTM29DhprkPXkzwyeRH7L2cvEfWAOg2gjaFzWnUf-XkSDqqTHGphNuK4/s320/Mt-Chappell-Island.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After Matthew’s death, Ann lived on for almost another forty years
and would have seen many changes in that time. When she died in February 1852, the once remote continent of Australia was booming with an influx of settlers and
gold-seekers. Her husband Matthew’s charts of the route around the coast continued
to be used until well into the 20th Century.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is a box of sentimental mementoes belonging to Ann in the State Library of New South Wales. It contains locks of hair from family members and pressed flowers from their grave sites.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/collection-items/item-05-box-pressed-flowers-and-locks-hair-collected-ann-flinders" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">State Library of New South Wales</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Discover more about the romantic love story between Ann Chappelle and Matthew Flinders in the historical novel <b><i><a href="https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9781743099339/my-love-must-wait/" target="_blank">My Love Must Wait</a></i> </b>by Ernestine Hill and<a href="https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780730493396/letters-to-ann-the-love-story-of-matthew-flinders-and-ann-chap/" target="_blank"> <b><i>Letters to Ann</i></b> </a>by Catherine Retter and Shirley Sinclair.</span></div>
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<br /><br />Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-53908173029957335222018-12-12T12:01:00.003+11:002018-12-12T12:01:32.220+11:00Inspiration for "Brave New World"?<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As this blog has a focus on historical women who have not
been properly acknowledged for their achievements or contributions, this recent article
from <i>The Guardian</i> captured my interest:-</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> "<b>A </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><b>forgotten feminist dystopian novel, a story of eugenics and newspaper manipulation that is believed to have influenced Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four, is coming back into print for the first time in a century, complete with pages that were suppressed in 1918.</b>"</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> (<b><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/dec/10/what-not-lost-feminist-novel-that-anticipated-brave-new-world-finally-finds-its-time" target="_blank">Read article in full here</a></b>.)<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2k0mt4Cw35T-sK-Oy4FTW2ekEOFrreWLsDNyLtVlKqRGR9Bm6XgkfHViCbkipXWJu8fC6ImKf_vcLLDi3u7hc_-WbeMuYnV-ZGRDvhGjQ5fcsNhfu55GESfhOVABlvBjxxS16eb38rs4/s1600/192954.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="295" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2k0mt4Cw35T-sK-Oy4FTW2ekEOFrreWLsDNyLtVlKqRGR9Bm6XgkfHViCbkipXWJu8fC6ImKf_vcLLDi3u7hc_-WbeMuYnV-ZGRDvhGjQ5fcsNhfu55GESfhOVABlvBjxxS16eb38rs4/s320/192954.jpg" width="196" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Macaulay" target="_blank">Rose Macaulay</a> may not be as well-known today as she once
was, and her arcane writing style can be dense and difficult for modern
readers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Still, if her themes did influence some of the most famous dystopian novels written by men, then it is good to know that she is now being given her due.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Towers_of_Trebizond" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">The Towers of Trebizond</a> is considered her masterpiece but I have lost count of the number of times I have picked it up and then persevered to a certain point where it</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> defeats me because I have lost patience with its privileged characters and/or their religious arguments. Clearly, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I’m too
much of a philistine to truly appreciate Macaulay - and thus hover around a
<i>B-</i> in her A to C Ministry of Brains - but many others do appreciate and enjoy her work.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The new version of
</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">What Not</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> has now been published by <a href="https://www.handheldpress.co.uk/rose-macaulay-what-not/" target="_blank">Handheld Press</a>.</span></div>
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<br />Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-10158643929848684192018-11-28T18:14:00.000+11:002018-11-28T18:27:54.506+11:00A family connection to "The Lady in White"<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A few days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, my mother sailed into
Durban on <i>SS Tegelberg</i>, a Dutch vessel that had left Batavia [now Jakarta] on 15th November. She had transferred there from another vessel, <i>SS Tjisadane</i>,
which had sailed from Shanghai on 17th October, one of the last passenger ships
to escape the Chinese city before the Japanese took control. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It was a bold risk she was taking; leaving behind her family and all she knew, travelling across a dangerous war-time ocean to a foreign country to marry a man she had not seen for some years. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSiL8D14jkpO49RhtJJc2h3QCd0t9C8ATjUeE3nQ92V6RAGQzGJVQyq7OlcDQo9iqYhaTOecStSKuqWNQ0SLZ_mUwPPwuUSf2iFRfWQrP0xyTx1P7zTyGTWETcPE6YZ8ADc-CiPYbuaNA/s1600/PassageTicket1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1594" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSiL8D14jkpO49RhtJJc2h3QCd0t9C8ATjUeE3nQ92V6RAGQzGJVQyq7OlcDQo9iqYhaTOecStSKuqWNQ0SLZ_mUwPPwuUSf2iFRfWQrP0xyTx1P7zTyGTWETcPE6YZ8ADc-CiPYbuaNA/s400/PassageTicket1.jpeg" width="397" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">First voyage on <i>SS Tjisadane</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkx4jB5WS6rDPFb-nPDRqDoZ0Kem2w2r3RMf2qTnf37kqlzsCy7heT1w3qekkGJB5TsSrq4QU_ny0MkqmE07XBd9nDzvMRSBDoUxoj4JgSqaSZ5V3fF-gB-dB1NYM_ANsOhstbi84nQRs/s1600/Tjisdane.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="450" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkx4jB5WS6rDPFb-nPDRqDoZ0Kem2w2r3RMf2qTnf37kqlzsCy7heT1w3qekkGJB5TsSrq4QU_ny0MkqmE07XBd9nDzvMRSBDoUxoj4JgSqaSZ5V3fF-gB-dB1NYM_ANsOhstbi84nQRs/s400/Tjisdane.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.trains-worldexpresses.com/webships/600/629.htm" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">SS Tjisadane</span></i></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiltLaAO16Tdnh9nezkOWpXApWgod2XBw2tg-rC5E-sNzzyMu9JrbgUYVG3z94nSe8Y5Y3QzgJDtWHvEGzOkVDtnZSy9Z_PxY-Kq8L272W6CpX82BT87DUpvRpTHANj6RqD5vJYhpuZL8c/s1600/PassageTicket.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1480" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiltLaAO16Tdnh9nezkOWpXApWgod2XBw2tg-rC5E-sNzzyMu9JrbgUYVG3z94nSe8Y5Y3QzgJDtWHvEGzOkVDtnZSy9Z_PxY-Kq8L272W6CpX82BT87DUpvRpTHANj6RqD5vJYhpuZL8c/s400/PassageTicket.jpeg" width="370" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Passage ticket for second part of journey Batavia-Durban 1941</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDHmCjKrWmx2xEhOScbGPIY5A2ruG_SY3W1MHZ49oVSlzrmRmsMLcAjhsEYxJmLvqMjfYqkMQfWfS5rQPJxNO0lZ4D9IPDR7qKGjL04Z0bCy1g0youln5isrCs61u7D3iE7Y_D7zZ9FuI/s1600/KPM-Tegelberg-at-sea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="557" data-original-width="800" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDHmCjKrWmx2xEhOScbGPIY5A2ruG_SY3W1MHZ49oVSlzrmRmsMLcAjhsEYxJmLvqMjfYqkMQfWfS5rQPJxNO0lZ4D9IPDR7qKGjL04Z0bCy1g0youln5isrCs61u7D3iE7Y_D7zZ9FuI/s400/KPM-Tegelberg-at-sea.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://ssmaritime.com/KPM-Boissevain-Tegelberg-Ruys-1.htm" target="_blank">SS Tegelberg</a></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As my mother sailed into Durban, she would have been thrilled - and relieved no doubt - to see her future husband waiting for her on the wharf. One wonders what she would have made of the woman who was also there singing her heart out with the aid of a megaphone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The story of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perla_Siedle_Gibson" target="_blank">Perla Siedle Gibson </a>will be well-known to South
Africans and many servicemen and merchant navy personnel who served during World War II and transited the
port of Durban. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">All images Vintage News Stories (link below)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">She was born Perla Marie Siedle in Durban in 1888, the
daughter of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Siedle" target="_blank">Otto Siedle</a>, originally a London watchmaker turned prominent businessman and shipowner. Her mother Mary served for a time as Deputy Mayor of Durban. Perla had two brothers, Karl and Jack.
Karl died in World War I but <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Siedle" target="_blank">Jack Siedle</a> became a famous cricketer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Perla had a voice with a register somewhere between soprano and
contralto. She had studied singing in Europe, but did not follow a professional
career for long as she married and raised a family in South Africa. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is said that when World War II was intensifying, she had
seen off a young Irish friend at the harbour and as the ship pulled away from
the quay, the young man shouted down to Perla to sing “something Irish”. She
immediately burst into “When Irish Eyes are Smiling” and it was a big
hit with the departing sailors. After that, she made up her mind to greet and
farewell all ships that entered Durban Harbour for the duration of the war.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlAoONSDTe_tsJvLRDYEedgClRFMoWYmvkyAd7e5fsUxDiky2rL73XpwaxzQwCttysDo5lGTTLp0xuZOHJO6Qbo9f8ChnpuUcCXFEZ5fT5faVU-2Z1ltL66e6pvWPnC7x-7btCr3TdtKU/s1600/Diva01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="964" data-original-width="700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlAoONSDTe_tsJvLRDYEedgClRFMoWYmvkyAd7e5fsUxDiky2rL73XpwaxzQwCttysDo5lGTTLp0xuZOHJO6Qbo9f8ChnpuUcCXFEZ5fT5faVU-2Z1ltL66e6pvWPnC7x-7btCr3TdtKU/s400/Diva01.jpg" width="290" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">She could see the daily shipping movements from her house on
a hill, and she’d jump in her car and drive down to the docks. She always wore
the same costume - a white dress, red hat and necklace. Her distinctive (and
ample!) figure could be spied from a long way off and she became known as “The
Lady in White”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Between April 1940 and August 1945, it has been estimated
she sang to more than 5,000 merchant and navy ships and more than 250,000
servicemen. She even sang her husband (Clement Walter “Jack” Gibson) and two
sons and daughter off on war service. When she received a telegram to say that
her son, 2nd Lt. Clement Roy Gibson had been killed at Anzio in March 1944, even
though her heart must have been breaking, that didn’t stop her and she
continued singing to the ships.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Post-war - two very different "Forces Sweethearts" - Perla and Vera Lynn</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There don’t appear to be recordings or films of Perla’s
singing available on the internet, and I wonder what she sang that day as the
<i>SS Tegelberg</i> arrived bringing my mother to her new life? <i>Sarie Marais</i>? <i>Auld
Lang Syne</i>? <i>Land of Hope & Glory</i>? Maybe all of them, and more. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ironically, I made a similar reverse journey to that of my mother when I sailed out of Durban 30 years later also to start life in a new country with a new husband. There was no operatic send off by that time. Perla had in fact died just a few months previously in 1971.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Statue to Perla at Durban, unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II in 1995<br />
Now removed to the Durban Maritime Museum </td></tr>
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<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Perla had written an autobiography, and there are a number of articles and blog posts about her online. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">With many thanks to major source: <a href="http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/Stories/tabid/116/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/558/Lady-in-White.aspx" target="_blank">Vintage News Stories - The Lady In White</a></span><br />
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<br />Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6374123059488597755.post-75406638728414342312018-07-08T13:13:00.001+10:002018-07-08T19:05:07.650+10:00Hush WAACS - Secret service women in the family tree<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Since the lifting of the official secrets embargo on the history of code-breaking
during World War II, there have been numerous books written about <a href="https://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/" target="_blank">Bletchley Park</a>, plus a number of documentaries, TV series and films, many of them about female code-breakers.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What is much less known is that women were also involved in a similar
service during World War I. They were called the “Hush WAACS” but the information on them is rather scanty. Rather than describe here what they did in too much detail, see this link:-</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="https://www.gchq.gov.uk/features/hush-waacs" target="_blank">GCHQ page on the Hush Waacs</a></b> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Imagine my surprise and delight, then, while doing family research I would discover that two of the 17 only known Hush WAACS were distant
cousins of my late husband and they came from the same area of Tyneside that
features strongly in both our family trees.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRP412q2xy5RHajNP3FKyartrGRtx6RN-w3Y6X8Af9LGE9QCW7gtgmZmxzAxphH5hsBiTqUde6usu59sQiKmnQz_Iyrx7j471xzjIaf9M2-CaZT1RyCuLgCQqeOk1njBRA2UjZrL-z4xg/s1600/WAACSofftoWar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1518" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRP412q2xy5RHajNP3FKyartrGRtx6RN-w3Y6X8Af9LGE9QCW7gtgmZmxzAxphH5hsBiTqUde6usu59sQiKmnQz_Iyrx7j471xzjIaf9M2-CaZT1RyCuLgCQqeOk1njBRA2UjZrL-z4xg/s640/WAACSofftoWar.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">WAACS off to help with the war effort</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The two women were sisters, <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Violet Munby</span> </b>(1884-1974) and <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Gladys May Munby </span></b>(1887-1955). Neither sister ever married. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Their names appear on this list <b><a href="https://www.gchq.gov.uk/features/hush-waac-roll-honou" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Hush WAAC Roll of Honour</span></a> </b>as follows, showing the dates they were associated with the intelligence services in WW1.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; word-break: break-word;">Name:</span> Gladys Mary [sic] Munby</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; word-break: break-word;">Age in 1918:</span> 30</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; word-break: break-word;">Arrived I(e)C:</span> October 1917</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; word-break: break-word;">Departed:</span> November 1918</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; word-break: break-word;">Notes:</span> Pianist educated in Germany; YMCA work before 1917</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; word-break: break-word;">Name:</span> Violet Munby</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; word-break: break-word;">Age in 1918:</span> 33</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; word-break: break-word;">Arrived I(e)C:</span> March 1918</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; word-break: break-word;">Departed:</span> November 1918</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">WAACS off duty in France</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Their parents were John William Munby (1855-1946) and Anne Bates Walker (1849-1915). John William Munby was a prominent figure in North Shields/Tynemouth area.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Anne Bates Walker's mother, also Anne Bates (1816-1853), was the sister of my</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> husband’s great-great-grandfather, Matthew William Bates (1820-1860). (See below for the story of how she died and also an uncanny link to my own ancestors.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Munby family lived at 16 Northumberland Square, North Shields, considered to be a quality address described as <i><span style="background-color: white;">“the closest thing on Tyneside to the iconic Georgian squares of Edinburgh, Dublin, London and Bath.”</span> </i>Sadly, No. 16 has only just been demolished in 2017 - <a href="https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/northumberland-square-north-shields-houses-13795897" target="_blank">read here</a>.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKbMjNgg29xnFY0Wni5vfGg4F1Thq3NYIlzC3OSoYS9RxkzZP1rA7PLgDsOxIsZFrwkveRzSg0y2arTYxwdE9xFXZhG6ZH6CsL9RD0sVv5W5T3Ad8Tsugk6t0gZv93yCK5d1IYm5JHagw/s1600/Northumberland-Square.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="810" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKbMjNgg29xnFY0Wni5vfGg4F1Thq3NYIlzC3OSoYS9RxkzZP1rA7PLgDsOxIsZFrwkveRzSg0y2arTYxwdE9xFXZhG6ZH6CsL9RD0sVv5W5T3Ad8Tsugk6t0gZv93yCK5d1IYm5JHagw/s640/Northumberland-Square.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Northumberland Square, c. 1960s</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There are many references to J.W. Munby and his services to the community in the local newspapers from 1904 when he first stood for council, culminating in him becoming Mayor of Tynemouth in 1923, although he appears to have kept working in various capacities until he died aged 90 in 1946.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYrfIvVM13ufdo0EUTmW_BMq37JYtNVrxKiIkAFJB2zISUHe6Z11ZceemiJPdsThOVHKjL50NVXhVNv-ci1je0iLcHIqxlYL1yEijpuup1sVWKwbI-3f5DdVniMJnaVZlRgzS1ipN_Oco/s1600/WalkersStoreNS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="348" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYrfIvVM13ufdo0EUTmW_BMq37JYtNVrxKiIkAFJB2zISUHe6Z11ZceemiJPdsThOVHKjL50NVXhVNv-ci1je0iLcHIqxlYL1yEijpuup1sVWKwbI-3f5DdVniMJnaVZlRgzS1ipN_Oco/s640/WalkersStoreNS.jpg" width="443" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">North Shields store owned by the father of Gladys and Violet Munby</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAIRTBaKs7Gknq4b0nyuCtUS3yg-qNpnQneqUOHc_8ZmZ_AtrEFK0UgfgkrgcFffJfUMYILHoO599zcmmtrhzYYOvJLerDDJdiuIUUFWZWa40OOJnuSciHROnxDuTFSAkU8YSBjbft6wc/s1600/JWMunby1946.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="631" data-original-width="393" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAIRTBaKs7Gknq4b0nyuCtUS3yg-qNpnQneqUOHc_8ZmZ_AtrEFK0UgfgkrgcFffJfUMYILHoO599zcmmtrhzYYOvJLerDDJdiuIUUFWZWa40OOJnuSciHROnxDuTFSAkU8YSBjbft6wc/s640/JWMunby1946.png" width="398" /></a></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOnGKkBLBq81cl0KW7viQQ8hsirWR0PQV6cDmUwabctF23CedhVNAzgYTpxtV0t43aOa12kgvutik_yDWJH6TyZYQVZN2ZQvBPg4iR2qNe3jcPXJSvOHXopdN8Chy5a__ncGQcp31xQz0/s1600/AnnieBatesJWMunby.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOnGKkBLBq81cl0KW7viQQ8hsirWR0PQV6cDmUwabctF23CedhVNAzgYTpxtV0t43aOa12kgvutik_yDWJH6TyZYQVZN2ZQvBPg4iR2qNe3jcPXJSvOHXopdN8Chy5a__ncGQcp31xQz0/s640/AnnieBatesJWMunby.JPG" width="425" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Family vault of Annie Bates and J W Munby, Preston Cemetery, North Shields</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The two sisters clearly received fine educations, being fluent in languages and talented musicians. There are a number of newspaper references to both of them being awarded prizes for their piano playing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Gladys studied musicianship in Germany and returned to England at the outbreak of World War I. She advertised lessons in the local Tyneside newspapers and after the war was over, appeared to do a fair bit of travelling. She made the news columns when she arrived in Sydney, Australia, in 1923. This from the <i>Sydney Morning Herald </i>of 29 December 1923:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>LAST NEW ARRIVAL OF 1923</b></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Miss Gladys Munby arrived in Sydney during the week as the last English musician to put in an appearance during 1923.</span></span></b> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">This young artist was trained at the Dresden Conservatorium as a pianist under Miss Rappoldi, a venerable virtuoso who studied under Liszt, and also with Emit Kronke, a pupil of Grieg, with whose works he is much identified.</span></span></b> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">After 18 months at Dresden the war broke out, and Miss Munby beat a hasty retreat to her home in Newcastle-on-Tyne, where she studied with Mr. E.L. Bainton, and took her A.R.C.M. [Associate of Royal College of Music] by examination.</span></span></b> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Her musical career was then submerged by the calls of her country. She first went to Etaples, the great reinforcement base for the British army, and did canteen work with the Y.M.C.A [Young Men's Christian Association] until the authorites were apprised of her fluency in speaking German. Miss Munby at once joined the Q.M.A.A.C. (Queen Mary Army Auxiliary Corps), and was attached to the Intelligence Department at St. Omer to decode German wireless.</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">This department was colloquially designated the "Hush Waacs".</span></span></b> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">After the Armistice the pianist was transferred to the British Army of Occupation on the Rhine and was employed in the Censor's Office to read Germany correspondence.</span></span></b> </span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Miss Munby then left on a visit to friends in New Zealand and now proposes settling in Sydney, where her knowledge of music and languages should be of the utmost service to her.</span></span></span></b></blockquote>
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Gladys was appointed Music Teacher at the prestigious Sydney <a href="https://www.plc.nsw.edu.au/about-plc-sydney/our-history" target="_blank">Presbyterian Ladies College </a>and in 1926 was transferred to the new PLC in Orange, New South Wales - that school is now known as <a href="https://www.kws.nsw.edu.au/about/history-of-the-school" target="_blank">Kinross-Wollaroi</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">She continued to pop up in Australian news reports over several years, with descriptions of her playing at recitals in places like Gunning and Goulburn, New South Wales, and she is even listed in programs for Sunday night concerts on Radio 2BL in Sydney.</span></span><br />
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The last we hear of Gladys in Australia is this report from <i>Sydney Sun</i> 16 March 1930:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Gladys Munby</b></span> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Further study on the Continent is the mission of Miss Gladys Munby, who is leaving immediately for Paris and Vienna.</b></span> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>For the past six years Miss Munby has successfully taught pianoforte playing and music in leading schools of Sydney and country districts, and she has much excellent work to her credit, her students having given proof of this by results at examinations .... </b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>... Miss Munby is an associate of the Royal College of Music, London, and she has already had </b></span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>four years' study with eminent masters at Dresden and elsewhere on the Continent.</b></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So where did Gladys go after that? Did she really do further study in Europe as stated in the article? Although she popped up on Australian Electoral Rolls during her stay in that country, there is no sign of her in the English ones. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nothing else can be found for her until the 1939 Register in which she is listed as a School Teacher living at a boarding hotel in Montague Street adjacent to the British Museum.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">In the 1939 Register next to her entry there is handwriting - "<i><span style="color: #cc0000;">QM[sic]MAC Administration Temporary Unit</span></i>". This suggests her previous war experience with the Queen Mary Army Auxiliary Corps may have come to the notice of someone. Did she then go to Bletchley Park or somewhere similar to do translation or other covert work?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: black;">Gladys died in 1955 in a nursing home in Cinderford, Gloucestershire, which is a long way from her family connections in North Shields. She left an estate valued at £14,000 (at least £300,000 today) and her executors were her half-brother Robert Pickering Munby and sister Violet Munby. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Meanwhile, Violet Munby had a similar background to Gladys, with a few newspaper reports of her piano playing locally on Tyneside, but she is even more mysterious. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The passenger ship records show that after World War I, Violet travelled back and forth across the Atlantic between the UK, France, Italy and New York regularly. Her occupations are as numerous as the crossings she made. She's a "maid", or "journalist", "housekeeper" or "housewife", "companion" or "governess", even a "proof-reader". Her addresses on arrival are rarely the same either and they </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">included flats in Kensington and Hampstead in London as well as 317 West 45th Street, New York, an apartment complex originally built by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Astor" target="_blank">Vincent Astor</a>. </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Others are just shown as Washington DC, or random places such Birmingham or Crookham in the UK. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">By 1955, she gave the address of her brother, Dr. William Maxwell Munby, who lived at 12 Mill Grove, Tynemouth. There is also only one passenger list showing her sister Gladys heading for New York to stay at the W. 45th Street address. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Violet also acquired an American Social Security Number, likely to have been issued in New York some time after 1936 and before 1951. </span></span><br />
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<table class="table tableHorizontal tableHorizontalRuled" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-top: 0px; width: 387px;"><tbody style="box-sizing: inherit;">
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit;"><th style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2; padding: 7px 8px 2px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; width: 147px;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Name:</span></th><td style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 8px; vertical-align: middle; word-break: break-word;"><span class="srchHit" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Violet Munby</span></span></td></tr>
<tr style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(236, 236, 236); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: inherit;"><th style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2; padding: 7px 8px 2px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; width: 147px;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">SSN:</span></th><td style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 8px; vertical-align: middle; word-break: break-word;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="srchMatch" score="7" style="box-sizing: inherit;" type="exact">050</span>-<span best="true" class="srchMatch" score="7" style="box-sizing: inherit;" type="exact">22</span>-<span class="srchMatch" score="7" style="box-sizing: inherit;" type="exact">3716</span></span></td></tr>
<tr style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(236, 236, 236); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: inherit;"><th style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2; padding: 7px 8px 2px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; width: 147px;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Last Residence:</span></th><td style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 8px; vertical-align: middle; word-break: break-word;"><div class="" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">800 (U.S. Consulate) London, United Kingdom</span></span></div>
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<tr style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(236, 236, 236); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: inherit;"><th style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2; padding: 7px 8px 2px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; width: 147px;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">BORN:</span></th><td style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 8px; vertical-align: middle; word-break: break-word;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">25 Apr 1884</span></td></tr>
<tr style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(236, 236, 236); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: inherit;"><th style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2; padding: 7px 8px 2px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; width: 147px;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Died:</span></th><td style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 8px; vertical-align: middle; word-break: break-word;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dec 1974</span></td></tr>
<tr style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(236, 236, 236); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: inherit;"><th style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2; padding: 7px 8px 2px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; width: 147px;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">State (Year) SSN issued:</span></th><td style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 8px; vertical-align: middle; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">New York (Before 1951)</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What was she doing going back and forth so frequently and doing different, rather humble, jobs? Could she have been some kind of courier? </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The most telling evidence that Violet may have been involved in some sort of covert travel is this extract from 1943 of a rare Pan American Airways manifest of people flying from Darrell Island, Bermuda, to New York. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Violet is accompanied by another woman and both are described as "Civil Servants" with their Bermuda address as "Imperial Censorship Bermuda".</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWS9Q0d6RSXrOHmkN0lQdTRHpkkmqVHLje7eKmGaX1TPKJ_8Oc1XUMrj1CVq7hh0RzwXPswpSvQMpTHsTvsrinxZwffVPUIEOmd2vCBmIxtcKh0_yRWhsHH24ubU4rw7_cXsfpPLKCw1c/s1600/Violet1943PaxList.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="116" data-original-width="1600" height="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWS9Q0d6RSXrOHmkN0lQdTRHpkkmqVHLje7eKmGaX1TPKJ_8Oc1XUMrj1CVq7hh0RzwXPswpSvQMpTHsTvsrinxZwffVPUIEOmd2vCBmIxtcKh0_yRWhsHH24ubU4rw7_cXsfpPLKCw1c/s640/Violet1943PaxList.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So this proves that during World War II Violet continued to be involved in similar work to that she did in World War I. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Most of the censors were women, called Examiners or "Censorettes", with the majority being older spinsters chosen for their world knowledge and language skills ... one wonders if Gladys might also have been there? Other censors included:</span></span></span><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">... a Swiss florist, the former manager of the Anglo-Czechoslovakian Bank of London and a Cambridge University professor with a command of 30 languages including rare Indian dialects.</span></span></span></b></blockquote>
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<b><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Others who have worked for the Imperial Censorship in Bermuda are</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val_Gielgud" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Val Gielgud on Wikipedia">Val Gielgud</a><span style="background-color: white;">, a BBC producer,</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Maschwitz" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Eric Maschwitz on Wikipedia">Eric Maschwitz</a><span style="background-color: white;">, author of Balalaika, a doctor who was at Dunkirk, a biographer of obscure French philosophers and a Scottish girl with a command of 10 languages. Age was no issue with several eminent language scholars over the age of 80.</span></span></span></b></blockquote>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Read more here</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="http://www.bermudastamps.co.uk/info/imperial-censorship/" target="_blank">Censorship Department in Bermuda</a></b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="http://bernews.com/2011/11/bermudas-second-world-war-espionage-role/" target="_blank">Bermuda's Espionage Role</a></b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="http://www.royalgazette.com/news/article/20160425/celebrating-wartime-spy-chief" target="_blank">The Man Called Intrepid - the "boss" at Bermuda</a></b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It may well be that Violet even crossed paths with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizebeth_Smith_Friedman" target="_blank">Elizebeth Friedman,</a> recently the subject of a fascinating book by Joseph Fagone entitled </span><i>The Woman Who Smashed Codes - </i><a href="https://www.marinamaxwellauthor.com/book-reviews/the-woman-who-smashed-codes" target="_blank">read my book review here</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWDLLyRfF9HVe0Omgae1kTvJOn04j3pugqNFA0YYJJuo6Cs1bZsTd0ISlovrmhDAHoTrSlhNGFeOTSarGQzwXeX91wGQfm9RZPqjla6Uw2LW_yOhDn-L_pyrn63lsMpkLHXewCHCOlPJM/s1600/bermuda-princess-hotel-panorama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="600" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWDLLyRfF9HVe0Omgae1kTvJOn04j3pugqNFA0YYJJuo6Cs1bZsTd0ISlovrmhDAHoTrSlhNGFeOTSarGQzwXeX91wGQfm9RZPqjla6Uw2LW_yOhDn-L_pyrn63lsMpkLHXewCHCOlPJM/s640/bermuda-princess-hotel-panorama.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Princess Hotel, Bermuda, HQ of the WW2 Censorship Department</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Violet died in North Shields in 1974, her last address being the same as that of her brother, William Maxwell Munby. Her estate was just over £53,000 [around £600,000 today], so either she came into family money from her father or she earned a very good income doing whatever it was she did.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">From what I have discovered about these two spinster sisters, it may be that there is a book waiting to be written on them!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My research into Gladys and Violet is ongoing as there is probably much more to be found on them in the archives of the intelligence services but which are not easily accessible to hobbyists like me and it will require the skills and contacts of an investigative journalist to really find out what the pair of them were up to. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">---oOo---</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As to the family connection:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The mother of Anne Bates Munby, Anne Bates Walker, ran a shop selling flour at 154 Buckingham Street, Newcastle upon
Tyne, where she was blown up in a gas explosion in 1853 when her daughter was
only about 4 years of age. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The inquest found that Anne's husband William Walker was to blame as he obviously wasn't very smart, having gone looking for
a gas leak with a lighted candle! </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Anne’s brother, Matthew William Bates, my
husband’s ancestor, rushed to her aid but she died soon afterwards. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1QfdIEcMUJ7lwUaMED2MTrqAGatFUxkxkev2DiBzN6wRtQu12onHHNzS4iRrqjCRVqPUAblwpgDnIvkI51fh93uPYY3fO6RRKkQAxAaFYfiUCYYCj01ntBcFTp1SUDn2-DnVkeGKLRk/s1600/AnnWalkerExplosion.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="861" data-original-width="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1QfdIEcMUJ7lwUaMED2MTrqAGatFUxkxkev2DiBzN6wRtQu12onHHNzS4iRrqjCRVqPUAblwpgDnIvkI51fh93uPYY3fO6RRKkQAxAaFYfiUCYYCj01ntBcFTp1SUDn2-DnVkeGKLRk/s1600/AnnWalkerExplosion.png" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">By a truly bizarre coincidence,
my own g-g-grandmother Julia Atkin (1803-1861) lived just a few doors away from that very shop around this period and no doubt she may have known Anne Bates Walker or even bought supplies from her. She may even have been a witness to the explosion.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">See this relevant page of the 1851 Census. Little Anne Bates Walker on the first line, my own g-g-grandmother </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">[sic. Judith Aikin]</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> fourth</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> from the bottom.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv5JST5hYhZZso0RR_X5L2HApyOvGBOVH8oVrYX6IPQz9qE_efJXA0qdBzMVqrzPAF6Zl3Frh47hfK3pcOfDFrkF63n7erKd_1t8Lk3LjGHjnxAKjsBsyxQEMi4lIr9b8_femCQZop24Q/s1600/1851BuckinghamStreet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="997" data-original-width="1600" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv5JST5hYhZZso0RR_X5L2HApyOvGBOVH8oVrYX6IPQz9qE_efJXA0qdBzMVqrzPAF6Zl3Frh47hfK3pcOfDFrkF63n7erKd_1t8Lk3LjGHjnxAKjsBsyxQEMi4lIr9b8_femCQZop24Q/s640/1851BuckinghamStreet.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One final twist in this uncanny tale of family connection is that Violet appears to have lived out her later years with her brother, Dr. William Maxwell Munby, at 12 Mill Grove, Tynemouth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the early 1960s when I was a teenager, and many years before I met my husband or had the slightest inkling we had ancestors who'd once lived close to one another, I'd just started my first job in Newcastle on Tyne during which time I lived briefly in a rented house in Tynemouth with my parents prior to us moving to Canada to live. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I can't now recall the exact number, but the house was a corner one in Mill Grove, possibly quite close to, maybe even right across the road, from the Munbys. </span></span><br />
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<br />Regina of Arbeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.com4