BereniceUK Posted 15 October , 2013 Share Posted 15 October , 2013 This lovely memorial used to be in the chapel at the North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary which is now closed and demolished. The memorial was supposed to be going to Stoke-on-Trent Museum the last I heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Strawbridge Posted 16 October , 2013 Share Posted 16 October , 2013 Brilliant. Thank you for posting. My pleasure is because this relates to one of the women that I am researching. I know of her only from the York Minster panels where she is listed under "Auxiliary Hospital". Until now my researches had her as possibly the M. Mayne who was successful in her examination set by the Central Midwives Board in 1914 whilst at Belfast Union Maternity Hospital. I could find two possible deaths registered : Margaret Mayne whose death was registered in the second quarter 1917 in the Colchester registration district or the Margaret Mayne whose death was registered in the fourth quarter 1917 in the Liverpool registration district. So I can now home in on the Colchester one to try and find out more about her. Obviously not the one who passed her CMB exam in 1914 as she was serving in Staffordshire and not Belfast. The N.S.I. on the plaque I am sure is an abbreviation for North Staffordshire Infirmary. The "Auxiliary Hospital" listing at York Minster often confuses me. As an ARRC she could have been listed under VAD had she entered through one of the affiliated organisations but I assume is listed where she is because she was a paid employee at Harwich Military Hospital so considered staff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Light Posted 16 October , 2013 Share Posted 16 October , 2013 She may well have been the M. Mayne who took her CMB exams in Belfast. Her entry in the Royal Red Cross Register shows her as: Miss Margaret Mayne, Sister, Great Eastern Hotel Hospital, Harwich. the London Gazette date of her ARRC was 23 February 1917. As she died soon after, her award was sent on 22/5/17 to a woman who was presumably her mother: Mrs. Mayne, Ballinamallard, Co. Tyrone, Ireland Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGM Posted 16 October , 2013 Share Posted 16 October , 2013 The 1911 census for the North Staffordshire Infirmary has a Margaret MAYNE, single, aged 29 (1882) Staffs Nurse (it does say Staffs), who was born in Ballinamallard. Co Tyrone. CGM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayessex Posted 16 October , 2013 Share Posted 16 October , 2013 Hi there Berenice, Live in Harwich if I can be of any Help. Though I do believe to Two buildings you mentioned have now been knocked down. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BereniceUK Posted 17 October , 2013 Author Share Posted 17 October , 2013 Thanks for the offer, Ray, but it's okay. I kind of gave up on the NHS caring for its heritage when the Trust I was working for in Stoke-on-Trent gave their two war memorials, the tablet above and a WW2 board, to the local museum because it was felt they wouldn't be appropriate in the new building that replaced the one that's been knocked down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayessex Posted 17 October , 2013 Share Posted 17 October , 2013 No Problem Berenice. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayessex Posted 17 October , 2013 Share Posted 17 October , 2013 OOOPS! sorry Sue I now see it was you who mentioned the Buildings in Harwich, Sorry. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherannej Posted 22 October , 2013 Share Posted 22 October , 2013 I am researching North Essex WW1 auxiliary hospitals and my Word doc for the Harwich/Dovercourt one has little evidence of nurses who worked there. I have had great help from the British Red Cross but there's no hospital card for this 'military' hospital and, thus, I only have evidence for only four members of staff .... 3 nurses - Miss M. Mayne being one of those (plus Miss A. H. Hyde (Trained Staff Nurse/Sister. Deputed Sister mention & Miss M. D. Salmond (Trained Q.A.I.M.N.S. Nurse. “valuable services rendered”) - and a male Commandant (Mr. T. W. Etherden (Commandant 1915). So this thread has been very imformative. These Word docs will be going into a few files for display at a local WW1 Centenary Exhibition next year. I have several questions for you all on this:- BereniceUK:- Is that image yours please? I would love to add it to my Word doc and would acknowledge you accordingly ... if you could give permission to me please. I just love this memorial to her. Sue:- You have helped me a lot already (privately) but perhaps I can pick your brains again .... I have a few women that I have not been able to positively ID yet, could I send you their names privately and hope that you may be able to find them in this Royal Red Cross Register? OR is this something accessible to me, if I search for it online? Jim Strawbridge; CGM: Rayessex:- Thanks for your contributions. If I may, I would like to insert the information you have all given and I will acknowledge the GWF help. Best Regards Heather Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Light Posted 22 October , 2013 Share Posted 22 October , 2013 Of course I can check anything on the RRC Register for you Heather - just let me know. I have all the names in a database and the corresponding images from the original. Margaret Mayne is there of course, but no-one else whose entry has Harwich mentioned, and there is a Jean Wilson from Dovercourt Military Hospital. But always easier to search on names as some women moved around quite a bit. And just as a general point, the RRC database is searchable on FindMyPast, in the Military Nurses section there, but I'm always happy to look anything up myself. Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BereniceUK Posted 22 October , 2013 Author Share Posted 22 October , 2013 BereniceUK:- Is that image yours please? I would love to add it to my Word doc and would acknowledge you accordingly ... if you could give permission to me please. I just love this memorial to her. Best Regards Heather Yes, I took the photo. You're welcome to use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherannej Posted 23 October , 2013 Share Posted 23 October , 2013 Sue Thanks very much for that ..... re Harwich, it's a bit confusing inasmuchas Harwich is adjacent to Dovercourt and I've found the V.A.D. there called:- "Garrison Military Hospital, Harwich, Dovercourt"; "hospital at Harwich"; "G.E.R. Hotel Hospital" (it was housed within the Great Eastern Railway Hotel); "Great Eastern Hotel Military Hospital, Harwich"; and "Harwich Garrison Hospital, Dovercourt", Now you have given me a new one .... "Dovercourt Military Hospital" :-) I'll add Jean Wilson. I have found two other sisters whom I have found nothing for, so I'll get in touch privately. Berenice Thank you for that permission. Incidentally, I emailed the Stoke on Trent Museum and have had a reply back about the location of the Mayne Memorial and the WW1 Memorial. They are not holding either in their collection and a City of Stoke-on-Trent Senior Planning Officer has suggested that they are still in the Chapel of the NSRI !!! I found online news from December 2012 saying that this hospital will be demolished and 200 houses built on the site. \I have just emailed the new hospital, making enquiries about their location. Thanks again to both of you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Light Posted 23 October , 2013 Share Posted 23 October , 2013 Sue Thanks very much for that ..... re Harwich, it's a bit confusing inasmuchas Harwich is adjacent to Dovercourt and I've found the V.A.D. there called:- "Garrison Military Hospital, Harwich, Dovercourt"; "hospital at Harwich"; "G.E.R. Hotel Hospital" (it was housed within the Great Eastern Railway Hotel); "Great Eastern Hotel Military Hospital, Harwich"; and "Harwich Garrison Hospital, Dovercourt", Now you have given me a new one .... "Dovercourt Military Hospital" :-) I'll add Jean Wilson. I have found two other sisters whom I have found nothing for, so I'll get in touch privately. I've just checked the database of hospitals I have here, and it probably leaves things even more confused. The 'main' military hospital was: Garrison Military Hospital, Harwich, which provided beds for 6 officers and 121 other ranks. There were three other units that were separate, but not true auxiliary hospitals - they were actually 'sections' of their main unit, i.e. Garrison Hospital, Harwich. Being a section rather than an auxiliary meant that they were able to take patients directly from disembarkation, and were under the control of the War Office rather than the BRCS/St. John (the Joint War Committee). The other three 'sections' were: Dovercourt Military Hospital, 5 officers and 115 other ranks. Cliffe Hospital, Felixstowe, 10 officers and 130 other ranks Herman de Stern Hospital, Felixstowe, 2 officers and 74 other ranks. My details are taken from a War Office list dated October 1917. This list doesn't include the Great Eastern Hotel, Harwich, so it looks as though either it was closed by that time, or there is possibly an omission in the list, though I would hope it's the former. That might simplify things, or not! Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Light Posted 23 October , 2013 Share Posted 23 October , 2013 And have now found the Great Eastern Railway Hotel, Harwich in a separate BRCS list dated 1915, which describes it as a Military Hospital staffed by Essex VAD, with Mr. Etherden as the Commandant. Because of the capitalisation of 'Military Hospital' it seems to have been an auxiliary hospital but under War Office control. Provided beds for 110 other ranks. Sue . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherannej Posted 23 October , 2013 Share Posted 23 October , 2013 Hi Sue .... I am getting in deeper and deeper, it seems - more confused :-) Thanks for all that information! I have found only one person for the Dovercourt Military Hospital: Miss M. D. Salmond Assistant Nurse, Q.A.I.M.N.S. - named in the Chelmsford Chronicle (26 October 1917) re Nurses Services Recognised. I thought it was the same Garrison Military Hospital, Harwich but I have separated her now under "Dovercourt Military Hospital". I have found Commandant Mr. Etherden mentioned in a January 1915 Chelmsford Chronicle article .... about Christmas being celebrated. Amongst other bits, it refers V.A.D. gifts to the officers and men of the G.E.R Hotel Hospital and "the men of the V.A.D. presented to their Commandant (Mr. T.W. Etherden) a silver-mounted walking stick as a token of their esteem." Additionally (taken, with permission from www.harwichanddovercourt.co.uk and the Harwich Society) three private houses were also requisitioned for use as hospitals, ‘Cliff Hall’ with beds for 120 patients, ‘The Grange’ (Hall Lane) and ‘The Gables’ (Marine Parade), as well as the ‘Tower Hotel’ (Main Rd). But I've found nothing more on these 3 private houses. So my Word doc is all getting more and more detailed. Thanks again ... the help is invaluable. Heather Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGM Posted 23 October , 2013 Share Posted 23 October , 2013 Are you aware that the Harwich and Dovercourt Military Hospital, which was run by Essex 88 VAD from May - October 1915 was disbanded in November 1915? I know no more than this, which comes from an entry on the IWM website, in Collections. Harwich Military Hospital Magazine, 1915 Contained within the magazine is an Epilogue (19pp) written by Miss J E M Mathew in August 1919 in which she records the wartime history of the hospital and its staff before its disbandment in November 1915. See HERE The magazine looks as though it could be very interesting! CGM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherannej Posted 23 October , 2013 Share Posted 23 October , 2013 Hi CGM I did NOT know this ..... thank you very much for that piece of information. I'm obliged to you. Best Regards Heather Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BereniceUK Posted 24 October , 2013 Author Share Posted 24 October , 2013 Incidentally, I emailed the Stoke on Trent Museum and have had a reply back about the location of the Mayne Memorial and the WW1 Memorial. They are not holding either in their collection and a City of Stoke-on-Trent Senior Planning Officer has suggested that they are still in the Chapel of the NSRI !!! I found online news from December 2012 saying that this hospital will be demolished and 200 houses built on the site. \I have just emailed the new hospital, making enquiries about their location. Did you have any contact with Jon Goodwin at the museum? He looks after the city's war memorials. If you would like his email address at the council I can pm it to you. It's actually a WW2 memorial board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherannej Posted 24 October , 2013 Share Posted 24 October , 2013 Berenice Hi .... the museum said they got their information (re "still in the Chapel") from this Jon Goodwin, as it happens, and he was copied in the reply to me. In reply, when I acknowledged the museum's help, I copied to him also. Of course, I am not local to Stoke but am to Harwich (Colchester actually) - which is referred to on the memorial plaque. Surely to goodness, this plaque won't be lost!? Sue & CGM "Are you aware that the Harwich & Dovercourt Military Hospital .... was disbanded in Nov 1915?" I am really confused now ..... I have:- JOINT WAR COMMITTEE : The British Journal of Nursing, 11th March 1916: The following Sisters have been deputed for duty in Home Hospitals:- … Great Eastern Hospital, Harwich Miss A. H. Hyde. and Sue has a War Office List, October 1917 for "Garrison Military Hospital, Harwich". and Sue has a War Office List, October 1917 for "Garrison Military Hospital, Harwich". What am I missing here? Best Regards Heather Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGM Posted 24 October , 2013 Share Posted 24 October , 2013 Off the top of my head I'd say that finding out the exact addresses of all the hospitals would be the way to go - and probably several of those you have listed in #12 will turn out to be the same establishments, with imprecise names used locally confusing the issue. Tracking down one of the local historians would probably be a good way to start. CGM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGM Posted 24 October , 2013 Share Posted 24 October , 2013 THIS website entry states that The Great Eastern Railway Hotel was requisitioned on the 6th august becoming known as the Garrison military hospital. (I can't work out in which year this particular 6th of August fell.) CGM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherannej Posted 24 October , 2013 Share Posted 24 October , 2013 Hi ... amendment to #19: Sue's find for "Garrison Military Hospital, Harwich" was in a 1915 BRCS list not War Office List 1917 (my mistake). To be accurate, I have references in March 1916 for "Great Eastern Hospital, Harwich" and in October 1917 for "Dovercourt Military Hospital". With the IWM mag saying "Harwich and Dovercourt Military Hospital" disbanded in November 1915. Thanks CGM, I was in contact with a couple of Harwich historians - I will look them up and ask them if they can throw any light on it all. Thanks again Berenice I have heard from 'your' Jon Goodwin - he took the initiative to contact me after being copied by the Museum, he sent a recent image of the Chapel, with the plaque in situ ... "Although there are plans to redevelop the NSRI site, nothing has been done to date. A programme of historic building recording will be required before any structures are demolished; the future of any memorials will also be determined before work on site actually commences." Many thanks to all .... Heather Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayessex Posted 24 October , 2013 Share Posted 24 October , 2013 Hi Found this in The Harwich Historical Society's Web Site. The Great Eastern Railway Hotel was requisitioned on the 6th august becoming known as the Garrison military hospital.Great Eastern Railway Hotel furniture was replaced with hospital beds; Harwich was a fortress town so patients were not sent directly to this hospital they would be transferred from surrounding camps and other towns. Local residents would entertain the patients by providing concerts. Three private houses were also requisitioned for use as hospitals, Cliff Hall with beds for 120 patients, the Grange and the Gables as well as the Tower hotel. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayessex Posted 25 October , 2013 Share Posted 25 October , 2013 Hello, This is the Great Eastern Railway Hotel as it is today, now a block of flats. Thought it had been knocked down but was thinking of another Hotel. Ray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherannej Posted 1 November , 2013 Share Posted 1 November , 2013 Ahhh ... that's lovely Ray ... thank you very much indeed. Much appreciated. Best Regards to all. Heather Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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