Mrs Mary Martin, Royal Red Cross: Montrose Red Cross Hospitals

[rolt968]

I passed a gravestone which I have passed many times before and only today noticed that the wife had a Royal Red Cross.

She was Mrs Mary Martin, Sister, QAIMNS[R]. She was awarded the Royal Red Cross 2nd Class (LG. 3 June 1916). Her maiden name was Hughes. She was married to Peter Martin who worked for the telegraph service and was also at some stage the Honorary Vice Consul somewhere in South America. They had a son born in 1907/08. The family returned from St Helena in the summer of 1914.

She died in 1962.

Does anyone know anything else about her?

Roger M

Edited 28 July , 2019 by rolt968

[Sue Light]

Hello Roger

I'm a bit confused here. The Mrs. M. Martin named in the very long Royal Red Cross List of 3/6/16 is a Mrs Melita Martin. I have a database of all RRC/ARRC awards and can't see anyone matching Mary Martin, or prior to her marriage to a Mary Hughes. I am wondering as well if she would be acceptable to QAIMNS as the mother of a small boy, or that she would have been a Sister (as opposed to a Staff Nurse) at the date of that list. There is one other Mrs. Mary Martin named in the RRC Register who was working at the Red Cross Auxiliary Hospital, Montrose, and it was in the LG dated 24 October 1917.

Sue

[TEW]

There's a Mary Hughes QAIMNS at TNA

And also a Mary Martin QAIMNS

And Melita Martin

TEW

[rolt968]

Hello Roger

I'm a bit confused here. The Mrs. M. Martin named in the very long Royal Red Cross List of 3/6/16 is a Mrs Melita Martin. I have a database of all RRC/ARRC awards and can't see anyone matching Mary Martin, or prior to her marriage to a Mary Hughes. I am wondering as well if she would be acceptable to QAIMNS as the mother of a small boy, or that she would have been a Sister (as opposed to a Staff Nurse) at the date of that list. There is one other Mrs. Mary Martin named in the RRC Register who was working at the Red Cross Auxiliary Hospital, Montrose, and it was in the LG dated 24 October 1917.

Sue

Thanks Sue

The Montrose one looks a good deal more likely. I had also wondered about her being accepted when she had a small son. I also could not really see how she could have been in the "Reserve" when she was out of the country until summer 1914. I also thought for some reason that 1916 seemed a bit early. I will change the thread title accordingly. Do you know what her status was?

Roger M

Edit: She and her husband are buried in Edzell churchyard very near to Brigadier-General (Air Commodore?) J H W Becke and his wife. I have passed the stone many times and not noticed the RRC after the lady's name.

[Sue Light]

The Montrose Mary Martin was Sister-in-Charge at the Red Cross Auxiliary Hospital, Montrose. She certainly seems to be the only likely candidate who fits with both the RRC Register and the location. She would have been a civilian, trained pre-war, and pre-marriage. It might be worth going through the BRCS online records, but not a lot of trained nurses appear there as many were not actually members of detachments but employed on a paid basis for their wartime service.

http://www.redcross.org.uk/About-us/Who-we-are/History-and-origin/First-World-War

There were four hospitals in Montrose that took military patients and two of them 'auxiliary' hospitals, so not quite clear exactly which this was. I would think that any further information is likely to be in local archives and/or newspapers of the time.

Sue

[rolt968]

Somewhere along the way she lost two or three years. Her death certificate gives her age as 83, which matches with the non-vital records I have found so far. She was actually born on 13 May 1875 in Brechin and registered as Mary Ann Hughes. (She was 86.) No luck in the Red Cross database so far.

Roger M

[alf mcm]

Roger,

According to a small article in the Daily Record of April 1915, page 6, [found on Findmypast], Nurse martin was working in a hospital organized in the Unionist Hall, Montrose. There is a photo, and she is in it!

Regards,

Alf McM

[rolt968]

Roger,

According to a small article in the Daily Record of April 1915, page 6, [found on Findmypast], Nurse martin was working in a hospital organized in the Unionist Hall, Montrose. There is a photo, and she is in it!

Regards,

Alf McM

Thanks Alf

I'll look for that. I had only found the Courier item. I wonder which was the Unionist Hall.

Roger M

[alf mcm]

Roger,

An article in the Dundee Courier of 11th May 1917, page 2, states that Sister Martin was in charge of No. 2 Red Cross Hospital {the Parish Council's Almshouse}. It had 41 beds, and is a different hospital from the one mentioned above.

Her award of the A.R.R.C. is in the Courier of 26th October 1917, page 3.

Regards,

Alf

[rolt968]

Roger,

An article in the Dundee Courier of 11th May 1917, page 2, states that Sister Martin was in charge of No. 2 Red Cross Hospital {the Parish Council's Almshouse}. It had 41 beds, and is a different hospital from the one mentioned above.

Her award of the A.R.R.C. is in the Courier of 26th October 1917, page 3.

Regards,

Alf

Many thanks Alf

You may have been having more success with findmypast's sometimes erratic OCR and search engine than I was. I think I can find the Almshouse.

Roger M

[rolt968]

I suspect that the Parish Council's Almshouse was the poorhouse which stood across the road from the Caledonian Station. (Ironically the Caledonian Station site is now occupied by a sheltered housing complex.

I'm still working on the Unionist Hall. I know roughly where their "club rooms" were, but they don't immediately seem a likely location for a hospital.

Roger M

[rolt968]

Looking for other things (always the way) I found a couple of answers about "Red Cross" hospitals in Montrose.

 

In the Montrose Standard of 2 March 1917, there is a length article entitled "Extension of Military Hospital Accommodation".

According to the article the existing (presumably No. 1) "Red Cross" hospital was in the Memorial Halls, Baltic Street (still in existence, the halls of the Congregational/ United Reform Church).

It had twenty five beds.

 

I was correct about the location of the No. 2 Red Cross Hospital (Sister Martin in charge -see above) . It was the poorhouse  (almshouse) in Railway Place. The parish council had been (approached presumably by the Red Cross) about acquiring the building. It was suggested that the new hospital would accommodate 60 men (or 70 "at a push").

Much of the discussion was concerned with who paid for things like repairs to the building and what to do with the existing occupants (It can't be said that the latter made particularly edifying reading).

 

RM

[rolt968]

It's possible that the building used for the No 2 Red Cross Hospital stll exists.

https://www.workhouses.org.uk/Montrose/

RM