Nurse Hodges

[swizz]

Hi all,

I was recently in Dorchester and noticed a nurse's name on the war memorial - pic attached. When I looked Hurse Hodges up on the CWGC I was unable to find her. What could explain this? As far as I could see, the memorial only lists the names of people who died.

Any ideas?

Swizz

[Sue Light]

Swizz

It was a bit more difficult for nurses to meet the CWGC criteria than the ordinary soldier. To qualify they had to be both employed at the time of their death, and also die of an illness/disease that was attributable to their service. It also excluded 'civilian' nurses. She could, of course, have died outside the qualifying period for commemoration. A search of the British Journal of Nursing brings up one hit on 'C. M. Hodges' which may be her, and shows her to be working at Urmston Hospital, Eastbourne, in April 1917.

Sue

[John84]

I think this may be...Constance Hodges, died on home service, 22nd June, 1917. serving at Urmston hospital, Eastbourne. Next of kin, Mrs Hodges of Oakwood, Middleton, St. George, Nr. Darlington.

John

[Malcolm]

Surname HODGES

Firstname Constance Mary

Service Number

Date Death

Decoration

Place of birth

Other

SNWM roll WOMEN'S SERVICES.

Rank Unknown

Theatre of death Unknown

Aye

Malcolm

[Jim Strawbridge]

She died of blood poisoning.

[Sue Light]

I wonder what her connection with Dorchester was?

And blood poisoning sounds as though it could well be attributable to her war service - unless she was a gardener/rock climber/wood cutter etc.

Sue

[swizz]

Thanks to everyone for their replies - I'm glad we have been able to put a full name to this Nurse. I was very interested to read about the various preconditions to a nurses's name making it onto the CWGC - thanks Sue!

I can't imagine what her Dorchester connection was and unfortunately I'm unlikely to be back there in the near to check the local papers. I did notice that her name wasn't on the war memorials at the Anglican or RC churches in the town though.

Swizz

[Tonym]

swizz

With an interest in WWI female casualties your post intrigued me particularly the memorial. I wondered whether the little lumps under NURSE were dittos, suggesting that both Payne & Pope were also nurses, however Payne, like Hodges drew a blank but Pope produced:-

Name: POPE, CICELY MARY LEIGH

Initials: C M L

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Nursing Sister

Regiment/Service: Voluntary Aid Detachment

Secondary Regiment: British Red Cross Society

Age: 31

Date of Death: 25/06/1921

Additional information: Daughter of Frances A. Pope, of 12A, Kensington Mansions, Earls Court, London, and the late Rev. W. A. Pope. Born at Redbourn, Herts.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: C. 2.

Cemetery: CHELA KULA MILITARY CEMETERY, NISH

Unfortunately the last two initials do not tally so unless someone made a clerical error I, at least, have another unfortunate lady for my records.

I wonder how much ribbing her dad experienced "THE REVEREND POPE"?

Tony

[swizz]

Tony

That's interesting - I wonder if we can then assume that Payne was a Nurse too?

Swizz

[Tonym]

swizz

If the little lumps underneath (NURSE) indicate dittoes then Payne and Pope must have been nurses but the Pope that I picked up on CWGC must have been a coincidence. I shall keep their names on file as something will almost certainly come up one day.

Cheers Tony

[Jim Strawbridge]

I would suggest these two as the likeliest candidates. The Pope family is a well known local family (part of the Pope's Brewery) and at least one was a mayor of Dorchester. And quite a contributor to the war effort with 15 brothers and sisters taking part.

Name: PAYNE, ARTHUR LEONARD

Initials: A L

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Private

Regiment/Service: Royal Army Service Corps

Unit Text: 8th Field Bakery

Age: 39

Date of Death: 24/02/1919

Service No: S/359744

Additional information: Son of the late Samuel and Caroline Payne; husband of Rosina Isabella Payne, of 192, Rose Green Rd., St. George, Bristol.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: II. I. 2.

Cemetery: JANVAL CEMETERY, DIEPPE

Name: POPE, CHARLES ALFRED WHITING

Initials: C A W

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Captain

Regiment/Service: Royal Army Medical Corps

Age: 39

Date of Death: 04/05/1917

Additional information: M.B. Son of Alfred Pope, J.P., F.S.A., and Elizabeth Mary Pope, of Wrackleford House, Dorset; husband of Marion Ruth Pope, of 7, Sedlescombe Rd. South, St. Leonards-on-Sea. One of eleven brothers and four sisters, all of whom (except one son predeceased) fought or worked for their Country in the Great War.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Memorial: SAVONA MEMORIAL

[Tonym]

Jim

A closer look at the names on CWGC I must agree with you, however if the digits on the memorial are meant to indicate dittoes whoever made the mold for the casting got it slightly wrong. The dittoes alongside SMITH (MM) are correct although he was attd to RAMC. I therefore concluded that the dittoes underneath NURSE indicated that they were also nurses. If they were intended to indicate RAMC he got that wrong as well, PAYNE (RASC). The bloke making the mold was either sadly ill-informed or spent too much time in Pope's brewery.

You said in an earlier post that she died of blood poisoning but did not identify her classification. Was she a VAD or do I assume correctly that she was a Hospital Nurse unconnected to any service organisation?

Tony

[Jim Strawbridge]

Jim

You said in an earlier post that she died of blood poisoning but did not identify her classification. Was she a VAD or do I assume correctly that she was a Hospital Nurse unconnected to any service organisation?

Tony

To be honest, Tony, I don't know. She is listed on the York Minster panels under "auxiliary hospitals". This is a different listing to Voluntary Aid Detachment, Order of St. John, etc and I have never really understood who was listed under the auxiliary hospital designation. My guess would be civilian nurses working in military hospitals but perhaps someone with more knowledge can answer it.

[Tonym]

Thanks Jim,

Until someone advises otherwise I will assume that she was a civilian nurse.

Regards Tony

[Colin the Caterpillar]

I am local to Dorchester and have been doing some research on the town’s role in WW1, for one of the historical walks that I lead in Dorset.  I stumbled across this post and although it is quite an old post I thought I would add the information I have found out about Nurse Hodges.

The nurse mentioned on the monument is indeed Constance Mary Hodges.  She is noted for being the only female commemorated on the war memorial.

The ditto marks after PAVE AL and POPE CAW do not indicate that these two were also nurses, but that they were in the RAMC (Royal Army Medical Core).  There should strictly speaking be ditto marks after HODGES CM (NURSE) but it looks like there was not room on the plaque.

Constance was born in Liverpool in 1876, the daughter of James Hodges and Sarah Margaret Hodges.  She has a younger sister Maria born in 1861.  The 1881 census has the family living in West Derby, Lancashire.  The 1891 census shows that the farther James had died and the mother and her daughters were living in Tranmere, Birkenhead.

Constance started her nursing career at Addenbrokes Hospital, Cambridge in February 1899.  In February 1902 she moved to Suffolk General Hospital, Bury St. Edmunds, where she was promoted to Sister.  She left the Suffolk General Hospital in December 1902 and started work at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Great Portland Street in February 1903.  In October 1904 she moved into private nursing.

During WW1 Constance joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment Joint War Committee.  She died of blood poisoning  of 23^rd June 1917 while working at Urmston Hospital, Eastbourne.  She is buried in Ocklynge Cemetery, Eastbourne.  The inscription on her gravestone reads:  ‘In proud and loving memory of Constance Mary Hodges who on June 23rd 1917 gave her life for the wounded soldiers she nursed so devotedly’.

She never married and had no children.

Her connection to Dorchester is less clear, but the Royal British Nurses’ Association records held at King’s College London has her addresses of interest as Urmston Hospital and 43 Cornwall Road, Dorchester.  Cornwall Road consists of a number of large town houses.  The 1915 list of residential let properties, in Dorchester, shows it as a letting house, so she could have rented a room there.

During the war there were three hospitals in Dorchester; Dorset County Hospital and two hospitals opened just for the war.  Dorchester had one of the largest PoW camps in the country holding 4,500 PoWs at its peak.  To treat these prisoners the recently closed Royal Horse Artillery Military Hospital was reopened in August 1914.  Another temporary hospital was opened in Coleton House to treat British soldiers.  This hospital had 18 beds in 1914 and was expanded to 200 beds by 1917; including many in tents in the house grounds.

It is quite likely that Constance worked at either the PoW hospital of Coleton House Hospital, before moving to Urmston Hospital.  However, I have not been able to find any records to confirm this.

Edited 4 January by Colin the Caterpillar

[DavidOwen]

Welcome to the Forum

@swizz hasn't logged in for a year or two but hopefully this tag will alert them to your post.

[Jim Strawbridge]

6 hours ago, Colin the Caterpillar said:

Constance was born in Liverpool in 1876, the daughter of James Hodges and Sarah Margaret Hodges.  She has a younger sister Maria born in 1861.  The 1881 census has the family living in West Derby, Lancashire.  The 1891 census shows that the farther James had died and the mother and her daughters were living in Tranmere, Birkenhead.

Hmmm. Not according to my research. I believe that she was the Anna Constance Mary Hodges born 1876 in Dorchester. Daughter of John Francis Hodges (wine importer and solicitor) and Sara Isabella Hodges, living at 23 High East Street, Dorchester at the time of the 1881 census.

[Colin the Caterpillar]

15 hours ago, Jim Strawbridge said:

Hmmm. Not according to my research. I believe that she was the Anna Constance Mary Hodges born 1876 in Dorchester. Daughter of John Francis Hodges (wine importer and solicitor) and Sara Isabella Hodges, living at 23 High East Street, Dorchester at the time of the 1881 census.

Thanks for the interesting lead Jim.  I have found a picture of a Miss Anna Constance M Hodges in the Imperial War Museum archive.  This is the same photograph I have found associated with the Constance Mary Hodges from Liverpool.  The former is labelled: “Constance Hodges who died from blood poisoning contracted on duty 23 vi 17”; and the latter: “Constance Hodges, Joint War Committee, who died from blood poisoning contracted on duty 23.6.17”.

The source of the Imperial War Museum photograph is a letter from Constance’s mother Mrs Ella Hodges of Oakwood, Middleton St George, near Darlington.  This is her third alleged mother!

I think it is safe to assume that this is all the same person, but her early life and family has got confused and is still a mystery.  If she was born and raised in Dorchester it would make more sense that she appeared on the war memorial than if she had just worked there for a short while.

I will keep digging and see what I find.

[Jim Strawbridge]

I worked backwards. We know that she died in Eastbourne in June 1917. BMD shows the only one that died in the 2Q in Eastbourne was Anna Constance Mary Hodges, aged 41. Again using BMD working on a birth date of around 1876 we find Anna Constance Hodges with her birth registered in 1Q 1876 in Dorchester. Then resorting to Ancestry the background to her family came fully into view.