M.S.WHITSON, 1915 (engraved on GvR ROYAL RED CROSS, 2nd CLASS)
M.S.WHITSON, 1918 (engraved on GvR ROYAL RED CROSS, 1st CLASS)
M.S.WHITSON B.R.C. & St. J.J. (on 1914/15 Trio)
Margaret Shiress Whitson
Born Brechin, Scotland 18/8/1866
Daughter of William Whitson & Margaret Whitson (nee Shiress)
Trained as a Nurse at Brownlow Hill Hospital, Liverpool 1895-98
Appointed Night Superintendent of Nurses 1901
Passed Central Midwives' Board Examination 1907
Appointed Lady Superintendent of the Brownlow Hill Lying-in (Maternity) Hospital, Liverpool 1911
Note: Brownlow Hill Hospital was originally a large Workhouse Infirmary & Lying-in (Maternity) Hospital opened on Brownlow Hill & Brownlow Street, Liverpool 1885. After it moved to Oxford Street, Liverpool & re-opened as the Liverpool Maternity Hospital in 1926, the original building was demolished; the site is now occupied by Liverpool's Catholic Cathedral. For more details - Click here
To France 1/3/15 & her diary starts 26/3/15
First served at No.6 British Red Cross Hospital at the Grand Hotel, Paris Plage from 19/4/15
Moved to Etaples & appointed Matron of the Liverpool Merchants' Mobile Hospital (No.6 British Red Cross Hospital) 4/7/15
Mentioned in Despatches (MID), London Gazette 1/1/16
Awarded the Royal Red Cross, 2nd Class (ARRC), London Gazette 14/1/16
Joined the Royal College of Nursing (Membership Number 2568) 1917
Awarded the Royal Red Cross, 1st Class (RRC), London Gazette 1/1/18
Invested with the RRC by the King at Buckingham Palace 23/2/18
She nursed many thousands of soldiers wounded on the Western Front during the Great War & survived several German aerial bombing raids on Etaples British Army Base Camp, including one which killed 216 & wounded another 700 on 19/5/18
Note: For a good selection of extracts from her diary - Click here
The Liverpool Merchants' Hospital was evacuated on account of the air-raids 1/6/18 & re-opened at Trouville 29/9/18
After treating a total of 19,041 casualties during WW1, the Liverpool Merchants' Hospital finally closed 3/12/18
Returned to UK 22/12/15 & after 4 years of continuous service overseas, Matron Whitson's engagement with the British Red Cross ended 31/12/18
Her British Red Cross card noted 'Good record but her health broke down'
Died 21/8/37
Displayed in an old glazed & velvet lined frame, with a brass plaque engraved: 'MARGARET SHIRESS WHITSON, R.R.C. / MATRON / Liverpool Merchants Mobile Hospital / FRANCE 1915-1919'
Frame Size: 8.75" High x 10.25" Wide x 1.5" Deep
Provenance: Hal Giblin Collection (DNW 2004)
With typescript copy of her 98 page of her personal Active Service War Diary 1915-19 & copy Portrait Photograph
Also with MIC & 2 Medal Rolls, plus supporting research documentation
RRC (on a silk bow ribbon) is mounted as worn with the 1914/15 Trio (on old silk ribbons & small MID oakleaf); ARRC is mounted as worn on a silk bow ribbon
Condition: GVF/NEF
Note 1. Unsuitable for posting so this is for collection only at Stratford-Upon-Avon Fair, Britannia Medal Fair in London, or by prior arrangement
Note 2. Some light reflections from the glass are apparent in these photographs