May Brooks

Place of birth: Cardiff

Service: Worker, WAAC/QMAAC, 1917 - 1919

Notes: May Brooks was a clerk in a confectionary firm before joining the WAAC. She served at various places in the south of England. She contracted influenza, spending a week in hospital, and was discharged on compassionate grounds in June 1919. Image and information courtesy of Glamorgan Archives (DWESA6).

Sources: https://archifaumorgannwg.wordpress.com/

Reference: WaW0117

May Brooks, WAAC/QMAAC. Image courtesy of Glamorgan Archives

May Brooks in the outdoor uniform of the WAAC/QMAAC. Image courtesy of Glamorgan Archives

Gladys Butler

Place of birth: Valleys, 1914

Service: Small child

Notes: Gladys Butler had vivid memories of being dressed in a miniature soldier's uniform (c.1916/17) and being stood on a table. When admired as a 'smart soldier boy', she insisted 'I'm not a boy, I'm a girl!' (CF November 2014)

Reference: WaW0090

Edith Carbis

Place of birth: Cardiff

Service: Messenger, Girl Guides / Geidiau

Notes: Edith Carbis's photograph appeared in the 'Roath Road Roamer’, January 1915. She seems to have left school, and acted as a messenger for the Lady Mayoress.

Reference: WaW0094

Edith Carbis

Edith Carbis in Guide's uniform

Kathleen Edithe Carpenter (Zimmermann)

Place of birth: Lincolnshire

Service: Scientist Biologist Environmentalist., University College Aberystwyth

Death: 1970, Cheltenham, Cause not known

Notes: Born 1891 to a German father and English mother, Kathleen Carpenter (she changed her surname from Zimmermann at the outbreak of WWI) was awarded her BSc in 1910. She remained at Aberystwyth for research, and subsequently became an Assistant Lecturer in the Zoology Department. She gained her PhD there in 1925. Her seminal studies focused on the environmental impact of metal pollution on Cardiganshire streams. This gained her international renown, particularly in the United States where she worked at several leading universities. Kathleen Carpenter is regarded as ‘the mother of freshwater ecology’.

Sources: Catherine Duigan: https://thebiologist.rsb.org.uk/biologist-features/158-biologist/features/1968-who-was-kathleen-carpenter ++

Reference: WaW0465

Kathleen E Carpenter

Kathleen Carpenter in about 1910

Kathleen Carpenter and fellow students

Kathleen Carpenter (front, 2nd left) Aberystwyth's literature and debating society in 1910

Report

Zoology Department report listing departmental research

Kathleen Carpenter’s research

Kathleen E Carpenter: Life in Inland Waters. Macmillan 1928

Catherine Anne Carroll (née Rees)

Place of birth: Swansea

Service: Munitions worker, Not known / anhysbys

Death: 1918/10/21, Swansea, Gas gangrene / Madredd nwy

Notes: Catherine, mother of four children, was a munitions worker in Swansea. According to her grandson she ‘fell from a tram injuring her leg and as a result got gangrene because of the working conditions in the munitions factory. She died 21.10.1918.’ Her husband. Pte William Carroll died in hospital in Egypt just over a month later. The children were brought up by their grandparents. Thanks to Roger Latch.

Reference: WaW0355

Catherine Carroll and Family

Catherine Carroll with her children May, Ted William and baby Betty. October 1914. Thanks to Roger Latch

Newspaper photograph

Photograph and report of death of Pte William Carroll. South Wales Weekly Post 23rd November 1918.

Florence Missouri Caton

Place of birth: ‘at sea’ off Cuba

Service: Nurse, SWH, September 1915 – July 1917 /

Death: 1917/7/15, Salonika, Appendicitis / Llid y pendics

Notes: Florence Missouri Caton was born on board ship (possibly the source of her middle name, though no evidence has yet been found) in about 1876, to parents from Wrexham. A trained nurse, she worked in Lancashire before joining the Scottish Women’s Hospitals in 1915. She had two periods of work in the Balkans. Shortly after her arrival in 1915 her unit was captured by the Austrians, and released in December. In August she returned to Serbia, working in various hospitals and dressing stations until she died of appendicitis in July 1917. She is buried In Lembet Road Military Cemetery, Salonika.

Sources: http://scottishwomenshospitals.co.uk/

Reference: WaW0212

Florence Caton

Florence Caton Scottish Women's Hospitals

Grave Registration

Entry in Salonika (Lambert Road) grave register.

Newspaper report

Report of death of Florence Caton, Y Brython, 30 August 1917. Translation: ‘Laying the nurse to rest. In faraway Serbia the remains of Nurse Caton of Wrexham were laid to rest. She had endeared herself to the wretched people of that country through her untiring labour of love in their midst. There is talk of erecting a white marble cross on her small grave.’

Ada Maude Cecil

Place of birth: Talywain, Pontypool

Service: Nurse, VAD

Notes: Ada Cecil joined the VAD in 1917 aged 20. For some reason she has four Red Cross record cards; three pink and one white. Initially she nursed in Wales, but later was posted to the New Zealand Military Hospital in Weybridge, Surrey, and Staffordshire. Ada was a member of Pisgah Baptist Church, Talywain, and is commemorated on the roll of honour in the church.

Reference: WaW0290

Red Cross record card

One of Ada’s four Red Cross cards.

Red cross record card (reverse)

Reverse of the same card, showing Ada Cecil’s various postings.rnrn

Roll of Honour

Ada Cecil’s name on the Roll of Honour at Pisgah Baptist Church, Talywain, Pontypool.rnrn

Elsie Chamberlain (née Cooil)

Place of birth: Liverpool

Service: Teacher, mother, local politician

Notes: Elsie with her family moved from Liverpool to Bangor when she was five. After finishing school, she became a teacher in local schools. Charlotte Price White [qv], the well-known local suffragist, told her ‘You have the ability to do public work and it is your duty to serve the citizens of Bangor’. She became involved in many war-time committees, and stood, unsuccessfully, in the municipal elections of 1919, finally becoming a councillor in 1930 and the first woman mayor of Bangor between 1941 and 1943. Elsie was the mother of the artist and writer Brenda Chamberlain, and died in 1972.

Sources: Jill Percy: Brenda Chamberlain, Artist and Writer (Parthian Books 2013)

Reference: WaW0409

Elsie Chamberlain

Elsie Chamberlain as first woman Mayor of Bangor, 1941 - 3

Newspaper article

Report of a housing exhibition organised by the Bangor branch of the National Council of Women, including Mrs Chamberlain. North Wales Chronicle 15th August 1919

Newspaper report

Report of the municipal elections in Bangor. North Wales Chronicle 24th October 1919

Ellen Catherine Clay (née Williams)

Place of birth: Penrhos

Service: Nurse (Commandant), Chairman WLA Holyhead, VAD, WLA/Byddin Dir y Merched

Notes: Born a farmer’s daughter in about 1866, Ellen Williams married a local doctor, Thomas William Clay, in 1898. At the outbreak of War she became Assistant Commandant of Holyhead VAD. She worked in Holborn Red Cross Hospital as well as in Anglesey; additionally she helped run the Red Cross Canteen at Holyhead Railway Station. Mrs Clay also chaired the recruitment committee for the Women’s Land Army. She died in 1935.

Sources: Holyhead and Anglesey Mail 7 May / Mai 2014

Reference: WaW0153

Ellen Catherine Clay

Ellen Catherine Clay VAD

Elizabeth Clement

Place of birth: Swansea

Service: Nurse, SWH, 1915 - 1916

Notes: Daughter of a Swansea pub landlord Elizabeth Clement trained as a nurse at Llanelli Workhouse, where she became Head Nurse. She joined the Scottish Women's Hospitals in the autumn of 1915. She and her party arrived in Serbia early in October. Shortly after their arrival the Austrian army gained ascendancy in Serbia, and most of October was spent moving from place to place to avoid the enemy. By 7th November they were prisoners of the Germans. Eventually their freedom was negotiated, and they arrived in Budapest on the way to Vienna on 6th February. Elizabeth was back in Swansea by mid-February 1916. She seems to have become something of a celebrity; her diaries were published in the South Wales Weekly Post, and her story also appeared at length in Llais Llafur. She gave talks on her experiences, and appeared in the talks of others. A lantern slide of her in ‘Serbian dress’ was shown in a lecture by the popular librarian Mr W. W. Young in January 1917.

Sources: http://scottishwomenshospitals.co.uk/women/

Reference: WaW0114

Newpaper report

Newspaper report, Cambrian Daily Leader, 18 December 1915

Elizabeth Clement

Photograph of Elizabeth Clement as head nurse at Llanelli workhouse. Herald of Wales and Monmouthshire Recorder 25th December 1915

Newspaper report

First part of the South Wales Weekly Post publications of Elizabeth’s diaries, South Wales Weekly Post 19th and 26th February 1916.

Elizabeth Clement with colleagues and Serbian soldiers

Photograph of Elizabeth Clement, Christmas Day 1915, with colleagues and Serbian soldiers. She is standing back row, third from right.

Newspaper report

Report of lecture on Serbia by W.W.Young. Elizabeth was shown in Serbian dress. Cambria Daily Leader 19th January 1917