15 replies to this topic

[izzy]

maude millicent wilson former v.a.d died france 27 march 1917 of heart failure she was appointed a nurse in a hospital looking after french wounded . an article in the liverpool post and mercury dated 12 april 1917 mentions a very impressive funeral but fails to mention where she is buried . i can't find her on the c.w.g.c website she is commemorated on the war memorial situated bidston on the wirral.

[Coldstreamer]

not Bidston according to cwgc

[izzy]

coldstreamer still can't find her on c.w.g.c where exactly according to the commission is she commemorated.

[Sue Light]

izzy

I can't find her on there either, so perhaps we're both being a bit short-sighted!  But anyway ...
There are several medal index cards which could be hers.  There is one to a VAD who is named as 'Maude Wilson' with an 'e', but a more interesting one to a Maud Wilson, who served both with the British Red Cross Society, and with the French Red Cross.  If Maude died while nursing the French, then she was not working in either a BRCS Hospital in the British Sector or in a British Military Hospital, so it seems quite possible that she had transferred to the French Red Cross (although there is a lot of assuming and supposition here!).

TNA Documents Online

I would contact the British Red Cross Society to check if they have a service record for her - whichever one of the Maud(e)s she might be, it looks as though she worked for them at some time.  Even is she was with the French Red Cross at the time of her death, Devonshire House are likely to have been informed.

British Red Cross personnel records

If she died in France, in an area not under the control of the British, she should have a French death certificate.  So it would be worth searching the RG35 series at The National Archives - 'Miscellaneous foreign deaths' and I think the actual microfilms in question would be RG35/43 and 44, which cover 1917.  They would give her place of death, not her burial, but one would certainly be fairly close to the other.

Forum member Jim Strawbridge is compiling a volume of female casualties of the Great War, and she may be known to him - you could PM or email him if he doesn't see this thread.

Sue

[izzy]

sue light many thanks for the info provided im glad im not the only one who can't find her on the commission website.

[Sue Light]

Izzy

If she was working for the French, that would exclude her from being commemorated by the CWGC - only members of certain civilian organisations qualified.  

Sue

[izzy]

sue light thank you for your reply

[Jim Strawbridge]

I only know of this lady through Carl Rogerson making me aware that she is recorded on the Bidstone War Memorial. Her name is not on the fairly comprehensive female listing provided to me by the CWGC so I assume that she never came under their care so Sue is probably right about her being French Red Cross. I would welcome seeing the Liverpool Post and Mercury obit. to see who and where her family were from. That will make researching her that much easier for me.

[royalredcross]

Binyon lists 2 possibles in the appendix.

Wilson, Miss Maud
Wilson, Miss M.M.

They would have worked under the British Cttee. French Red Cross so it is very unlikely that BRCS would have a record of them or that they would appear on CWGC lists.

Norman

[Tonym]

Looking through my pending file I find that this lady has been languishing there waiting for my attention.

Due to other queries and research I may have missed something along the way so does anybody have any further information regarding this unfortunate lady particularly where she is buried and in which hospital she served?

Jim - did you ever get site of the Liverpool Post and Mercury obit?

Tony

[Jim Strawbridge]

Tonym, on 24 July 2010 - 03:09 PM, said:

Looking through my pending file I find that this lady has been languishing there waiting for my attention.

Due to other queries and research I may have missed something along the way so does anybody have any further information regarding this unfortunate lady particularly where she is buried and in which hospital she served?

Jim - did you ever get site of the Liverpool Post and Mercury obit?

Tony

No, I never did get to see the obituary in the Liverpool Post and Mercury. I think that she served in the Auxiliary Hospital of the Entente Cordiale, 222 Mentone, France. Certainly that is where she died of pneumonia (Izzy says heart failure). I am of the opinion that she was buried locally in France rather than brought back to her home in Cheshire.

[Tonym]

Jim Strawbridge, on 24 July 2010 - 04:46 PM, said:

No, I never did get to see the obituary in the Liverpool Post and Mercury. I think that she served in the Auxiliary Hospital of the Entente Cordiale, 222 Mentone, France. Certainly that is where she died of pneumonia (Izzy says heart failure). I am of the opinion that she was buried locally in France rather than brought back to her home in Cheshire.

Cheers Jim

Will let you know if I find anything out

Tony

[Carmania]

The name of Hopital Auxiliare No 222 l'Entente Cordiale was changed on 1st January 1917 to Hopital Franco-Britanique (Auxiliare No 222). It was based in the Imperial Hotel. There was also a convalescent home for Red Cross Nurses and VAD's in Mentone.
If Maude was buried in Mentone she should be in either the Cimetiere du Trabuquet or the Cimetiere du Vieaux Chateau, unless I've misunderstood and they are different names for the same location.

Aled

[Jim Strawbridge]

Another glance at my notes :- "It (the coffin) was carried by British soldiers from Cape Martin and the military guard was supplied by the French chasseurs alpine".  So buried in France.

[StephenRoberts1958]

She is on the Grange Hill War Memorial in West Kirby and the Bidston War Memorial. She is also mentioned in West Kirby's book of remembrance, but I have been unable to trace her birth or where she lived. I have found her probate notifcation in Ancestry.co.uk. Alexander Wilson, Solicitor of London is mentioned. I have not been able to trace him either. Certainly, there was an old established family of Wilsons in Bidston. There house was on "House Detectives" in the 1990's. I don't know if that is the family from which she came. I am researching everybody who is recorded on the Grange Hill Memorial for a book.

[Jim Strawbridge]

StephenRoberts1958, on 19 June 2012 - 09:09 PM, said:

She is on the Grange Hill War Memorial in West Kirby and the Bidston War Memorial. She is also mentioned in West Kirby's book of remembrance, but I have been unable to trace her birth or where she lived. I have found her probate notifcation in Ancestry.co.uk. Alexander Wilson, Solicitor of London is mentioned. I have not been able to trace him either. Certainly, there was an old established family of Wilsons in Bidston. There house was on "House Detectives" in the 1990's. I don't know if that is the family from which she came. I am researching everybody who is recorded on the Grange Hill Memorial for a book.

Maude was born in the third quarter 1886 in the West Derby registration district and was the daughter of Mr and Mrs Alexander Wilson of Firwood, Eleanor Road, Bidstone, Cheshire. I am guessing that Alexander Wilson (her father) was a solicitor and hence involved in applying for probate.