TOPIC:

I am having trouble researching this nurse who was a locally enlisted nurse,entitled to QSA,KSA, and likely paid her own way to South Africa.Its her nationality I am looking for.Thanks for looking. GAB

GAB,

Her KSA roll (WO100/353p93) lists her as a Civilian Nursing Sister and uses the same for her 'Regiment or Corps'. Her QSA (WO100/229p107) lists her as a locally engaged nurse and says she served at No 15 General Hospital, Howick, from 29 May 1901.

Sheila Gray's book adds that she had prior service at No 13 Stationary Hospital, Pietermaritzburg.

None of this answers your question.

I used FamilySearch to look for her. There is no one of this name linked to South African service but there are some possible matches who were born in England (I did not search for other countries). If you have any more biographical information, you may be able to progress your search.

Best wishes
David

David, thanks for looking into her for me,very helpfull. That inicates eighther British or Australian possibly. I did manage to see her QSA locally engaged form,where she was together with Elizabeth Orr,a Tasmanian nurse,so I am hopeing they may have been friends. I have the QSA-KSA to Isabell Ivey,who was from Tasmania,but enlisted from Victoria. Thanks again,Gab

Gab - this may just be a coincidence but this headstone can be found in a cemetery in Regina City, Saskatchewan, Canada:



If you visit the Find a Grave page (link below) where I found it, you will be able to learn a lot more about this Violet. She was actually born in London in 1857 but by the time of the 1861 Census she was living at Norton Mill in Hertfordshire where her father was the Master Miller. She was still there in 1871 (described as a "Scholar") and 1881 (described as a "miller's daughter" implying she helped her father in the mill). By 1891 although her father was still operating the mill Violet had moved on (have not been able to discover where). In June 1907 and now 49 she arrived in Canada and the ship's manifest gave her occupation as "Trained Nurse" and her destination as Regina City. She has a short obituary in the (presumably) Canadian newspaper called "The Leader Post", Dated 14 March1930 - I can only view an indistinct thumbnail of it - the headline definitely says "PIONEER NURSE OF REGINA CITY DEATH VICTIM", the sub headline definitely ends with the word "War" and I think the word before it is "Boer".

www.findagrave.com/memorial/27611770/violet-christian

Btw there was a Violet Mary Neuman born in Australia in 1858 who became a Mrs Christian and a widow by 1890, never remarried and lived to 1931 but I can find no evidence she was ever a nurse.

You can find a lot about Norton Mill online.

Hello Gab

Here are the newspaper clippings concerning Violet Christian.

Regards



The (Morning) Leader, Regina, Friday, March 14, 1930, Page 20










The (Morning) Leader, Regina, Monday, March 17, 1930, Page 14



The (Morning) Leader, Regina, Tuesday, March 18, 1930, Page 2

RescueRescue many thanks for posting the newspaper articles confirming the Violet who died in Regina was involved in the Boer War and was English by birth.

The lengthy obituary appears to grind my proposal that she was the daughter of a Hertfordshire Master Miller into the ground. However, Mrs Hallerhan reported Violet claimed her brother was Governor of Cyprus - however there never was a Governor of Cyprus with the surname Christian. Violet claimed her brother was also a brother-in-law of Sir Henry Rider Haggard - Rider Haggard's wife was an only child (source - newspaper report of their wedding). But Rider did have three sisters who all married, the eldest became Mrs Maddison-Green and died Mrs Maddison-Green, the second became Mrs Western and died Mrs Western and the youngest married a Baron and became Mrs D'anethan and died the same. In case their Ancestry biographers missed a short lived previous marriage I have looked for the registration/report of a Haggard/Christian marriage and drawn a total blank.

My conclusion is that Violet somewhat embellished her past life in passing it verbally on to Mrs Hallerhan, and, subject to other evidence arising proving otherwise, she was indeed the daughter of a Master Miller.

Regards, David.