 |
| D/Ph 90/47 Photograph showing the Entrance Hall, Brancepeth Castle, in use as a hospital ward, c.1915 - 1919 |
I’ve recently been researching into some of the women who responded to the need for nurses during the First World War, working in the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) hospitals within County Durham.
One story I found particularly interesting was that of the four Raine sisters from Brancepeth. The sisters were part of a large farming family who lived and worked at Nafferton Farm in Brancepeth. The two older sisters, Annie Jane and Hilda, began working as Voluntary Aid Detachment nurses in May 1915. They nursed at their local hospital, the 7th Durham VAD hospital at Brancepeth Castle. Just over a year later their younger sisters, Mary Hannah and Sarah, joined them as nurses at the same hospital. The four sisters had four brothers but I have not been able to find any record of them serving in the war.
The sisters continued to nurse at the hospital for varying lengths of time, with Hilda and Mary Hannah returning to the family farm when they finished nursing. However, both Annie and Sarah went on to complete nursing training at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle and it was their stories I particularly enjoyed researching.
 |
| D/Ph 90/45/1 Photograph showing a group of wounded soldiers, with nurses, taken on an outing to Tow Law, 17 May, 1916 |
Annie trained as a nurse between 1916 and 1919 and was listed as a registered nurse in Brancepeth in 1925. In 1927 she married Otto Gruber Wilde, a medical professional originally from Ireland. Otto spent time over the next ten years or so in Ghana, and Annie joined her husband for part of this time. After their time in Africa, Otto and Annie returned to England and settled with their family in Surrey.
Sarah completed her nursing training after her sister, between 1923 and 1926. She initially worked as a nurse in Browney Colliery but then began to travel widely during a long career in nursing. She spent time all over the world including Palestine, Egypt, Bermuda and Canada.
Researching more into the lives of Annie and Sarah, who readily answered the call for nurses needed to work at the VAD hospitals, made me reflect on what their lives would have been like if they had not done this nursing during the war. Although impossible to know, I wondered whether they may have followed the pattern of their mother’s life, marrying and becoming farmer’s wives, or perhaps Annie would have continued her training as a dressmaker which she was doing in 1911.
However, following their time at Brancepeth Castle, Annie and Sarah must have developed a love of nursing that led them to train for a career, using the skills and experiences first gained during the war. This guided both of them into lives dominated by their nursing and opportunities to travel to other parts of the world, a stark contrast to their previous lives in County Durham.
For more information:
Mary Hannah Raine
Sarah Greenwell Raine
Hilda Raine
Annie Jane Raine
Brancepeth Castle
No comments:
Post a Comment