Marie Beckers

Place of birth: Belgium

Service: Teacher, refugee

Notes: Marie Becker was one of the Belgian refugees hosted in Holywell, and seems to have been a spokeswomen for the group. Her appointment to teach the Belgian children at Holywell County School was reported in the English and Welsh press.

Reference: WaW0399

Newspaper report

Report of Marie Becker’s appointment at Holywell County School. Flintshire Observer 21st January 1915.

Newspaper report

Report of Marie Beckers's appointment at Holywell County School. Y Brython 21st January 1915.

Minna Amelia Benner (née MacFarlane)

Place of birth: Scotland

Service: Doctor, 1914 - 1934

Death: 1962, Hertfordshire, Cause not known

Notes: Minna Benner was one of the first women to qualify as a doctor at Glasgow University, in 1897. After some years in Ireland, working as an assistant MoH, she moved to Newport in 1914 as Assistant Schools Medical Officer. In 1917 she became Newport’s first medical officer for the Maternity and Child Welfare Scheme. She had a particular interest in nutrition of children (a paper she gave on the subject was published in Perspectives in Public Health in 1924), and was a feminist interested in social reform. She lived to be 99.

Sources: British Medical Journal, Who’s Who in Newport 1920

Reference: WaW0408

Title of paper

Title of a paper given by Minna Benner, April 1924.

Announcement

Announcement of Minna Benner’s appointment, 1914

Alys Bertie Perkins (née Sandbrook)

Place of birth: Swansea

Service: Commandant and committee woman, British Red Cross

Notes: Alys Bertie Perkins was Commandant and Secretary of Swansea Red Cross Society, and commandant in charge of recruitment across the whole county of Glamorgan. By early 1918 Swansea was reported to have the greatest number of Red Cross hospital beds in the whole of South Wales. She was awarded the OBE in January 1918, when she described by the Cambria Daily Leader as ‘the enthusiastic and popular Sketty Red Cross worker and organiser’.

Reference: WaW0369

Alys Bertie Perkins

Photograph of Alys Bertie Perkins OBE, part of the Women’s Work Collections of the Imperial War Museumrn

Newspaper advertisement

Advertisement for a Red Cross course of first aid and nursing. Cambria Daily Leader 22nd February 1916.

Edinburgh Gazette

Supplement to the Edinburgh Gazette, with Alys Bertie Perkins’s award of OBE January 9th 1918.

E Bethel

Place of birth: Talywain ?

Service: Munitions Worker

Notes: E Bethel’s name is recorded as a National Munitions Worker in the Roll of Honour at Pisgah Baptist Church, Talywain. Nothing is known of her.

Reference: WaW0293

Roll of Honour

E Bethel’s name on the Roll of honour at Pisgah Baptist Church, Talywain.

Margaret Walker Bevan

Place of birth: Swansea

Service: Nurse, QAIMNS

Death: 1915 - 1919, Cause not known

Notes: Born in Swansea in 1883, Margaret trained as a nurse in Coventry and later worked in Barnsley. Early in 1915 she joined the staff of the Welsh Military Hospital, Netley. The Welsh Hospital was designed to be moveable, and it was soon packed up and sent, with its staff, to Deolali in India. Margaret worked there, and in Mesopotamia, until December 1919. After the war she became Matron of the new Memorial Hospital in Farnborough, Surrey.

Sources: People’s Collection Wales

Reference: WaW0429

Photograph

A ward at the ‘Welch’ Hospital, Deolali. Margaret is standing on the left. Thanks to Dave Gordon.

Photograph

Margaret in a hospital tent, possibly in Basra, Mesopotamia. Thanks to Dave Gordon

Magazine article

Description of the Welsh War Hospital, Netley. 'The Hospital' 24th October 1914.

Minnie Bevan

Place of birth: Swansea

Service: Munitions Worker

Notes: Suffered from shock but survived the accident that killed Gwendoline (Gwenllian) Williams and Sarah Jane Thomas 8th January 1919

Reference: WaW0085

Newspaper report of explosion

Minnie Bevan mentioned in a newspaper report, Carmarthen Journal Jan 1919

Helen Beveridge

Place of birth: Abergavenny ?

Service: Nurse, Scottish Womens Hospitals, November 1916 - September 1919

Notes: Born in 1887, Helen volunteered for the Scottish Women’s Hospitals on November 1916, and left immediately for Salonika. She remained in Serbia until she was invalided home in the summer of 1919. She was awarded the medal of the Royal Serbian Red Cross for her work there.

Reference: WaW0274

Red Cross record card

Red Cross record for Helen Beveridge

Red Cross record card (reverse)

Red Cross record for Helen Beveridge (reverse)

Newspaper report

Report of a gift of a wrist watch to Helen Beveridge at Frogmore St Baptist Church. Abergavenny Chronicle 24th November 1916.

Newspaper report

Report of Helen’s return from Serbia. Abergavenny Chronicle 26th September 1919

Mary Lavinia Beynon

Place of birth: Swansea ?

Service: Midwife

Notes: Mary Beynon, aged 40, was charged with the murder of Esther Davies [qv]. The charge was that she had used an instrument to procure an abortion, as a result of which Esther Davies died. Mary, who was the wife of a Police Inspector, was cleared of the charge in November 1919.

Reference: WaW0303

Artists impression

Artists impression of Mary Beynon, Cambria Daily Leader 9th September 1919.

Newspaper report

Report of the charge against Mary Beynon. Cambria Daily Leader 11th August 1919.

Newspaper report

Report of the ‘not guilty’ verdict. Report of the charge against Mary Beynon. Cambria Daily Leader 11th August 1919.

Caroline Emily Booker (née Lindsay)

Place of birth: Glanafon, Glamorgan

Service: Vice president, VAD, 1909-1919

Notes: Mrs Booker was widowed in 1887. She became the founder of the local Glamorgan detachment of the VAD (22) in 1909. She seems to have instigated the use of Tuscar House, Southerndown, as a Red Cross Hospital in May 1915, and most of her 7 daughters played a greater or lesser role in the running of the hospital. [qv Etta,Ellen, Mabel, Ethel and Dulcie Booker]. Mrs Booker provided a car and the petrol to ferry patients to and from the station in Bridgend 5 miles away.

Reference: WaW0470

Record of Caroline Booker

Mrs Booker’s entry in The County Families of the United Kingdom, Edward Walford (this edition c 1920)

Red Cross record card

Red cross card for Caroline Emily Booker.

Red Cross record card (reverse)

Red Cross card for Caroline Booker showing her VAD activities.

Tuscar House

Tuscar House Red Cross Hospital, Southerndown. The house was used as a hospital in WW2 as well.

Dulcie Booker

Place of birth: Southerndown ?

Service: Nurse, Sister-in-charge, Treasurer, Financial Secretary, VAD, 1914/10/01 – 1919/04/30

Notes: Dulcie Booker managed the finances involved in setting up Tuscar House Hospital as well as its day-to-day running costs. From 1917 she also acted as Sister in Charge of the hospital. She took a main part, together with her sister Mabel [qv] in arranging entertainments for the patients, including leading the Tuscar Red Cross Hospital Band. She was a sought-after local accompanist.

Reference: WaW0475

Red Cross record card

Red Cross record for Dulcie Booker.

Red Cross record card (reverse)

Reverse of Red Cross record for Dulcie Booker, showing her service at Tuscar Hospital.

Newspaper report

Report of a ‘welcome home’ reception which included a performance by the Tuscar Hospital Band. Glamorgan Gazette 19th July 1918

Newspaper report

Report of a Grand Matinée given at Bridgend Cinema by the soldiers of Tuscar House (and others). Glamorgan Gazette 29th November 1918

Newspaper report

Report of a presentation to Dulcie and Ethel Booker when Tuscar House hospital closed in April 1919. Glamorgan Gazette 4th April 1919