Lady Sybil Grey
Lady Sybil Grey | |
|---|---|
 Grey in 1915 | |
| Born | 15 July 1882 |
| Died | 4 June 1966 (aged 83) |
| Education | Newcastle Royal Infirmary |
| Spouse(s) | Sir William Middleton, 3rd Baronet |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent |
|
Lady Sybil Grey OBE (15 July 1882 – 4 June 1966) was a British philanthropist and Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse.
Early life[edit]
Grey was born as the second daughter to Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey, and his wife Alice Holford, the daughter of Robert Stayner Holford. She was raised in Northumberland.[1] During her time in England, she competed at rifle ranges and horse racing.[2] In 1904, her family moved to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada where her father would serve as the Governor General of Canada.[3]
Career[edit]
In 1906, Grey and 15 Ottawa women cofounded the Ottawa chapter of the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (IODE), a patriotic club to support Canadian troops fighting overseas during the War.[3] Another part of her efforts during the First World War was serving as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse at a hospital in Northumbria.[4] She transformed her family home in Northumberland into a hospital to look after 400 patients during the war.[5]
In October 1915, Grey moved to Russia to establish an Anglo-Russian Hospital with Lady Muriel Paget, which would go on to treat 8,000 Russian soldiers over two years.[5] She co-founded the Red Cross hospital with Lady Muriel Paget from 1915-1918, despite The British Journal of Nursing (BJN) dismissing their efforts due to their lack of experience.[6] In the first year the hospital was open, the admitted few injured and wounded men, but experienced an uptake in February 1916.[7] During her stay at the Russian field hospital, she suffered a facially injury as a result of a hand grenade. However, she continued her nursing efforts and eventually spent nearly a year in France leading the Women’s Legion.[8] However, by 1917, she returned to England to stay with her dying father and worked at the Dorchester House.[1] Grey once again returned to the front line of the war efforts soon after and married Lambert Middleton.[9]
She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire at the 1918 Birthday Honours for her efforts during the war.[10][11]
Further reading[edit]
- Lady Sybil: Empire, War and Revolution
- The Forgotten Hospital
References[edit]
- ^ a b "THIS MONTH IN HISTORY - LADY SYBIL GREY". livingnorth.com. July 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ "Lady Sybil Grey". Dauphin Herald. Manitoba, Dauphin. 7 September 1916.
- ^ a b Janet Uren (7 January 2020). "Continuing a legacy – 113 years at IODE Laurentian Chapter". ottawalife.com. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ "Lady Sybil Grey: a lady in the line of fire". historyextra.com. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ a b White, Vikki (11 November 2018). "How aristocrat joined Red Cross in WW1 by transforming family home into hospital". Mirror. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ Lyons, Izzy (8 March 2018). "War efforts of two aristocratic women have been "hugely overlooked", says British Red Cross". Telegraph. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ "Lady Sybil Grey: Empire, War and Revolution" (PDF). aahn.net. 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ Rae, Helen (27 May 2014). "Historic Northumberland woman will feature in special BBC World War One project". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ "Fascinating story of the life and times of Lady Sybil Grey". Northumberland Gazette. 26 December 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ "No. 30730". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 June 1918. p. 6701.
- ^ Fraser, Alexandra (19 November 2019). "Ten stately homes which became hospitals during the First World War". countrylife.co.uk. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
