Acting Matron Ellen Elizabeth BALDREY

Update 2 May 2013

Well, the amazing has happened!  When I originally wrote this page I expressed the hope that a descendant of Ellen Baldrey might get in touch so we could "bury the hatchet" over the incident which Edie descibed in her diary entry for 14 July 1918.  A couple of weeks ago her great great niece, Janice Kennady (née Stone), emailed me out of the blue and I now have photos and other information about Ellen Baldrey.

These two pictures of Ellen Baldrey are both undated but I am guessing that the one on the left would have been taken after the First World War and the other one considerably earlier.   Click on the images to enlarge.

Janice tells me that Ellen Baldrey died in 1940 and here are cuttings from local Eastbourne papers recording her death on 4 March 1940. Below is a photograph of Ellen as an elderly lady together with Janice's grandmother, also named Ellen Elizabeth Baldrey before her marriage.

17 September 2011

Ellen BALDREY.  Born in Norfolk, and at the outbreak of war living at 49 Blackwater Road, Eastbourne, Sussex. Served during the Boer War with the Army Nursing Service Reserve. During the Great War an Acting Matron, Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve. She died on 4 March 1940.

Miss Baldrey's name appears just below that of Edie on the Register of Persons on whom the Decoration of Royal Red Red Cross was conferred. This can be seen on our page about Edie's medals - click here.

There is some confusion about the spelling of Ellen's surname. It appears, from her file at the National Archives in Kew, that sometimes she puts the 'e' in and sometimes she leaves it out - on one occasion she has signed a form with it in, and then crossed it through. [Update May 2013: Janice Kennady confirms that Ellen's surname does have an 'e' in it: Baldrey] Here is her dispersal certificate when she left France in April 1919.  By coincidence, Edie was working in Boulogne in the office of Dame Maud McCarthy at that time and it is Edie who has signed Ellen Baldrey's form.

It would be good to hear from any of Ellen Baldrey's family.  The reason is this. If you read Edie's dairy for 14 July 1918 you will see that she felt she had reason to feel aggrieved about her treatment by Miss Baldrey. This must have been heartfelt as Edie was not in the habit of criticising her colleagues unnecessarily. The passage reveals strong feelings but almost 100 years later perhaps our families can meet and bury the hatchet!

See the names index for dates on which she is mentioned in Edie's diaries.

The information above was kindly provided by Sue Light.

If you are a descendant or have more information about this colleague of Edie's we would like to hear from you.  Please use the Visitor's Book.

 

Back to homepage