Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A superbly documented Boer War Honorary Serving Sister of the O. St. J., Great War German South-West Africa operations A.R.R.C. group of eight awarded to Matron J. C. Child, whose long and distinguished career in nursing encompassed active service in the Greco-Turkish War 1897-98, the defence of Kimberley and a trek through the Kalahari with a ‘tent hospital’ in the Great War

Royal Red Cross, 2nd Class (A.R.R.C.), G.V.R., silver and enamel, in its Garrard & Co. case of issue; The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, (Honorary) Serving Sister’s breast badge, silver and enamel, the reverse engraved, ‘Jane Child, 1901’; Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, no clasp (Nursing Sister); 1914-15 Star (Matron, S.A.M.N.S.); British War and Bi-lingual Victory Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf (Matron, S.A.M.N.S.); Mayor of Kimberley’s Star 1899-1900, hallmark letter ‘a’; Greece, Medal of the Red Cross, together with a set of 5 related dress miniatures, cleaned and lacquered, about very fine and better (13) £2500-3000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Selection of Medals from the Collection of the Late Noel Morris.

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Royal Red Cross (A.R.R.C.) London Gazette 22 August 1918: ‘In recognition of their valuable services in the campaign in German South-West Africa, 1914-15.’

Order of St. John (Honorary Serving Sister) 26 February 1901: ‘In recognition of your services to the sick and wounded during the South African Campaign’ (original warrant refers).

Mention in despatches London Gazettes 14 September 1901 (South Africa) and 31 December 1918 (France).

Jane Charlotte Child was born at Brighton in July 1864 and commenced training as a nurse at St. Thomas’s Hospital in 1884. Qualifying two years later, she joined the staff of Sussex County Hospital as a Sister in 1886, where she served until joining the Association Nurses in a private capacity. She next moved to Victoria Hospital at Lewes, Sussex in 1893, an appointment that was followed by a stint at the Headquarters of the Registered Nurses’ Society in London between 1895-99. And it was while employed in this latter post that she gained her first experience of active service, for, in 1897, as part of a team of nurses sponsored by the The Daily Chronicle, she sailed to Athens to assist in the nursing of Greek wounded from the Greco-Turkish War. Child was consequently awarded the diploma and Medal of the Greek Red Cross.

Barely had Child returned from Greece than she volunteered for service in South Africa, a posting that witnessed her presence at the hospital in Kimberley throughout the famous siege. In November 1901, one of the hospital’s surgeons, E. Oliver Ashe, wrote the following letter of reference:

‘Miss Child was in charge of the large surgical ward in the Kimberley Hospital from October 1899 to March 1901, and during that time many important cases passed through her hands during the siege. She nursed many of my bullet wound cases and looked after them most thoroughly and efficiently, sparing no trouble that could assist them towards recovery. When she left to take a better post in Bulawayo, we all felt that we had lost a capable and reliable nurse, and one whom it would not be easy to replace.’

Another Surgeon from Kimberley Hospital noted in his letter of reference ‘the distraction caused by the Boer shells, a portion of one of which actually damaged the wards Miss Child was in charge of.’

At her new appointment at Bulawayo Hospital, where she served as Matron, Child clearly came into contact with members of the St. John Ambulance, one letter of reference dated in December 1901 stating gratitude for her kindness and assistance to the clergy of St. John’s; she had by now been created an Honorary Sister of the Order, a distinction that undoubtedly stemmed from the following letter of appreciation received by her at Kimberley from Field Marshal Lord Roberts in early October 1900:

‘It gives me much pleasure to forward you the enclosed copies of letters I have received from the Military Secretary, War Office, and from the Private Secretary to Her Majesty the Queen, acknowledging the untiring zeal and devotion displayed by you towards the sick and wounded. I beg to add my own grateful thanks on behalf of the Army in South Africa.’

Child ended the War employed aboard the transport hospital ship Plassa as a Sister and was also mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 14 September 1901 refers). Electing to remain in South Africa, she was employed as Matron at the New Somerset Hospital at Cape Town until 1907, and thereafter until retirement on the staff of the Government Hospitals in Basutoland.

In the interim, however, she witnessed further active service as a Matron with the South African Military Nursing Service 1914-19. Indeed Child was one of the first to volunteer and found herself trekking with the camp hospital through the Kalahari with Berrange’s force in 1914. A summary of this period is to be found in the Cape Argus:

‘Her work in this campaign began as Matron of the base hospital at Kuruman, which became mobile, and followed the force right through to Keetsmanshoop and on to Gibeon. The Matron and three nurses went along with a tent hospital, by means of which they tended the sick at all the camping sites. When they arrived at Rietfontein Miss Child took over the advance hospital there (whose M.O. had just gone forward with half the staff), and cared for the patients with the remaining staff and the assistance she had brought herself. It was during this time that the hospital suffered from a ten days’ food shortage. The next trek was to Keetmanshoop, for which the hospital was again packed, the patients being taken on in cars. It was at Keetmanshoop that MacKenzie’s force came into touch with the central force under Colonel Knapp. There were two hospitals there and a good number of cases.

From Keetsmanshoop Miss Child and one sister trekked forward to Gibeon where the fight gave them many wounded patients, both South African and enemy, to tend. They were here when the capture of Windhuk brought the campaign to a close, and remained till Sir George Farrar had succeeded in linking up Gibeon by rail, when the heavy cases could easily be transported to the coast and hence by the S.S. Ebani to the hospital at Wynberg. Miss Child, with her staff and patients, arrived there just before General Botha’s triumphal return to Cape Town.’

It was for these services that Child was awarded the A.R.R.C.

In 1915 she sailed for the U.K., where she served at the 1st S.A. General Hospital at Bournemouth, prior to embarking for France. A glimpse of the prevailing conditions at Abbeville Hospital, where she served initially as Theatre Sister and latterly as Assistant Matron, may be found in the aforementioned feature in The Cape Argus:

‘Miss Child has many an interesting tale to tell about the Hospital at Abbeville, which started with 500 beds and soon enlarged with expansion to 2000. They were subject to bombardment often, and a continually improving system of dug-outs culminated in an elaborate underground apartment deep in the bowels of the earth, containing 100 bunks, and entered from the sisters’ quarters itself, so that to go into safety there would be no necessity to leave the shelter of its roof. This was a vast improvement on the simple zig-zags open to the sky, which were the first defence against bombs ... Time in the dug-outs, in fact, tended to interfere with a nurse’s rest, for when the lights went out (the danger signal), it was compulsory for all not on duty to put on tin hats, dress (if they were in bed) and go down to their shelter and remain there until the “all clear” signal, which might not be given for some long time later ... During the last great German offensive the hospital was often under bombardment and several casualties occurred on one day in an adjoining W.A.A.C. camp. Things, indeed, became so bad that Miss Child was told off to take the younger members of the staff to the comparitive safety of Rouen ...’

Child, who was mentioned in despatches, was evacuated home to South Africa in 1918 with influenza but returned to her civilian duties after making a lucky recovery. On 7 June 1920, the D.A.A.G. of the Union Defence Force penned the following letter to her at Government Hospital, Lariba, Basutoland:

‘Madam,

Further to this evenly numbered minute of 27 January 1920, I have to inform you that the Army Council have no objection to the cancellation of the award of the Royal Red Cross made to you and your name will be deleted from the appropriate registers and from any official publications.

The Army Council state, however, that no Gazette action will follow in cancellation of the award.

I have the honour to be, Madam

Your most obedient Servant, &c.’

The background to this dispute remains unknown, but Child continued with her nursing career in South Africa until the following year, when she retired to the U.K. But her interest in South African nursing remained with her until her death in 1946, among other contributions being her attendance of the I.C.N. Congress in London in 1937, when ‘South African nurses were proud to do honour to so indomitable a member of the nursing profession.’

Sold with the following original documents and photographs:

(i) Assorted documents appertaining to the recipient’s Honours and Awards, including diploma for the Greek Medal of the Red Cross, dated 21 December 1898, with forwarding letter for the related Medal, dated 20 April 1899, and a letter of thanks from the National Greek Ambulance Fund on behalf of the Crown Princess of Greece; Order of St. John warrant of appointment and diploma as Honorary Serving Sister, both dated 26 February 1901, with two associated communications, including “Declaration of Allegiance”; M.I.D. certificate as Assistant Matron, attached No. 1 General Hospital, A.N.S., S.A.F., dated 8 November 1918; Defence H.Q., Pretoria certificate for entitlement to the 1914-15 Star for services rendered in German South-West Africa, dated 21 September 1920, and covering printed letter; the above quoted communication from the D.A.A.G., Union Defence Force regarding the recipient’s decision to have her name struck off the Royal Red Cross roll, dated 7 June 1920; and certificate to wear four blue chevrons for overseas service, issued by the O.C. No. 1 S.A. General Hospital, dated 10 August 1918, with said embroidered chevrons attached.

(ii) Assorted nursing certificates, including those for Trained Nurses, dated 25 July 1890; Medical and Pharmacy Council of the Orange Free State, dated 15 August 1914; General Nursing Council for England and Wales, dated 30 September 1921; and an admission card for the British Nurses Association, dated 17 August 1888.

(iii) A fine array of letters of reference and testimonials, etc. (approx. 25), a few of them appertaining to the recipient’s stints of active service in Greece and South Africa (see biographical notes), several being old typed copies but many original with accompanying testimonial signatures.

(iv) A 4pp. typed letter dated at Government House, Pretoria on 7 November 1913, and signed by Lord Gladstone, in which he requests the recipient to reduce the running costs of the King Edward VII Order of Nurses’ association; and an old copy of her extensive and combative response, with copy accounts attached, dated 14 November 1913.

(v) Handwritten notes for an address to the South African Trained Nurses Association in July 1927; and a 6pp.handwritten letter covering the International Nurses Conference at Helsingfors in July 1925, addressed to the editor of The South African Nursing Record.

(vi) Foreign Office temporary passport for ‘Jane Charlotte Child - a British subject - travelling on the Continent’, in fact in Greece, dated 24 May 1897, signed by Lord Salisbury; and a South African High Commission passport issued on 7 April 1921, with portrait photograph and numerous overseas stamps for the period 1921 to 1927.

(vii) A selection of family photographs (approx. 15), several captioned and including one or two fine studio portraits of the recipient.

(viii) A copy of Robert U. Moffat’s biography, John Smith Moffat, C.M.G., Missionary (London, 1921), together with presentation inscription to the recipient and accompanying letter; and two further handwritten letters to her, dated 1 April 1907 and 16 December 1912; Moffat met Child’s through his work as a Doctor in South Africa.

(ix) An original autographed letter, typed text with handwritten amendments, 6pp., from Sir Henry Wood of Proms fame, calling Child by her nickname, “Kiddie” (dated 1 December 1909), with extensive news of his concerts, etc.; together with a copy of Rosa Newmarch’s biography, Henry J. Wood (John Lane, 1904), with presentation inscription by Wood, ‘To dear Kiddie (from the Hero himself) on her return from South Africa to London April 22nd 1905, Henry J. Wood’; and several original photographs of Wood and his wife.

(x) A copy of Charlotte Searle’s The History of the Development of Nursing in South Africa 1652-1960, in which the recipient’s pioneering and important achievements receive due recognition.

(xi) An assortment of old newspaper and magazine cuttings, including obituaries, and further documentation contemporary to the recipient’s nursing career, including her address book.

The lot is also sold with the following associated nursing badges: Royal British Nurses Association, silver, the reverse inscribed, ‘Jane C. Child, 871’; British College of Nurses, silver, the reverse inscribed, ‘J. C. Child, F. 26’; Matron’s Council of England and Wales, silver-gilt and enamel; The General Nursing Council for England and Wales, silver and enamel, the reverse inscribed, ‘J. C. Child, S.R.N. 329, 30.9.21’; Guild of St. Barnabas for Anglican Nurses, bronze; three South African badges, including South African Military Nursing Service, all silver, one enamelled, and all with inscribed reverses, ‘J. C. Child’; International Nurses’ Conference, 1921 (Cologne),1925 (Helsingfors) and 1937 (London), all enamelled; and assorted embroidered titles, etc., including King Edward Nurses and ‘South Africa’.