Birchington VAD nurses

Studio photograph (Houghton, Margate and Broadstairs) of the Birchington (Kent/178) VAD nurses. A group of ten nurses is shown. Hannah Powell-Cotton i(Commandant)s sitting in the middle of the seated row. To her left is Fanny Watson. Her sister, Dora Watson, is standing, first right. Fanny and Dora Watson in 1911 lived with their mother Catherine in Birchington and had private income. Late in 1917 Dora Watson married and became Mrs D. Danielson. She continued to work at Quex Park VAD Hospital. Fanny Watson worked a total of 10, 898 hours and Dora Danielson worked 10, 249 hours during their service at the hospital. Mary Marlowe (1884-1962) is standing, second right, She worked a total of 4, 008 hours by the time the hospital closed. Mary Marlowe was the daughter of an upper class Australian family. Her maternal grandfather, Sir John O'Shanassy, had been premier of Victoria in the mid 19th century She began working at Quex in mid 1917 and by the time the hospital closed had worked 4, 008 hours. She had worked on the stage in Australia, UK and North America before the War. In 1917 her first novel was published. After the War she returned to Australia and worked as a journalist and radio broadcaster. The Quex Park VAD Hospital opened on 15 October 1914 and closed on 31 January 1919. The hospital was run by Kent/178, the Birchington Detachment. The Commandant was Hannah Powell-Cotton (1881-1964), wife of Major Percy HG Powell-Cotton (1866-1940) of Quex Park, founder of the Powell-Cotton Museum

1866 Birchington Broadcaster Broadstairs Commandant Continued Detachment Dora Fanny Grandfather Houghton Income Lived Margate Marlowe Maternal Percy Quex Recuperation Rehabilitation Returned Voluntary

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