V.A.D. Hospitals in Northumberland and Durham

1914-1918

The assistance of Alan Vickers is gratefully acknowledged.

Local History  Home

In early times medical care on the battlefield was practically non-existent. If one was unfortunate enough to be seriously wounded, the best one could hope for was a speedy despatch from the scavengers who swarmed on to the battlefield to loot the corpses of the fallen. A person of high birth might expect slightly better treatment - a live body to ransom was worth more than a dead one.

During the nineteenth century war became more devastating due to technological advances in armaments, and educated people began to concern themselves with the provision of humanitarian aid to casualties. The Red Cross was formed in 1863 following the Battle of Solferino, and the first Geneva Convention on the treatment of battlefield casualties was signed a year later.

In Britain, the British National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War was formed in 1870, and operated under the Red Cross emblem during the Franco-Prussian War and several other conflicts towards the end of the 19th century. In 1905 it became the British Red Cross Society.

In 1909 the British Red Cross Society was given the role of providing supplementary aid to the Territorial Forces Medical Service in the event of war. In order to provide trained personnel for this task, county branches of the British Red Cross Society organised units called Voluntary Aid Detachments. All Voluntary Aid Detachment members, who came to be known simply as "V.A.D.'s" were trained in First Aid and Nursing. Within twelve months they numbered well over 6000.

Following the outbreak of war in 1914 the number of Detachments increased dramatically. The British Red Cross Society and the Order of St John of Jerusalem, a body which was also empowered to raise detachments under the War Office Voluntary Aid Scheme, combined to form the Joint War Committee in order to administer their wartime relief work with the greatest possible efficiency and economy, under the protection of the Red Cross emblem and name.

V.A.D.'s, who initially were mostly middle-class women eager to "do their bit," performed a variety of duties. At home the organisation administered auxiliary hospitals and convalescent homes and much of the V.A.D. service consisted of general nursing duties and administering first aid. Qualified nurses were also employed to work in these establishments. In addition, clerical and kitchen duties were performed by V.A.D.'s, and as many men were engaged in military service, female V.A.D.'s took on roles such as ambulance drivers, civil defence workers and welfare officers.

V.A.D. Hospitals were mostly located in large houses which had been loaned for the purpose by their owners. For example, Howick Hall in Northumberland was loaned by Albert, 4th Earl Grey, and his daughter Sybil served there as a nurse. The 8th Durham V.A. hospital at Hartlepool was located in ‘Normanhurst’, a house which was donated by William Cresswell Gray, a great benefactor to the town.

Sybil Grey in V.A.D. uniform at Howick Hall
(photograph courtesy of Mrs J Smillie)

Some of them were located in previously existing hospitals - for example Hebburn Hall, the former home of the Ellison family, which had been converted into an infirmary for the town in 1896. On Teesside the Ropner Convalescent Home at Middleton St. George, endowed in 1897 by Robert and Mary Anne Ropner (of the Stockton shipbuilding family), was pressed into service as the 24th Durham V.A. Hospital. The Richard Murray Hospital in Blackhill and Ashington Infirmary also fall into this category. In these instances it seems likely that the V.A.D. operation was in addition to the normal hospital facilities. Things did not always run smoothly; in 1916 a dispute arose between the War Office and the Matron of the Richard Murray Hospital in Blackhill. This resulted in the immediate closure of the hospital. It remained closed until 1919, much to the annoyance of the local population, who had seen it open in 1914 only to be immediately commandeered by the military.

In Hexham the pre-existing convalescent home in Hextol Terrace became the 3rd Northumberland V.A.D. hospital, with an annexe in nearby Cotfield House. The Commandant here was Marjorie Henderson, whose father, Charles Henderson, owned Hexham racecourse. On 21st November 1915 the Hexham Courant reported the arrival in Hexham of a batch of wounded soldiers; "for the first time in living history, though it is possible wounded might have arrived in Hexham during Wellington's Netherlands campaign." The party comprised English, French and Belgian soldiers, who were convalescing after treatment at Armstrong College, Newcastle, itself commandeered for the duration of the war as the Northern General War Hospital. This unusual event would have become all too familiar 12 months later after the carnage of the Somme.

Not all offers of premises were taken up; Lady John Joicey-Cecil offered the use of Newton Hall, Stocksfield, as a convalescent home in August 1914 but this proposal does not appear to have been taken up. Nor was Hexham Rural Council's offer of the Lightwater Hospital in Hexham. (This had been built in anticipation of a smallpox epidemic but had not received any patients.)V.A.D. hospitals received the sum of 3 shillings per day for each patient from the War Office, and were expected to raise additional funds themselves. This was not difficult in those patriotic times, and the local newspapers regularly carried lists of gifts received - anonymous donations did not seem to be the fashion! The accounts for the 14th Northumberland V.A.D. hospital at Holeyn Hall^*, Wylam makes interesting reading:-

Holeyn Hall annual accounts for 1916
(from the Hexham Courant - 24th March 1917

During the year Holeyn Hall had treated 367 patients at an average cost of 3s. 9d. per day, so the War Office allowance accounted for only 80% of the cost. (A report on Ashburne Hospital in Sunderland indicated the costs there were similar at 3s. 6d per day.)

* Holeyn Hall, the private residence of Sir Charles Parsons, opened as a V.A.D. hospital on 5th November 1915, and during the conflict a total of 1234 convalescing patients passed through its doors.

In all, 27 hospitals were set up in County Durham (although the numbering extends to 28 there does not appear to have been a no. 26) and 17 in Northumberland. The following tables give a full list, with the current (in 2007) status of the buildings in which they were housed.

Durham

* This hospital was originally established in the Friends' Meeting House, Darlington.

† This hospital was originally established at "Joanville", Eaglescliffe.

Etherley House, near Bishop Auckland - 1916
(photograph courtesy of Alan Vickers, whose mother, Annie Watson, is standing centre front)

Northumberland

* This hospital was originally established at the Duchess's School, Alnwick.

One auxiliary hospital in Northumberland at this time is missing from the above list - Linden Hall near Longhorsley. Unlike the others, this establishment was not under the jurisdiction of the Red Cross and the Order of St. John. It was instead a private venture run by two redoubtable ladies - Muriel and Eve Adamson, the daughters of Colonel John Adamson, the owner of the hall. Both received the Royal Red Cross (2nd Class) in recognition of their work during the war. (Linden Hall is now a luxury hotel)

A group of convalescing soldiers at Linden Hall

The following photograph is somewhat enigmatic. On the reverse side it is signed; "Yours Sincerely, Frank Grady, V.A.D. Hospital, Hunters Rd, Spital Tongues, Newcastle." There is, however, no corresponding entry in the above table. There certainly was a hospital in Hunters Road - it is still in existence today as a Rehabilitation Centre. It is possible that a part of it was occupied by a VAD unit, perhaps associated with the 10th Northumberland VA Hospital.

A group of convalescing soldiers at Spital Tongues, Newcastle

As might be expected, the dedication shown by those at work in these establishments led to a number of the women receiving awards or honours, and in a country that badly needed heroic role models the press were only too ready to publish the fact.

Hexham Courant - 27th October 1917

In all, 54 women received this or a similar award for war hospital service in Northumberland and Durham; a full list of these is given in the table below:-

Medals were also awarded by regional VAD organisations, and in some cases for service at particular hospitals; the examples shown below are, respectively, a medal awarded to Miss Annie Watson for service at Etherley House, Bishop Auckland, and a medal awarded to Miss C. Venus for service given at Jeffrey Hall, Sunderland.

Surprisingly, very few of these buildings have memorial plaques commemorating this part of their history. One exception is St Gabriel’s Church Hall in Kayll Road, Sunderland, where there is a plaque which carries the following inscription:

European War
1914 - 1918
This hall used as a hospital May 24th 1915 to December 31st 1918.
1044 men received treatment.

A short history of the hall's existence as a war hospital was inluded in a booklet written in 1938 to celebrate the Church's Silver Jubilee, and is reproduced here

Patrick Brennan - February 2008

Local History  Home