Nursing Sister Philips WW1 Photo Album P26R

Page 26 R

This Photo Archive consists of a small autograph album (6.5" by 5.25") kept by Constance (Connie) Philips as a memento of her time serving as a nurse during World War One.  

The majority of the photos and items are from 1915, when she served as a nurse in France and Britain. 

The album and all photographs, postcards, and other ephemera contained in the album belong to Karin Armstrong and may not be copied or republished without her written permission. The images will be published on Olive Tree Genealogy with permission. 

Each image has been designated an "R" for Recto or a "V" for Verso plus a number. Recto is the right-hand side page of a bound book while Verso is the left-hand side page.  

Today's image is of three items pasted into the R side of Connie's album. The first is a poem dated June 16, 1915 and signed by Lance Sergt. K. J. McRae of the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards. The second is of two unknown individuals on horseback and the 3rd is s small newspaper clipping of the death of Sister A. Tupper. The clipping reads

Sister A. Tupper (Canadian Nursing Service) who has died She had been awarded the Royal Red Cross.

My research on Sister Tupper revealed that Nursing Sister A.A. Tupper died 9 Dec 1916 at the Canadian Convalescent Hospital in Uxbridge, and was buried in Hillingdon Cemetery in Uxbridge England. The cause of her death was pneumonia.

Sister Tupper's gravestone is marked with:

Nursing Sister Canadian Army Medical Corps No. 2 Canadian Gen. Hosp.
Awards: A R R C
Daughter of Mrs. Mary E. Trefry, of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia.

Her next of kin on her death record was noted as Mrs. Mary Trefry in Bridgewater Nova Scotia, Canada and this allowed me to find her Attestation Papers. Addie Allen Tupper enlisted in the CEF (Canadian Expedtionary Force) as a Nursing Sister in September 1914. She was a widow and was born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia on October 13, 1870.

On 15 November 1915 Addie sailed from England on the Metagama, landing at the port of Quebec. She is on a list of "Returning Soldiers" with aother Nursing Sister named Florence McCallum. On 14 December 1915 Addie and Florence returned to England. 

Addie's mother Mary died in 1931 at the age of 93. Her obituary reads, in part:

Her immediate relatives are four daughters, Mrs. Wade of England, wife of the late F.B. Wade, M.P., who was well-known here; Mrs. Alfred Wade; Mrs. Frances Starr; and Mrs. H.M. Patillo, who were at her bedside when the death angel came. Her husband, Captain Rufus Perry Trefry, predeceased her in 1909, as did a daughter, Nursing Sister Tupper, who sailed with the First Expeditionary Force for service in France in 1914. She was the second to enlist for service from Bridgewater and died of pneumonia in England, in 1918 [sic], following close on her decoration at Buckingham Palace. She is buried at Uxbridge, England.

Mary's obituary provides more details on the family:

Mrs. Trefry, whose maiden name was Mary Ellen Raymond, was born at Yarmouth and was the daughter of the late Mary Patten and Benjamin Raymond.

1898 Marriage Record William Tupper & Addie Allen

Although Addie gave her date of birth as 1870 in reality she was 10 years older. I suspect she lied when she enlisted as she probably knew that the military was unlikely to accept a woman in her 50s. She is found on census records with Rufus and Mary Trefry but she is recorded as Addie C. Allen on some. It seems that her father was not Captain Rufus Trefry but a man named George Allen. Addie's marriage to William S. Tupper in 1898 in Nova Scotia names George as her father. At her marriage she reveals her true age of 38, giving her an estimated year of birth of 1860. She was 54 years old when she enlisted -what a courageous woman! 

I will be posting the entire album and my additional research on the individuals identified in Connie's album over the coming months so please check back frequently to view these historic photos. The easiest way to see what has been published is to click on the topic "Nursing Sister WW1 Photos" in the vertical menu bar on the right side of your screen. You can also click on that phrase at the bottom of this post.