Skip to content

Women’s stories from the First World War

Lady Jane Grey in her VAD nurses uniform at Stamford Military Hospital (Dunham Massey) Cheshire
Lady Jane Grey cared for injured soldiers at Stamford Military Hospital | © National Trust Images/Robert Thrift

The stories of nurses, munitions workers and mothers of soldiers are less well known than tales from the trenches, but they all played a vital role in the First World War and many of the special places we care for have First World War connections.

A first-hand account of war breaking out

In the 1980s we recorded two interviews with Lady Jane Grey, of Dunham Massey in Cheshire, who recalls the First World War breaking out:

Everybody was thrilled. It’s always unbelievable to think of it now … we had won the Boer War and we were going to mince up the Germans before Christmas. The whole country … cheered in front of Buckingham Palace.

A quote by Lady Jane Grey

Lady Jane during the First World War

In 1917 Dunham Massey became Stamford Hospital and Lady Jane nursed the soldiers. She worked alongside Sister Catherine Bennett, who wrote, ‘I have never had a keener nurse than Lady Jane.’ The house was a convalescent home but, when necessary, surgery was performed there. Lady Jane attended one operation:

[The soldier] had a bullet in his brain and this had to be got out. I was given the job of shining a torch into the hole … in the brain …. I saw the brain sort of pulsating and it was grey …. You know you always wonder if you’re going to be a bit squeamy … but having been given the job to do one forgets oneself.

A quote by Lady Jane Grey

Ellen Terry’s lucky letter case

Ellen Terry was a famous actress, performing for war charities during the First World War. One day, in 1917, she gave her little leather wallet to a soldier on a train who had given up his seat for her. Inside was a postcard showing a portrait of her. On the back of the postcard, she wrote:

This old letter case has brought me luck I have had it for 24 years – will you mind it and keep it for luck. My best thanks for giving me your seat I have not even a cigarette to give.

A quote by Ellen Terry

The soldier was sadly killed and his effects were returned to his family. The letter case was donated to Smallhythe, Ellen’s home, in 1980 by the daughter of the young soldier’s fiancé. Sadly, we do not know the name of the soldier. The postcard is heavily creased and stained by what could be blood or coffee.

Forgotten heroines of Barnbow

Eva White was just 21 years of age when Britain declared war on Germany. After the man she was intending to marry died at war, she began work as a ‘Barnbow Lass’ making munitions in Leeds.

By 1916 the workforce at Barnbow numbered 17,000 and covered a 200 acre site. It was described locally as a ‘city within a city’. Eva’s days at the factory were long and arduous, working eight hours a day, six days a week, packing shells with explosives.

Persevering through tragedy

It was dangerous work, a fact brought starkly to light in December 1916 when ‘Room 42’ of the factory exploded, killing 35 women and injuring many more. Despite this tragedy Barnbow’s workforce returned to making explosives the very next day.

In 1917 Eva married the nephew of the game keeper at Nostell Priory. Their son George Hepworth, who is a regular visitor, says that she rarely spoke of the danger she had faced.

Many thanks to George for sharing this story.

Sir Henry and Lady Hoare with their son, Henry on 4 October 1912 at Stourhead, Wiltshire. An 18th-century landscape garden and Palladian mansion. Their son Henry died of wounds December 1917.
Sir Henry and Lady Alda Hoare with their son, Henry, who later died in battle in December 1917 | © National Trust

Sons who are soldiers

Lady Alda Hoare, of Stourhead in Wiltshire, regularly visited injured soldiers at a nearby Red Cross hospital. She became very attached to the injured, calling them her ‘soldier sons’ and even ferried those who were mobile to Stourhead for days out.

Many of the men told us later they’d had the happiest times, at Stourhead, of all their times, since they returned from the French-front.

A quote by Extract from Lady Hoare's diary

On Christmas Eve 1917 Alda received the news that her own son had died from wounds sustained in battle. ‘Tearless, I on the seat in window of South Lawn, where so oft from childhood till … he last left us, I watching him, I knelt and prayed for his soul oh God, for strength to us, in our shattered lives. He was 29 last 30th July,' she wrote.

Alda never got over her son’s death, keeping his room just as he had left it.

The 5th Marquess of Anglesey, Henry Cyril Paget, posing on a chair in fancy costume, with winged helmet and adorned in jewels.

People in history

Discover some of the social history behind the places we care for and uncover fascinating facts about the people who have lived in them.

You might also be interested in

Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury, also known as Bess of Hardwick' by Rowland Lockey. Hanging in the Long Gallery at Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
Article
Article

Remarkable women in history 

This Women's History Month, learn about remarkable women in history linked to the places in our care, from the first black woman to publish her story of slavery to the circus performer who became a countess.

A black and white photograph of a woman in an Edwardian-style striped dress with her hair parted in the middle and tied in a bun. She wears a thick, black fabric necklace with a heart locket hanging from it. Below her locket is a large brooch. She is holding something in both her hands but it's unclear as to what it might be.
Article
Article

Fighting for (and against) women’s suffrage 

Many of the places we care for were home to impassioned people who campaigned both for and against women’s suffrage. Find out about these campaigners, from Laura McLaren and George Bernard Shaw in favour, to Lord Curzon who was against it.

An oil painting showing a female painter next to a canvas of a painting of herself
Article
Article

Great women artists 

Throughout history women artists have had many obstacles to overcome in order to pursue careers in the fine arts. Discover great women artists and their artworks in the National Trust collections.

A charcoal drawing of a lady in her mid-30s, with curled hair and a benevolent look on her face
Article
Article

Great women gardeners 

Learn about pioneering women gardeners from Edith, Lady Londonderry’s rare plants and symbolism, to Kitty Lloyd Jones, one of the first women to train as a professional horticulturalist.