Rachel Trethewey - Pearls before Poppies: The Story of the Red Cross Pearls

For Mum,
for inspiring me.

First published 2018

The History Press
The Mill, Brimscombe Port
Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG
www.thehistorypress.co.uk

Rachel Trethewey 2018

The right of Rachel Trethewey to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the Publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 0 7509 8717 2

Typesetting and origination by The History Press
eBook converted by Geethik Technologies

Like the Red Cross Pearl Appeal itself, writing this book has only been possible thanks to the support of many people. When I first started my research, Jane High for the British Red Cross and Lynda McLeod at Christies welcomed me into their archives and were so generous with both their time and knowledge, their continuing interest in the project has been a great boost.

I am also particularly grateful to the many descendants of the women who gave pearls. Without access to their papers it would have been impossible to get a real insight into what motivated the donations. It was thanks to the Great War Exhibition at Port Eliot that I first had the idea for this book and when I told Lady St Germans my idea she was very supportive, providing me with colourful details about the family. Other relatives of Blanche and Mousie St Germans have also shared their memories with me; David Seyfried, Lord Herbert and Sir Michael and Lady Ferguson Davie sent me photographs and Blanches diary of her flying adventure, which showed just what a resilient woman she was.

The Wemyss/Elcho family tragedy lies at the heart of my story and so one of the most special times was visiting their timeless home, Stanway, in the Cotswolds. As I looked through the dusty files of letters and diaries in the muniment room, Mary Wemyss and Letty Elcho really came alive for me. Being shown around the house, sitting in Marys drawing room, looking at her photo albums and at the sketches of Letty and Ego Elcho by John Singer Sargent in one of the bedrooms made me even more aware of how the war destroyed their way of life. I cannot thank Lord Wemyss enough for his hospitality and for allowing me to use the family papers and pictures in my book. Mary Wemyss story is closely intertwined with her friend Ettie Desboroughs, and I would like to thank Viscount Gage and the British Library for allowing me to quote from her writing and photographs in her Pages from a Family Journal, which is a heart-rending memoir of a mothers experience of the First World War. Similarly, I am grateful to the Trustees of the Bowood Collection for permitting me to use the papers of the 5th Marquess of Lansdowne and a photograph of him with his grandson, George Mercer Nairne, which so poignantly illustrate a fathers grief for his lost son. Bowoods archivist Jo Johnston has been a sounding board for my ideas and has pointed me in the right direction for the material I needed.

Another highlight of my research was spending a stimulating afternoon with Philip Astor discussing his grandmother, Violet Astor. I am most grateful to him for allowing me to quote from the letters written to her about her remarriage and for the stunning photograph of her in her pearls which he sent to me. I would also like to thank Lady Emma Kitchener for a wonderful lunch and for showing me the photographs and belongings of her ancestor Lord Kitchener. Her enthusiasm for the human stories behind the great moments of history made her immediately understand what I was trying to do in my book. She provided me with just the information I wanted and, by telling me about her familys love of animals, she helped me to crack the meaning of a donation which would otherwise have remained an enigma.

Nol, Countess of Rothes granddaughter, Angela Young, kindly provided me with information about her grandmother and the Leslie family. The Duchess of Westminsters grandson, Dominic Filmer Sankey, was also very helpful, telling me about the complex dynamics of the Grosvenor family after his grandparents divorce. I was given an insight into life in the wards at the Duchess of Westminsters Hospital through reading Nurse Martha Frosts scrapbook and I am grateful to her nephew, Ian Broad, who has agreed to me quoting from it.

With the Duke of Rutlands permission, Peter Foden, the archivist at Belvoir Castle, gave up his time to try to find out the history of the pearls which the Duchess of Rutland gave to the Red Cross appeal. Lord Rowallan and his aunt, Fiona Patterson, also tried to discover what had happened to the pearl necklace bought by their family at the Red Cross Auction. Emma Clarke at Mikimoto, London, provided me with additional information on Kokichi Mikimoto and the history of cultured pearls. Otley Museum and Archive Trusts Margaret Hornby sent me Legacies of War: Untold Otley Stories and Barbara Winfield looked into Ada Beys role in Otley during the First World War.

I am also indebted to the many archives and museums which have granted me permission to quote from letters and reproduce illustrations in their collections:

The Canadian War Museum, for the letters of Katherine MacDonald, her family and friends, the photographs associated with her and the painting of No. 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital at Doullens by Gerald Moira; the Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies for the Desborough Papers; the Somerset Archives and Local Studies Service (South West Heritage Trust) for the de Vesci Papers; the Devon Archive and Local Studies Service for information on the Kekewich family; the Imperial War Museum for a letter from Lord Kitcheners sister and one from his cousin written in 1916 we have been unable to find the current copyright holders of these letters but every reasonable effort has been made to seek permission. Thank you to the British Red Cross Society for the letters between Sir Robert Hudson and Lord Northcliffe, which are held at the British Library, and the Grafton Galleries Red Cross Pearl Exhibition poster which is held at the Imperial War Museum; the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland, for Arthur Percival Marshs letter about the Duchess of Westminsters Hospital; the Parliamentary Archive for letters to Andrew Bonar Law, David Lloyd George and Hansard. My thanks also to Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal Collection Trust for their photographs of Princess Victoria wearing pearls, and Queen Mary and Queen Alexandras visit to the Pearl Exhibition at the Grafton Galleries; the Lafayette Negative Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum for photographs of Lady Northcliffe and the Duchess of Westminster; the National Portrait Gallery for a portrait of Blanche St Germans.

The Mary Evans Picture Library kindly supplied photographs of many of the people written about in the book, and Christies Archive provided two cartoons, one entitled For the Wounded and the other by Max Beerbohm of the Red Cross auctions. The British Library supplied a photograph of the Countess of Cromer which appeared on the cover of