ARMSTRONG Ellen

Daughter of Thomas Newton Armstrong and Jane Elizabeth Tregale or Armstrong. Member of the Royal Red Cross, 1st Class, Mentioned in Despatches

Ellen/Helen Armstrong was born in Glasgow on the 24th April 1880, the 5th child and 4th daughter of Thomas and Jane Armstrong. Her father was a merchant and ship owner allowing the family to live comfortably and employ servants.

In 1902 Ellen commenced her nurse training at the Royal Infirmary, Dumfries. Qualifying in 1905 she left the hospital in December that year, working over the next few years as a Staff Nurse and later as a Theatre Sister in a number of hospitals in Scotland.

On the 17th December 1914 Ellen applied to join and was accepted by Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve (QAIMNSR). It is not known exactly when Ellen was posted overseas but between 1915 and 1919 Ellen served at No 13 General Hospital (GH), an Isolation Hospital, No 23 Casualty Clearing Station (CCS), 37 CCS, No 1 Australian CCS, 5 CCS, 45 CCS and No 6 GH where she joined the Theatre Unit on the 21st January 1918 as a Theatre Sister. A report by Acting Matron Miss J. Hepple on the 17th June 1918 states that Ellen was ‘an excellent Theatre Sister and while in charge of this theatre has done valuable work.’

Whilst working at No 6 GH, Ellen became unwell and, on the 23rd January 1919, she was admitted to No 8 General Hospital at Rouen suffering from influenza. From this she developed broncho-pneumonia leading to myocarditis and oedema from which she subsequently died at 01.15 on the 20th March 1919. Her cause of death was recorded as pneumonia.

Ellen was buried in the nearby St Sever Cemetery Extension, France. She is remembered on the family grave in Rosebank Cemetery, Edinburgh and commemorated on the Scottish Nurses Memorial in St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh. She is also listed on the QAIMNS panel in York Minster.

Ellen Armstrong, St Sever Cemetery Extension. Photo Copyright of Sandra Taylor.

Ellen Armstrong grave, Photo copyright of Ian MacDonald

Ellen Armstrong’s name on the Scottish Nurses Memorial. Photo Copyright of Sandra Taylor.

Ellen Armstrong’s name, York Minster. Photo Copyright of Sandra Taylor.