Emily Georgina Blencowe  [4249]

1887 -1979

Father’s Name: George Blencowe [1164] born 1843 c 18.Mar.1844 Stoke by Nayland died 30.11.1917 Bury St. Edmonds; Oldest Known Ancestor John Blinco 1660 Whilton.

Mothers Name: Lucy Matilda King [3187] born 1856 Kirtling Cambs died 1941 Bury St. Edmonds

Marriage Dt:

Kin Comments: Sister Marion Beryl Blencowe RIN4333  1890–1975 was married to Major Walter Bridge who served in WW1

We don’t have a photo for Emily, but sister Marion above may give some idea of what she may have looked like and was the reference for my sketch above

Spouse Comments:[unmarried]

Children:

(Research): GR[B] Bury St Edmunds Dec 1887 GR[D], Winchester vol 20 p 2165 JD.

Birth 16 September 1887

Source 1939 Census

1901 Census 8 Angel Hill, Bury St Edmunds

1. George Blencowe 57 Land Agent Auctioneer
2. Lucy Matilda Blencowe 44
3. Christopher K Blencowe 20
4. Maulkin K Blencowe 19
5. Emily G Blencowe 13
6. Beryl M Blencowe 10
7. Elsie P Klein 31 French Governess
8. Rosetta Frost 21 Parlour Maid
9. Julia Mann 21 Housemaid
10. Maud R Plum 22 Sewing Maid
11. Agnes Cockerton 15 Kitchen Maid

1911 Census High Street Ixworth

1. Blencowe George Head M 1844 67
2. Blencowe Lucy Matilda Wife F 1856 55
3. Blencowe Emily Georgina Dau F 1888 Bury 23
4. Blencowe Marion Beryl Dau F 1891 Bury 20

Red Cross VAD

WW1

Blencowe Emily Georgina, 1887, Bury St Edmunds, Nurse, Special Military Probationer, Voluntary Aid Detachment

Note: Special Military Probationer rather than a trained nurse – that’s the military equivalent of a VAD.

The only war records are a medal card but this gives some key information about Emily’s eventful war.

1914

• 10^th Oct. Suffolk Hospital, Ampton Hall, Bury St Edmunds.
• 25^th Nov. – 7^th Apr. 1915 Northgate Red Cross Hosp. Bury St Edmunds.

1915

• 30^th Apr. Bombed at HomeThe home of Emily’s father George Blencowe, 8 Angel Hill, was hit by a bomb during the first Zeppelin attack of 1915. The bomb, somewhat echoing Emily’s survival in the face of disaster, merely bounced off of the roof. A second bomb landed in the backyard, just off Lower Baxter Street, onto a coal house. Both bombs were put out by W. Green, George’s coachman. Emily may have been living at home at this time but she was soon to leave.
• 18^th May -20^th Dec. London Hospital

1916

• 19^th Jan – 23^rd Sept. Nottingham (Baythorpe Military Hospital).

  

• 23^rd Sept. – 21^st Nov. HMHS Brittanic. Emily entered the theatre of the war serving on HM Hospital Ship Britannic. This is significant information as it means she was on it when was involved in its last voyage just 7 days later.

• 21^st Nov. The Sinking of HMHS Brittanic.

  

  Just two months after her posting on 21^st 1916, HMHS Brittanic left Naples and arrived in the Kea Channel between Cape Sounion (the southernmost point of Attica, the prefecture that includes Athens) and the island of Kea. “The crew had settled down to routine duties aboard ship. The nurses were preparing the hospital wards before they were to take on the next group of wounded soldiers for the return home. They had opened the porthole to air the rooms out. Engineers, down below, we’re preparing to change shifts. To make the job go smoother they decided to leave the water-tight doors open. It was about 8:00 am when the crew was sitting down for breakfast when something went terribly wrong. The Britannic began to go under at an alarming rate. She also began to list heavily to the starboard side. Meanwhile, as the crew were getting into the lifeboats, the Captain tried one, last desperate act. He thought if he restarted the Britannic’s engines that it might be possible to beach her on Kea Island. What Bartlett did not know was that the propellers were already breaking the surface of the water when they began to turn. This meant disaster for the first lifeboats lowered toward the stern of the ship. The propellers began to create a suction pulling the lifeboats into them. The first couple of boats stood no chance. They were drawn in and shredded along with the crew members in them. Upon realizing this, Captain Bartlett shut the engines off for the last time. The starting of the engines would not have helped anyway because the front of the Britannic and already touched down into the mud below. Out of the 1066 people on the Britannic, only 30 died due to the propellers. Captain Bartlett swam away from the ship just in time to see it plunge beneath the waves. The whole incident took place in less than an hour and a half.”¹
• 24^th Nov. “German Barbarism. A Deliberate Crime” Received 5.05 pm, Nov. 23^rd. The “Daily Chronicle’s” Athens correspondent states that the details of the outrage prove that the Britannia affords another example of Germany’s unmitigated barbarism. Two Hun submarines lay in wait in the narrow sea. for the express purpose of sending her to the bottom. The submarines attacked on both sides simultaneously. Each launched a torpedo. One missed While the other struck – fatally. The deliberate’ crime is all the worse because “the submarine commanders must have noticed that the Britannic was going north, this fact implying that she was carrying only the usual crew and complement of nurses, doctors and medical servicemen. That did not count with the cowardly foe. The Britannic was going to Mudros to take on board sick and the wounded. She was fitted to carry three-thousand. The survivors say that perfect order prevailed. The nurses, like the officers and men of the Medical Corps, lined Up on deck and there was not the slightest suspicion of a panic. A stewardess tells a terrible story of the launching of the first two boats near the stern. While the ship was heeling over and tho screw was out of the water whirling round, two loaded boats were sucked towards it and cut up like matchwood. Many were killed outright by this, and others horribly wounded.²

Emily survived along with 1036 other patients, medical personnel and crew.

Note: The Timaru Herald was incorrect in its analysis of how the Brittanic was sunk. The Brittanic is now thought to have struck an underwater mine and was not deliberately sunk by U-boats but the story in the paper no doubt suited propaganda purposes.

 

1917

• Feb 1917 -31^st Dec. No 2. Stationary Hospital Rouen France

Another record has 26^th Mar. as to the date of entry to France.

1918

• Jan-24^th -Nov. No. 2 Stationary Hospital, Rouen, France.

Note: Known to have come through No. 2 hospital when Emily in service there Charles Albert Blencowe 13^th Company E Bn. Tank Corps. Possibly also Harry Blencowe (Henry T), 1891, Banbury, Sergeant, 27121, Royal Garrison Artillery was at the No 2 Hospital.

• 24^th May. Mentioned in Despatches.

  

  The London Gazette Publication date:24 May 1918 Supplement:30704 Page:6175.

• 24^th Nov -31^st Dec. West Suffolk Gen. Hospital, Bury St Edmunds.

1919

• Jan. – 1^st Dec. West Suffolk Gen. Hospital, Bury St Edmunds.

Sources

1. Fleming, John. “The Last Voyage of His Majesty’s Hospital Ship Britannic” Wordsmith, UK, 1998.
2. Timaru Herald, Volume CV, Issue 16128, 24 November 1916, Page 7
3. Mills, Simon. “HMHS Britannic: The Last Titan” Waterfront Publications, UK, 1992.
4. Brittanic Story website.

Medals

Awarded the Victory medals with Oak Leaf and the British Medal. Oak Leaf for Mentioned in Despatches by General Haig in May 1918.

After the War

1921 Census

The Hall, Little Welnetham Thingoe RD Suffolk

First name(s)	Last name	Relationship to head	Sex	Birth year	Age in years	Birth place	Occupation	Employer
Christopher K	Blencome	Head	Male	1881	40	Suffolk, England	Clerk In Holy Orders (Retired)	–
Emily G	Blencome	Sister	Female	1888	32	Suffolk, England	Home Duties	–
Beatrice	Gates	Servant	Female	1894	26	Stetchworth, Cambridgeshire, England	Housemaid	Private
Margaret	Cornish	Servant	Female	1899	22	Rougham, Suffolk, England	Kitchenmaid	Private
Daisy	Eady	Servant	Female	1898	22	Essex, England	Parlour Maid	Private
Benttey	Godfrey	Servant	Female	1894	27	Essex, England	Cook	Private

1939 Census Sleepers Hill Sleepers Hill, Winchester M.B., Hampshire, England.

Emily G Blencowe 16 Sep 1887 Female Private Means Single
Lucy M Blencowe 01 Feb 1856 Female Private Means Married
Gladys M Wilkes 18 Sep 1896 Female Domestic Servant Single
Edith E Pierce (West) 13 Nov 1909 Female Domestic Servant Single
Gwendoline Morris (Trink?) 16 Jul 1878 Female Gardener Single
M Florence L Penton (Green) 13 Nov 1909 Female Domestic Servant Single

Death 1979 Winchester Hampshire Age 92

England & Wales, Death Index, 1916-2006, Name: Emily Georgina Blencowe, Birth Date: 16 Sept 1886, Date of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1979, Registration district: Winchester, Hampshire, Volume: 20, Page: 2165.

Gallery

Note: there are 5 service records for Emily that exist that are not shown in this gallery for copyright reason.