Evangeline Lydia Emsley
Evangeline Lydia Emsley ARRC (March 1885 – February 21, 1967), sometimes written as Lydia Evangeline Emsley, was a Canadian nurse who was decorated for her service as a member of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps during World War I.
Early life[edit]
Evangeline Emsley was born in Lindsay, Ontario, the daughter of Rev. William Henry Emsley and Susan A. Major Emsley. Her father was a Methodist pastor and military chaplain from Barnsley, in Yorkshire.[1] She trained as a nurse at Columbia Hospital in Washington, D.C., graduating in 1909.[2][3]
Career[edit]
Emsley was appointed Superintendent of Nurses at Kingston General Hospital in Ontario in 1912.[4] She joined the Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1915.[5] In England, she worked as night supervisor at the Duchess of Connaught's Canadian Red Cross Hospital in Taplow. She was sent to a base hospital in Boulogne.[2] In King George V's 1919 Birthday Honours, she was awarded a Royal Red Cross, second class, for her service during the war.[6] After she returned to Canada in 1919, she resumed a civilian nursing career, working for the health department in Oshawa in 1929.[7]
Personal life[edit]
In 1931, Emsley married Frederick James Donevan (1880-1948), a widowed doctor who had also served in the Canadian Army Medical Corps in France and England.[8] They lived in Oshawa with his daughter Constance Marie Donevan, who also became a nurse.[9][10]
References[edit]
- ^ Who's who and Why (International Press Limited 1912): 338.
- ^ a b "From the War Zone: A Distinguished Nursing Sister" Trained Nurse and Hospital Review (October 1916): 211-212.
- ^ "Nurses Receive Diplomas" Washington Post (May 27, 1909): 4. via Newspapers.com
- ^ Untitled news item, The Canadian Nurse (August 1912): 456.
- ^ Evangeline Emsley, Canadian Great War Project.
- ^ "Nurses Decorated" The Gazette (June 30, 1919): 13. via Newspapers.com
- ^ Vernon's Directory Archived 2019-01-09 at the Wayback Machine (1929): 188.
- ^ "Marriages" The Canadian Statesman Bowmanville (June 25, 1931): 7.
- ^ "Host Files: History of Dr. F. J. Donevan Collegiate" Oshawa Museum Blog (September 15, 2017).
- ^ "Fraser-Donevan" The Leader-Post (January 27, 1945): 5. via Newspapers.com
External links[edit]
- Evangeline Emsley's Attestation Paper, signed upon joining the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force in October 1915; from Libraries and Archives Canada.
