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Rutherford-L-C-Staff-Nurse

Page history last edited by Lenore Frost 2 years, 11 months ago

Volunteers of Essendon and Flemington, 1914-1918

 

Rutherford L C     Staff Nurse        Linda Christina              Nurses    30    Nurse    Single    Pres       

Address:    Essendon   

Next of Kin:    Rutherford, J, brother, 90 Fletcher St, Essendon   

Enlisted:    22 Aug 1916       

Embarked:     RMS Mooltan 22 Aug 1916   

 

Relatives on Active Service:

Rutherford-L-J-Staff Nurse sister 

Rutherford-N-R-Driver-24618 brother 

 

 

Sister Linda Christina Rutherford

 

by Lenore Frost

 

Linda Christina Rutherford was one of a large number of children of Andrew and Jane (nee Campbell) Rutherford.  The eldest children were born in Tasmania, but the family later moved to Melbourne and then Essendon where Andrew and Jane ran a newsagent and stationer's business in Fletcher Street.

 

Linda was born in Essendon in 1883, but went to Launceston to do her nursing training, graduating in 1909.

 

The family attended nearby St John's Presbyterian Church, and Linda turned her talents to missionary work with the Presbyterian Inland Mission, an organisation associated with "Flynn of the Inland".  In 1915 Linda took a steamship to Port Hedland where she did a three month stint before returning to Adelaide and Melbourne.

 

Norman Rutherford, a younger brother, joined the AIF and departed from Australia on 27 June 1916.  Not long after this, Linda joined the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) on 22 July 1916, but her attestation records shows that she had previously served for 12 months with the Australian Medical Corps - presumably this occurred after her return to Melbourne in July 1915.  Serving with the AMC had been made a requirement before nurses could service overseas.

 

Her embarkation date was the same as her joining date, embarking as a Staff Nurse on the Mooltan on 22 August 1916.   On 13 September 1916 Linda was posted to the Victoria War Hospital in Bombay.  

 

Bombay, India. c 1917. Three members of the Australian Army Nursing

Service (AANS) sitting at a table in a ward at Victoria War Hospital. http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P02523.005

 

Linda joined the Hospital Ship Takada for temporary duty in April 1917, and then boarded the Malwa in Bombay for Alexandria on 11 July 1917. 

 

Linda may have been in this photo of nurses en route for Salonika in July 1917.

http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/B01807

 

A month later she arrived in Salonika, Greece, her older sister Lilian having arrived there a short time earlier.  The main task for the Australian nurses in Salonika was caring for British and Greek soldiers suffering from illness, with occasional Turkish and Bulgarian prisoners.  

 

In August 1917 a great fire burnt out most of the city of Salonika (or Thessalonika), and the subsequent shortage of food affected everyone, including the nurses and soldiers.  The winter cold was debilitating, and fuel supplies were scarce.  In summer the heat was also very trying, particularly for the nurses who had spent the previous summer in India, as had Linda, and malaria was a scourge from which many nurses suffered.    Most of their patients were dysentery patients, which added to the level of ill health suffered by the nurses. 

 

The sisters' quarters at No 66 British General Hospital on Hortiach Plateau.

http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/A02796

 

On 30 January 1918 Linda was promoted to Temporary Sister with pay, with effect from 1 September 1917.  Linda was transferred to a Red Cross convalescent home in March 1918 with malaria, where she remained for three weeks.   In July 1918 she was admitted to the Sisters' convalescent camp for two weeks with 'debility'.  In September 1918 she was sent for a couple of days to the 'Change of Air' camp, but the following month was admitted to the  43rd General Hospital on 28 October 1918, and transferred from there to the Red Cross convalescent camp on 5 November 1918 with debility, and was there when the Armistice was signed on 11 November.  She was discharged from there on 19 November 1918.

 

The Army had been very reluctant to give UK leave to Australian nurses, finally granting permission just before the Armistice.  On 28 December 1918 Linda was marched out for UK for some leave, arriving at Southampton on 15 January 1919.   After reporting for duty at AIF Headquarters in London, she was attached to the 2nd Australian Auxiliary Hospital on 17 January, and the following day went on furlough.

 

At this time her sister Lilian was still at Salonika, but a week later embarked for Marseilles.  Lilian arrived for leave in the UK on 10 February 1919, just missing seeing Linda before her departure for Australia.

 

After three weeks' leave Linda embarked for Australia on the Lancashire, attached for duty, departing on 7 February 1919.  

 

Many of the Australian nurses whose health had been affected by the conditions in which they served had great difficulty in claiming compensation in later years.  Their medical records were destroyed, and if they arrived home well, they didn't apply for a pension, which again had an affect on their ability to claim one in later years.

 

In 1920 Linda Rutherford was appointed as Matron in charge of the Seymour Soldiers' Memorial Hospital.  By 1928, when she took delivery of her Victory Medal, she was in Darwin. In 1935 a Darwin newspaper reported to its readers that Nurse Rutherford had been for some time an inmate of the Caulfield Repatriation Hospital. 

 

Linda's death was registered in Belgrave in 1950, aged 65.  Like so many Australian servicemen and women, her post-war life was marred by ill-health and an early death.

 

SOURCES

  • Bassett, Jan.  Guns and Brooches:  Australian Army Nursing from the Boer War to the gulf War.  Oxford University Press:  South Melbourne, 1997.
  • Rees, Peter.  The Other Anzacs:  Nurses at War, 1914-1918.  Allen & Unwin, Crow's Nest, NSW: 2008.

 

The Visiting committee reported that the annual examinations in the training school for nurses were completed last month. Nurse Rutherford passed the final examination, and obtained the hospital certificate. Being the only competitor, she won the Wm. Barnes' prize for the year ending March 28, 1909.

 

GENERAL HOSPITAL. (1909, January 15). Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), p. 6 Edition: DAILY. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50351103

 

Nurse Linda Rutherford has been appointed deaconess-nurse at Port Hedland, Western Australia. She will arrive in Adelaide on Friday, en route for Perth. The work she is undertaking is connected with the inland mission of the Presbyterian Church, of which the Rev. J. Flynn is Superintendent.

 

CHURCH NOTES. (1915, January 23). The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931), p. 18. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5441941

 

Nurse Rutherford has reached this State, on her way to Perth., She is going to take charge of the nursing and deaconess work at Port Hedland in West Australia. She is opening up the work for Nurse Hains, who is in training at the Queen's Home, Adelaide.

 

PERSONAL ITEMS. (1915, February 5). Kalgoorlie Miner (WA : 1895 - 1950), p. 4. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92600377

 

Nurse Linda Rutherford, of' Victoria,  who has been appointed to Port Hedland, WA, in connection with the Presbyterian Inland Mission, arrived by the Zealandia yesterday from the eastern State, and left by the same vessel for Perth to-day.

 

RELIGIOUS WORLD RELIGIOUS WORLD RELIGIOUS. (1915, January 23). The Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), p. 12. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59302314

 

The Melbourne "Argus" of January 23 says:- Nurse Linda Rutherford, of Essendon, has volunteered for service, with the Presbyterian Australian Inland Mission at Port Hedland, Western Australia. She will leave in the Indarra on February 3.

 

PERSONAL. (1915, February 3). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), p. 7. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28582761

 

Miss Linda Rutherford, a Victorian nurse of considerable experience, who - as mentioned in yesterday's issue - has been appointed to take charge of the hospital about to be opened in Port Hedland under the Australian Inland Mission of the Presbyterian Church, arrived in the Zealandia, and will proceed to the North-West in the Charon on the 7th instant. A welcome will be tendered to Miss Rutherford in St. Andrew's Hall on Friday afternoon by the ladies of the Presbyterian Women's Missionary Union and other friends of the mission.

 

PERSONAL. (1915, February 4). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), p. 7. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28582872

 

— Back from the North-West.—

Miss Linda Rutherford returned to Adelaide from Port Hedland, where she has been temporarily in charge of that station of the Presbyterian Inland Mission as Nurse Deaconess.

 

RELIGIOUS NOTES. (1915, July 31). The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), p. 5. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59413311

 

— Women's Noble Work.—

 

Sister Marion Haines, who spent a year in training in the Queen's Home, Rose Park, has written an interesting report on her work for the past three months in the hostel at Port Hedland, Western Australia. She speaks highly of the work done by Nurse Rutherford, who laid the foundation of the hostel work. The people in the district have given her and her work a hearty reception.

 
RELIGIOUS NOTES. (1915, November 6). The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), p. 5. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59983111 

 

The following names of ladies of Essendon, who are giving their services for the Empire have been received:- Misses Linda Rutherford, J. M. Taylor, E. McPhail, Agnes Ferguson.

 

WITH THE COLOURS. (1916, April 13). The Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (Moonee Ponds, Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 5. Retrieved January 28, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74592571

 

A subsequent, meeting of the Soldiers' Memorial Hospital committee was held to consider applications from nurses willing to take charge of the institution on the conditions laid down by the committee. The successful applicant was Nurse Rutherford, who had served for ten months in the military camp at Seymour. As a nurse she possesses the highest credentials, having gained her general nursing certificate at Launceston Hospital; she qualified for the midwifery certificate at the Women's Hospital, Melbourne, and was also in charge of a hospital for some time in Western Australia. In addition, Nurse Rutherford spent nearly four years at the front. The appointment should give the greatest satisfaction to the subscribers, and the committee feel they are exceedingly fortunate in securing the services of such a highly qualified nurse to take charge of the hospital at its inception. Nurse Rutherford and her assistant have taken over the hospital buildings and are busy getting the place in order for the reception of patients.- Seymour " Express."

 

Soldiers' Memorial Hospital, Seymour. (1920, March 25). Kilmore Free Press (Kilmore, Vic. : 1870 - 1954), p. 2 Edition: MORNING. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59660720

 

Mrs. A. Rutherford and Miss L. Rutherford, who have been staying with Mr. and Mrs. Fraser (Rockhampton), are now visiting Mt. Ryde, Longreach, where they will spend a few weeks with Mr. and Mrs. C. Avery.

 

Social Gossip. (1923, September 1). The Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 - 1939), p. 10. Retrieved May 24, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22646849

 

ARMY NURSES' SOCIAL

Members of the Returned Army Nurses' Club met at Anzac House last night. Two amusing competitions were undertaken Among those who were present were - The president (Miss G Davies), the acting secretary (Miss Overend), Mrs A Day, Misses E. Simons, A. Cameron, Elsie Deakin, Grace McNulty, Linda and Lilian Rutherford, Pierre Humbert, B Mawson, Ida O'Dwyer, Eileen Connolly, Newell, Alice Howe Edith Simpson, Gillies, McColl, Jean Robertson, Ether Hart, Anne Williams Mabel Martin, M Peake,  Gladys Bishop, Valerie Woinarski, Daisy Rogerson, Marshall Borden, M Parkins, Downey, and Mrs F Prescott.

 

WOMAN'S REALM. (1930, August 30). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 8. Retrieved May 23, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4108859

 

 

The many friends of Nursing Sister Linda Rutherford, a former member of the Darwin Hospital nursing staff, will regret to hear that she has been for some, time an inmate of the Caulfield military hospital, with a serious heart condition.

 

ROUND ABOUT. (1935, April 26). Northern Standard (Darwin, NT : 1921 - 1955), p. 2. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48070259

 

Mentioned in this publication:

Follow the Gleam: a history of Essendon Primary School 1850-2000. Adrian Jones.  p 116

 

War Service Commemorated

Essendon State School

St John's Presbyterian Church     

 

In Memoriam

 

RUTHERFORD. - On July 22, at Sophia

grove, Tecoma, Linda Christina, loved

sister of Jim (deceased), Lily, Issy,

Connie (deceased), and Norman, loved  

sister-in-law of Lottie and Arthur, loved

aunt of Jean, late A A.N.S.

 

Family Notices. (1950, July 24). The Argus

 (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 17.

Retrieved May 25, 2013, from

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22914182

 

BEREAVEMENT CARDS

RUTHERFORD. - L. J. Rutherford, NORMAN

RUTHERFORD, and Mrs. I WILLIAMS desire

to THANK all kind friends for their kind

expressions of sympathy, especially the

Returned Soldiers and Nurses' Association,

also thanking Dr. Robertson for his kind

attention in their recent sad bereavement.

Will all please accept this as a personal

expression of gratitude.

 

Family Notices. (1950, July 31). The Argus

 (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 17. Retrieved

May 25, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22907881

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