Detail, right hand panel of Great War honour roll, Newcastle East Public School. Photo: Christine Bramble 2013. Click on image to enlarge.

Connection to the Hunter Valley – ‘Nurse M Chadwick’ is named on the honour roll of Newcastle East Public School.  Her identity is a mystery:

There is no corresponding name on the Australian Imperial Force Nominal Roll or Embarkation Roll, ie those who served overseas – however, whilst generally reliable these records are not always complete.

The National Archives of Australia holds a service record that refers to a Staff Nurse M Chadwick who did home service as a member of the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) in NSW from 1917-1919.  The same record also refers to a Staff Nurse Muriel Eleanor Chadwick who was applying for repatriation benefits (implying overseas service).  This would suggest that they are not the same person.  According to the NSW Register of Births, Muriel Eleanor Chadwick was born in Maitland. The birth of Muriel Eleanor’s youngest sister Doris was registered at Newcastle in 1899, when Muriel was about 8-years-old and hence of an age to be attending school in Newcastle.  A Muriel Chadwick graduated from Newcastle Hospital in 1917.

It remains unclear which of these women the school honour roll refers to.

To summarise the references:

Training  –  Muriel Chadwick graduated from Newcastle Hospital in 1917. (Audrey Armitage, A Golden Age of Nursing, Royal Newcastle Hospital Graduates’ Association Book Committee, Newcastle, 1991)

Service – Muriel Eleanor Chadwick served in the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS), as did M Chadwick.   M Chadwick did home service in NSW – possibly No 4 Australian General Hospital at Randwick. The official record suggests that  Muriel Eleanor Chadwick served overseas.  (National Archives of Australia B2455 CHADWICK M E)

Birth records  – NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, children of Sheldon and Annie Chadwick 1891-1899.

Do you know more?

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© Christine Bramble 2013