WW1 Sister Barbara Sibyl Greig

Barbara Greig

Greig on Barge France [1]

Barbara Sibyl Greig, sister of Elsie Stewart Greig (1886-1966) and Roysie Alma Greig (1891–1969), was born to mother Barbara Mary Stewart and father James Dickson Greig on 20 Nov 1887 in Queensland, Australia.

In 1912 the Auckland Star and the Poverty Bay Herald reported on the dramatic rescue of the ship Star of Canada from a storm off the coast of Gisborne on which there were only three passengers – the Captain’s wife Mrs Hart, and the Misses Dorothy Nathan and Miss Greig, daughter of J D Greig, who were accompanying her on a three week trip around the coast of New Zealand. The ship was wedged on the rocks at Kaiti Beach. The newspaper reported: “Fortunately all crew and passengers were rescued and there was no lasting structural effect on the ship. Although neither Miss Nathan nor Miss Greig mentioned the fact, it is certain that if the Star of Canada, had not held sound through the stormy night of Sunday last, the chances of those on board reaching shore safely would have been meagre. They really made light of the experience.” [1]

The 1911 Electoral Roll shows Barbara, known as Sibyl, living at the nurses’ home in Wellington. She passed her state examination for nursing in June 1913, and received registration in August 1913. She was a nurse at Wellington Hospital, where she got her nursing certificate, from 1913 to 1915. [2] Barbara made her own way to England on December 8th 1914 on the Malwa (Peninsula and Orient Steam Navigation Company) via Melbourne, Adelaide, Colombo, Aden, Port Said, Malta, Marseilles and Gibraltar, landing in Plymouth. Her English address was given as Dunmore St, Catherine’s Rd, Southport, Merseyside. [3]

She enlisted in England, was mobilised and appointed staff nurse on February 17th 1915 with Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve of the British Expeditionary Force (37/4558) (QAIMNSR-BEF) and left for France on that date. The Dominion reported in February 1915 that she had been sent by her future mother-in-law Mrs R A Carr to nurse the wounded, and was now at one of the base hospitals in France, in time for the Battle of the Somme, as it turned out. [4]

The Evening Post reported – “Although their departure from Victoria Station was unofficial and private, the High Commissioner and Mr. Wray Palliser were present to bid them farewell. One interesting fact may be noted: As a rule all nurses serving under the War Office wear a similar uniform, and no badges are allowed. In the case of the New Zealand nurses this rule was partially waived, and they had the letters ” N.Z.” worked in scarlet silk on their dresses. This departure in their favour was much appreciated by the New Zealand ladies.” [5]

Signed Tablecloth 1914 [2]

Wellington Hospital Nursing Armbands Pre-WW1 [3]

Nursing Armbands [4]

Four items of Barbara’s are held in the Auckland War Memorial Museum:

• An embroidered signature table cloth, unfinished – made by Nurse Barbara S Grieg, while nursing in France with the QAIMNSR, 1914-1917, marked in pencil and embroidered with names of servicemen, regiments and regimental insignia, e.g. 6WMR, NZMR, RFC, Sigs RE, NZANS, RAMC, NZRB, FANY, NZEF

• Nursing Red Cross armbands, white linen with applique red cross, WW1 period. Nurse Barbara S Greig, QAIMNSR, WW1 (owner’s name) Elsie Greig, EPS, WW2 (owner’s name). DESCRIPTION: pair of nursing armbands, possibly belonged to Nurse Barbara S Greig, QAIMNSR, WW1. Otherwise belonged to her sister Elsie Greig who served with the Australian Nursing Service, WW1 and worked with the Emergency Precautions Service (Remuera) during WW2.

• Wellington Hospital nursing armbands belonging to Nurse Barbara Sibyl Greig who trained at Wellington hospital pre-WW1. White grosgrain bands embroidered with red cross and “Wellington Hospital NZ”.

• Army Medical Service armbands, WW1. Nurse Barbara S Greig, QAIMNSR. Description: pair of nursing armbands, probably belonged to Sister Barbara Sibyl Greig, New Zealand nurse who served with QAIMNSR, during WW1. White linen with 3 button join at rear; red applique cross; stamped in ink on reverse: “Army Medical Service”; handwritten in centre: 8 / 27.6.16″.

Stanley Austin Carr [5]

She was on active service until 21st March 1917. On 6 April 1917 Barbara and Stanley Austin Carr appeared “in person and prayed a licence for the solemnization of matrimony in the parish of St Marylebone, London.” [6]

Their marriage was reported in the Observer as follows: The marriage of Stanley Austin Carr, Lieut. N.Z.M.R., elder son of the late Mr R. A. Carr and Mrs Carr of Marivare, Auckland, New Zealand, and Miss Barbara Sibyl Greig (late Q.A.I.M.N.S.R.), second daughter of Mr and Mrs J. D. Greig, of Auckland, took place at Marylebone Parish Church, on April 21 1917, and the officiating clergy were the Rev. W. Smith (uncle of the bridegroom), and the Rev. Canon. A. Richards (Auckland, New Zealand). The bridegroom, until recently, was out on active service in the Sinai Peninsula; he went through Gallipoli and the Egyptian campaign. For over two years the bride had been engaged with the Q.A.I.M.N.S.R., at clearing stations, base hospitals, and on the barges in France, and she only resigned her position to be married. There were two bridesmaids, Elsie Greig (sister), and Miss Grace Stevenson (cousin). Sister Elsie Greig is on active service with the 3rd Australian Hospital, and since the wedding has returned to France. She was for some time at Lemnos, then in Egypt, and later at the Kitchener War Hospital, Brighton, The bridegroom was supported by two brother New Zealand officers Lieut. J. A. Evans, N.Z.M.R., and Lieut. Montague Steele, N.Z.M.G. Corps. The former landed from Palestine the day before the wedding. Flight-Lieut. J. A. Carr, was unable to get leave from France. [7]

Stanley (13/2151) served in the New Zealand Mounted Rifles as a Lieutenant at Gallipoli and Palestine during 1915 – 1917. He returned to New Zealand on the S. S. Arawa on 21st July 1917.His name is on the First World War Roll of Honour of the Auckland Mounted Rifles Club at Auckland Council Archives. [8]

On her return to New Zealand Barbara wrote from Alnwick, 7 Dilworth Avenue, Remuera on 28 Sept 1919 to the Officer in Charge of War Expenses requesting she receive the difference between the Imperial rate of pay and that of the NZEF for a staff nurse. She had received a War Gratuity from the Imperial Government of £11 up to 1917. Total rate of pay & allowances at time of her discharge was £45 with allowances of £74 and 3 shillings. [9] [10]

Stanley Carr was recorded in the Who’s Who of New Zealand and the Western Pacific 1938 [11] as:

• Managing Director S Austin Carr & Co, est. 1927. Gen Merchants and Brokers, Stock and Station agents, 14 Commerce St, Auckland.

• Proprietor of stud farm at Hoe-O-Tainui, registered Stud Animals, Friesian cows, Canadian Pedigree Berkshire and Tamworth pigs.

• Chairman of Directors of the following: o Carr, Pountney (Morrinsville) Ltd o Wharekawa Shingle Co Ltd o New Firth Pumice Co Ltd

• Past President Auckland Returned Soldiers Association

• President, Auckland Agricultural And Pastoral Association 1932-36

• Executive of New Zealand Wrestling Association 1930-35

• Director Carr, Shepton & Co Ltd • Director South British Insurance Co Ltd

• Director United Building Society • Director John Chambers & Son Ltd

• Born Auckland August 1st 1888

• Son of Richard Anthony and Ada Mary Nolan (nee Russell) Carr of London and Auckland respectively

• Educated Kings College and St Johns College, Auckland. Wanganui Collegiate School

• Commenced his career as Junior with N Z Loan & Mercantile Agency Co Ltd, Auckland, 1906.

• Joined his father’s firm Carr, Pountney & Co, Auckland, 1908; became Director in 1919 and appointed Chairman of Directors on death of W H Pountney.

• Dissolved partnership 1927 and founded the two companies, S Austin Carr & Co an Carr, Pountney (Morrinsville) Ltd. • Served with Auckland Mounted Rifles, Sixth Reinforcements, as 1st Lieutenant NZEF, Gallipoli, 1915, also NZEF, Palestine, 1916. Returned 1917.

• Married Barbara Sybil, second daughter of James Greig of Scotland, 1917. Issue: One son Richard Austin and three daughters.

• Clubs: Northern Club, Auckland Club, Auckland Golf Club, Remuera Tennis, and Chamber of Commerce .Recreations: Golf, yachting, tennis and shooting.

• Creed: Anglican

• Home address: Marivare, 10 (later 60) Ranfurly Road, Epsom, Auckland, New Zealand.

Stanley Austin Carr [6]

Carr Grave St Andrews Church [7]

Marivare [8]

Barbara died 4 August 1970 (death certificate 1970/41693) aged 82 and is buried with Stanley. Stanley had died on 12 January 1952 age 63 and was cremated at Waikumete Cemetery and buried at St Andrews Church, Epsom.

They were survived by their son Richard Austin Carr (1927 – 2008) and three daughters, Margaret Mary Lusk (1899 – 1969), Antoinette Austin Greville (1922 – 2011), and Isabel Robertson.

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References:

1. AUCKLAND INTERVIEWS. Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12802, 29 June 1912.

2. New Zealand, Registers of Medical Practitioners and Nurses, 1873, 1882-1933 for Barbara Greig Nurses and Midwives Register of New Zealand, 1903-1933 Barbara Greg, Wellington Hospital Certificate. State examination June 1913 – Registration Date Aug 1913. Shows in Years 1913, 1915, 1916, 1917. Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Registers of Medical Practitioners and Nurses, 1873, 1882-1933 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: New Zealand Registers of Medical Practitioners and Nurses. Ravensbourne, Dunedin, New Zealand: Colonial CD Books.

3. UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960 for Barbara Sibyl Greig, Nurse, age 27. London, England 1915 Jan

4. WOMAN’S WORLD, Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2394, 25 February 1915.

5. NEW ZEALANDERS ON SERVICE, Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 81, 7 April 1915.

6. Ancestry.com. London and Surrey, England, Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1597-1921 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Marriage Bonds and Allegations. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives.

7. THE SOCIAL SPHERE, Observer, Volume XXXVII, Issue 44, 7 July 1917.

8. Honour board listing members of Auckland Mounted Rifles Club who served in WWI 1914-1918. On 8 March 1917 Auckland City Council granted permission for the Auckland Mounted Rifles Club to mount its Roll of Honour in the vestibule or other suitable position in the Auckland Town Hall (Auckland City Council minutes, ACC 101/24, p.88). A report ‘Roll of Honour’ was published in the ‘Auckland Star’ on 9 March 1917 (p.7), which mentioned that only two members of the club had lost their lives. Later fatalities must have been added to the Roll of Honour after that time. C. G. Nichol’s The Story of Two Campaigns: Official War History of the Auckland Mounted Rifles (1921) shows that only a handful of the 333 men killed during the war are included on the Club’s Roll of Honour, which lists sixty-five men. Of these sixty-five, a significant number survived the war. The Honour Board is hanging in the Reading Room at the Auckland Council Archives Central Repository. Archives Reference: AKC 2008 019

9. Auckland Museum Online Cenotaph.

10. Archives New Zealand Base records file 1919 – 1922.

11. Who’s who in New Zealand and Western Pacific 1938 in Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Who’s Who in New Zealand and the Western Pacific, 1908, 1925, 1938[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors. Original data: Who’s Who in New Zealand and the Western Pacific Various Sources.

Image References:

1. Greig BS On Barge France BL_0001862_1916 09 13_023_0023

2. An embroidered signature table cloth, unfinished – made by Nurse Barbara S Grieg, while nursing in France with the QAIMNSR, 1914-1917, marked in pencil and embroidered with names of servicemen, regiments and regimental insignia, e.g. 6WMR, NZMR, RFC, Sigs RE, NZANS, RAMC, NZRB, FANY, NZEF. Auckland War Memorial Museum. Identifier 1995.129.10. Accession Number 1995.129.10. Accession Date 31 August 1995. Collection area History. Display Location 23245

3. Wellington Hospital nursing armbands belonging to Nurse Barbara Sibyl Greig who trained at Wellington hospital pre-WW1. White grosgrain bands embroidered with red cross and “Wellington Hospital NZ”. Auckland War Memorial Museum. Wellington Hospital nursing armbands. Identifier 1995.129.4. Accession number 1995.129.4. Accession date 31 August 1995. Collection area History.

4. Army Medical Service armbands, WW1. Nurse Barbara S Greig, QAIMNSR. Description: pair of nursing armbands, probably belonged to Sister Barbara Sibyl Greig, New Zealand nurse who served with QAIMNSR, during WW1. White linen with 3 button join at rear; red applique cross; stamped in ink on reverse: “Army Medical Service”; handwritten in centre: 8 / 27.6.16″. Auckland War Memorial Museum. Army Medical Service armbands, WW1. Identifier 1995.129.5. Accession number 1995.129.5. Accession date 31 August 1995. Collection area History.

5. Stanley Austin Carr and unidentified solider. Stanley Austin Carr’s photographs – Auckland Museum – Tāmaki Paenga Hira. PH-2015-3-4-61. I

6. First World War Roll of Honour of the Auckland Mounted Rifles Club. The Honour Board is hanging in the Reading Room at the Auckland Council Archives Central Repository. Archives Reference: AKC 2008 019

7. Carr Grave St Andrews Church Epsom Auckland.

8. Marivare, Ranfurly Road1960s Auckland Libraries Sir George Grey Special Collections 435-D5-29