Thursday, September 22, 2022

Sister Muriel Instone - World War One Nurse

Muriel Annie Linda Instone was born at Riversleigh, Thornbury, New Zealand on April 22, 1878 to Matthew and Emily (nee Brodrick) Instone. Matthew was a partner in the firm of Whittingham Bros & Instone - importers, merchants and commission agents who had offices at Thornbury, Riverton  and Invercargill (1). In 1903 she is listed in the Electoral Roll as a nurse at the Homeopathic Hospital.  The Homeopathic Hospital was renamed Prince Henry's Hospital in 1934. Muriel completed her training in 1905 and also successfully passed her Royal Victoria Trained Nurses' Association examinations in the December (2).  Muriel's Attestation papers also note that she trained at the Women's Hospital and she had both a General certificate and  a Midwifery Certificate. She also had experience in private nursing in Dunedin and Victoria and in private hospitals. (3).  

Nurses who have recently left for the Front - Muriel Instone

In 1909 to 1913 the Electoral Rolls show that Muriel, and initially her sister Daphne who was also a nurse, were living at 16 William Street, South Yarra. In 1914 her address is I.Y.U., Pakenham.  The I.Y.U. run  in Pakenham was taken up in 1839 by Dr W. K. Jamieson. It was originally nearly 13,000 acres.  In 1849, William Waddell took over the pastoral lease and after his death his widow, Annie purchased the pre-emptive right section plus other land. Mrs Waddell built a large brick house, pictured below,  on the property in 1858 and this would have been where Muriel was living when she was on the property. The property at that time was around 4,800 acres.(4). 

I.Y.U.  Homestead, where Muriel was a private nurse. 
The house was  built in 1859 and destroyed by fire around 1929.
Image: In the Wake of the Pack Tracks (see footnote 4)

According to the Shire of Berwick Rate books, Robert and Constance (nee Etches) Staughton took over I.Y.U. in 1913/1914, which by then was only 2,000 acres. The Staughtons had four young children (5) and presumably Muriel was helping to care for them or another family member. In March 1915 the entire family came down with ptomaine poisoning or food poisoning and needed medical assistance, so they were fortunate they had  an experienced nurse on hand. 


The Staughton family suffer from food poisoning
Dandenong Advertiser March 4, 1915 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88662306

Muriel enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service on May 1, 1915 and embarked on the Mooltan on May 18, 1915. She was 36 years old. Her next of kin was her mother of Dunedin, but 'in case of accidents' they were to inform Mr R. G. Staughton, of I.Y.U., Pakenham. Muriel served in hospitals in England, France and Egypt. She was promoted from the rank of Nurse to that of Sister in May 1919.  She Returned to Australia on the Konigen Luise on December 19, 1919.(6).


Muriel's next of kin on her Attestation paper (image has been cropped)
National Archives of Australia www.naa.gov.au
First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920

When Muriel was still in England, and still with the Australian Army Nursing Service she undertook a three month motor driving and workshop course at Mansions Motor Training Garage in London from June to September 1919. It was reported that she made good progress on her course and passed satisfactorily (7).  Jane Eleanor Turner, another Army Nurse, also trained at Mansions, before her return after the War, you can read about her, here. It appears that driving and basic car maintenance was a skill that was thought useful for Army Nurses after they returned to civilian life. 


Group portrait of the staff of No. 1 Auxiliary Hospital, 
1st Australian General Hospital, Heliopolis, Egypt
Muriel is third row from front, fourth from left. 
Australian War Memorial - see all the names here - https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C206870

Muriel returned to Melbourne in 1920 but I cannot find her in the Electoral Rolls.  However, in 1924 she had to sign for the receipt of her three military medals and as you can see from the image below, her witness (or was it where she was living?) was Robert Staughton of Angelala of St Kilda Road, Melbourne. Angelala was at 546 St Kilda Road. 


Receipt for Muriel's medals
National Archives of Australia www.naa.gov.au
First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920

At some stage Muriel returned to  New Zealand  and she was registered on April 30, 1930 as a Maternity Nurse (8).  Two years later, on April 23, 1932 Muriel attended a reunion of  returned Army nurses at Anzac House. The newspaper report notes that amongst those in attendance was Miss Instone, who has just returned from New Zealand (9). Muriel died on  October 11, 1932 (10) aged 54 and is buried at Fawkner Cemetery.

Muriel's death notice in The Argus
The Argus October 12, 1932 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4502833

At a later Army Nurse reunion her sister, Daphne (11) sent flowers in memory of her sister, Muriel. 


Flowers sent in memory of Muriel to the Returned Army Nurses reunion. Daphne's married surname was actually Grimwood, not Greenwood. 
The Argus, April 27, 1937  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11059579


Footnotes

(1) Birth notice (see below); New Zealand Births, Deaths and Marriages  https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search ; Whittingham Bros & Instone - multiple references in newspapers on Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/

Muriel's birth notice

(2) R.V.T.N.A results - The Argus, December 26, 1905, see here.
(3) Muriel's Attestation papers from the National Archives of Australia   https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7366162
(4) Berwick Shire Rate Books; In the Wake of the Pack Tracks:  a history of the Shire of Berwick now the City of Berwick and the Shire of Pakenham, published by the Berwick Pakenham Historical Society, 1982
(5) Their children were - Stephen Allen (born 1904); Millicent Mary (1905); Frank Harold (1908) and George Robert (1911) 
(6) Attestation papers, see Footnote 2.
(7) Ibid
(8) Ancestry.com - Nurses and Midwives Register of New Zealand, 1903-1933
(9) The Age, April 25, 1932, see here.
(10) Interestingly her death notices in the New Zealand papers list her date of death as October 10, 1932. 

Muriel's New Zealand death notice

(11) Kate Daphne Brodrick Instone was born in 1883 and married Charles William Grimwood in Perth in November 1912. See her marriage notice in The Argus of November 30, 1912, here.


This is a revised and expanded version of a post, which I wrote and researched, that appears on my work blog, Casey Cardinia Commemorates: Our War Years.

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