Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service, 22 October 1918
Synopsis of Life and Military Service
Sister Christina Jack was born at 3.30 in the morning on 19 December 1882 at Bank Street, Thurso, Caithness, the daughter of Donald Jack and Margaret Louttit who had married on 12th January 1866 in Dunnet. Both Donald and Margaret were natives of Dunnet.
In the 1891 Census Christina is listed as a scholar, 8 years old, and living in Bank Street where she was born. Her father, Donald , 48 years old, is listed as a Rope Manager, and his wife, Margaret, is mother to a total of seven children living in the house at the time. Donald and Margaret had ten children born living in total. Alexander, the oldest, was born in 1866 in Dunnet, followed by John Louttit Jack who was born 1868 in Dunnet, but died on 5th January 1878 in Thurso of rheumatic fever and mitral disease of the heart (2 years 5 months). There were a further three boys: William, born 1873, Thurso; Donald, born 1869, Thurso; and a second John Louttit Jack, born 1878 in Thurso. Christina was the fourth of five sisters: Isabel or Isabella born in Scarfskerry in 1871 ; Margaret, born Thurso in 1873; Annabella, born in Thurso in 1880; Jane, born in Thurso in 1885. Isabella, Margaret and Annabella all trained and worked for a time as nurses.
In the 1901 Census her father, Donald, was still living in Bank Street, now 58 years old and listed as a Merchant and Ropemaker although he is listed by Christina on her 1915 application as Captain Donald Jack, a retired Shipmaster, and he was awarded a Master’s Certificate by the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade in Dunnet in 1870. Also in the house were her mother, Margaret, 59 years old, her sister Annabella, 20 years old, and Jane, 14 years old.
By the 1911 Census, Christina was living in Glasgow and is listed as a Registered Trainee Nurse in Govan, Glasgow, in what looks like a hostel for nurses. Her Application Form to join Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve states that she trained in Merryflatts (sic) Hospital, Govan from 14th February 1907 to 14th February 1910, thereafter serving as a Charge Nurse in the same Hospital until 30th July 1914. According to The Glasgow Story website Merryflatts Hospital was built in 1872 as the Govan Combination Poorhouse on the Merryflatts Estate, Sheildhall and contained a poorhouse, asylum and hospital. By the First World War it was a hospital only and known as Merryflatts War Hospital eventually becoming the Southern General Hospital.
She also spent time as an Assistant Nurse in the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Thornton in Fife as well as serving as a Tuberculosis Nurse in Wishaw. This was mentioned in her obituary in The Wishaw Press of Friday 1st November 1918 wherein she is described as a former health visitor in Wishaw. Her brother, John Louttit Jack, was Solicitor and Town-Clerk of Wishaw from 1911. By 1918 he was Town Clerk of Dunfermline, being noted in the Scotland National Probate Index (Calendar of Confirmations and Inventories) as Executor for Christina who died intestate. Confirmation was granted to him at Wick, Caithness, on 13 March 1919, where it is noted that he is a Solicitor and Bank Clerk in Dunfermline. One of her sisters also lived in Fife, this time in Windygates, and she was presented with Christina’s posthumous Royal Red Cross 2nd class at a ceremony in Edinburgh.
Christina joined the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve (Q.A.I.M.N.S.R.) and embarked for Alexandria on the 13th September 1915 where, according to The British Journal of Nursing, 9th Nov 1918, she gave excellent service before joining the hospital ship ‘Valdivia’ between Salonika and Malta, but was plagued with ill health. By October 1916 she was unfit for “General Service” either at home or abroad, and a Medical Board reported that “…she is thoroughly run down and requires a rest. While on hospital ships she was sea-sick practically all the time (5 months).” They also reported that the disability was contracted in the service under circumstances over which she had no control and was caused by the strenuous work required by military service. By November she was suffering from presumed anaemia, problems with her heart, with a ‘barely perceptible pulse’ and breathless on either exertion or walking uphill.
On 26th January 1917, according to the Matron-in-Chief, Christina who was on Sick Leave from Egypt since November 1916 ‘has been posted to join the 1st Birmingham War Hospital on 29th inst. for duty’. She continued to suffer from ill health until she died on 22nd October 1918 at the 1st Birmingham War Hospital, Rednal, after suffering from influenza. The War Hospital had previously been the Rubery Hill Asylum, opened in 1882 according to the Imperial War Museums website, until it became the War Hospital after being taken over by the War Office in March 1915. It continued to serve as a War Hospital until 1919.
Christina is buried in Thurso (Mount Vernon) Cemetery.
Following her death intestate, her brother, John Louttit Jack, a solicitor and bank agent in Dunfermline, was on 13 March 1919 appointed executor dative as next of kin. The value of her estate was £150.
John O’Groats Journal
Extract from the above publication dated 26 July 1918 :-
In the “London Gazette” of 21st inst., Sister Christina Jack, Q.A.I.M.N.S.R., 1st Birmingham War Hospital, Rednall, is gazetted as having been awarded the Royal Red Cross, 2nd Class, in recognition of her services as a nurse since the war began. She has nursed on military service for about three years in Egypt, on hospital ship between Salonica and Malta, and is now stationed in England. She is a daughter of Mr Donald Jack, Princes Street, Thurso, and a sister of Mr John L Jack, Town Clerk, Dunfermline.
Wishaw Free Press
Extract from the above publication dated 1 November 1918 :-
Former Wishaw Health Visitor
Sister Christina Jack (sister of Mr John L Jack, Dunfermline, formerly Town-Clerk of Wishaw) who was trained in a Glasgow Hopsital, was employed, before she joined Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve, as a health visitor in Wishaw. She has seen service at Salonika, Alexandria, on hospital ships, and later at 1st Birmingham War Hospital, Rubery Hill. In June last she was awarded the Royal Red Cross, but she has not lived to receive her decoration. Sister Jack was a native of Thurso, and was 35 years of age. She succumbed to pneumonia following an attack of influenza.
Family
Christina Jack was born at Bank Street, Thurso, Caithness on 19th December 1882. The following family information is taken from the 1891, 1901, 1911 Census and from sources on Ancestry.
Her family is shown as follows :-
- Father: Donald Jack, born c.1853 at Dunnet, Caithness – Ropemaker and merchant.
- Mother: Margaret Louttit or Jack, born c.1852 at Dunnet, Caithness.
- Brother: Alexander, born c.1866 at Dunnet, Caithness.
- Brother: John Louttit, born c.1868 Dunnet, died c.1878 Thurso.
- Sister: Isabella, born c.1872 in Caithness.
- Brother: William, born c.1873 in Thurso, Caithness.
- Sister: Margaret, born c.1876 in Thurso, Caithness.
- Brother: John Louttit, born c.1878 in Thurso, Caithness.
- Sister: Annabella, born c.1881 in Thurso, Caithness.
- Christina, born 1882 in Bank Street, Thurso, Caithness.
- Sister: Jane, born c.1887 in Thurso, Caithness.
Addresses
The following addresses have been ascertained for Christina Jack :-
- 1882: Bank Street, Thurso, Caithness.
- 1891: Bank Street, Thurso, Caithness.
- 1901: Bank Street, Thurso, Caithness.
- 1911: Govan, Glasgow.
- 1918: 1st Birmingham War Hospital, Rubery Hill.
Medals
Christina Jack was awarded the Royal Red Cross Medal, 2nd Class, for her war service.
Memorials
Christina Jack is honoured and remembered on the following memorials :-
- Scottish Nurses Who Fell in WW1: St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, Edinburgh.
Links to Additional Information
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Christina Jack.
- Find a Grave website: Christina Jack.
- A Street Near You website: Christina Jack.
- Lives of the First World War: Christina Jack.
- The Glasgow Story: Christina Jack
References
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
- 1891 Census.
- 1901 Census.
- 1911 Census.
- Birth Certificate.
- John O’Groats Journal dated 26 July 1918.
- Wishaw Free Press dated 1 November 1918.
- The British Journal of Nursing dated 9 November 1918.
- Imperial War Museum War, Memorials Register.
- Army, Register of Soldiers Effects (Ancestry).
Groups
Contributors:-
- Elaine Muir (Main Article)
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