Person

Elsie was one of four siblings who all served during the First World War. Born on 14 January 1893, Elsie was the youngest child born to Thomas and Mary Walton. The couple, married on 3 December 1884, had five children during their marriage, though their son Thomas did not survive childhood.

The family lived in Crook and it was here that Elsie spent her childhood. Her father Thomas ran a successful building company which Elsie’s older brothers joined when they left school. It is unclear where Elsie was living at the time of the 1911 census but it is likely that she was away at school. With war approaching Elsie was collected by her older sister, Ellinor, from a finishing school in Geneva to return to Crook so it may have been she was in Geneva in 1911.

Elsie, along with her older sister, Ellinor, started nursing at a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) hospital during July 1915. They both served at their local VAD hospital, the 17th Durham VA hospital in Etherley in Bishop Auckland. Elsie is recorded as Elsie H. Hare, her married name, on Red Cross records although when she began nursing she was not yet married. Elsie’s sister, Ellinor, went on to serve abroad as a nurse in Etaples but Elsie remained at the VAD hospital in Etherley where she continued nursing until 7 October 1916.

On 8 August 1917 Elsie married Francis Frederick Trevor “Frank” Hare at the family church of St Catherine’s in Crook. Francis was a qualified doctor and at the time of the 1911 census was working as a hospital house surgeon in Northumberland. By 1914 he was working as a doctor in Durham and during the First World War served as a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps. It may have been whilst Elsie was a nurse that she met Francis but it seems the Walton and Hare families also knew each other outside the realm of medicine. Captain John Hare, Francis’ brother, was best man at Elsie’s brother’s wedding in 1916.

Elsie and Francis had at least two children during their marriage, Samuel and Barbara. At the time of the 1939 Census the family were living in Durham, with Francis listed as a general practitioner and their son, Samuel, studying to also become a doctor. There are records of Elsie and Francis travelling in the 1940s and 50s, including to New York and Kenya. Elsie died in July 1983 at the age of 90 in Chester-le-Street, leaving her estate to her son, Samuel, and her daughter, Barbara.

In addition to Elsie’s sister, Ellinor, who served as a nurse, both Elsie’s brothers also served in the war. Her brother, Frederick, commanded the 6th Battalion Durham Light Infantry and her brother William served in the Army Service Corps. Sadly William died of diabetes aboard a ship in the Persian Gulf in 1916.

Civil Parish: Crook and Billy Row

Birth date: 14-Jan-1893

Death date: 17-Jul-1983

Armed force/civilian: Civilian

Residence: Commercial Street, Crook (1901 Census)
Uplands, Crook (Red Cross VAD card)
The Tower, Durham (Electoral Register 1925)

Religion: Church of England

Family: Parents: Thomas Walton, Mary Walton
Siblings: William Henry Walton, Ellinor Walton, Frederick Walton
Spouse: Francis Frederick Trevor Hare
Children: Samuel Hare, Barbara Hare

Military service:

VAD nurse
17th VAD Hospital, Etherley

Gender: Female

Contributed by Fiona Johnson - Durham