Edith Cavell archive goes online
A free archive in memory of British nurse Edith Cavell has launched online.
Cavell was born in the village of Swardeston, Norfolk, where her father was vicar, in 1865.
She worked as a matron in Belgium before the First World War. When Germany invaded Belgium she returned to the country and helped nurse injured soldiers, regardless of nationality.
Cavell also became involved in helping smuggle Allied soldiers to safety, rescuing about 200 men before she was caught by the German authorities and executed in October 1915.
Swardeston resident and amateur historian Nick Miller has created the virtual Swardeston Archive ( edithcavell.org.uk/swardeston-archive), with the help of a £7,000 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The archive launched on 3 December, the day before Cavell’s birthday. It consists of images of approximately 600 items, with a separate spreadsheet providing a searchable index. All of the files are stored on Google Drive.
They include photos of Cavell; documents from her early life; and commemorative memorabilia created after her death.
“I am really impressed with her,” Miller revealed. “All of the things that we know about her come back to the fact that she felt that her faith required her to help these men who were helpless and stuck at the risk of her own life.”
He added that the site has helped attract new information about Cavell’s life. For example, he was recently contacted by a woman whose great aunt was a nurse working under her, who became pregnant out of wedlock. Cavell helped secure maternity care for her and financial support from the baby’s father.
Miller would like to hear from anyone who has a diary from the First World War that mentions Cavell’s death or the repatriation of her body to Britain in May 1919, as well as people who are related to the soldiers she helped or who have any other memorabilia about her life. He can be emailed on enquiry@edithcavell.org.uk.