Gertrude Harriette Howell Evans
Gertrude Harriette Howell Evans, d.1940
Gertude Harriette Howell Evans was Mentioned in Despatches in May 1917 for her work as a Red Cross nurse in France during the First World War.
Her parents were William and Elizabeth Howell Evans. William, also buried here, was vicar of Rhyl. He was born in Haverfordwest and had earlier been a clergyman in Kent, Essex, Llandysul, Broughton, Hawarden and Oswestry. He became honorary Canon of St Asaph in 1874. He died in 1892, aged 57, after a long illness.
Elizabeth was the daughter of John Edmunds, of Elderton Hall, Welshpool. She and William had a son and four girls. Gertrude was born in July 1875.
In 1894 the Princess of Wales laid the foundation stone of the new Royal Alexandra children’s hospital in Rhyl. Gertrude and many other women contributed at least £5 for the hospital’s construction. Each woman symbolically handed her donation to the princess in the form of a purse, which was empty as the money had already been handed to fundraisers. The purses were later returned, as mementoes.
Gertrude was living at Elderton Hall when the First World War began. She joined the Red Cross became a ward nurse in a military hospital in Versailles, France. She later nursed in hospitals in Boulogne, Calais and Rouen. She received the Associate Royal Red Cross award.
After the war she worked as a health visitor. She died in London on 19 February 1940. Her estate was valued at £10,624.