1865 – 1915

	Edith Cavell was brought up with her three younger siblings in Norfolk, where her father was a country parson. She was first educated at home with her two younger sisters, Florence and Lilian. Later she went to school and trained as a teacher. Soon after she worked as a governess. During her time as a Governess, Edith was left a small legacy and decided to spend some of it on a Continental holiday, visiting Austria and Bavaria. Whilst there, she became impressed with a free hospital run by a Dr. Wolfenberg, endowing the hospital with some of her legacy and returned to England with a growing interest in nursing.
In 1895 Edith returned to Swardeston to nurse her father through a brief illness. During this time Edith made the decision that she wanted to take up nursing as a career, but first she tested her vocation by working for a few months at the Fountains Fever Hospital in Tooting. Eventually, in April 1896, at the age of 30, Edith was accepted for training at the London Hospital under the tutelage of Eva Luckes. In the summer of 1897 an epidemic of typhoid fever broke out in Maidstone and six of Miss Luckes' Nurses were seconded to help, including Edith. Of the 1,700 who contracted the disease, only 132 died and Edith received the Maidstone Medal for her work during that time. However, in spite of this accolade Miss Luckes wrote that "Edith Louisa Cavell had plenty of capacity for her work when she chose to exert herself" and that "she was not at all punctual." The hours were demanding, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. with half an hour for lunch and poor pay, only Ł10 per year.
In 1898 Edith was recommended for private nursing, dealing with cases of pleurisy, pneumonia, typhoid and also a Bishop's appendicitis. This was followed in 1989 by a period as Night Superintendent at St. Pancras, a Poor Law institution for the destitute, three out of four of which died of a chronic condition. In 1903 she was appointed as Assistant Matron at Shoreditch Infirmary where she pioneered follow-up work by visiting patients after they had been discharged. In September 1906 Edith took up a three months temporary position at the Manchester and Salford Sick Poor and Private Nursing Institution as a nurse at one of the Queen's District Nursing Homes, but when the Matron, Miss Hall, fell ill, she was asked to fill in as Matron. As she knew little of the work of the Queen's District Nurses, she found this post a heavy responsibility and wrote to Miss Luckes asking if there were any trained nurses willing to fill in a three months post for Ł30 per annum.
Return to Brussels Edith returned to Brussels in 1907 to nurse a child patient of Dr. Antoine Depage, but he soon had other plans for her. Dr. Depage wanted to pioneer the training of nurses in Belgium in a similar way to that practiced by Florence Nightingale. Up until that time nuns had been responsible for the care of the sick and although they were kind and had their patients' welfare at heart, they were not properly trained for the work. So, now in her early forties, Edith was given the task of running a pioneer training school for lay nurses. L'Ecole d'Infirmiere Dimplonier, which was situated on the outskirts of Brussels and formed out of four adjoining houses, was opened on October 10th, 1907. There was a certain amount of resistance from the middle classes in Belgium and in a letter to her mother, Edith wrote "The old idea that it is a disgrace for women to work is still held in Belgium and women of good birth and education still think they lose caste by earning their own living." This attitude changed when the Queen of the Belgians broke her arm and requested a trained nurse from the school. By 1912 Edith was providing nurses for three hospitals, twenty-four communal schools and thirteen kindergartens. In 1914 she was giving four lectures each week to doctors and nurses, caring for a friend's troubled daughter who was a drug addict.
War Edith was visiting her widowed mother in Norwich when she heard the news of the German invasion of Belgium and despite being persuaded to stay in England she was determined to return to Brussels insisting that "At a time like this, I am more needed than ever." By 3rd August 1914 she was back in Brussels, sending the Dutch and German nurses home and telling the others that their first duty was to care for the wounded, whatever their nationality. The clinic became a Red Cross Hospital with the Germans receiving the same treatment as the Belgians. When Brussels fell, the Germans commandeered the Royal Palace for their own wounded and 60 English nurses were sent home, but Edith Cavell and her chief assistant, Miss Wilkins, remained. With the successful initial German advance, the British retreated from Mons and the French were driven back, many in both armies being cut off. In the autumn of 1914 two British Officers who were stranded sheltered in Nurse Cavell's training school for two weeks, others followed and were all helped to safety to neutral territory in Holland. She was always so delighted to receive someone from Norfolk and asked one private, Arthur Wood, if he would take home her Bible and a letter to her mother. An 'underground lifeline' was set up, masterminded by the Prince and Princess de Croy at a chateau in Mons. Guides were organised by Phillippe Bacq, an architect, and during that time some 200 allied soldiers were helped to escape. (The password was 'Yorc' – Croy backwards). Despite the risks, for all those involved knew they could be shot for harbouring allied soldiers, the organisation lasted for almost a year. As a 'protected' member of the Red Cross Edith should have remained distant, but she was prepared to ignore her conscience for the sake of her fellow men. She believed that the protection, concealment and smuggling away of the hunted men was as humanitarian as the caring for the sick and wounded and she was quite prepared to face the consequences. By August 1915 a Belgian 'collaborator' had passed through Edith's hands and the school was searched while a soldier slipped out through the back garden. Edith remained calm and no incriminating papers were ever found (her Diary was sewn up in a cushion), even her nurses had no idea of her 'underground' activities, so they could not be incriminated. Two members of the escape route team were arrested on July 31st, 1915 and five days later Nurse Cavell was interned. During her interrogation she was told that the other prisoners had confessed, she believed her captors and told them everything. Later at her trial she condemned herself by admitting that she had "successfully conducted allied soldiers to the enemy of the German people". Her guilt was a capital offence under the German penal code, and she was to be shot.

Edith Cavell