Biography

Constance Evelyn Strange appears on the electoral rolls of Collingham from 1929 to 1936 and served in the Great War as a nurse in the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Servce (QAIMNS).

Family background

Constance Evelyn Strange was born on the 21st January 1882 in Bicton Heath Shropshire where her father Arthur Strange was a practising doctor who was the Superintendant of the Salop and Montgomery Counties and Wenlock Borough Lunatic Asylum. Arthur and his wife Emma Elizabeth Strange had six children, Ethel Caroline (b.1881), Constance Evelyn (b. 1882), Charles Arthur (b.1885), Leonard Francis (b.1886), Geoffrey Lionel (b. 1888) and Gladys Mary (b. 1890). Being Superintendant of the asylum was a major undertaking - at the time of the 1891 census the asylum had 110 staff, servants and staff family members in residence along with 690 patients.

Constance Strange became a nurse and studied at Guys Hospital from 1909 to 1912 when she took and qualified for the CMB examination. By Dec 22nd 1913, Constance appears on the Physiotherapy and Masseuse Register giving her address as Roselea, The Mount, Shrewsbury. In 1915 she appears on the Midwives Roll living at 19 Lonsdale Road, Wolverhampton. We also find her on this register in 1920, 1926 and 1931. In the meantime, from 1916 to 1946 Constance is listed on the Nursing Register (1916-1921 at Glenside, The Mount, Shrewsbury; 1925 - 1936 giving her address as c/o Rev Beckwith, Collingham Vicarage; 1937-1943 at Hedgerow, Salterton Road, Exmouth; and 1946 at Caledon, Westbourne Terrace, Budleigh Salterton, Devon).

Service record

Constance Strange served as a nurse and sister in France in The Great War. She disembarked as part of the British Expeditionary Force on the 17th August 1914 and she was awarded the 1914 Star, The British War Medal and The Victory Medal for her services. In June 1917, The London Gazette also announced the award of The Royal Red Cross (2nd Class) to Constance Evelyn Strange for her services, and it seems that this was given to her by The King on the 3rd December 1919.

On arrival in France Constance was first attached to No. 12 General Hospital. Her service record does not give a full list of where she served except for a mention of being at the Paris Stationary Hospital at one time, and a letter about her duty at No 39 Stationary Hospital in 1917. No 39 Stationary Hospital was at Aire, France from May 1917 to 14th July 1918.

After the war

We do not have any information about Constance after the war but Constance Evelyn Strange died in 1980 in Wolverhampton.

Constance's brothers, Charles Arthur and Geoffrey Lionel Strange (1888-1953) both became priests and Geoffrey also served in The Great War. He was awarded The British War Medal for his service in The Church Army in France from April 1917 to December 1917.

Biography last updated 09 February 2020 15:45:35.