ARCHIVE.
[Philanthropy]. Queen Mary's Needlework Guild. Archive. 1915-37
Approximately 470 items, comprising over 872 pages (handwritten & typed), dated between 1915 and 1937. Includes 105 letters (161 pp), 18 envelopes; three account ledgers comprising 359 pages, (151, 118, 90 pp); 226 pages of daily business accounts and papers; 126 printed paper ephemeral items such as letterhead stationary, envelopes, postcards, printed circulars, form letters, appeal notices, thank you notes, badge certificates and directions; plus 9 photographs and one wooden sign. The vast majority of the material is dated from 1917 to 1919.
The Queen Mary Needlework Guild (QMNG) was founded in 1882 as The London Guild to provide orphanages with knitted garments. In 1889 it was renamed the London Needlework Guild and in August 1914 the Queen Mary’s Needlework Guild, with Queen Mary as its patron. Branches were set up throughout Britain during World War I, and Queen Mary took an active involvement overseeing the Guild's work, along with Lady Lawley and Aimee Lawson.
The work of the QMNG was twofold: to collect, sort and redistribute extra clothing items to the frontline troops and also to organize the production of various cloth items as required by the War Office. The items produced by the QMNG were diverse and included surgical bandages, tent panels, respirators, as well as knitted “comforts” for the troops (additional but necessary items that were not regular issue, for example: additional socks, mitts, mufflers, caps, belts, etc). These items were distributed to the local regiments, troops on the front-line and to hospitals. By 1919, after the War had ended, the QMNG had scaled back their work but continued in a similar role providing clothing to the poor and orphanages.
This archive of the QMNG appears to have come down through Constance E. Robson (1889-?) a staff member of the Guild who worked directly under Lady Lawley, the Guild’s "honorable secretary." Robson held a major role in the society, taking charge of reading incoming letters and keeping the books for the organization.
After the war, Constance was made a member of the Order of the British Empire for the aid she gave to England during World War I. In 1920, Constance boarded the S.S. Adriatic, sailing from Southampton, England, to New York City. She is listed on the ship’s manifest as a widow—her husband was perhaps a war casualty. Although the trip was intended to be only six months, Constance stayed in America and she married Alexander H. Rutherford, a Baltimore investment banker, in 1923. The couple made their home in Baltimore, where they are found in the 1930 U.S. Census.
This archive appears to have come to America with Ms. Robson after she left England in 1920.
INVENTORY
Correspondence:
105 letters, comprising 161 pages (both manuscript & typed) with 18 envelopes, all dated 1916-1937.
Business correspondence during the time the Guild was in operation, as well as letters after its war efforts were closing down. Includes letters from various hospitals and Red Cross agencies in England, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and elsewhere, soliciting help from QMNG.; letters from officers who were soliciting help for their particular battalion and letters from officers and families of soldiers who were recipients of QMNG's aide thanking the society. There are a few letters between Constance Robson and "Her Majesty the Queen," "Lady Lawley" (Ann Lawley) and "Lady Dawson" (Aimee Dawson). Other letters written to Constance Robson by friends and business associates and vendors to the QMNG are also within this collection.
In one letter written 29 Aug 1917 by Lady Ann Lawley writes to Constance Robson:
What pleased me almost more than the order was to hear that while I was in Scotland someone came to inspect the work so as to put a notice of it in a report the Gov. is bringing out on Women's Work after the war - & Lady Dawson was asked if the books, your books, could be sent to the War Museum to be kept as specimens of well kept books & kept on a good system. Isn't that pleasing?
It's unclear if the ledgers (listed below) that are included in this archive are those very same "books" mentioned in Lady Lawley's correspondence as being sought by the War Museum.
One letter, dated 5 Jan 1919, written by an officer at the "War Work Depot" in Portsmouth, England, finds him still soliciting help for his men, even though QMNG was officially shutting down its war efforts. He writes:
The cold and dangerous work of mine sweeping may go on longer than any one can foresee, and officers and men are still being sent out to the Army of occupation in Germany; and though there will, happily, be no more wounded, yet the hospitals will still be in need of supplies.
A letter of 29 Jan 1919, written by "Mary R." the Queen of England, thanks Lady Lawley and her staff for the fine work they accomplished:
Dear Lady Lawley,
I cannot let the work of my guild at Friary Court close down without sending a message of very grateful thanks to all the workers. The wonderful organization of the Q.M.N.G. and the immense amount of things which it has received and passed on would have been quite impossible without the unceasing and self denying work given to it by you, Lady Dawson and your splendid hand of colleagues. Now that the war is over, one begins to realize how long and wearing the 4 ½ years of strain have been; and on my many visits to Friary Court I have been filled with admiration & pride at the unflagging energy of the workers there. Please assure them all of my gratitude and deep appreciation, and my regret that not being in London prevents my doing so personally.
Believe me dear Lady Lawley
Yours affectionately,
Mary R.
One letter (20 Sept 1917) is written to Lady Lawley by Princess Helena, the daughter of Queen Victoria. The letter is signed "Helena" and written on letterhead of Cumberland Lodge.
The final letters of the collection are written to Constance after she had married Alexander Rutherford and moved to Baltimore, Maryland. Two of these short thank you notes, written on the letterhead of Marlborough House and Buckingham Palace and written by the "Lady in Waiting" for the Queen and the "Private Secretary" for the King, respectively.
Ledgers:
Three account ledgers, 359 pages, (151, 118, 90), dated c1915-1918, alphabetically arraigned, listing the various hospitals, Red Cross agencies, military regiments, foreign regiments, ambulance groups, etc. that received aid from QMNG. The ledgers includes the name of the entity, plus numerical notations, which appear to be a code for the requisition number, consignment number and amount of garments received by the specific entity. One ledger is titled "Alphabetical Index to Requisition Forms," another ledger has the date "From 1st Oct 1915." A typical entry looks as follows, "All Saints Temporary Hospital, Twickenham, Req. No. A37, Garments 652."
Business Papers & Accounts:
226 pages of daily business accounts and papers, dated ca. 1917-18; includes 76 pages of daily statistical accounts of items coming in or going out; 93 pages of filled out requisition forms; 50 pages of statistical accounts for items supplied by the Guild; and 43 miscellaneous papers, invoices, etc., including an oversize certificate presented to Constance Robson by the Queen, in recognition of the special war work done for QMNG.
Printed Paper Ephemera:
126 items, including printed circulars, pamphlets, and broadsides (titles include: "The National Mission, Why is it Needed," "Ditty Bags, or Housewives," and “Women and the War”); Guild publicity materials (form letters, appeal notices, and copies of thank you notes from military officers to be used in publicity campaigns); lists of garments "Suitable for Hospital Use and Convalescents in Time of War” for Guild members to knit as well as instructions for making them (includes: "Hose-Tops for Highland Regiments," "Helmuts" [sic], "Stockings," and "Bed Socks"); and a ration book.
Photographs:
9 black & white photographs, measuring 5" x 8" or less, dated ca. 1915-1950. Two of the photographs are cabinet cards of WWI soldiers, photographed by "Lyd Sawyer, Ltd., Sunderland" and "Arthur Weston, 52 & 53 Newgate St., London, E.C." There is a third photograph of a WWI soldier, in a frame, with a ribbon attached for hanging, possibly Constance Robson's first husband. There are 4 photographs (2 originals and 2 copies) of a large mansion, near water and a man, ca.1940s-1950s; possibly this is Constance Robson's seconnd husband Alexander Rutherford and their home in Maryland. The final two photographs are photos of the ladies of the Guild, one of which includes Queen Mary and two other women, possibly including Constance Robson.
Miscellaneous:
10" x 15" wooden board, with printed paper label "Queen Mary's Needlework Guild, Friary Court" pasted on to it. The board has small tack holes; it possibly was hung up as a sign and used to tack notices on to.
(#13262)
Print Inquire