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| The Coffee Shop at Rouen Station (Photo courtesy of www.maywedderburncannan.wordpress.com ) |
Lady Mabel Annie Brassie was born in 1865. Her father was Thomas Brassey, first Earl
Brassey and her mother was Anna, nee Alnutt.
Her siblings were Thomas Allnutt (1863 – 1919), Constance Alberta (1868
- 1873) and Muriel Agnes Brassey (1872 – 1930).
Mabelle married Charles Augustus Egerton on 17th
April 1888 and they had four children – Henry Jack, Hugh Sydney, Hester
Joan and Edward Brassey Egerton. The
family lived at Moutfield Court, Robertsbridge, Sussex.
Edward joined the Army in 1909 and was killed on 1st
September 1916. He was buried in Habarcq Communal Cemetery Extension, Pas de
Calais, France. Lady Mabel’s husband, Charles
Augustus Egerton, died in 1912.
Lady Egerton was awarded a CBE in 1918 for her services
during the First World War. She died on
18th February 1927.
According to Sue Light of Scarlet Finders, in the autumn of
1914 Mabel and her father drove in their car to Rouen in France with supplies for
the Red Cross and St. John’s Ambulance. While they were there, they
were asked to supply hot water so that troops passing through Rouen station could
have hot drinks. From a small beginning
with an empty goods shed and some tables, Lady Mabel Egerton’s Coffee Shop
became one of the largest of such ventures on the Western Front. In 1917 it was taken over by the Church
Army.
Female Poet of the First World War May Wedderburn Cannan
worked at the Coffee Shop in Rouen during WW1 and wrote a poem about her time
there: http://femalewarpoets.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=May+Wedderburn+Cannan
Sources:
