Tuesday 8 December 2020

Eleanor Charles Warrender (1862 – 1949) - British nurse in the Boer War and in the First World War

 With thanks to Becky Bishop for suggesting I research Eleanor 

Eleanor Charles Warrender was born on 20th February 1862. Her parents were Sir George Warrender, 6th Baronet of Lochend and Bruntsfield, and his wife, Helen, nee Purves-Hume-Campbell.   Eleanhor’s siblings were: Alice Helen Warrender b. 1857 d. 23 Sep 1947, Julian Margaret Maitland Warrender b. c 1856, d. 5 Apr 1950, Captain John Warrender1 b. 5 Mar 1859, d. 12 Jul 1894, Vice-Admiral Sir George John Scott Warrender of Lochend, 7th Bt. b. 31 Jul 1860, d. 8 Jan 1917 and Lt.-Col. Hugh Valdave Warrender b. 14 Sep 1868, d. 8 Mar 1926.

Eleanor must have studied nursing because she nursed on hospital ships during the Boer War and served with the French Red Cross during the First World War.  She was involved with the Guide Movement and was a supporter of local causes. She was awarded the French Croix de Guerre avec palmes and was appointed Dame of Grace, Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (D.G.St.J.). 


In 1894, Eleanor and her siblings inherited a house called High Grove in Ruislip, Ruislip-Northwood U.D., Middlesex from her mother’s stepfather, Sir Hugh Hume-Campbell. In 1935, Eleanor sold 10.5 acres (4.2 ha) of the grounds of the house to the local council to establish a new playground and park, now named Warrender Park, and 13 acres (5.3 ha) to Ideal Homes for a residential development. During the Second World War, she made Highgrove available to the military, and British and American personnel from RAF Northolt stayed there.  

Eleanor never married and died in 1949.

If anyone has a photograph of Eleanor, please get in touch.