Eleanor Bell (Burpee) Wickham (1879 - 1950)

Born 19 Jun 1879 in Waterville, Wakefield, Carleton, New Brunswick, Canada

Ancestors

Died 26 May 1950 at age 70 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

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Biography

Nursing Sister Eleanor (Burpee) Wickham served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War I
Service started: 28 Sept 1914
Unit(s): 2nd Field Hospital, CAMC
Service ended: 1917

Eleanor was born on June 19, 1879 in Waterville, Carleton County, New Brunswick. She was a daughter of John Burpee and Emily (Fletcher) Burpee.^[1][2][3]

She received her early education in Carleton County, before going to Boston to be trained as a nurse.

On September 28, 1914 she enlisted with the Canadian Army Medical Corps and was among the first units to sail overseas during World War I on October 3 of that year.

She was extremely dedicated to her work. In a 1917 interview, she said, "I consider it the greatest privilege of my life that I have been permitted to do any part in caring for the men who are fighting this war for freedom."

When first deployed, she worked at Salisbury Plains where she was faced with considerable sickness among the men, particularly Meningitis.

Early in 1915, she was sent to France where she was with the No. 2 Canadian Field Hospital and met with the first terrible results of warfare. She was at this hospital until 1916, when she was sent to do duty at Salonlea for a period of six months. At Salonlea, she broke down from overwork and was ordered to Malta for a period of rest.

While making the trip to Malta, her boat was torpedoed, an event which was she not permitted to reveal many details about. She went to England, where she spent five weeks recovering her health. After regaining her health, she was assigned to duty in the Ontario Military Hospital and Orpington, Kent. From there she was transferred to the Canadian No 1. Hospital in France for a period of seven month, thence to England under orders for transport and train duty between Liverpool and Vancouver.

She returned to Canada for a time in 1917 on leave and spent at least some time in Devon, New Brunswick during that year. She returned to the war in March 1918.

She would go on, in an interview with The Daily Gleaner in 1917, to describe the medical advances which were spurred by necessity during the war in the treatment of injuries and foresaw that they would be a great help to humanity in general long after the war.

After the war, Eleanor returned to British Columbia where her parents had been living for a number of years. She married William Bradfield Wickham there on June 4, 1919. Born in Bradfield, England, he was a son of Stephen Frances Wickham and Keziah (Bradfield) Wickham.^[2]

They had at least one child, Burpee Bradfield Wickham

Eleanor passed away on May 26, 1950 in Vancouver and was interred at the Ocean View Crematorium there.^[3][1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} CEF Personnel Record, Library and Archives Canada
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "Canada, British Columbia Marriage Registrations, 1859-1932; 1937-1938," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JDZ5-W2B : 22 February 2021), William Bradfield Wickham and Ella Bell Burpee, 04 Jun 1919; citing Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, British Columbia Archives film number B11390, Vital Statistics Agency, Victoria; FHL microfilm 1,984,111.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Death Certificate, Royal BC Museum

See Also:

• Nursing Sister Burpee Long in Overseas Service, The Daily Gleaner (Fredericton), March 21, 1918. Reproduced through the New Brunswick Great War Project, Public Archives of New Brunswick