Knight duty finished yesterday morning at 7 AM. It is dull work. I was in a women’s medical ward and at 10 PM began the night’s work. There are a view dim lights, & one has to talk in whispers all the time. The hours drag by very slowly and a great struggle with sleep goes on, it is fearfully difficult to keep awake, especially as there is so very little to do. At 4 we begin to get the ward ready for breakfast, and at 5.20 the patients awake and are washed, and at 6 have their breakfast, such...
Another long despatch from general French. In it he speaks very highly of the territorial units that have been at the front, also he shows what a fearful struggle our army has had in preventing the Germans breaking through power lines. The 50 days battle for Calais, that is what it will be known as. At Ypres & Armentierres the enemy tried to get through. My last morning at the hospital, in a way I am rather sorry. One of the nurses gave us a lesson in bathing a patient between the blankets, & then we each had to do...
Very hard morning, it seemed longer than usual. In the afternoon the Worthingtons took me to Exmouth in their car, it was delightful dashing along through the fresh air. Before we started Mary came in, she was in a furious rage with Ms Buller who is at the head of the Red Cross for Devon. She has decreed that for the future of the cooks at No 3 should do their own washing-up, instead of the charwomen who have done it so far. The cooking is quite hard work enough, without having that. I hope the cooks will strike. Everyone...
Lovely day, very warm. Our army near Ypre’s has given the Germans a setback. They have lost guns & many killed. In the East room of our cruisers have bombarded Jaffa. We are now definitely at war with Russia. Very busy all the morning. Ramsdown shoot, went up as usual for the launch to the Lodge, it seemed strange without Mr Morshead. We did not follow, but came straight back & went out for a turn with the dogs. In the evening there was a parish meeting to discuss what was to be done in the event of the arrival...
Returned home to day after a week at Buckfastleigh, with Jack & Florence, and during that week, public events have moved rapidly. The retirement of Prince Louis of Battenberg confirms the truth of the stories about him, we must have only Englishman at the head of affairs. Very little news from the front. Only daily casualty lists of terrible length. Roger Ripley a friend of Bob’s has been killed. He stayed here once, arriving in a car which could only go about a walking pace. To day I got a letter sent on by Dorothea from Mrs Boggis to ask...
Papers very late, did not get it until 9. One of our cruisers has sunk a German liner Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, out near Cape town link. The captain in command is called Buller, a cousin of Mrs Bradshaw. Russia seems to be coming up on the East. Lovely day. The Lethbridges came over in the morning. Mary photographed them. After lunch we went into Tavistock for drill, did not do much. We got back at 4:45 found Sears family here, had tea out under the tree. It was a perfect afternoon. Fed fowls, am trying to get them into...
Same misty rain. Everything in the house damp & wet Rose at 6.30 fed fowls. Church at 8. Quite a lot of people including Locum tenens of Bradstone & Dunterton. Good sermon at Matins from Mr Smith (a prepared one) Had to play for children service. Afterwards Dorothea, Ela & I went up to Minnemore with Hector. Very damp but not much falling. After tea fed fowls. 10 eggs. Must try and get rid of some of the stags* . Food is getting very dear. We have started jam sandwiches for tea to save butter, the family call them “the...
In one days time – on Saturday 2nd August – we will start blogging Margaret Clare Kelly’s War Journal. A brief explanation is in order, so this journal can remain as honest as possible! Margaret did not buy the physical book in which she wrote her thoughts until roughly a week after the war began – it then being obvious that she would want to record her observations for posterity. She then transcribed her words in to the new tome, and we are able to read them 100 years on. If you have any questions or comments related to the...
Margaret Kelly was born in 1879 in Ottery St Mary, Devon. She was the eldest daughter of Rev. Maitland Kelly and Agnes Leigh Clare Kelly. Following her mother’s death, and that of her Stepmother, in 1891 Margaret became matriarch of the Kelly Family, responsible for the running of the household. In 1899 her father inherited Kelly House from his brother Reginald and became squire of Kelly. Margaret came to Kelly with her father. It is fair, indeed necessary, to recognise many aspects of her identity when considering the tone and opinions she uses and espouses in this memoir. First, she...
Starting on the 2nd August this year, we will be blogging Margaret Clare Kelly’s WW1 diary! Family information and a brief overview introducing Margaret are now available on the blog. For more information on Kelly House, visit our website: https://kelly-house.co.uk
Over the next few years, we have carved out an ambitious project to follow the wartime diaries of Margaret Kelly, written over 100 years ago starting immediately before the outbreak of the first World War in August of 1914. Over the subsequent four years, Margaret kept a personal journal which described both the activities around her, and those from around the world. Sometimes in detail, and other times distressingly vague, she records the number of eggs harvested from the chickens, the places where she takes tea, and her efforts to learn to bandage effectively, and nurse wounded soldiers. She also...
