VICKERY, Ella
| Service Number: | Staff Nurse |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 18 April 1917, Keswick, SA |
| Last Rank: | Staff Nurse |
| Last Unit: | Hospital Transport Corps |
| Born: | Blackwood, South Australia, 7 May 1885 |
| Home Town: | Gawler, Gawler, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Nursing Sister |
| Died: | Daw Park, South Australia, 28 May 1965, aged 80 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia Cremated in Centennial Park 01.06.1965. Possibly scattered with her parents in Meadows Cemetery; Row B, Plot 62 & 63. Her brother Frank was the last surviving sibling and he is also buried in the Meadows Cemetery. |
| Memorials: | Keswick South Australian Army Nurses Roll of Honor, Meadows Boys Roll of Honour, Meadows War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Apr 1917: | Enlisted Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), Staff Nurse, Staff Nurse, Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), Keswick, SA | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Apr 1917: | Involvement Hospital Transport Corps, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '24' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Karoola embarkation_ship_number: No 1 Hospital Ship public_note: '' | |
| 25 Apr 1917: | Embarked Hospital Transport Corps, HMAT Karoola, Melbourne | |
| 13 Aug 1919: | Discharged Australian Army Nursing Service (WW1), Staff Nurse, Served on Hospital Transport ships and in England. |
Help us honour Ella Vickery's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Daughter of Fredrick William VICKERY and Wilhelmina Robinson nee KING
Sister of Nita M BARKLA
Of Gawler, South, SA
Trained at Adelaide Hospital
Returned to Australia 21 June 1919 per 'Karoola'
Appointment terminated 13 August 1919
Did not marry
Died 29 May 1965 at Daw Park, SA
Aged 80 years
Resided Meadows, SA
Biography contributed by Paul Lemar
Ella VICKERY was the daughter of Frederick William VICKERY & Wilhelmina Robinson KING and was born on the 7th of May 1885 in Blackwood, SA.
Her father was born on the 9th of January 1847 in Pine Forest, near Meadows South, SA and was the son of George VICKERY & Mary BOWDEN.
Her mother was born on the 4th of December 1855 in Kingsford, SA and was the daughter of Stephen KING & Martha Freer ROBINSON.
Frederick & Wilhelmina were married on the 1st of July 1874 in St Matthews Church, Kensington, SA.
Ella was the eighth child born into this family of 14 children, 7 boys & 7 girls.
Her parents had moved to Meadows, her father’s home town, when they married.
Her father purchased the Burleys Flour Mill in Meadows and in 1877 he converted it to the Meadows Steam Saw-Mills. In March 1880, his Uncle wrote, saying "Fred is in a mess at the Mill and has run his father in debt to the tune of about £8,000”.
His father then auctioned off the Mill and Ella’s father then gained employment with the office of the railway traffic auditing branch, as a clerk, and the family moved to Norwood in 1883.
In 1885 they had moved to Blackwood, where Ella was born.
The family remained in Blackwood and her father was employed in the same job for this entire time.
Ella’s brother Reginald died on the 15th of September 1892, aged 3, and then the following year Laurence died on the 19th of December 1893, aged just 6 months.
Ella then gained a little sister on the 16th of November 1894, but sadly she died on the 6th of April 1895, aged just 4 months.
Hugh then died on the 4th of January 1898, aged 6 years.
Ella attended the Blackwood Public School.
With the death of Ella’s paternal grandparents in 1898 & 1900, the Vickery family returned to Meadows in 1900 and her father took up the running of their farm.
They moved into the original Vickery home at 83 Mawson Road, Meadows.
Ella began her nursing training in the Adelaide Hospital in 1914 and after 3 years she gained her qualifications and became a member of the South Australian Branch of the Royal British Nurses Association.
Her sister Rita, also became a nurse and a member of the District Trained Nurses Service (DTNS).
On the 27th of November 1914 her brother Frank enlisted into the 3rd Light Horse, 5th Reinforcement (946). Frank was so eager to enlist that he told them his name was HICKORY, due to them only processing up to the H's at the time and Frank could not wait for the V's. He embarked from Adelaide aboard the transport ship HMAT A59 Botanist on the 2nd of June 1915.
After serving in Gallipoli and Egypt, Frank started to suffer from Epileptic fits and was invalided back to Australia on board HT Seang Boon on the 17th of July 1916; disembarking in Adelaide on the 18th of August 1916. He was discharged, medically unfit, on the 23rd of September 1916.
The story about his war injury was told to the family as “he was blown up and buried alive in Egypt" and that the injury was directly responsible for the epileptic fits he often suffered in later life.
At the age of 31, Ella enlisted into the Australian Military Force, Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) on the 2nd of January 1917 in Keswick, SA and was appointed as staff nurse at the 7th Australian General Hospital, Keswick.
On the 18th of April 1917 she enlisted into the AIF and was posted to the 1st Australian Hospital ship HS Karoola.
Ella embarked from Melbourne on board HS Karoola on ANZAC Day 1917, this was the Karoola’s 7th voyage.
The Karoola transported Army Medical, Australian General Hospital, and Hospital Transport Corps reinforcements to England, before returning with invalided soldiers.
Ella and the Karoola completed 7 voyages in the following 2 years, with 3 of these being to England and the other 4 being from Sydney to Fremantle, via Melbourne & Adelaide and return.
Ella disembarked in Adelaide from her final voyage on the 21st of June 1919 and was discharged from the AIF on the 13th of August 1919 and returned to duty in the AMF.
She was granted leave on account of sickness in family in June 1920 and then annual leave for 2 weeks.
Ella was living in Grange when her father died on the 11th of April 1928 in Meadows and they buried him in the Meadows Cemetery; Row B, Plot 62.
By 1939 Ella had moved to 523 Military Road, Grange and was still nursing.
When her mother died on the 22nd of January 1944 they buried her in the Meadows Cemetery, next to her husband; Row B, Plot 63.
Her mother left the little home in Meadows Ella’s brother Frederick.
When Frederick died in 1950 he left the home to Ella.
By 1952 Ella had moved to 39 East Parade, Beulah Park and then in 1957 she moved back into the little family home in Meadows.
Ella died on the 28th of May 1965 in Daw Park, SA and was cremated in the Centennial Park Cemetery.