Topic: Militaria
Ada Andrews Kemp, Nursing Sister
A Nurse's First World War Photo Album
Ada Andrews Kemp was born in Essex Co., England on 2 June 1895. She emigrated to Canada in 1903 as a Bernardo foster child, i.e,, an orphan, where she lived in Port Hope, Ontario, as a domestic servant to the family of Alexander Walsh.
Having trained as a nurse, Ada Kemp attested for overseas suervice in the First World War on 11 April, 1917, at the age of 21. She was sorn in as a nursing officer at the Toronto Base Hospital.
Throughout the war, Ada Kemp maintained a photo album. Containing over 200 photographs, the majority of them smal images taken with a personal camera, it shows glimpses of her experiences during the war and the people around her in the Hospitals where she served.
Although a detailed look at Ada's military service would require a copy of her service record, we can glean a few details from online searches of the London and Canada Gazettes:
- Ada Andrews kemp was appointed to the rank of Nursing Sister on 11 April 1917 (Canada Gazette 23 Jun 1917)
- Ada Kemp was awarded the Royal Red Cross, Second Class (London Gazette 23 Feb 1917)
- In the post war Canadian Army, Ada was again appointed to the rank of Nursing Sister on 12 June 1919. (Canada Gazette 4 Oct 1919)
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Ada Kemp's Attestation Paper
Ada Kemp's Entry in the Soldiers of the First World War Database at Library and Archives Canada:
- Name: KEMP, ADA ANDREWS
- Rank: NS
- Date of Birth: 02/06/1895
- Reference: RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 5069 - 5
Nursing sisters from Port Hope (source)
- Miss Emma Frances Elliott – Four years' Service - 1915 Star
- Miss Harriet Gertrude Hudspeth – Four years' Service - Mons Ribbon
- Miss Ada Kemp – Four years' Service
- Miss Etta McLean – One year's Service
- Miss Myrtle McMillan – Four years' Service
- Miss Mary McNaughton – Four years' Service
- Miss Edith Elgin McNaughton – Served with American Army
- Miss Pansy Eva Roberts – Four years' Service
- Miss Pearl Edna Wood – Four years' Service
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