Ethel Beatrice Angear was born at Plymouth in 1877, the daughter of Elizabeth Barrett (née Quiller) and William Angear, chairman of the Millbay Soap Company, part of the Lever Brothers group. In the 1939 England and Wales Register, she is listed as a retired hospital nurse, living at Polvellan, St. Thomas, Devon, England. Angear's death is noted in the England & Wales, National Probate Calendar, 1949: "Angear, Ethel Beatrice of Polvellan Exton near Exeter, spinster, died 16 April 1949 at Merrivale Exton. Probate Exeter 1 July to Charles Herbert Angear, retired company director . £13718 8s. 2d." Charles Herbert was Angear's younger brother; he served as a sergeant in the Devonshire Regiment for the duration of the war.

Londonderry House remained in the possession of the Vane-Tempest-Stewart family until after WWII. It was sold in 1962 and demolished, to make way for the London Hilton.

Archive of manuscript and printed material formed by Ethel Beatrice Angear, matron-in-charge of Londonderry House Hospital during the First World War. Londonderry House, on Park Lane in Mayfair, served as the London residence of the Marquesses of Londonderry, who lent it for use as a military hospital during the war.

A core component of the archive is Angear's manuscript record book of wounded soldiers admitted to Londonderry House from August 24,1915, to December 12, 1918 (when she notes "Hospital Closed"). The volume notes dates of admission, names, and companies, with brief descriptions of each injury. For example: "September 1st 1915: Captain R. G. Coningham, 10th Gurkha, G.S.W. [Gun Shot Wound] left leg, fracture of tibia"; "10.01.16: Lieut E.G. Waller, 2nd Batt. Canadians, G.S.W. back & head - left ear severed"; and "26.11.17: Major R.E. Fanning, 5th Australian F.A.B. shell gas, mustard conjunct + burns on body." The latter pages of the volume include photographs of former patients and hospital interiors. Also present are later newspaper clippings recording post-war and post-hospital lives, with frequent mention of investitures and marriages.

The remainder of the archive includes: testimonials; newspaper clippings; ephemera pertaining to the Londonderry family (Vane-Tempest Stewart) and their relations, including a letter in graphite on Wynyard Park mourning paper; newspaper clippings of the family's official and social lives; a telegraph from the Marquess of Londonderry to Angear congratulating her on the upcoming investiture of the Red Cross at Buckingham Palace; correspondence pertaining to the award and the upcoming practicalities and etiquette; other correspondence to and from Angear, some on mourning paper; and an invitation to Angear, from Viscount & Viscountess Allendale, for the wedding of their daughter Margaret to Viscount Ebrington, February 8, 1917.

Also included is an album from the late 19th and earlier 20th century, with autographs, prose, verse, and drawings, apparently collected by an A. Garbutt, whose name appears on the front free endpaper. The volume is at least partially a form of commonplace book. Texts include testimonials from wounded soldiers (dated 1917-1918), most while recovering at the Furness hospital in Harrogate. The connection to Ethel Angear is not yet clear.

World War, 1914-1918 > Medical care > Great Britain.

World War, 1914-1918 > Hospitals > Great Britain.

Military nursing > Great Britain.

Nurses > Great Britain.

Photographs.

Photograph albums.

Gelatin silver prints.

Ephemera.

Clippings (information artifacts)

Commonplace books.

Ink drawings.

Correspondence.