Guest Post: The Tale of Ethel Port

Bringing the stories of Edwardian women to life, who would otherwise be forgotten by history, is perhaps what I love most about the Reading, Writing... and Rebellion project. Their book inscriptions offer an important window into their life experiences, which is so important in gaining a new perspective on the era. Today, Llio Mererid uses this blog space to share the amazing story of Ethel Port - the daughter of a sailor who experienced much upheaval and change in her childhood.

Ethel Port was born on the 8th of November, 1886 and was the eldest daughter of John and Eliza Alice (née Privett) Port. She was born in Kasauli, India: a cantonment set up by the British Raj in 1842 as a Colonial hill station. Ethel’s younger sister, Florence, was born three years later in Lahore, Pakistan: the province capital of British Punjab during the British Empire ruling in the East Indies. This strongly suggests that Ethel and Florence’s father, John, worked for the East India Company.

The East India Company was a British joint-stock company that traded in the region of the Indian Ocean and who eventually took control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent. Taken the likelihood that John Port worked for this universal company, he would have been shipped to the East to work and would have been encouraged to bring his family with him in order to strengthen numbers of the British colony in the East. It is unclear exactly when John and Eliza were sent to the East Indies, but it would have been sometime after their marriage in 1875 in Portsea, Hampshire, England and before 1884. On the 7th of May of that year, records show a white male named George Port passing away aged 1 in Murree, Bengal, India. With the parents listed as John Port and Eliza, we can presume that this was their first-born child, three years prior to Ethel.

With the burial place of George and the birth places of Ethel and Florence being in different regions of the British Indian Empire, it is clear that John must have had to move around in his role at the company. Growing up in this environment would have exposed Ethel and Florence to a range of different people, cultures and climate; however, by 1891, the two girls- aged 4 and 1- alongside their widowed mother had returned to Hampshire. The three of them were residing at 17 Ewer Common, Alverstoke, Hampshire and Ethel’s mother was working as a Laundress.

This is the last known address of Ethel and Florence with their mother. After the 1891 census, Eliza Alice seems to vanish, suggesting she might have passed away or was unable to look after her daughters in one way or another. By 1901, the two sisters- now 14 and 12- were students and residents of the Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum: an institute for fatherless daughters of Sailors, Soldiers and Marines in Wandsworth, London. No birthplace of any student is registered on this document, although two members of staff had been born abroad in British Colonies.

The Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum was established in 1857 and its objectives were to provide a “sound elementary education and a practical training, fitting them to earn their own living in domestic employment” according to The Scotsman in 1907. The Asylum was open to girls between the ages of seven and sixteen, however, the conditions in which they lived were harsh. In the 19th century: “Their [the orphans] work included pumping water by hand from an underground rainwater system in the rear courtyard up to the lead-lined slate water tanks in the towers. They had to launder all the clothes. Their heads were shaved to discourage head lice and they were made to assemble in the courtyards every morning to be hosed down with cold water. The patented warm air heating system failed to work. Fireplaces were added to the staff rooms but no heating was provided to the dormitories. The orphanage was nearly closed down after a scandal involving physical and sexual abuse by the Rector and the death of one of the orphans. Her ghost still allegedly roams the cloisters of the north and south courtyards.” It is unclear if conditions had changed by 1901 when Ethel and Florence were orphans here but the likelihood of a harsh and cold upbringing is likely. Leaving the institution would have been somewhat of a relief for Ethel and it can be assumed that it was at the end of her time here in 1903 that she received Hymns from the Land of Luther (Jane Laurie Borthwick) from Admiral de Kantzow.

Admiral Arthur de Kantzow was a member of a number of committees supporting institutions which provided an education for daughters of Naval and Marine Officers. This strongly suggests that Ethel’s father was a naval officer and in being enrolled in such a school, Ethel would have mastered a trade that she could practice and earn from for the rest of her life.

In the four years after leaving the Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum, we can assume that Ethel worked hard at her trade to earn a living, just as she had been taught at the Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum. However, she returned to Hampshire- where she had spent some time with her mother as a child- to work and presumably feel closer to the family that she never knew. We can assume that her sister Florence followed suit when she finished 2 years later as well. In 1907, Ethel found her own family and married Arthur Dash in Portsmouth and later gave birth to their first daughter, Ethel, in 1909. Their son, Arthur Steven followed suit in September of 1911; and Edna came along in May 1914 to complete the family.

Arthur was from Gosport, Hampshire- the same town as Ethel’s mother- and worked as a Cook in the Royal Navy in the early years of their marriage. According to his Navy record he was 5 foot 3 inches in height, had brown hair and eyes and had a fresh complexion. He had a tattoo on his right forearm and a hernia scar. His duties are deemed as excellent on his naval record. However, by 1939, he had retired from duty and was working as a Labourer (Painter) and would come home every day to Ethel and their youngest daughter, Edna, at 59 Simpson Road, Portsmouth. Edna was a Bakers Assistant at this time but both mother and daughter were registered with the British Red Cross; suggesting that they would have helped tremendously in the war effort during the Second World War. According to Sarah Cox, a Collections Assistant at the Red Cross British Museum and Archives: members of the organisation would have “worked in hospitals and convalescent homes as well as nurseries, ambulance units, rest stations and central workrooms providing welfare and nursing support” during this time.

Ethel’s early years had certainly been harsh, cruel and cold with losing both her parents so young; moving across the globe; being sent alongside her sister to a school far away from any family relatives; only to live in difficult conditions and given hard laborious tasks to complete on a daily basis. In contrast, in her adult life, it appears that Ethel wanted nothing more than to be surrounded by the ones she loved as well as support and give hope to others who needed it most. Just like her father, she was dutiful to her country and did so in a helpful and positive manner.

The brightness that she chose to see in the world is truly inspiring and this light would have brought a smile to her family members in their grievance following her death in July 1967. She passed away in Portsmouth, Hampshire, survived by her children and her sister. Florence, had also remained in Portsmouth following her time at the Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum and coincidentally had also married into the Dash family, just like Ethel. Sadly, six months after Ethel’s death, Florence also passed away. Having spent almost all their lives away or separated from family, the only consistency that both women had ever known were each other. From the East Indies to London and then Portsmouth, both were finally at peace.