Ethel Mabel DUTTON (1867-1945)

Ethel Mabel Dutton (1867-1945) was the sister of Mildred Butler (née Dutton) who was the sister-in-law of Fanny Butler (née Mourilyan), who was the sister of Eugénie Sladden.

Ethel was born on 2^nd November 1867, at Surbiton, Surrey, the sixth of eight children of Charles Morgan Dutton and his first wife, Mary Emma.  She was baptized at All Saints, Kingston upon Thames, on 8^th January 1868.

Ethel trained as a nurse and served overseas.  During the Anglo-Boer War, she was with the Army Nursing Service Reserve and was awarded The Queen's South Africa Medal (QSA).  She served as a Sister at 3 General Hospital, Kroonstad.

During the First World War, Ethel served with the British Committee, French Red Cross, for which she received the Victory Medal and British War Medal.  She served in the Balkans from June 1915 to February 1916 and was taken prisoner by the Bulgarians.  Documents at the National Archives reveal that Ethel’s family was anxious to trace her whereabouts, as there was an enquiry from her sister, Mrs Lilian M Marshall of Strawberry Hill.  She was believed to be in Salonica.

In a letter of 22^nd March 1916, Fanny Butler who was the sister-in-law of Ethel’s sister, Mildred, describes a visit Ethel paid to her the previous week, having recently returned to England after being released from imprisonment.

In retirement, Ethel lived at Hex Cottage, St Lawrence, Isle of Wight.  Shipping records reveal that, in old age, Ethel and her older sister, Constance, also unmarried, often took long voyages overseas.

Ethel died at Hex Cottage on 31^st December 1945.  She is buried in St Mary’s, Long Ditton, Surrey.