Olive Smith-Dorrien | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Olive Crofton Schneider (1881-02-26)26 February 1881 |
| Died | 15 September 1951(1951-09-15) (aged 70) |
| Occupation | Activist |
| Spouse | |
Dame Olive Crofton Smith-DorrienDBE (née Schneider; 26 February 1881 – 15 September 1951) was the wife ofHorace Smith-Dorrien, known for setting up theLady Smith-Dorrien's Hospital Bag Fund. She was also president of theBlue Cross Fund and theRoyal School of Needlework.
Olive Crofton Schneider was born on 26 February 1881 in the Kensington district of London.[1] Her father was Colonel John Schneider. In 1902 she married Horace Smith-Dorrien.[2] They had three sons, two of whom predeceased their mother:[3]
Horace and Olive Smith-Dorrien informally adopted Power Palmer's two daughters (Frances Gabrielle and Celia de Courcy), who were left homeless after his second wife's death in 1912.
During theGreat War Lady Smith-Dorrien founded the Lady Smith-Dorrien's Hospital Bag Fund. After hearing in April 1915 that it was hard to safeguard wounded soldiers' valuables while they were in hospitals. She wrote to her husband, offering to sew bags for soldiers to hold their valuables in. The assistant director of medical services of theSecond Army responded, requesting 50,000 such bags. Though work began in her own home, the fund expanded in 1916 and again in 1917. At its peak, 12,000 people worked for the Fund, in the United Kingdom and the United States.[11] Volunteers for the fund sewed between 40,000 and 60,000 bags a month to hold soldiers' valuables.[citation needed]
By 1 January 1918 the fund had distributed over 2,500,000 bags.[12] Estimates range as high as five million bags by the end of the war.[2] Her work continued even after Horace Smith-Dorrien was removed from his command.[11]
She was created aDame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE).[13] She also served as President of Our Dumb Friends' League'sBlue Cross Fund, working to alleviate the suffering of war horses.[14][15] For her services as president of the Blue Cross Fund, she received the gold medal of theReconnaissance française.[2]
In 1932, Olive Smith-Dorrien was named principal of the Royal School of Needlework (RSN).[2] In 1937, the RSN worked on the Queen's Train (Coronation Robe), canopy and the two chairs to be used inWestminster Abbey during the Coronation,[16] for which she received theKing George VI Coronation Medal.[2]
The Fund reopened in 1940 during theSecond World War.[2] During the war, she was president of the Clothing Branch of the Officers' Families Fund[3] and chairman ofSoldiers', Sailors', and Airmen's Families Association Central Clothing Depot.[2] During the Second World War, she also led theRoyal School of Needlework in collecting lace which was sold for the war effort.[3][17]
Her husband Horace Smith-Dorrien died on 12 August 1930 following injuries sustained in a car accident atChippenham, inWiltshire; he was 72 years old. His body was buried at the Three Close Lane Cemetery ofSt Peter's Church, Berkhamsted inHertfordshire.[18][19][20]
Smith-Dorrien outlived her husband by more than twenty years and died on 15 September 1951 in the Chelsea area of London.[21][22]