Constance Mabel (Keys) Kemp-Pennefather RRC (1886 - 1964)

Born 30 Oct 1886 in Mount Perry, Queensland, Australia

Wife of Lionel Hugh Percival (Kemp-Pennefather) Pennefather — married 3 Dec 1921 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Died 17 Mar 1964 at age 77 in Southport, Queensland, Australia

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• Visit : VWMA Virtual Memorial Constance Keys RRC . . . and photo . .
  

Biography

Constance Mabel Keys RRC ^[1] (1886-1964), nurse, was born on 30 October 1886 at Mount Perry, Queensland, third daughter and seventh child of Irish-born James Keys, schoolteacher, and his wife Margaret Pelham, who was English. She trained at the Brisbane General Hospital (now the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital) and enlisted as a staff nurse in the Australian Army Nursing Service, Australian Imperial Force, on 21 September 1914; she embarked three days later.

1914-1915 Star AIF Attestation p.46

On arriving in Egypt, Nurse Keys was posted to a British military hospital at Abbassia and then to the 1st Australian General Hospital (AGH) at Heliopolis where she treated casualties from Gallipoli. She was promoted sister on 21 November 1915. On 4 December she joined the hospital ship Themistocles which was filled with wounded beinf rehabiliated home. After arriving in Sydney she re-embarked on 1 March 1916 for Egypt. There she briefly joined the 3rd AGH at Abbassi, before heading to England where, 5 October, she took up duty at the Kitchener Hospital, Brighton. She served in hospitals in England until 15 November 1917 when she was transferred to the 3rd AGH at Abbeville, France. By this time she had been promoted head sister, AANS. On 9 February 1918 she went up the line as sister-in-charge of the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station (2nd CCS) at Trois Arbres near Bailleul.

For most of 1918 Constance Keys was seldom far from the front line. During the German offensive in March she and her staff were ordered to transfer the 2nd CCS. to Hazebrouck. On 12 April Hazebrouck was shelled and the station was transferred to St Omer which that night was heavily bombed. Five days later Sister Keys and her nurses rejoined their unit at Blendecques near St Omer and remained there until 4 September when the station was moved forward again to Hazebrouck. Conditions throughout this period were appalling. The retreat from Bailleul took place in cold, wet weather which made movement difficult and increased the suffering of the wounded and the escaping civilians. By the time Sister Keys had reached St Omer she and her staff had become, in her own words, 'refugees'. At Blendecques they had to treat many gassed patients, cope with an outbreak of influenza in June, and deal in July and August with casualties suffering from exhaustion as well as from wounds. For her service in the war, Constance was awarded the Associate Royal Red Cross, before being upgraded to the Royal First Cross with presentation at Buckingham Palace by King George V followed by a reception hosted by Queen Alexandra.^[2] She was also awarded the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. The French government bestowed upon Constance the decoration of Medaille Militaire.

Royal Red Cross

Upon completion of her military duties, Constance obtained work as a nursing sister at the Mount Gravatt Convalescent Farm near Brisbane (now a southern suburb of Brisbane).^[3]

Constance married fellow Great War veteran, Lionel Kemp-Pennefather, on 3rd December 1921 at Brisbane. They had met whilst both working at the convalescent farm (Lionel was the overseer).^[4][3]

Constance passed away, aged 77 years, on 17th March 1964 at Brisbane.^[5]

People – LifeTree

• Evelyn Augusta Conyers CBE RRC (1870-1944)
• AWM Nurses returning home on HMT Orvieto. Photograph
  
• AWM Australian nurses returning home on HMT Orvieto. Identified in Photograph November 1919
  
• Group portrait of the matron
• Australian Army Nursing Service Connie Keys
• Five Australian nursing sisters on board troopship Orvieto

Sources

1. ↑ P. H. Merrillees and R. S. Merrillees, Keys, Constance Mabel (1886–1964), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University,
   published first in hardcopy 1983, accessed online 21 January 2020.
2. ↑ The Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld: 1866 - 1939), 1917, Apr 14, p. 5. QUEENSLAND NURSE HONOURED. Retrieved Jan 22, 2020
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} The Brisbane Courier (Qld: 1864 - 1933) 1921, December 2 p. 11.: PRE-WEDDING RECEPTION. Retrieved Jan 22, 2020
4. ↑ Queensland Marriage Index #B28992/1921
5. ↑ Queensland Death Index #B64315/1964