Yvonne Burney (1922-2017), by unknown photographer, 1946
© Women’s Auxiliary Air Force; all rights reserved
Yvonne Burney (1922-2017), by unknown photographer, 1946
© Women’s Auxiliary Air Force; all rights reserved
Burney [née Baseden], Yvonne Jeanne Therese de Vibraye (1922–2017), Special Operations Executive agent, was born in Paris on 20 January 1922, the daughter and elder child of Clifford Baseden (1894–1977), an electrical engineer and former officer in the Royal Air Force...
Colvin, Dame Mary Katherine Rosamund (1907–1988), army officer, was born on 25 October 1907 at Morleys, Shermanbury, Steyning, Sussex, the daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel (John) Forrester Farnell Colvin of the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers and his wife, Isabella Katherine McClintock Bunbury. Almost nothing is recorded of her early years except that she had the opportunity to travel widely in ...
Coulshed, Dame (Mary) Frances (1904–1998), army officer, was born at 49 Lynmouth Road, Ecclesall, Sheffield, on 10 November 1904, the daughter of Wilfred Coulshed, a chemist who died when she was six years old, and his wife, Maude Mullin, a teacher. She was educated at ...
D’Artois [née Butt], Sonia Esmée Florence [Toni] (1924–2014), Special Operations Executive agent, was born Sonia Juliet Esme Butt at Charnwood, Eastchurch, on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, on 14 May 1924, the third child and younger daughter of Leslie Acton Kingsford Butt...
Davies [née Cavenaugh], Christian [Catherine] [alias Christopher or Richard Welsh; called Mother Ross] (1667–1739), female soldier, was, according to The Life and Adventures of Mrs. Christian Davies (1740), born Christian Cavenaugh in Dublin. She was raised by her parents on a farm at ...
Bolas, Juan de (d. 1663), early African leader in Jamaica, was born, probably in Jamaica, to unknown parents, presumably sometime before 1630. Nothing is known of his early life. He and his parents may have been enslaved or they may have been among the free African population living in ...
Ellis, Mary Baxter (1892–1968), commanding officer of the FANY, was born on 12 November 1892 at North Ashfield, Newcastle upon Tyne, the elder daughter in the family of four children of Joseph Baxter Ellis, grocer and miller, and his second wife, Mary Sharp Taylor...
Field [née Hodgson], Anne (1926–2011), army officer, was born on 4 April 1926 at 34 Stanger Street, Keswick, Cumberland, the daughter of Harold Derwent Hodgson (1884–1964), a former captain in the Royal Engineers who eventually ran the family building company, Isaac and Robin Hodgson Ltd...
Franklin, Lilian Annie Margueretta (1882–1955), commanding officer of the FANY, was the only daughter (there was also one son) of William Franklin (1852–1920) of Horsham, Sussex, a wholesale merchant, and his wife, Louisa (1845–1923). The family lived for a number of years at ...
Gamwell, (Antonia) Marian (1891–1977), volunteer ambulance driver and commanding officer of the FANY, was born on 28 July 1891 at 169 Knight's Hill Road, West Norwood, the eldest daughter of Frederick Robison Gamwell (1835–1901), an East India merchant, and his wife, Marian Antonia Bankart (1864–1922)...
Gizycka, Countess Krystyna [née Countess Krystyna Skarbeka; alias Christine Granville] (1915–1952), special operations officer, was born on 1 May 1915, probably at Mlodziesyn, some 30 miles from Warsaw, Poland. Her father, Count Jerzy Skarbek, had married in 1899 Stephanie Goldfeder, daughter of a Jewish banker, and they already had a son. The estate was soon overrun by the German army, and her infancy was spent under German occupation. In 1920 the family moved to another estate, at ...
Hallowes [née Brailly], Odette Marie Céline (1912–1995), special operations officer and member of the FANY, was born on 28 April 1912 in Amiens, northern France, the only daughter in the family of three children of Gaston Brailly (c.1880–1918), banker, and his wife, ...
Isabel Hampden (fl. 1577-88), by unknown artist, c. 1577
Photo Credit: Harvey Whittam, 2018
Hampden, Isabel (fl. 1577–88), recusant and member of the Catholic underground, was the daughter of Richard Curzon of Waterperry, Oxford, and his wife, Anne, daughter of William Gifford of Cowley, Buckinghamshire. She was married to Edmund Hampden d. 1577 of Baylis House in ...
Heaney, Sheila Anne Elizabeth (1917–1991), army officer, was born on 11 June 1917 at 5 Canning Street, Liverpool, the second of the four children of Francis James Strong Heaney (1874–1950), a consultant general surgeon who specialized in the use of radium, and his wife, ...