“Everyone had a role to play and my grandparents did their bit,†says Christine Ball, speaking of her grandparents’ role working for the Friends War Victims’ Relief Committee during the first world war. “Grandpa may not have wanted to fight but he gave something back,†she added.
The story of Christine’s grandparents’ work is told in a short clip on the Antiques Roadshow, available for viewing on the BBC website. Although it didn’t feature in the televised programme, it is a part of the Remembrance Day series of clips.
Christine’s grandfather was the son of a grocer from Mansfield, from a large Quaker family. Her grandmother was a just-qualified medic, one of the early cohort of female doctors to graduate from Glasgow University.
Christine explained that the Quakers working through the Friends War Victims’ Relief Committee sought to bring succour and aid to the civilian population who were living in miserable conditions – many were homeless, destitute and unable to earn a living.
My wife’s grandfather was also a Quaker grocer in Mansfield. With that sole clue in the interview, we checked the family history to confirm the grocers were two brothers Joseph and Samuel Henry Wright. From that and the family tree we concluded the interview was probably with Christine Ball, which you have confirmed.
Her grandfather was not the only family member involved in WW1. My wife’s uncle was also in France in the FWVRC then later the Friends Ambulance Unit and was finally awarded the Croix de Guerre medal for his services, in the FAU, to the French army. Later after the war, in the 1920s, my wife’s mother volunteered and worked at the FWVRC maternity hospital in Chalons-sur-Marne.
We can provide further family details to Christine, if contact details could be provided.