Annie Rebecca Cowie

Hi All

Looking for information on Annie, who died in Peking as a result of enemy action on 23 December 1941. I would love to know why she was in China at such a dangerous time. She is listed as a "civilian" but I don't quite think this is true. No age is given for this lady, maybe someone can add to this.

Thanks and Regards

John Cowie

 

Hi John

There appears to be a file of hers at TNA - http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=C2656540
Reference:FO 678/1787 Description:
Cowie, Annie Rebecca (Miss).

Date: 1941 Held by: The National Archives, Kew Legal status: Public Record

There are members on here who visit Kew on a regular basis and who could obtain a copy for you, unless of course who wish to go yourself - they will be posting soon I expect.

I would assume you also know of this site - http://www.ancientfaces.com/person/annie-rebecca-cowie/163859438

Also from CWGC - http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/3169218/COWIE,%20ANNIE%20REBECCA

COWIE, ANNIE REBECCA Rank: Civilian Date of Death: 23/12/1941 Regiment/Service: Civilian War Dead Reporting Authority CHINA Additional Information:
at Nan Chik Tye, Peking.

TD

Edited to add,
I suspect, but do not know for certain that as her TNA file is FO - then she would have been working for the Foreign Office

 

Thanks TD

The National Archives I have used before but not on-line, I need to move with the times......Ancient Faces, not come across before.
Thanks again - will advise of outcome

Regards

John

 

Hi John,

The only reference I can find for Annie Rebecca Cowie on Ancestry is in the Civilian Deaths 1939 - 1945, although it should be noted that she is Anne and not Annie, which may help your future searching.

TD

Edited to add:



UK, WWII Civilian Deaths, 1939–1945 about Anne Rebecca Cowie




Name:

Anne Rebecca Cowie

Death Date:

23 Dec 1941

Death Place:

China

 

Thanks again - I'm sure this will help

Regards

John

 

Hi All

In addition


Annie sailed to Shanghai on 11 September 1925, on the SS Mantua, her occupation on the ship’s manifest was listed as a Hospital Nurse. Her address in the UK was 9 Ashgrove Road, Aberdeen

Also on board were:
Miss Clara Eleanor Whitecross, a nurse from Warrington.
Miss Elsie K Pape, Hospital Sister of Kings College Hospital.
Miss Edith Waldron, a nurse from 73 Westbourne Terrace (place not specified)

The fate of these nurses is unknown

Regards

John

 

Hi John,

Out of interest where did you find that info from??

Have you looked into obtaining a copy of her TNA file (#2). I would PM either Drew5233 or PsyOrg.Org (http://www.arcre.com/) - they are regulars at Kew and their prices are very good compared to TNA's

TD

 

Hi TD

Information again from the Ancestry Website - under Emigration - then through the Manifest - family stories say that Annie was from Aberdeen, hence the connection.

Regards

John

 

Hi John

She seems to like her sailing to the Far East and back - I have found an arrival in London 8th June 1923 from Yokohama, but noted as originating from China and as a hospital nurse:

UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960 about Miss A R Cowie
Name: Miss A R Cowie
Birth Date: abt 1883
Age: 40
Port of Departure: Yokohama, Japan
Arrival Date: 8 Jun 1923
Port of Arrival: London, England
Ports of Voyage: Shanghai
Ship Name: City of Poona
Search Ship Database: View the 'City of Poona' in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
Shipping Line: Ellerman City Line
Official Number: 131423

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=BT26&rank=1&new=1&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=angs-d&gsfn_x=XO&gsln=cowie&gsln_x=XO&msady=1920&msady_x=1&msapn__ftp=China&msapn=5057&msapn_PInfo=3-%7c0%7c1652396%7c0%7c5057%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c&msedy=1925&dbOnly=_F0005868%7c_F0005868_x%2c_F00061E6%7c_F00061E6_x%2c_F00061E7%7c_F00061E7_x&uidh=5nr&msadp=5&pcat=40&fh=105&h=28379636&recoff=&fsk=BEEy85IIgAAF7gAxJfk-61-&bsk=&pgoff=&ml_rpos=106

Perhaps you need to search a little further

TD

edited to add:
Her address is shown as 9 Ashgrove Rd, Aberdeen

 

TD

Quote -
Birth Date: abt 1883
Age: 40

Seems to be a slight error in the year as she died December 1941 that would agree with age 40 but being born c.1900/1901. slight error in maths by the recorder?

Tony

 

There appears to be a death entry for Annie in the Minor Records section on the website Scotlandspeople. I don't have any credits left to view it though. I've found a few military death entries in this section of the death records through my own research. It may include foreign deaths as well, but I'm not certain of that.

It costs £7 at the moment to purchase 30 credits. Struggling to find a birth entry for the year 1883 though. Are we right in thinking that 'Cowie' is Annie's maiden name?

As the 1921 Census won't be released for a good few years yet, the next best thing is the recently released Valuation Roll taken in 1920. There appears to be one entry for a 'Cowie' family at Ashgrove Road. Haven't had the time to check the previous valuation rolls.

If Annie was born in Scotland and you got a hold of her death certificate you might find her on the Scottish 1939 ID Register, but that would set you back £15 (and £12 for a death cert. if one was available via the Scotlandspeople website).

There does seem to be something odd with the DOB but the file at the National Archives could clear this up for you. I know Lee is heading there next week.

 

Hi Tonym

The information shows her as being aged 40 when the sailing took place in 1923, so the maths are approximately right for a birth in 1883 ish.

When she departed the UK in 1923 (#9), it shows she was aged 40 (b 1883), when she departed in 1925 it shows she was aged 43 (b about 1882) as below:
UK, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960 about Miss Annie Cowie
Name: Miss Annie Cowie
Gender: Female
Age: 43
Birth Date: abt 1882
Departure Date: 11 Sep 1925
Port of Departure: London, England
Destination Port: Shanghai, China
Ship Name: Mantua
Search Ship Database: Search the 'Mantua' in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
Shipping Line: P and O S N Company
Official Number: 127544
Master: G E Butler

As there are no ages on her death side, that have been found as yet, it would have to be assumed she was aged 58 when she died in 1941. I still believe that obtaining a copy of her FO 678/1787 file from the TNA would be the way to go and see what it says. For what ever reason she seems to spend an awful lot of time nursing in China.

TD

 

Hi amberdog,

I missed something in your post - as she is shown on the 2 passenger lists found to date as 'Miss' I assume she is a spinster, and therefore Cowie is her maiden name, having devoted her time to nursing.
On that score is there the possibility she was a nun , but I am unsure how to go about finding records for them, never had to do that before, but it would seem to make some sense.

Another avenue to explore perhaps?

TD

 

My apologies to the Poona maths recorder but my concentration has been affected recently by a breakdown with my war service injury.
I agree that she was 40 when she boarded the Poona in 1923 and her birth year 1883
When she boarded the Mantua in 1925, after an assumed break at home to return to China, with three other nurses, she would have been 42 making her 57/58 when she died.

I have a strong suspicion that she and her travelling partners may have been members the Colonial Agents for the Colonies. Whilst China was not a Colony Hong Kong was and certainly would have employed UK Nurses. Perhaps their was an official arrangement between the Chinese and British governments where some of these nurses could be on loan to China?

The most frustration thing is that CWGC quote Annie as died on 23 December 1941 ‘at’ Nan Chik Tye, Peking (Beijing). Despite an extensive search I can find no reference to a town, a hospital or even a cemetery in Nan Chik Tye by that name so any Chinese experts out there who can offer a suggestion?

Tony

 

I have been trawling the internet and other parts of my brain, and have come up with another possible avenue, and that is the Red Cross.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Cross_Society_of_China

The Society's leadership from the 1920s-1940s was closely tied with the American and British Red Cross societies, the Kuomintang government and the Shanghai business community. In 1933, while the Second Sino-Japanese War was raging on, the Act of Administrative Rules and Procedures of the Republic of China Red Cross Society (中華民國紅十字會管理條例施行細則) was passed, and the society was renamed Red Cross Society of the Republic of China, a society that still exists today, but located in Taiwan.[5]

The Red Cross Society of the Republic of China (the name of the organization at the time) was naturally very active during the Second Sino-Japanese War, though its operations were mostly limited to the Kuomintang strongholds in southwest China and some areas under Japanese occupation. Invaluable medical supplies from the United States and the United Kingdom were transferred to the Red Cross Society of the Republic of China by their American and British counterparts, through Burma and India. Overseas Chinese from Southeast Asia and around the world also raised funds for the Red Cross Society of the Republic of China, and appeals by Chinese diplomats and advocates around the world convinced the American public to make significant donations to support the Chinese people.


There was a lot of both natural disasters and man made ones in the first part of the 20th century in China, and nurses would be required, hence my initial thought of a nun, and now perhaps as a nurse for the Red Cross.
The IRC connection may also be a reason as to why there is a file on her at TNA (one that needs reading )

TD

 

John, was your relative Annie possibly involved in missionary work?

There were a number of people who worked as Christian missionaries in China and the Far East, some of them working in hospitals (doctors, nurses, etc.). For example, the former Olympic 400 m champion Eric Liddell was involved in missionary work in China, was interned by the Japanese and died while imprisoned. In the case of Eric Liddell, he died on 21 February 1945.

I would have expected there would have been an obituary about your relative Annie in the local newspaper of her home area (Aberdeen?) when news of her death came through. It might help you if you could look for this which may add to the information you can obtain from the National Archives.

 

Nothing specific but interesting background to the times in and around Peking in late 1930's - 1945:
http://www.captives-of-empire.com/wst_page5.php

and another as a biography for a NZ nurse working in China during the same time period:
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/5h3/hall-kathleen-anne-baird

TD

edited to add:
There were (and possibly more) the following 'British missions' in Peking at around this time:

Church of England Medical Mission
North China Mission
Peking Union Medical College

 

Just received the following from a contact on Scottish War Memorials Project:-
From the Consular Records via Scotlands People : -
Name : Annie Rebecca Cowie aged 59
Date of death : 23/12/1941 Peking
Occupation : Hospital Nurse Born at Rothie Norman Aberdeenshire on 30/1/1882
Residence at time of Death : 2, Pei Ku Szu (or Pei Kee Szee), Nan Ch'ih Tzu (or Tzee), Peking.

Confirms and corrects some of our details. Any suggestions of a possible contact in China?

Tony

 

Before going to that expense, I think member JRCowie needs to obtain a copy of http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=C2656540

Thats my opinion for what its worth
TD

edited to add:
Nice find Tonym

 

I would concur with this. That seems to be the key document likely to provide the answers. Without it, most of what the rest of us are suggesting is conjecture.

Hopefully you will find the information you seek, John. Good luck.