Edith Maud Drummond Hay was born on 28th February 1872 in Kinfauns in Perthshire, Scotland. Her parents were Henry Maurice Drummond Hay, a Colonel in the Army who was a Scottish naturalist and ornithologist, and his wife, Charlotte Elizabeth Richardson Hay. On their marriage, Henry took the family name of Hay, adding it to his own surname. Edith was one of four sisters - the others being Constance, Alice and Lucy - and the girls had two brothers - Henry Maurice Drummond Hay, James Adam Gordon Richardson Drummond Hay.
When Peter Drummond-Hay and his family moved into his great aunt’s house in the Perthshire village of Glencarse back in the 1980s, he uncovered a treasure trove of wartime memories.
Edith was affectionately known in the family as ‘Aunt Tuck’. She left a fascinating legacy - a collection of illustrated diaries, including an album of her experiences as a volunteer with the British Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) during the First World War, when she joined the Perth/38 Detachment. According to her Red Cross Record Card, Edith served in several hospitals, including some in France, and she was awarded the Royal Red Cross, Second Class in June 1919 for her war work. Edith never married and died on 20th February 1960. The Grant of Probate for Edith mentions the name David Charles Scott-Moncrieff, which makes me wonder if there is a link to the WW1 poet Charles Kenneth Scott-Moncrieff (1889 – 1930).
The family donated Edith’s WW1 album to the Red Cross in London, where it is at the Red Cross Museum. The British Red Cross’s 2020 Calendar features some of Edith’s WW1 paintings.
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| "Embarking at Folkestone" by Edith Maud Drummond Hay |
Sources: British Red Cross 2020 Calendar, Find my Past
https://vad.redcross.org.uk/Card?sname=Hay&id=64335
https://vad.redcross.org.uk/Card?sname=Hay&page=2&id=100475
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/perthshire-family-discover-aunt-tucks-8335249
https://www.geni.com/people/Colonel-HM-Drummond-Hay/6000000015351769856
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Drummond-Hay
Photograph of Edith from https://museumandarchives.redcross.org.uk/objects/8828
