Feature Articles - The Life of Evelina Haverfield - Introduction
Below is an article detailing the
remarkable life of
Evelina
Haverfield.
In addition to being a prominent pre-war British Suffragette - and saw her imprisoned for her activities in support of the cause - she served with great courage with the Scottish Women's Hospital (S.W.H.) group in Serbia and on the Eastern Front during the Great War.
Haverfield's wartime service brought her close to the front lines of Serbia's battles against combined Austro-German-Bulgarian forces. It was in Serbia that Haverfield died in 1920, from pneumonia. Her passing was greatly mourned by supporters not only in Britain but in Serbia also.
The multi-page article which follows was written by Boyce Gaddes, author of Evelina: Outward Bound from Inverlochy (Merlin, 1995). Use the sidebar to the right to access each page of the article.
Introduction
The Hon Evelina Haverfield was a free spirit who loved life, the excitement of outdoor sports, the adventure of travel, and in participating in activities that called for daring and personal courage.
She combined these qualities with a deep-felt sympathy for those less fortunate than herself, who she saw suffering from social injustice, discrimination of any kind, physical suffering, and from the cruelties of war. Some of her associates described her as charming, courageous, very capable, and generous to a fault.
Evelina grew up in London and on the Inverlochy estate in the Scottish Highlands, during the 1870s and 1880s. She loved the outdoor activities that Inverlochy provided: hiking, fishing, shooting grouse, and her first love - horses and riding. She was high-spirited and unusually energetic, delighting in challenging herself to a higher standard of performance, whether it was riding, hiking, shooting, or any other activity that demanded a combination of mental and physical skills.
In every meaningful activity that she engaged in, she strove for mastery. She grew up to be a very disciplined and self-confident young lady. In addition, because she was naturally very friendly and had an innately generous nature, she always had many friends.
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A 'flying pig' was a mortar bomb.
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