Florence Farmborough
Encyclopedia
Florence Farmborough was an author
ess, a photographer, a teacher and university lecturer, and a nurse.
. She originally went to live in Russia
in 1908, and worked as a governess for a family in Kiev
. Two years later she moved to Moscow
, where she was employed as English tutor to the two daughters of Pavel Sergeyvich Usov, a distinguished heart surgeon. On the outbreak of the Great War
in 1914, she qualified and worked as a Red Cross nurse with the Imperial Russian
army, and saw service at both the Galician and the Romanian Fronts. During her time as a nurse she kept a diary and habitually took a large plate camera around with her. She would develop and print her plates while encamped with the forces. Extracts from the diaries were eventually used as the source material for her book, Nurse at the Russian Front, published in 1974. She also worked as a reporter for The Times
and for BBC Radio. Following the October Revolution
and the disbandment of her Red Cross unit, she returned to England
in 1918, travelling via Siberia
, Vladivostok
and the USA, and crossing the Pacific
on the same ship as Maria Bochkareva
. During and after this journey she wrote a number of articles for The Times, which were based on what she had witnessed and experienced in Russia in the aftermath of the Bolshevik
coup.
. In 1926 she was appointed as a university lecturer in English in Valencia, Spain. During the Spanish Civil War
she allied with the Nationalists and worked as a newsreader on Spanish National Radio, broadcasting daily news bulletins in English. She later returned to England and worked for the Women's Voluntary Service
during the Battle of Britain
, becoming particularly involved in the rehabilitation of Spanish-speaking Gibraltarians
. Later she spent four years as a government censor in Jamaica
, checking correspondence to and from South America. She made a return visit to Russia in 1962, and visited the Holy Land in 1966. In 1974, the year in which her First World War diaries were published, she was the subject of a programme English Nurse With The Tsar's Army in the BBC Television
documentary series Yesterday's Witness. She was also awarded Honorary Life Membership of the British Red Cross. By this time she was living in a retirement home in Cheshire
, although the final part of her life was spent at the home of her nephew.
The idea of publishing a book based on her 1914–18 diaries and photographs, which had been carefully preserved by her sister Margaret, came as a result of an exhibition she gave of her Russian memorabilia at Heswall
in April 1971. She declined the services of a ghost writer and, working daily from morning until night over a period of thirteen months, she prepared her manuscript entirely by herself, producing over 400,000 words. By her own admission, that was "much too much", and in the event her publisher cut "almost half of it".
Florence Farmborough died in 1978, aged 91. She never married.
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
ess, a photographer, a teacher and university lecturer, and a nurse.
Early biography
Florence Farmborough, who was the fourth of six children, was born and grew up in BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
. She originally went to live in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in 1908, and worked as a governess for a family in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. Two years later she moved to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, where she was employed as English tutor to the two daughters of Pavel Sergeyvich Usov, a distinguished heart surgeon. On the outbreak of the Great War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in 1914, she qualified and worked as a Red Cross nurse with the Imperial Russian
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
army, and saw service at both the Galician and the Romanian Fronts. During her time as a nurse she kept a diary and habitually took a large plate camera around with her. She would develop and print her plates while encamped with the forces. Extracts from the diaries were eventually used as the source material for her book, Nurse at the Russian Front, published in 1974. She also worked as a reporter for The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
and for BBC Radio. Following the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
and the disbandment of her Red Cross unit, she returned to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1918, travelling via Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, Vladivostok
Vladivostok
The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
and the USA, and crossing the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
on the same ship as Maria Bochkareva
Maria Bochkareva
Maria Leontievna Bochkareva was a Russian woman who fought in World War I and formed the Women's Battalion of Death.Of a peasant family, Maria Frolkova was born in the Novgorod Guberniya in 1889. She left home aged fifteen to marry Afanasy Bochkarev and they moved to Tomsk, Siberia where they...
. During and after this journey she wrote a number of articles for The Times, which were based on what she had witnessed and experienced in Russia in the aftermath of the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
coup.
Later biography
After returning to Britain, Miss Farmborough was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical SocietyRoyal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
. In 1926 she was appointed as a university lecturer in English in Valencia, Spain. During the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
she allied with the Nationalists and worked as a newsreader on Spanish National Radio, broadcasting daily news bulletins in English. She later returned to England and worked for the Women's Voluntary Service
WRVS
The WRVS is a voluntary organisation concerned with helping people in need throughout England, Scotland and Wales....
during the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
, becoming particularly involved in the rehabilitation of Spanish-speaking Gibraltarians
Gibraltarian people
The Gibraltarians are a cultural group native to Gibraltar, a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance to the Mediterranean sea.- Origins :...
. Later she spent four years as a government censor in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, checking correspondence to and from South America. She made a return visit to Russia in 1962, and visited the Holy Land in 1966. In 1974, the year in which her First World War diaries were published, she was the subject of a programme English Nurse With The Tsar's Army in the BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
documentary series Yesterday's Witness. She was also awarded Honorary Life Membership of the British Red Cross. By this time she was living in a retirement home in Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, although the final part of her life was spent at the home of her nephew.
The idea of publishing a book based on her 1914–18 diaries and photographs, which had been carefully preserved by her sister Margaret, came as a result of an exhibition she gave of her Russian memorabilia at Heswall
Heswall
Heswall is a town in Wirral, in the county of Merseyside, England. Administratively, it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. At the time of the 2001 Census, the total population of the ward was 16,012 , which included the nearby villages of Barnston and Gayton...
in April 1971. She declined the services of a ghost writer and, working daily from morning until night over a period of thirteen months, she prepared her manuscript entirely by herself, producing over 400,000 words. By her own admission, that was "much too much", and in the event her publisher cut "almost half of it".
Florence Farmborough died in 1978, aged 91. She never married.