Norah Annandale
Norah Augusta Junita Annandale was born on 15th August 1874, in Dunbar. She was the youngest daughter of Joanna and Alexander Annandale, a paper manufacturer and owner of the Beltonford Paper Mill, farm and estate at West Barns, Dunbar (John Gray Centre, 2025). Norah Annandale attended Allenswood Boarding Academy (Annandale Genealogy, 2023), in London which sought to give middle- and upper-class girls a progressive and academic education (Wikipedia, 2025). Schools which sought to provide genuinely academic education for girls, such as Allenswood were increasingly common throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century and while marriage remained the primary societal role of young women, increasingly there were opportunities for women to be educated and to work and support themselves financially. Like a number of women involved with the National Vigilance Association (Eastern Division) during this time, Norah Annandale never married. However, while others who worked with and for the NVA were paid, it seems that Norah Annandale was not, indicating that she had private income which supported her financially.
During the First World War she engaged in voluntary work on and off at the Beaulieu VAD Hospital in Harrogate, working primarily as a parlourmaid. She was also involved with both the National Vigilance Association, and the Overseas Club in Edinburgh, where she was described as “one of the Heads of the Club” (British Red Cross, 2025).
Norah Annandale was the Honorary Treasurer of the National Vigilance Association (Eastern Division) from 1915 until 1948.
She was active in several other organisations which also focused on vigilance and the promotion of safety and moral welfare for women. For example, she was a member of the Executive Committee of the St. Margaret’s Rescue Shelter for Girls in Edinburgh which offered accommodation and training for domestic service for young women who had been, or were deemed to be, at risk of engaging in prostitution (Edinburgh Rescue Shelter, 1936).
She was also the Secretary of the Leith Branch of the Scottish Girls Friendly Society. The Girls Friendly Society had been established in 1875 and soon had branches across the UK. Initially supported by the Anglican Church the GFS’s aim was to provide a service to protect working class girls who had left their homes to move to urban areas for employment. They did this through focusing on prevention work, mainly in the form of providing cheap accommodation as well as befriending and guidance to young women working in domestic or factory settings (Girls Friendly Society website, 2025). In Edinburgh this was provided by the GFS at the Alexandra Hostel on the Mound, which had “an open door for any stranded or friendless girl or woman” (Anon, 1935). Norah Annadale was the Convenor of the Alexandra Hostel Committee for many years (Scottish Girls’ Friendly Society, 1931).
In 1937 she was awarded an OBE for her “political and public services in Leith”, with the newspaper reporting her to be “an active social worker” (Anon, 1937). She died in Edinburgh on 7th May 1953.
References:
Annandale Genealogy website, (2023), A Study of Annandale Families: Norah Augusta Junita Annandale. Available at: Annandale Family History
Anon. (1935), ‘Scottish Girls Friendly Society’, The Scotsman, 15th March, page13.
Anon. (1937) ‘Order of the British Empire’, Edinburgh Evenings News, 1st February, page 7.
British Red Cross, (2025) British Red Cross volunteers during WW1. Available at: British Red Cross Volunteers website
Edinburgh Rescue Shelter (1923) Annual Report – The Edinburgh Rescue Shelter, No. 18 Dean Terrace. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Rescue Shelter.
Girls Friendly Society, (2025) Our History. Available at: Girls Friendly Society website
John Gray Centre, (2025) The Story of West Barns: A Community Exhibition. Available at: John Gray Centre website
Scottish Girls’ Friendly Society (1931) Scottish Girls’ Friendly Society (Jubilee Commemoration Scheme) Fifth Annual Report 1930-31: The Alexandra Hostel. Edinburgh: Scottish Girls’ Friendly Society.
Wikipedia, (2025) Allenswood Boarding School. Available at: Allenswood Board Academy wikipedia website