Dorothie Feilding
| Lady Dorothie Feilding | |
|---|---|
Recently decorated with the Order of Léopold II: from The Illustrated War News, Feb. 1915
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| Born |
6 October 1889 Newnham Paddox, Warwickshire |
| Died | 24 October 1935 (aged 46) Mooresfort House, Tipperary, Ireland |
| Education | Convent of the Assumption, Paris |
| Years active | September 1914–June 1917 |
| Known for |
being the first woman to be awarded the: Military Medal (1916) Also received: 1914 Star Croix de Guerre (1915) Order of Leopold II (1915) |
| Relatives |
Rudolph Feilding, 9th Earl of Denbigh Henry Fielding |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Nurse, Ambulance Driver |
| Institutions | Rugby Hospital Munro Ambulance Corps |
Lady Dorothie Mary Evelyn Feilding-Moore MM, CdeG, OLII (6 October 1889 – 24 October 1935) was a British heiress who shunned her background to become a highly decorated volunteer nurse and ambulance driver on the Western Front during World War I. She was the first woman to be awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field. She also received the 1914 Star, the Croix de guerre from the French and the Order of Leopold II from the Belgians for services to their wounded.
Born on 6 October 1889 to Rudolph Feilding, 9th Earl of Denbigh and the Countess of Denbigh, Cecilia Mary Feilding (née Clifford), Dorothie was one of ten children, three boys and seven girls, and a distant relative of Henry Fielding, author of Tom Jones.
As a child she was educated at home at Newnham Paddox, Monks Kirby, Warwickshire, and at the Convent of the Assumption in Paris, where she became fluent in French. She made her debut in May 1908 at the age of 18, being presented to the King and Queen of England by her mother.
Like many of her siblings, Feilding felt the need to do her part when war broke out. Three of her sisters, Lady Clare, Lady Elizabeth ("Bettie"), and Lady Victoria would serve, as well as three brothers: Major Rudolph, Viscount Feilding, Coldstream Guards, who survived the war; Lieutenant-Commander the Hon. Hugh Feilding, Royal Navy, killed in action on 31 May 1916 at the Battle of Jutland; and Captain the Hon. Henry Feilding, also Coldstream Guards, who would die on 9 October 1917 from wounds received in action in Flanders just three months after his sister had left.
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