Vera Christina Chute Collum (4 April 1883 – 25 February 1957), was a British journalist, suffragist, anthropologist, photographer, radiographer and writer.

Biography

Vera Christina Chute Collum was born in

Umballa Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala has two sub-area ...

, India in 1883 to Betty Chute Ellis and Lucius Joseph Collum. She came to England as a child after her father died. Her mother remarried but Collum never got on with her step-father, John Prosser Adams. Her grandfather was the South Australian

John Ellis John Ellis may refer to: Academics *John Ellis (scrivener) (1698–1791), English political writer *John Ellis (naturalist) (1710–1776), English botanical illustrator *John Ellis (physicist, born 1946), British theoretical physicist at CERN * Jo ...

World War I

Collum ran the press office of the

National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies The National Union of Women Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), also known as the ''suffragists'' (not to be confused with the suffragettes) was an organisation founded in 1897 of women's suffrage societies around the United Kingdom. In 1919 it was ren ...

in London in 1914. There she was strongly involved in the suffrage movement. When

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

started she volunteered to help with the

Scottish Women's Hospitals The Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Services (SWH) was founded in 1914. It was led by Dr. Elsie Inglis and provided nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers, cooks and orderlies. By the end of World War I, 14 medical units had been outfitted and ...

, serving from February 1915 to November 1917. Her initial deployment was to

Royaumont Abbey Royaumont Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey, located near Asnières-sur-Oise in Val-d'Oise, approximately 30 km north of Paris, France. History It was built between 1228 and 1235 with the support of Louis IX. Several members of the Frenc ...

, the military hospital also called Hôpital Auxiliare which was set up to treat wounded French soldiers. She worked with Ruth Nicholson there. Collum started as an orderly but was then trained as a radiographer in the new department. She became extremely experienced and developed the skill. However, in March 1916 she was sent home for rest and recuperation. But on her return journey on 24 March from

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

Dieppe Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newha ...

, her ferry the SS ''Sussex'', was torpedoed. Collum was badly injured. Lyn MacDonald, ''The Roses of No Man's Land''. London, Macmillan, 1980. pp. 139-143. Between 50 and 100 people were killed. Collum was sent back to England for treatment and returned to her post before July 1916. The French Government awarded Collum the Military Health Service honour medal in 1915 and the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

in 1918 for her work. She was awarded the

British War Medal The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were struck in si ...

and Victory Medal by the British Government.Vera C C Collum in the UK, WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920 During her time at the hospital she wrote about her experiences for ''

Blackwood's Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine''. The first number appeared in April 1817 ...

'' under the name ''Skia''. Her detailed descriptions of the staff, equipment and situations in the hospital give an invaluable insight into the hospitals of the war especially during the July 1916 offensive.

After the war

After the war Collum was advised to stay away from radiation work after the results of her blood tests came back. She had experienced radiation burns on her hands and neck. Collum then worked as an anthropologist and archaeologist. She wrote extensively. Collum was elected to the Royal Anthropological Institution in London in May 1924 and was a member of the

Society of Antiquaries of Scotland The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body of Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. The Society's aim is to promote the cultural heritage of Scotland. The usua ...

. She had no formal education and declared herself a student of the world. She traveled in Japan and the Far East. In 1931 Collum excavated a megalithic tomb at Tressé in Brittany. She worked with

Mary Eily de Putron Mary Eily de Putron (1914–1982) was an Irish and Guernsey stained glass artist and archaeologist who also served in the WAAF during World War II. Early life and education Putron was born to Annie Kate Shaw and Cyril de Putron at Bushy Park, D ...

on the le Déhus dolmen and the Delancey Park excavations. Collum moved to Guildford in Surrey where she was living on 25 February 1957 when she died at St Luke's Hospital in the town. In her will she left £15,590 16s 2d.Vera Christina Chute Collum in the England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995

Bibliography

* Manifold Unity,1940 * The Tressé iron-age megalithic monument (Sir Robert Mond's excavation) : its quadruple sculptured breasts and their relation to the mother-goddess cosmic cult, 1935 * Art in Greece, 1927 * The dance of Civa; life's unity and rhythm, 1927 * Race and history : an ethnological introduction to history, 1926. * The earth before history : man's origin and the origin of life, 1925 * Prehistoric man : a general outline of prehistory, 1924.

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collum, Vera Christina Chute 1883 births 1957 deaths 20th-century British women writers British women journalists British radiologists Women radiologists British suffragists British women in World War I British archaeologists 20th-century archaeologists