Violet Synge

Violet Synge
Synge from a 1941 newspaper
Girl Guide Chief Commissioner for England
Personal details
BornViolet Montressor Synge
(1896-05-16)16 May 1896
Hanover Square, Westminster, England
Died13 April 1971(1971-04-13) (aged 74)
Haslemere, Surrey, England
OccupationGirl Guide executive

Violet Montressor Synge[a] (16 May 1896 – 13 April 1971) was an English Girl Guide executive. She held several roles within the Girlguiding movement, including chief commissioner for England and Guider-in-charge of the 1st Buckingham Palace Guide Company, which was set up in 1937 so that Princess Elizabeth could join.[2] Synge received the Silver Fish Award, the movement's highest adult honour, for services to world Guiding.[3]

Personal life

Violet Montressor Synge was born in Surrey to an English father, Captain Francis Julian Synge and an American mother, Christobel Etrenne, from Lenox, Massachusetts.[4][5] She grew up in Chelsea, London[6] and had one surviving brother.[7] During WWI, from 1914 to 1915, Synge worked in a hospital canteen, then drove ambulances until 1919.[8][9] She was presented at court in June 1920.[10]

By 1939 Synge was living in Rickmansworth and working for the British Red Cross.[11] During WWII, she was a Commandant-Major in the Mechanised Transport Corps (MTC). Early in the formation of the Girls Training Corps she was made a commandant of 1st (Chelsea) Company.[12] Established by MTC,[13] the Corps was for females aged 14 to 20 who planned to eventually join the Women's Royal Naval Service, Auxiliary Territorial Service, Women's Auxiliary Air Force, munitions work or nursing.[14][15][16]

After the war Synge lived in Chantry Cottage, Bexhill-on-Sea with fellow Guiders Agnes Maynard and Dorothy Moore[17] until 1952, when the three women moved to Eastbourne, Hampshire.[18][19] By 1957 she was living in Tilford, Surrey.[20] Synge died at Holy Cross Hospital, Haslemere. She left her body for medical research.[21]

Girl Guides

Synge joined the Girl Guide movement in the late 1920s.[22] Her Guiding qualifications included the Chief's diploma for training.[23] Because of "her record, her ideas and her initiative"[24] Synge was selected to establish the 1st Buckingham Palace Guide Company, so that Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret could experience "social contacts in a wider field."[25] Before setting up the Company she had been Guider-in-charge of a Guide company in Westminster.[26] Of the princesses, Synge said both "were keen to learn anything, and never shirked the common tasks of potato peeling."[27] She retired from the position in 1945.[28]

Between 1945 and 1950 Synge was Imperial commissioner for Guides.[29][30] From 1947 to 1952 she was division commissioner for Bexhill-on-Sea.[31][32] In July 1947 Synge led 1,850 Guides and Scouts in a march at The Mall, overseen by Princess Elizabeth in her first official duty after announcing her engagement to Philip Mountbatten.[33] That November she attended the royal couple's wedding.[34] By 1948 Synge was commissioner of Guides for the Girl Guides Association.[35] She attended the 1948 WAGGGS World Conference at Cooperstown, New York.[36] In 1950 she commanded a parade of 8,000 Rangers, inspected by Princess Margaret, at White City, London.[37]

In 1951 Synge was a member of the World Guide committee.[38] At the 1952 WAGGGS World Conference in Dombås, Norway she was appointed world advisor for Guide training.[39][40] In the same year, she received the Silver Fish Award for her services to the Girlguiding movement.[41]

The Violet Synge Memorial Fund was set up after her death, the moneys from which were used to buy equipment for Girl Guide campsite, Blackland Farm in East Grinstead.[42]

Publications

  • Hints on Girl Guide Tests: Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class and Able Sea Guide (1939) Pub. Brown, Son and Ferguson Ltd - contributor
  • Royal Guides: A story of the 1st Buckingham Palace Company (1948) Pub. Girl Guides Association[43] - author
  • Synge translated the song O Vremeli, my pretty one, as published by Janet E. Tobitt.

Notes

  1. ^ Her name was sometimes misspelt as Singe[1]

References

  1. ^ London Metropolitan Archives; London, England, UK; Electoral Registers
  2. ^ "British princesses like ordinary little girls". The Morning Union. Massachusetts, USA. 1949-03-05. p. 15.
  3. ^ Liddell, Alix (1976). Story of the Girl Guides 1938-1975. London: Girl Guides Association.
  4. ^ "Late Mr F J Synge". Westminster and Pimlico News. London, UK. 1938-09-23. p. 6.
  5. ^ "Captain of Scout troop of English princesses". The Morning Union. Massachusetts, USA. 1948-08-24. p. 4.
  6. ^ "British princesses like ordinary little girls". The Morning Union. Massachusetts, USA. 1949-03-05. p. 15.
  7. ^ "Fashionable wedding". Sussex Express. Sussex, UK. 1922-07-28. p. 7.
  8. ^ "Elizabeth II's 90th Birthday by Janie Hampton". nla.gov.au. 2016-03-16. Archived from the original on 2018-03-23. Retrieved 2025-07-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ Red Cross; Kettering, England, Uk; Voluntary Aid Detachments (Vads); URL: https://vad.redcross.org.uk/
  10. ^ "The Court". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK. 1920-06-12. p. 7.
  11. ^ The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/1623J
  12. ^ "School girl cadets". Newcastle Journal. Newcastle, UK. 1941-09-09. p. 4.
  13. ^ "Girl cadets train in services". The Newcastle Sun. Newcastle, NSW, Australia. 1942-05-15. p. 2.
  14. ^ "New Corps for Girls of 14-18". Weekly Dispatch. London, UK. 1941-09-07. p. 5.
  15. ^ "First girl cadets". The Mail. Cumbria, UK. 1941-09-09. p. 6.
  16. ^ "Guards to drill the school girls". Evening Standard. London, UK. 1941-09-08. p. 3.
  17. ^ East Sussex Record Office; Brighton, East Sussex, England; East Sussex Electoral Registers; Reference: C/C/70/1/4/62
  18. ^ Hutchinson, Geoff (1989). An introduction to Bexhill-on-Sea. London, UK: G Hutchinson. p. 10. ISBN 0951065181.
  19. ^ East Sussex Record Office; Brighton, East Sussex, England; East Sussex Electoral Registers; Reference: C/C/70/1/1/66
  20. ^ Surrey History Centre; Woking, Surrey, England; Surrey Electoral Registers; Reference: CC802/68/7
  21. ^ TWM (June 1971). "In Memoriam". The Guider (Vol. 58 No. 6 ed.). London, UK: Girl Guides Association. p. 236.
  22. ^ "British princesses like ordinary little girls". The Morning Union. Massachusetts, USA. 1949-03-05. p. 15.
  23. ^ "Guiders' Training". Sussex Express. Sussex, England. 1948-12-17. p. 4.
  24. ^ "British princesses like ordinary little girls". The Morning Union. Massachusetts, USA. 1949-03-05. p. 15.
  25. ^ Cathcart, Helen (1962). Her Majesty the Queen The Story of Elizabeth II. New York, USA: Dodd, Mead and Company. p. 39.
  26. ^ "Princesses helped by their work in Guiding". Portsmouth Evening News. Portsmouth, UK. 1958-11-25. p. 3.
  27. ^ "Sister princesses". West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser. Cornwall, UK. 1949-11-03. p. 4.
  28. ^ "Violet, captain of Queen's Guides!". Bexhill-on-Sea Observer. Bexhill, UK. 1985-02-14. p. 14.
  29. ^ "The Spirit of Guiding". Buckinghamshire Advertiser. Buckingham, UK. 1945-12-07. p. 5.
  30. ^ "Guide and Scout Badges". Ormskirk Advertiser. Ormskirk, Scotland. 1950-03-09. p. 8.
  31. ^ "New division commissioner". Bexhill-on-Sea Observer. Bexhill-on-Sea, England. 1947-01-25. p. 4.
  32. ^ "Weekly column". Bexhill-on-sea Observer. Bexhill-on-Sea, England. 1965-11-06. p. 2.
  33. ^ "Parade of Scouts and Guides". The Scotsman. Edinburgh, Scotland. 1947-07-14. p. 4.
  34. ^ "The Queen's wedding". Bexhill-on-sea Observer. Bexhill, UK. 1972-12-02. p. 13.
  35. ^ "Says Princess can't sew". Hull Daily Mail. Hull, UK. 1948-08-16. p. 2.
  36. ^ "Chief Training for British Girl Guides is in Pleasantville". Mount Vernon Argus. New York, USA. 1948-07-02. p. 10.
  37. ^ "Girl Guide Jubilee rally". Bexhill-on-Sea Observer. Bexill-on-Sea, England. 1960-03-19. p. 2.
  38. ^ "More Guide leaders are needed". Torbay Express and South Devon Echo. Torbay, England. 1951-10-22. p. 5.
  39. ^ "Guide Commissioner met Princess Royal". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane, Australia. 1952-12-15. p. 6.
  40. ^ "Filipino widow's move on Guides in Japan". The Sun. Sydney, Australi. 1952-12-11. p. 46.
  41. ^ Liddell, Alix (1976). Story of the Girl Guides 1938–1975. London: Girl Guides Association.
  42. ^ "Violet Synge Memorial Fund". The Guider (Vol. 58 No. 8 ed.). London, UK: Girl Guides Association. August 1971. p. 311.
  43. ^ "Guide Notes". East Kent Gazette. Kent, UK. 1948-12-03. p. 7.
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