Agnes Renton woman of courage (military, years, officers, women)

[dizzybint]

We have rave reviews about Florence Nightingale.. a well off women who pioneered nursing but others did as well if not more for fallen soldiers, this woman is buried in a Glasgow Church with her husband.. Agnes Harkness Renton. Agnes Harkness

By 1844, the widowed Mrs Reston had been reduced to pauperism, and was an inmate in the Town’s Hospital in Glasgow, having recently moved with other inmates from the old lunatic asylum. She was by now 72 years old, and gained a livelihood as a sick nurse. A committee of officers launched an appeal for "this truly valiant and deserving, though sadly neglected woman." Amongst the subscribers to the appeal were Queen Victoria and the dowager Queen Adelaide, although ninety per cent of the subscriptions came from the military. The collection secured an annuity for Mrs Reston of £30 a year. She was now independent, but, as her home had long been broken up, she preferred to remain in the hospital, paying for her board. After setting aside sufficient for her funeral expenses, anything left she gave to charity.

Mrs Reston died on Christmas Eve, 1856, at the age of 85, after being confined to bed for eight weeks, and was buried in Glasgow's Southern Necropolis. The gravestone stands at the north-eastern corner of the cemetery, with the inscription:

"In memory of James Reston, late serjeant 94th Regiment, who died on the 24th day of October, 1834, aged 63 years, and of Agnes Harkness, his wife, "The Heroine of Matagorda", who died 24 December 1856, aged 85 years.