Edith Louisa Cavell born in 1865, was the eldest daughter of the vicar of Swardeston, Norfolk. At fourteen she went away from a narrow and restricted home life to a series of schools including Norwich High School. After a few governess posts, including the Gurney family at Keswick Hall and the Barclay family at Colney Hall, she had the opportunity to travel to Europe and became governess to a wealthy family in Brussels. Here she became fluent in French. When her father became very ill in 1895, she returned to England. It was then, at the age of 32 that she thought of nursing.