Robert Loyd - Lindsay , 1st Baron Wantage Brigadier - General Robert James Loyd - Lindsay , 1st Baron Wantage , VC KCB ( 17 April 1832 – 10 June 1901 ) was a British soldier , politician , benefactor to Wantage , one of the founders of the British National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War latterly called the British Red Cross Society , for which he crucially obtained the patronage of Queen Victoria , and a distinguished philanthropist and luminary of Victorian society . Background . Lindsay was born in 1832 , the second son of Lieutenant - General Sir James Lindsay , 1st Baronet and Anne , daughter of Sir Coutts Trotter , 1st Baronet . His elder brother Coutts Lindsay succeeded his maternal grandfather as second Baronet in 1837 ( see Lindsay Baronets ) . In 1858 , he married The Honorable Harriet Sarah Jones - Loyd , the only surviving child and heiress of Samuel Jones - Loyd , 1st and last Baron Overstone , one of the richest men in the country , who endowed the couple with a considerable fortune and the Lockinge estate near Wantage . Military service . Lindsay fought as a captain in the Scots ( Fusilier ) Guards during the Crimean War . He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on 20 September 1854 at the Battle of the Alma and 5 November at the Battle of Inkerman . The " London Gazette " described his actions as follows : When the formation of the line of the Regiment was disordered at Alma , Captain Lindsay stood firm with the Colours , and by his example and energy , greatly tended to restore order . At Inkerman , at a most trying moment , he , with a few men , charged a party of Russians , driving them back , and running one through the body himself . — London Gazette On 9 November 1858 Lindsay was appointed as Equerry to HRH The Prince of Wales and served as such before resigning on 7 February 1859 . The brief period as Equerry was due to his engagement and impending marriage to The Honorable Harriet Sarah Jones Loyd . Lindsay was later involved in the volunteer movement , serving as Colonel of the Royal Berkshire Volunteers , and subsequently Brigadier - General of the Home Counties Brigade . He was one of the first recipients of the Volunteer Officers ' Decoration . He was also Lieutenant Colonel of the Honourable Artillery Company from 13 November 1866 to 17 August 1881 . Career in public life . Lindsay sat as Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Berkshire from 1865 until 1885 and served under Lord Beaconsfield as Financial Secretary to the War Office between 1877 and 1880 . In 1885 he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Wantage , of Lockinge in the County of Berkshire . He then served as Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire from 1886 until his death . Having been initiated as a freemason , passed and raised in Malta en route to the Crimea in 1854 , he became Provincial Grand Master of Berkshire from 1898 until his death in 1901 . He was appointed the first Chairman of the Council of the National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom on 25 November 1890 . Personal life . Lord and Lady Wantage lived at Lockinge House at East Lockinge in Berkshire ( now Oxfordshire ) . He died on 10 June 1901 , aged 69 . On his death , Florence Nightingale , a close personal friend since the Crimea wrote : " Lord Wantage is a great loss but he had been a great gain . And what he has gained for us can never be lost . It is my experience that such men exist only in England . A man who had everything ( to use the common phrase ) that this world could give him , but who worked as hard , and to the last , as the poorest able man and all for others for the common good . A man whose life makes a great difference for all . All are better than if he had not lived , and this betterment is for always it does not die with him . That is the true estimate of a great life . God bless him and we will bless him . And we will bless God for having made him . " Lady Wantage erected a monument to Lord Wantage on the Ridgeway . There are various inscriptions on the faces of the monument with the one on the North East side , being in Latin and is similar to that inscribed on the Iona Cross on Gibbet Hill , Hindhead , Surrey , namely : Which translates according to the National Trust as “ Peace in passing away . Salvation after death . Light after darkness . Hope in light . " As he had no children the title died with him . In 1908 Lady Wantage officially opened Wantage Hall , the first Hall of Residence in the University of Reading , in honour of Lord Wantage . She died in August 1920 . Loyd Lindsay the Franco - Prussian war and the beginning of the British Red Cross . http : / / www . redcross . org . uk / About - us / Who - we - are / Museum - and - archives / Historical - factsheets / The - founding - of - the - British - Red - Cross ©InfoIn July 1870 , war broke out between France and Prussia . Colonel Robert James Loyd - Lindsay was immediately concerned about the suffering the war would cause . Since the British government had ties with both sides , he wrote a letter to The Times on 22 July 1870 to propose the country create a neutral , impartial aid organisation to help wounded soldiers on both sides of the frontlines . He wrote : “ The news which daily reaches us from abroad shows that nations can at times go mad as well as individuals . It is strange to read in your columns of the preparations which are being made simultaneously to destroy life and to save it . Unfortunately it is far easier to destroy than to save , all the glory being reserved for the former , and ten times the scientific resources being devoted to it . “ The part that we [ the British ] may be destined to take in this war is unknown , but we know well that as soon as a battle has been fought there will be a large amount of sympathy excited on behalf of the wounded soldiers on both sides for the French , our staunch and faithful allies in the Crimea , with whom I , in common with many others , spent two years in constant and friendly intercourse , and for the Prussians , related to us by ties of friendship , and by our Princess Royal , destined to be their Queen . “ The difficulty will be how properly to direct our friendly aid . England has before now marked her sympathy in various wars by largely contributing aid and succour to the wounded on one side but any one - sided demonstration would in this case be singularly out of place . What is done , should be done impartially and , above all , systematically . ” The first meeting When the Prussian army surprised the small garrison of soldiers at Wissembourg , northeastern France , on 4 August 1870 , none of the men fighting for their lives knew that a who ’ s - who of British society was meeting in London to discuss ways of helping survivors . Colonel Loyd - Lindsay had written to influential people , including the foreign secretary Lord Granville , asking for their support after his letter was published in The Times . Florence Nightingale , who had made a name for herself nursing wounded soldiers during the Crimean War , sent a message that Colonel Loyd - Lindsay was “ quite on the right tack ” . At the meeting on 4 August , the group passed several resolutions to create an organisation called the National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War , which later changed its name to the British Red Cross in 1905 . The resolutions called for the organisation to be based on the rules of the Geneva Convention , and that it adopt “ the Badge and Flag which have been recognised by the International Convention of Geneva ” . The badge and flag showed a red cross on a white background , a legally protected symbol of humanitarian aid . The group also resolved that : aid be given impartially to the sick and wounded of the belligerent armies sub - committees of the organisation be established in various parts of the country ( these later became known as Branches ) a ladies ’ committee be established . The organisation ’ s aims were not political . It would not attempt to interfere with state operations , or military medical staff , but only to help them in relieving the miseries of war . The first members A committee of 22 prominent men – including military officers , surgeons , and members of the House of Lords – formed to guide the fledgling organisation . Colonel Loyd - Lindsay was the chairman . The ladies ’ committee was headed by Queen Victoria ’ s daughter , Princess Christian . Florence Nightingale was also a member . Queen Victoria was the organisation ’ s patron , and the Prince of Wales , later Edward VII , was the president . The first donations ©InfoFrom the beginning , The Times played a crucial part in raising money for wounded soldiers . Colonel Loyd - Lindsay ’ s original letter in the newspaper pledged £1 , 000 of his own money . He said : “ If the money is not wanted we shall all rejoice , but I fear that much more will be needed . ” The British public responded in kind . Donations were sent from various sources , including the royal family , the staff of 100 companies , 257 schools , 5 , 824 congregations and parishes , 139 concerts and events , and 11 , 832 individuals . Contributions ranged from £1 , 000 to a few shillings . Little ornaments and trinkets were frequently given to the organisation , which sold them to raise money . Small packets of food and clothing were brought to the organisation ’ s office every day . By the end of the Franco - Prussian war , the British Red Cross had raised £250 , 000 . That would have the spending power of £11 , 425 , 000 in today ’ s money . Getting aid to wounded soldiers abroad Right after the meeting on 4 August , John Furley – who had worked alongside Colonel Loyd - Lindsay to bring the committee together – left for Paris , Geneva and Berlin to see how the newly formed organisation could help . The committee decided to give an initial £40 , 000 to help the sick and wounded soldiers of the French and German nations . Loyd - Lindsay carried cheques for £20 , 000 each to the Germans at Versailles and to the French in Paris . The cheques were drawn from Messrs Coutts Bank . Furley also travelled extensively through the battlefields , distributing aid and reporting back to headquarters in London . In his publication Struggle and Experiences of a Neutral Volunteer , he called the war “ the most terrible contest that has ever disgraced a civilized country ” . He met many of the most senior military commanders as well as witnessing the conditions of the ordinary soldier and local population . The Crown Prince of Prussia wrote a letter of appreciation , saying the contribution “ deserves somewhat more than a simple acknowledgment . On this , as on other occasions of distress , the help of the English public has been poured out with a liberal and impartial hand . The gifts . . . have excited a feeling of heart - felt gratitude amongst those in whose name I speak . In doing so I am repeating the feelings of the whole of my countrypeople . ” ( 2 November 1870 ) The first relief items The total amount spent on transportation , food , clothing , medical stores , surgical instruments and grants to local funds was £223 , 717 . In 1870 , that bought : 256 brass bedsteads 83 , 858 blankets 83 , 962 cotton shirts 68 , 440 pairs of drawers and trousers 14 , 800 pairs of slippers 3 . 5 cwt of disinfecting powder ( 3 , 500 lbs ) 150 boxes of fumigating papers 200 lbs castor oil 2 , 390 bottles of chloroform 33 flags with the red cross emblem , to protect humanitarian workers 100 horses ' nosebag s 2786 lbs calf ’ s foot jelly , thought to be nourishing for the ill over 500 amputating knives 259 pairs of crutches 75 boxes of a dozen nightlights three teapots over 6 tons of soap one refrigerator . After the war , part of the surplus funds was devoted to the training of women nurses at the Royal Victoria Hospital , Netley . The remainder was spent on the organisation ’ s long - term work , including providing relief during the 1876 Turco - Servian War . Early aid workers By 17 September , there were 110 people working for the organisation in the field or at hospitals in France and Germany , including 62 surgeons and 16 nurses . One of them , Dr Sims , wrote a report to the committee giving strong testimony to the value of the nurses . “ From the moment that women were introduced as nurses , the whole aspect of our establishment changed . Only last night a poor wounded soldier ’ s life was saved by one of our lady nurses in a most remarkable manner . ” The first member of the organisation to die on active service was during the Franco - Prussian War . John McIntosh ( pictured ) , a 19 - year - old from Hamilton in Scotland , offered his services on 10 October 1870 . He was sent to Germany to dress wounds . He died on 23 November 1870 in Saarbrücken , Germany . Division of labour between women and men Women didn ’ t just serve as nurses on the battlefield . They were also instrumental in raising money and organising the relief items that were sent abroad . ©InfoThe ladies ’ committee managed the gifts given in the form of goods , keeping track of the incredible number of donations coming in . They sorted the donated items and organised sending them abroad . They also managed the relief item storerooms . Since the ladies ’ and the men ’ s committees were housed at St Martin ’ s Place , relief items were stored in a wing of the disused St Martin ’ s workhouse , the vaults of St Martin - in - the - Fields , and a tent in the churchyard . Local women ’ s committees across the UK helped tremendously . One group , run by Lady Augusta Stanley – whose husband was the Dean of Westminster – had over 100 volunteers mending donated clothing and sewing linen into useful garments . John Furley dedicated his book Struggles and Experiences of a Neutral Volunteer to Mrs Loyd - Lindsay , who was involved in one of the women ' s working committees , “ in grateful remembrance of the work which she and the women of England performed in 1870 - 1 , towards the alleviation of the victims of the war ” . The central committee managed the administrative business and organised the selection and despatch of agents abroad . They dealt with requests from foreign aid societies for more resources and help . They also facilitated the transport of people and goods through areas disturbed by war .