The 1916 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were published in The London Gazette[1] and in The Times on 3 June 1916.[2]
Owing to the ongoing War, the 50-page supplement to The Gazette included 3,880 names of recipients of honours, military promotion of rank and medals, including the Military Cross (708 people, among them the Prince of Wales), Distinguished Service Order (373) and 1,217 Military Medals.[2]
In addition, more than 500 nurses from across the British Empire received the Royal Red Cross, a huge number noted by The British Journal of Nursing in its issue on 10 June: "The inclusion of so many members of the nursing profession (516) in the Birthday Honours' list is a unique event, and we most cordially congratulate those Matrons, Sisters and Nurses who have earned this distinction, while we bear in mind many others whose splendid work merits recognition."[3]
The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged by honour, with classes (Knight, Knight Grand Cross, etc.) and then divisions (Military, Civil, etc.) as appropriate.