Of the many ways there are of preserving nursing history - collecting awards which can be regarded as 'Special' is almost as difficult as trying to gain one. Special to an individual recipient that is...
The gold, the silver and the bronze medals awarded for outstanding performance during nurse training; for special performance during the course of duty (especially in the armed forces); for long service to the profession...
There are of course very many such awards - medals awarded even for the best performance in hospital exams in years gone by regularly pop up in auctions and are often beautifully made and presented. They are all marks of excellence - however insignificant the some of the actual occasions leading to their award may seem today. Their worth can only be assessed in relation to the difficulties or otherwise to obtaining them which existed at the time of their being won.
Small wonder then that in the days when simply being accepted as a student nurse was, to say the least, generally difficult, surviving more difficult, and being awarded any hospital medal even if a nurse did survive the three years of training - seriously unlikely for most. Such awards were not the most frequent occurrences. Obtaining a was gold an impossible dream - and dreaming was actively discouraged! Actively....
Other 'Special Award' acquisitions for my own collection include:-
A Bristol United (Southmead) Hospital nurse - a 1932 Gold Medal and Ribbon, a magnificent medal in pristine condition with original ribbon and complete with case.
St Bartholomew's Hospital (1922)(gold) prize medal - complete with original ribbon - in superb condition.
A Haygarth silver medal - Chester Royal Infirmary 1925, complete with original ribbon - pristine!
And lo! A bronze medal from Greaves Hall Hospital, Southport,1970. We still need to photograph this one, but we will be adding it to a photo gallery of these awards.
I also managed to purchase, a little while ago now, a long-service badge issued by Newcastle HMC to Miss M Rutherford for services
as
a Sister and Nursing Officer from 1951-1971 - twenty years service in a
senior positions. One can only wonder, holding this gem of a badge with it's
gorgeous royal blue enamel and silver 3 dimensional sculpted castle sitting
in the centre (saying nothing of the superbly perfect engraving of the words
marking the award, just what Miss Rutherford felt when it was presented to
her... Just how much esteem those behind such presentations must have
held such nurses in.... How well nursing service was recognised....
Her career must have started many years before she became a sister.The point about such awards is that, among other things, nurses and nursing was held, generally, in a fair degree of esteem and that the profession itself marked outstanding performance from among it's own ranks.
The armed services had their own outstanding awards too -
I
had the good fortune to be able to purchase on of the highest awards to a
nurse in the armed forces, the RRC Medal - albeit a class 2. Making
the recipient an ARRC - but this one is very special. (Any award of this
medal is special). Unlike many others on the market we know the surname of
the nurse to which this one was awarded - and are now in the process of
attempting to trace her history and that surrounding it's award. Complete
and perfect in it's own box and with a link to a surviving family member!
The
first recipient of the RRC medal was Florence Nightingale herself. The
second recipient was sister Janet Wells, a nurse in Zululand during the
Anglo-Zulu war in 1897. You can read much more on this
QARANC website,
which states that:-"The decoration is awarded to army nurses for exceptional services, devotion to duty and professional competence in British military nursing. Queen Victoria wanted a special award for the distinguished service by women nursing sisters after the death of 24 army nurses in South Africa".
We will, of course, be keeping you posted about our own special RRC associate's nursing history.
I wonder if there was a gold from St Thomas Hospital (Nightingale) SoN? Or a silver? A bronze would do... All donations gratefully received!! I wonder if Florence Nightingale had a gold which was recently sold on ebay?......
And I missed it... Forgive me? I never would....
WB.
Another Photograph from the past...This time
St Helens & Knowsley SoN, Whiston,
Prescott, Merseyside -
January 1978
Now
30 years ago... Where are they now? In January 1978 this group at the St
Helens & Knowsley School of Nursing was being photographed on the lawn
outside.. Go to 'Photo Gallery.
Who's Who...
Left to right/Back Row to Front.
Back Row: 1.Brenda Byrne.
2.Janet Norris. 3.Karen Larsen. 4.Marie Noonan. 5.Karen Ahern. 6.Janet Naylor.
7.Carmel
Hogan. 8.Linda Halsall. 9.Val Costello. 10.Patsy Clifford.
Middle Row
(Sitting): 11.Julie Rathbone.
12.Mr Danny Lynch (SNO Teaching). 13.Mrs Josie Brown (NO Teaching). 14.Mr John P Dodds (SNO Teaching).
15.Mrs Madge Crowther (SNO Teaching). 16.Mrs Elsie Kelsall
(Nurse teacher). 17.Sister Austen (Nurse Teacher). 18.Kate Harris.
Front Row: 19.Eileen Martin. 20.Anne Murphy. 21.Phillip Chalmers.
22.Val Lomax. 23. Jackie Diamond.
SoN forum member 'Ophorus' sent us this 'photo and says,
"This wasn't a PTS -
I think we were six months or so into training, a couple/three girls had
dropped out at this point, so it was summer 1978.
The person who took the photo was a friend of one of the girls, Linda
Halsall I recall, his name was Mike.. He wasn't a professional photographer
- merely a friend with a camera and reasonable technique, so copyright
should not be an issue (blame me - I have broad shoulders).
The 'photo was taken on the lawn outside of the School of Nursing, at
Whiston; now a building site for the new concrete and glass Whiston
Hospital. So sad - as it was an early two storey local sandstone building,
the most attractive building on the hospital site. I think it's called
progress"....
Well, that seems yet another very pleasant note upon which to end the third
Schools of Nursing Site News, so for now I will say goodbye and wish you all
well.
WB.
| Would you like to see your PTS or training group featured here? We desperately need more photographs to feature. Can you help? If so please Contact us. |
We express our grateful appreciation to those people
who have contributed the photographs used
on this page.
1. News heading photo - John Reeves
2. Bristol Southmead Gold - John reeves
3. St Bartholemew's Gold - Ruth Watkin
4. Haygarth Silver - UKhistory
5. Newcastle LS - Peter Backman
6. RRC Medal photo's- Caulisbo
Copyrights are Asserted