Dame Alicia Frances Jane Lloyd Still,
DBE,
RRC,
SRN (1869–1944) was a British nurse, teacher, hospital matron and leader of her profession.
[Alicia Lloyd Still profile](_blank)
Oxford Biography Index; accessed 22 July 2017. She was one of the leaders in the campaign for state registration of nurses.
Following the
Nurses Registration Act 1919
The Nurses Registration Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. 5 c. 94) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom
It set up the General Nursing Council, and was the culmination of a long campaign led by Ethel Gordon Fenwick to establish a register of nurse ...
she was a member of the
General Nursing Council
The General Nursing Council for England and Wales was established by the Nurses Registration Act 1919 to administer the register of nurses. It was responsible for deciding the rules for admission to the register.
There were nine lay members a ...
(1920-1937).
As chairwoman of the General Nursing Council's first Education and Examinations Committee she helped establish the first national examination standards for the registration of nurses.
Early life and nursing career
Alice Frances Jane Lloyd Still was born in
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...
,
Ceylon on 4th November 1869 to Isabel (nee Clements) and Henry Lloyd Still, a member of the
Ceylon Civil Service.
She was the eldest of four children and grew up in Walton, by
Clevedon
Clevedon (, ) is an English seaside town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, part of the ceremonial county of Somerset. It recorded a parish population of 21,281 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, estimated at 21,442 ...
,
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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.
Her admiration of
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, i ...
led her to choose to become a nurse.
She commenced nursing in July 1893 at the Cottage Hospital,
Warminster
Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-c ...
,
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
as at the time the larger hospitals with nursing schools did not accept women younger than 25 years to train.
Lloyd Still became a probationer at the
Florence Nightingale School at
St. Thomas' Hospital, London, UK on 29th December 1894, under matron Miss Gordon.
Miss Nightingale was still closely involved with the school, the Nightingale Fund and the appointment of new hospital
sisters
A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...
at St. Thomas' Hospital.
Lloyd Still completed her training and was appointed Sister of Charity ward in the same year (1899); receiving directly from
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, i ...
a letter, a medical text book and a posy of flowers on her appointment.
Later nursing career: hospital matron, nurse educator and leader of nursing as a profession
Lloyd-Still was appointed matron first at the
Brompton Hospital
Royal Brompton Hospital is the largest specialist heart and lung medical centre in the United Kingdom. It is managed by Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust.
History Consumption in the 19th Century
In the 19th century, consumption was a co ...
, 1904, then the
Middlesex Hospital
Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...
, 1909 and then
St. Thomas' Hospital 1913 ,where she was also superintendent of the
Nightingale Training School, until her retirement in 1937.
During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
she was Principal Matron of the No. 5 London (City of London) General Hospital, and was awarded the
Royal Red Cross
The Royal Red Cross (RRC) is a military decoration awarded in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth for exceptional services in military nursing.
Foundation
The award was established on 27 April 1883 by Queen Victoria, with a single class of Mem ...
and the
C.B.E.
for her services.
As matron of St. Thomas Hospital she was a founding member of the College of Nursing Ltd (March 27th, 1916) which was established to promote better and uniform education and training of nurses, maintain a register of nurses who had certificates of proficiency and support parliamentary actions to in support of the profession of nursing.
The General Nursing Council
Following the
Nurses Registration Act 1919
The Nurses Registration Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. 5 c. 94) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom
It set up the General Nursing Council, and was the culmination of a long campaign led by Ethel Gordon Fenwick to establish a register of nurse ...
Matron Lloyd-Still was appointed by the Minister of Health to the first caretaker
General Nursing Council
The General Nursing Council for England and Wales was established by the Nurses Registration Act 1919 to administer the register of nurses. It was responsible for deciding the rules for admission to the register.
There were nine lay members a ...
.
Llyod Still was subsequently elected to the General Nursing Council as a nurse member by nurses in 1920, 1927 and 1932 remaining a member of the Council until 1937.
She was chairwoman of the education and examinations committee from 1920.
She was the second name, after
Ethel Fenwick, on the newly established register of the
General Nursing Council
The General Nursing Council for England and Wales was established by the Nurses Registration Act 1919 to administer the register of nurses. It was responsible for deciding the rules for admission to the register.
There were nine lay members a ...
in 1921.
Other national and international professional contributions
Lloyd Still was a member of the Nursing Board of
Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC; known as ''the QAs'') is the nursing branch of the British Army Medical Services.
History
Although an "official" nursing service was not established until 1881, the corps traces its heritage t ...
(1917-1935);
a member of the Council of the College of Nursing (later the
Royal College of Nursing
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916, receiving its royal charter in 1928. Queen Elizabeth II was the patron until her death in 2022. ...
) 1920--1938 and a Vice President 1938-1944,
Vice President of the National Council of Nurses of Great Britain and Ireland and founder and president of the Association of Hospital Matrons 1919-1937.
Lloyd Still was nominated by the
British Red Cross Society
The British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with mor ...
to attend the Cannes Medical Conference 1919 which established the
League of Red Cross Societies
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is a worldwide humanitarian aid organization that reaches 160 million people each year through its 192-member National Societies. It acts before, during and after disas ...
.
She was instrumental in taking forward in Great Britain the Medical Conference's resolution on nursing: "''That the extension of the employment of Public Health Nurses or Health Visitors be furthered in every possible manner in all countries and that standardized educational centers for training such nurses or visitors be developed''."p14
Lloyd Still was a member of the committee that established a public health nursing course , open to overseas nurses , at
Bedford College, University of London in 1921.
She attended
International Council of Nursing meetings as representative of Great Britain in 1927 and 1929 and was elected President in 1933. She was president of the
Florence Nightingale International Foundation
The International Council of Nurses (ICN) is a federation of more than 130 national nurses associations. It was founded in 1899 and was the first international organization for health care professionals. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerl ...
1934-1939.
Awards
Royal Red Cross
The Royal Red Cross (RRC) is a military decoration awarded in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth for exceptional services in military nursing.
Foundation
The award was established on 27 April 1883 by Queen Victoria, with a single class of Mem ...
awarded in 1917
Commander of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
awarded in 1917
Lady of Grace of the
Order of St.John in 1922
Florence Nightingale Medal
The Florence Nightingale Medal is an international award presented to those distinguished in nursing and named after British nurse Florence Nightingale. The medal was established in 1912 by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), f ...
awarded in 1933
Dame of the British Empire awarded in 1934
Medaille d'honneur de l'assistance publique in 1934
Retirement
Lloyd-Still retired to
Curry Rivel
Curry Rivel is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated west of Somerton and east of Taunton in the South Somerset district. The parish has a population of 2,148. The parish includes the hamlet of Burton Pynsent.
History
The ...
,
Sedgemoor in Somerset, during the Second World War. When she became terminally ill, she moved in with her younger sister in
Buckfast, Devon, where she was nursed by two Nightingale nurses. She died there on 23 July 1944. A funeral service was held in the chapel at St Thomas's Hospital, and she was buried on 26 July in
Brookwood cemetery
Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regi ...
, Surrey, in an area that she had acquired for Nightingale nurses.
Florence Nightingale Museum
Lloyd Still collected material things used or associated with Florence Nightingale as important artefacts for the history of the nursing profession.
Her papers helped to found the Florence Nightingale Museum (Museum and Galleries Commission Registration #584), opened in 1989, which was based on the life of
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, i ...
. It is on the historical site of the first purpose-built nurse training institution, the Nightingale Training School for Nurses, which closed in 1996, at
St Thomas' Hospital.
The collections held by the Museum may be traced back to the gifts from Florence Nightingale to the nurses at St Thomas' in the late 19th century; Lloyd Still was Matron of St Thomas' from 1913-37. There were plans for a Nightingale Museum as early as the 1930s but these were shelved with the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
and not reconsidered until the late 1970s.
Prior to the formation the collections were displayed and received acclaim on major anniversaries such as 1954 (the Crimean Centenary), 1960 (the Nightingale Training School Centenary) and 1970 (the 150th anniversary of Nightingale's birth). The Florence Nightingale Museum Trust was formed in 1983 and is run as an independent charity with strong links with
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS foundation trust of the English National Health Service, one of the prestigious Shelford Group. It runs Guy's Hospital in London Bridge, St Thomas' Hospital in Waterloo, Evelina London Child ...
, with the British
National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
in general, and with nursing organizations across the world. The Museum aims to provide excellent educational services for a range of users from special educational needs groups in the local community to international nurses. The Museum had 27,400 visitors in 2004. The Museum is a Registered Charity #299576.
Students
Among Lloyd Still's notable students was
Theodora Turner, a future President of the
Royal College of Nursing
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916, receiving its royal charter in 1928. Queen Elizabeth II was the patron until her death in 2022. ...
.
References
Bibliography
* Lucy Seymer, ''Dame Alicia Lloyd Still, D.B.E. R.R.C., 1869-1944: A memoir
ith Portraits', Nightingale Fellowship, St. Thomas's Hospital, Smith & Ebbs, London (1953)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lloydstill, Alicia
1869 births
1944 deaths
Nurses from London
British nursing administrators
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Members of the Royal Red Cross