Caroline Keer, (1857 – 29 December 1928) was a British military nurse and nursing administrator, who served in

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

Nursing career

Keer served with the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

's Nursing Service from December 1887, where she nursed at the Royal Victoria Military Hospital,

Netley Netley, officially referred to as Netley Abbey, is a village on the south coast of Hampshire, England. It is situated to the south-east of the city of Southampton, and flanked on one side by the ruins of Netley Abbey and on the other by the R ...

, before she was posted to Egypt from 1888 to 1894. She served in

during the

in 1899 for which she received the

Royal Red Cross The Royal Red Cross (RRC) is a military decoration awarded in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth for exceptional services in military nursing. Foundation The award was established on 27 April 1883 by Victoria of the Un ...

and the Queen's and King's South African medals. In 1903 she was appointed Principal Matron at

Pretoria, South Africa Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothi ...

. At the time of her appointment there were 14 military hospitals serving soldiers and their families; a central duty of her position was to supervise and inspect each hospital. Upon her appointment as matron-in-chief, the ''British Journal of Nursing'' reported: Keer served as matron-in-chief of

Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps 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 ...

from 5 April 1906 to 5 April 1910, retiring two months later.RCN archives (cache PDF version: page476-volume44-11thjune1910.pdf)
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Laterlife and family

Caroline Keer died on 29 December 1928, aged 71, at her home in West Worthing,

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

from undisclosed causes. She never married. Honoria Somerville Keer was a half-sister by their father, Major General Jonathan Keer (1825–1907), ex-HM Bengal Staff Corps.

References

External links

RCN archiveBiodata at QARANC website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keer, Caroline 1857 births 1928 deaths British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British nursing administrators Members of the Royal Red Cross People from Worthing Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps officers