Edith Mary Pye (20 October 1876 – 16 December 1965) was an English midwife and International Relief Organizer. She worked in maternity hospitals for women refugees and was the president of the British Midwives Institute. Along with being a member of Friends Germany Emergency Committee, Red Cross, and the International Commission for the Assistance of Child Refugees. In 1907, she became Superintendent of District Nurses in London, following her lengthy career in international relief efforts and as a midwife. She died at her home in Somerset in 1965.

Early life

She was born on 20 October 1876 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, to William Arthur Pye JP, a wine merchant, and Margaret Thompson Kidston, daughter of James Burns Kidston of Glasgow. Her siblings included

Sybil Pye Sybil Pye (18 November 1879 – 1958) was a self-trained British bookbinder famous for her distinctive inlay Art Deco leather bindings. She was, along with Katharine Adams and Sarah Prideaux, one of the most famous women bookbinders of their per ...

, the bookbinder, the artist Ethel Pye and David Randall Pye, the scientist and father of the sculptor William Pye. Ethel and Sybil belonged to a circle of friends of

Rupert Brooke Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915)The date of Brooke's death and burial under the Julian calendar that applied in Greece at the time was 10 April. The Julian calendar was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. was an En ...

, known as the Neo-pagans.

Career

Edith Pye became a registered midwife in 1906 from Clapham School of Midwifery. She became a member of the

Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

(Quakers) in 1908 and, with her friend

Dr Hilda Clark Hilda Clark (12 January 1881 – 24 February 1955) was a British physician and humanitarian infrastructure creator worker. In August 1914, she was the instigator of what became a Quaker relief infrastructure across Europe and through Russia, the F ...

, a physician and humanitarian aid worker, organized the Friends War Victim Relief in December 1914 at Chalons-sur-Marne. They organized a maternity hospital inside the war zone and helped women and children war victims in France. For these efforts, Pye was awarded the

Legion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

. In 1923, she traveled to China to continue relief work in association with the Women's International League. She organized the Friends' work in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and was involved with the International Commission for the Assistance of Child Refugees and the Women's International League for peace and freedom. During

World War II 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 opposin ...

, she supported the lifting of the allied blockade in an effort to allow food and medical supplies to be sent to starving people in Europe. She was a leading member of the Famine Relief Committee and she lobbied the

Ministry of Economic Warfare The Minister of Economic Warfare was a British government position which existed during the Second World War. The minister was in charge of the Special Operations Executive and the Ministry of Economic Warfare. See also * Blockade of Germany (193 ...

. Between 1941 and 1955 she worked in both France and Greece while continuing her efforts for peace and war relief.

Death

Pye died at her home at 4 Overleigh,

Street, Somerset Street is a large village and civil parish in Somerset, England, with a population of 11,805 in 2011. On a dry spot in the Somerset Levels, at the end of the Polden Hills, it is south-west of Glastonbury. There is evidence of Roman occupation. ...

on 16 December 1965. She was buried under the same headstone as Hilda Clark.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pye, Edith English midwives Nurses from London English humanitarians 1876 births 1965 deaths Women's International League for Peace and Freedom people