Ethel Gordon Fenwick (née Manson; 26 January 1857 – 13 March 1947) was a British nurse who played a major role in the
History of Nursing in the United Kingdom. She campaigned to procure a nationally recognised certificate for nursing, to safeguard the title "Nurse", and lobbied Parliament to pass a law to control nursing and limit it to "registered" nurses only.
Biography
She was born Ethel Gordon Manson in Spynie, near the
Moray
Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland (council area), ...
town of
Elgin in Scotland, the daughter of a wealthy farmer and doctor who died later the same year. Ethel's mother then married George Storer, a
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
. She was educated privately at Middlethorpe Hall,
Middlethorpe, Yorkshire. At the age of 21 she commenced nurse training at the Children's Hospital in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
as a paying probationer nurse, and then at
Manchester Royal Infirmary
Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) is a large NHS teaching hospital in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, England. Founded by Charles White in 1752 as part of the voluntary hospital movement of the 18th century, it is now a major regional and natio ...
. Her expertise was soon noted and it was not long before she left for London, where she worked in hospitals in
Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...
, and
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, Californi ...
.
In 1881, at the age of 24, Ethel was appointed Matron of
St Bartholomew's Hospital
St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust.
History
Early history
Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (die ...
, a post she held until 1887 when she resigned her post to marry Dr Bedford Fenwick, becoming known professionally as Mrs Bedford Fenwick.
She was the founder of the
Royal British Nurses' Association
The Royal British Nurses' Association was founded in December 1887 by Ethel Bedford-Fenwick.
It described itself as a union or organisation of nurses for professional objects and campaigned for the establishment of a register of nurses. It wan ...
in 1887.
She was instrumental in founding
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 ...
, the premier foundation of the
International Council of Nurses
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 ...
, and was its president for the first five years. She extended significantly the training period for nurses, and campaigned for the state registration of nurses in the United Kingdom. This was achieved through 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 ...
, and Ethel Gordon Fenwick appears as "Nurse No. 1" when the register opened in 1923. (The Cape Colony had been the first to introduce nurse registration, in 1891).
Ethel Fenwick acquired the ''Nursing Record'' in 1893 and became its editor in 1903. It was renamed ''
The British Journal of Nursing
''The British Journal of Nursing'' is a medical journal covering nursing. In addition to academic material on nursing and hospitals, the journal provides information on people and events as well as photographs and advertisements. There have been ...
'' and through its pages for the next 54 years her thinking and her beliefs are clearly revealed. She disagreed with
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during t ...
and with
Henry Burdett
Sir Henry Charles Burdett (18 March 1847 – 29 April 1920) was an English financier and philanthropist.
Biography
He was born at Broughton, Northamptonshire, the son of the Reverend Halford Burdett, a Leicestershire clergyman, and his wife ...
about registration of nurses. She believed that there was a need for training to a recognised standard and this meant confining entry to the profession to the daughters of the higher social classes. She opposed paying nurses in training, because it attracted the wrong sort of girl. She was very keen to see control over domiciliary nursing.
In 1927 she established the
British College of Nurses
The British College of Nurses was set up in 1926 by Ethel Bedford Fenwick in order to offer its members professional education and support of various kinds. It was to be run by nurses, for nurses, in a democratic manner. Fenwick had many supporter ...
with an endowment of £100,000 from a grateful patient of Dr Fenwick. She was president, and he was treasurer, for life.
In 1999 an English Heritage "
blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
" was attached to her former home at 20
Upper Wimpole Street
Wimpole Street is a street in Marylebone, central London. Located in the City of Westminster, it is associated with private medical practice and medical associations. No. 1 Wimpole Street is an example of Edwardian baroque architecture, compl ...
, London.
Plaques of London: Ethel Gordon Fenwick
/ref>
References
Sources
* McGann, Susan. "Fenwick, Ethel Gordon (1857–1947)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 201
accessed 7 Oct 2010
"ETHEL GORDON FENWICK, S.R.N.. A SHORT OUTLINE OF HER LIFE AND WORK". ''The British Journal of Nursing'' Volume 95, Page 37 (April 1947)
df
External links
Florence Nightingale International Foundation
The Royal British Nurses' Association: Registration of Nurses
*
*
*
RCN: Historical biographies - "Mrs Bedford Fenwick: A Restless Genius".
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fenwick, Ethel Gordon
1856 births
1947 deaths
People from Elgin, Moray
British nurses
British nursing administrators