Evelyn Paget Evans (11 November 1881 – 10 April 1960) was an Australian administrator. She led several organisations associated with medicine and nursing. She argued against nurses being in a union and for giving them improved working conditions. She was secretary of the

Australian Physiotherapy Association The Australian Physiotherapy Association (formerly the Australasian Massage Association) was founded by Teepoo Hall in 1905. The APA has published the '' Journal of Physiotherapy'' since 1954. History In February 1905, the prominent physician F ...

from 1917 until 1956.

Life

Evans was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

in 1881. Her parents were,

Lillie Goodisson Lillie Elizabeth Goodisson (née Price; - 10 January 1947) was a Welsh Australian nurse and a pioneer of family planning in New South Wales. Goodisson was born in Holyhead, Wales. She trained as a nurse and at age 19 married London physician L ...

and her husband Lawford David Evans, who were both born in Wales. Her parents had married in London and then they emigrated to New Zealand. Her father was a doctor and her mother managed a private hospital in St Kilda. Her father died in 1903 and her mother remarried in the following year. Evans had trained as a typist and a key point in her career was in July 1917. She was appointed to be not only the secretary to the ''Australasian Trained Nurses Association'' but also the General secretary of the

which was then called the ''Australian Massage Association''. She was the first paid secretary of the ''Australasian Trained Nurses Association'' and she oversaw the Australasian Nurses' Journal. In 1924 the

Australian Nursing Federation The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) is the largest union in Australia, with 274,956 members in 2018. The union is run by nurses, midwives and assistants in nursing to advance the industrial, political and professional intere ...

was founded and Evans became the secretary to all three organisations. In 1931 the

New South Wales Nurses and Midwives' Association The New South Wales Nurses and Midwives' Association (NSWNMA) is a trade union which represents nurses and Midwifery, midwives in both the public and private sectors of New South Wales, Australia. It was formed in 1931 and has a membership of ov ...

was formed despite Evans' opposition (as it was a union). She (and her employers) believed that nurses should not be in a trade union. She had previously given evidence to the Industrial Commission of New South Wales in 1929; and in 1934 she argued a similar point when she opposed a proposal to reduce the time that a nurse was required to work each working week. The rationale was that improving a nurses conditions at work would only encourage more people to join an over supplied profession. In 1938 the

Gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspaper ...

noted that she had become a sister of St John and she served during World War Two. In 1946 she retired from the ''Australasian Trained Nurses Association'' with a £300 allowance and she was made the vice-president of the newly opened A.T.N.A. House. She would have retired the year before but no one was willing to take the job at the salary Evans had been paid. A.T.N.A. House was a retirement home for nurses and she had served on the committee that had created it. Evans was appointed a

Member of the Order 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 ...

in the 1955 New Year Honours. She was still the secretary and

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

of the

until 1956. Evans died in Sydney at Rydalmere mental hospital in 1960.

References

External links

Biography at the ADB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Evelyn Paget 1881 births 1960 deaths People from Auckland Administrators Australian women in World War II New Zealand emigrants to Australia Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire