Helen Mary Boswell Rushall ( ''née'' Helen Mary Cruickshank, 22 April 1914 – 15 October 1984) was a British schoolteacher who helped to form the National Council of Women in Burma, an affiliate of the

International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's rights organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., wit ...

. In 1958 she was made 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 ...

(MBE) in recognition of her work on the council and her rehabilitation work after

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 opposing ...

Life and career

Helen Mary Cruickshank was born on 22 April 1914 in Rothienorman, Aberdeenshire to John Walker Cruickshank (1882–1969) and Janet Isabella Caldow (1883–1932). She was the eldest of four children; her younger siblings were Jean Caldow (1916–2001), James Robert (1918–1942) and Ian Armstrong (1919–2014). Her brother James was a pilot officer with No. 239 Squadron of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

, and died when his plane crashed in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

on 19 August 1942. Cruickshank attended the

Inverurie Academy Inverurie Academy is a secondary school in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire. The school is one of the 42 secondary schools run by Aberdeenshire Council. Inverurie Academy is located on Jackson Street, Inverurie. History Built in the Victorian Period, the ...

and

Aberdeen High School for Girls Harlaw Academy is a six-year comprehensive secondary school situated 200 yards from the junction of Union Street and Holburn Street in the centre of Aberdeen, Scotland. It is directly adjacent to St Margaret's School for Girls. The academy dra ...

. After completing her education, she worked as a

domestic science Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...

teacher in Chesterfield. In 1945 Cruickshank married Richard Boswell Rushall, the director of Rushall & Co. Ltd., a shipping company founded by his father in Rangoon, Burma. That year, she moved out to Rangoon with her husband, where they stayed for the next ten years. While in Burma, she took an active role in furthering Burma-British relations by helping to form the National Council of Women in Burma, an affiliate of the International Council of Women. She also worked in rehabilitation, helping to build clinics for the Burmese people. During this time, Helen Rushall and her husband had two children together, a son and a daughter. The Rushall family returned to the UK in 1955. They lived in Aberdeen for two years, before moving to

Christchurch, Dorset Christchurch () is a town and civil parish in Dorset on the south coast of England. The town had a population of 31,372 in 2021. For the borough the population was 48,368. It adjoins Bournemouth to the west, with the New Forest to the east. Pa ...

. In 1958 Rushall was made an MBE as part of the

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

in recognition of her work on the executive committee of the council, as well as her rehabilitation work after

. She attended the investiture in Buckingham Palace on 12 March that year. Rushall died on 15 October 1984 in Christchurch, at the age of 70.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rushall, Helen 1914 births 1984 deaths Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Harlaw Academy People from Aberdeenshire Scottish feminists Scottish schoolteachers British people in British Burma British expatriates in Myanmar