Sara Vonla Adair McBride, (20 January 1921 – 2 August 2003) was a senior British naval officer who served as Director of the

Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the ...

from 1976 to 1979. She was sent to advise

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...

and later in life served as Chair of the Civil Service Commissioners' Interview Panel from 1985 to 1991.

Early life and education

McBride was born in Ballygarvey,

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

, on 20 January 1921. Her parents were Agnes and Andrew Stewart McBride. Her father was a farmer and miller. She was educated at

Ballymena Academy Ballymena Academy is a mixed gender grammar school in the market town of Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1828 as a small provincial school for children in the town and surrounding agricultural hinterland. Admissi ...

, a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

in Ballymena, County Antrim. She studied English and French at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, graduating in 1942 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree. Having graduated from university, McBride returned to Ballymena Academy as a teacher. In time she moved to Gardenhurst School in

Burnham on Sea Burnham-on-Sea is a seaside town in Somerset, England, at the mouth of the River Parrett, upon Bridgwater Bay. Burnham was a small fishing village until the late 18th century when it began to grow because of its popularity as a seaside resort. ...

, England, as a demonstration of her independence.

Naval career

McBride joined the

(WRNS) in 1949. The organisation had been formed during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and re-established in 1939 to free men to go to war. It started out as just cleaning and cooking but the range of tasks quickly expanded. McBride was sent to HMS ''Dauntless'', the WRNS's training centre in

Burghfield Burghfield is a village and large civil parish in West Berkshire, England, with a boundary with Reading. Burghfield can trace its history back to before the Domesday book, and was once home to three manors: Burghfield Regis, Burghfield Abbas a ...

, to be trained as an officer. McBride entered a human resources role, which was unusual for a woman. Her career made rapid progress, although she was prevented from becoming a French interpreter. This was one of the roles that only men were allowed to do. She was sent to advise

when he wanted to create a women's service. In the 1970s it became obvious that equal pay for women and the need to remove sexual discrimination meant that the WRNS and the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

would become one organisation. The key change was that women would become subject to the

Naval Discipline Act 1957 The Naval Discipline Act 1957 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom governing discipline in the Royal Navy. It governed courts-martial and criminal penalties for crimes committed by officers and ratings of the Royal Navy. It was sub ...

. This meant that women had more serious punishments but it also allowed then to take on roles that had previously been denied to them. McBride, who had experience in

human resource management Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

, became the Director of the WRNS in 1976. Members of the WRNS were subject to the same disciplinary standards as men from 1977. She was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

in the

1979 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1979 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate ...

, and retired soon after.

Later life

Having left the military, McBride became Director of the City of London Region of

Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail banking, retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the "Big Four (banking), Big Four" clearing house (finance), clearing banks. Lloyds B ...

in 1980. In addition, she served as Chair of the Civil Service Commissioners' Interview Panel from 1985 to 1991. She retired in 1991. McBride died in

Downton, Wiltshire Downton is a village and civil parish on the River Avon in southern Wiltshire, England, about southeast of the city of Salisbury. The parish is on the county boundary with Hampshire and is close to the New Forest; it includes the villages of Wi ...

, England on 2 August 2003, aged 82.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McBride, Vonla 1921 births 2003 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Companions of the Order of the Bath Lloyds Banking Group people People educated at Ballymena Academy People from County Antrim Women's Royal Naval Service officers