Gertrude Riding Great War Nurse ?

[izzy]

Buried in my local churchyard is a lady who won the O.B.E in ww2 a newspaper article mentions that she had 31 years nursing service and i would be intrested to know if any of that was great war service or just home front. The lady in question is Miss Gertrude Riding O.B.E.

[Sue Light]

Gertrude Riding was trained as a nurse at West Derby Union Infirmary, Mill Road, Liverpool from 1910 to 1913, so she had qualified by the time of the Great War, but various little snippets suggest that the whole of her career was spent at the same hospital. She became Assistant Matron there in 1921, and eventually went on to become Matron. An item in the British Journal of Nursing at the time of her award of the OBE says:

HEROINES OF THE RAIDS

The King has given orders for the following appointment

to the Order of the British Empire for brave

conduct in Civil Defence.

MISS GERTRUDE RIDING, Matron, Mill Road Infirmary,

Liverpool.

Miss Riding has been most active in the reception and

treatment of air-raid casualties, and her loyalty and

enthusiasm have greatly encouraged the nursing staff and

contributed to the smooth running of the hospital.

When the nurses’ home was partly demolished by a

bomb she did not hesitate, despite the danger, to make

an immediate search of the premises. Later, when the

hospital was badly damaged by enemy action, Miss Riding

was seriously injured. Nevertheless, although unable to

see owing to an eye injury, she was instrumental in

releasing a nurse who was trapped, and she endeavoured

before she collapsed to help another injured member of

the staff. Miss Riding’s conduct has been an example of

devotion to duty and self-sacrifice in the service of the hospital.

British Journal of Nursing, September 1941

Sue

[izzy]

Many thanks for the information on miss Riding she was one of 4 sisters all connected to the nursing profession.The additional information on when she started her training was useful as i did,nt know this information. many thanks.

[Bradford WW1 Group]

Gertrude Riding was trained as a nurse at West Derby Union Infirmary, Mill Road, Liverpool from 1910 to 1913, so she had qualified by the time of the Great War, but various little snippets suggest that the whole of her career was spent at the same hospital. She became Assistant Matron there in 1921, and eventually went on to become Matron. An item in the British Journal of Nursing at the time of her award of the OBE says:

HEROINES OF THE RAIDS

The King has given orders for the following appointment

to the Order of the British Empire for brave

conduct in Civil Defence.

MISS GERTRUDE RIDING, Matron, Mill Road Infirmary,

Liverpool.

Miss Riding has been most active in the reception and

treatment of air-raid casualties, and her loyalty and

enthusiasm have greatly encouraged the nursing staff and

contributed to the smooth running of the hospital.

When the nurses' home was partly demolished by a

bomb she did not hesitate, despite the danger, to make

an immediate search of the premises. Later, when the

hospital was badly damaged by enemy action, Miss Riding

was seriously injured. Nevertheless, although unable to

see owing to an eye injury, she was instrumental in

releasing a nurse who was trapped, and she endeavoured

before she collapsed to help another injured member of

the staff. Miss Riding's conduct has been an example of

devotion to duty and self-sacrifice in the service of the hospital.

British Journal of Nursing, September 1941

Sue

Hello Sue

Could you help me trace records of another nurse from WW1, my great aunt Brenda May DIXON. I believe she trained in Bradford (either St Luke's Hospital or the Infirmary). In later life she was matron at Repton School but I'm struggling to fill the gap!

Many thanks

Tricia

[Sue Light]

Sorry Tricia, but I can't pull a rabbit out of the hat for your great-aunt. My information about Gertrude Riding came from a copy of the Register of the General Nursing Council for England and Wales, which was published yearly from 1922. I have two editions, one for 1928, and one for 1942. From 1922 onwards it was published yearly, and contained details of all nurses who had satisfied the General Nursing Council that they had completed a full three year general nurse training, and those who started their training after 1921 had to have passed a qualifying examination. There were also additional parts of the Register for nurses who had undertaken shorter courses of training for sick children's nursing, fever nursing and mental nursing. But of course there were many thousands of women who had trained prior to the Nurses Registration Act of 1919, and who did not have a training that qualified them for registration, although they may well have been good, experienced nurses.

Anyway (to cut the waffle) - Brenda Dixon doesn't appear in either of my copies of the GNC Register. I see that her birth was registered in 1893, so it seems likely that she started her training sometime after 1913 - probably between 1913 and 1918. If she trained in Scotland she would appear in the Scottish Registers, but it sounds as that's not the case. So it may be that she never completed her full training, and had enough experience to work as a nurse, but insufficient to achieve registration after 1922. Or it could be that she left the UK and went overseas after the war and didn't register her intention to practise while she was away. However, the fact that she isn't in the 1942 volume either makes a rather long absence. I think it would be worth checking some of the other volumes for a selection of years, early and late - presumably she could have been working right into the 1950s - they are held at The National Archives in class DT10, and the Royal College of Nursing Archives in Edinburgh also have a long run (though not a complete one).

The Hospital Records Database shows that there are staff records for St. Luke's Hospital, Bradford for a long period from 1916 onwards, which are held at the West Yorkshire Archives in Wakefield - you might already have checked with them for any mention of her; unfortunately it seems that there are no similar records for the Infirmary. But the Registers are the only official lists of trained nurses, and if she doesn't appear, then tracking her down might just depend on some stroke of luck.

Sue

[Bradford WW1 Group]

Many. many thanks. I'll start with the West Yorks Archives and then to Kew! I begin to wonder if she ever completed full, formal training. I could also get in touch with the school where she was matron!

[royalredcross]

OBE in London Gazette 29 August 1941. Nice air raid citation.

NGG

[izzy]

Gertrude Riding is buried in Halewood churchyard along with her father she died 13/01/1975.