The Royal College of Nursing's second headquarters at 1 Henrietta Place/20 Cavendish Street, which Rachael Cox-Davies secured.

Rachael Annie Cox-Davies (1862 – 1944) was a British nurse and founding member of the Royal College of Nursing.  

Life

She was born in Llangenny on 4 September 1862, the fourth of five children of attorney Edward Cox Davies and his wife Charlotte, née Homfray.[1]

Nursing career

Educated at the Anglican St Stephen's College, Clewer, she trained as a nurse at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, from 1893 to 1896, where she remained a nurse until she travelled to South Africa in 1899 to nurse in the Boer War. She then served as matron of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital and the New Hospital for Women in Soho.[1]

During her eighteen-year stint as matron of the Royal Free Hospital from 1905 to 1922, she served as a principal matron of the Territorial Force Nursing Service and was appointed a lady of grace in the Order of St John in March 1912.[1]  

World War I

She received the Royal Red Cross (First Class) in January 1916 with the addition of a bar in January 1919 in recognition for her work as principal matron of the First London General Hospital, a temporary military hospital during World War I.[1]

Royal College of Nursing and other positions

In 1916 she was one of the founding members of the College of Nursing, and remained on its council for the rest of her life.[2] She contributed to the establishment of the college's Irish board and is credited with securing the present headquarters of the college by persuading Annie Pearson, Viscountess Cowdray, in the course of a ten-minute taxi ride, to donate a new building at 20 Cavendish Square.[3][4]

She also held the posts of honorary secretary of the Association of Hospital Matrons, which she helped to found, and director of the National Council of Nurses, and was member of several General Nursing Council committees.[5]  

In June 1923 she was appointed CBE.[6]

Death and legacy

She died at her home in St John's Wood, London, on 30 October 1944.[1]  

Royal Free Hospital offers a Rachael Cox-Davies scholarship in her name.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Davies, Rachael Annie Cox- (1862–1944), nurse". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-62126. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
  2. ↑ McGann, Susan (2009). A History of the Royal College of Nursing 1916-90. A Voice for Nurses. Manchester University Press. pp. 5–67. ISBN 9780719077951.
  3. ↑ "The Right Sort of Women | Royal College of Nursing". The Royal College of Nursing. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
  4. ↑ Bowman, Gerald (1967). The Lamp and the Book : the Story of the RCN 1916-1966. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 72–74.
  5. ↑ Nursing Times, 11 Nov 1944, p. 77.
  6. ↑ "No. 32840". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 June 1923. pp. 4605–4610.
  7. ↑ "Supporting the development of our nurses and midwives". Royal Free London. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
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