Annie McIntosh explained

Annie McIntosh
Honorific Suffix:CBE, RRC
Birth Date:21 April 1871
Birth Place:Bromyard, Herefordshire
Death Date:20 September 1951 (aged 80)
Death Place:Bexhill, East Sussex
Occupation:British nurse and nursing leader
Years Active:1897-1927
Employer:The London Hospital, St Bartholomew's Hospital

Annie Sophia Jane McIntosh CBE, RRC (21 April 1871 – 20 September 1951) was a British nurse and nursing leader.[1] She was a Matron of St Bartholomew's Hospital, London (1910–1927), promoted the fledgling College of Nursing Ltd (now the Royal College of Nursing),[2] and served on several wartime committees.

Early life

McIntosh was born on 21 April 1871 in Bromyard, Herefordshire, one of at least nine children born to Donald McIntosh (1840–1909) and his wife, Elizabeth (née Lee; 1840–1915).

Donald McIntosh was a draper who became a wholesale clothier and a justice of the peace.[3]

Nursing career

Before McIntosh commenced nurse training at The London Hospital in March 1897, she worked as a governess and nursed at Borough Hospital, Birkenhead for two years.[4]  She was popular with both patients and staff was awarded 1st Prize in her final end of training examination. For the final six months of her training McIntosh worked working as an assistant sister in the matron's office, where she worked for the rest of her career at The London Hospital.[5] [6] In 1905, she became Assistant Matron and later Chief Assistant Matron to Eva Luckes.

In June 1910, she was appointed as matron of St Bartholomew's Hospital.[7] [8] [9] [10] In 1913, during the ongoing debate about nurse registration, and the need for it, McIntosh was said to have banned a meeting to be held in the hospital to discuss the legalization of Nurse Registration for trained nurses.[11]  Ethel Gordon Fenwick -- a former matron of St Bartholomew's Hospital -- was a leading supporter for centralised state registration for nurses.[12]

However, the House Committee, Treasurer and Almoner prevented the meeting as they did not wish to influence the decision of their staff.[13] [14] [15] In 1916, McIntosh was co-opted onto the council of the newly formed College of Nursing Ltd. She was one of the first nurses recorded on the College of Nursing's register and actively campaigned for legal registration for nurses.[16] [17] McIntosh worked for six years on the College of Nursing Council on both its provisional and elected councils. Probably to maintain neutrality amongst the various nursing bodies, McIntosh refused permission in 1927 for a meeting to be held at St Bartholomew's Hospital which promoted Ethel Gordon Fenwick's British College of Nurses.[18] During World War I, McIntosh was also Principal Matron of the First London General hospital, Camberwell.[19] [20]

She also served on a number of committees, including:

Honours

In 1917, McIntosh received the Royal Red Cross. She was awarded Commander of the British Empire for her "outstanding services at the hospital" in August 1917.[22] [23] In 1924, she was the recipient of the French Medaille d’Honneur (argent).

Personal life

McIntosh retired in February 1927 because of exhaustion, initially living in Guildford. During the Second World War she lived in London where she interviewed auxiliary nursing candidates and packed parcels for prisoners of war. In 1945 McIntosh moved to Bexhill, East Sussex to be nearer her sisters. She had been disabled with arthritis for a while.[24]

Death

McIntosh died in Bexhill of pneumonia and osteoporosis on 20 September 1951, aged 80.[25] Her office papers and correspondence from 1910–1927 are held by Barts Health Archives and Museum.[26]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Rogers . Sarah . 2020 . McIntosh, Annie Sophia Jane, (1871–1951) . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . 2020. 10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.65995 .
  2. Anonymous . 18 December 1926 . 'Miss Annie McIntosh, C.B.E. R.R.C' . The Nursing Times . 22 . 1172 .
  3. Anonymous . n.d. . Annie McIntosh, 65995 . Who Was Who.
  4. Annie Sophia Jane McIntosh, Register of Probationers; RLHLH/N/1/6, 6; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London
  5. Annie Sophia Jane McIntosh, Register of Sisters and Nurses; RLHLH/N/4/1, 208; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London.
  6. Book: McGann, Susan . The Battle of the Nurses: A Study of Eight Women who Influenced the Development of Professional Nursing, 1880-1930 . 1992 . Scutari Press . 978-1-871364-62-0 . 77 . en.
  7. For application for matronship, see: Nurse Probationers files; RLHLH/N/8/7– Annie McIntosh; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London.
  8. Matron's Report, I June 1910, House Committee Minutes, 1910–1912; RLHLH/A/5/52, 16; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London.
  9. Anonymous . 4 June 1910 . 'Appointments' . The British Journal of Nursing . 44 . 456.
  10. Book: Moore, Norman . The History of St. Bartholomew's Hospital . 1918 . C.A. Pearson Limited . 402 . en.
  11. 18 January 1913 . Nurses' Protest, Thursday's Meeting to deal with Bart's Protest . The Daily Herald . 7.
  12. Book: Hector, Winifred . Mrs Bedford Fenwick . Royal College of Nursing and National Council of Nurses of the United Kingdom . 1973 . London, UK.
  13. Minutes of the Board of Governors, 23 January 1913, St Bartholomew's Hospital; Minutes of the Board of Governors, 1912–1921; SBHB/HA/1/29, 78–79; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London.
  14. Treasurers and Almoners Minutes, 5 December 1912, St Bartholomew's Hospital; Notebooks Treasurers and Almoners Minute Books; SBHB/HA/3/34, 206–207.
  15. Book: Yeo, Geoffrey . Nursing at Barts: A history of nursing service and nurse education at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London . . 1995 . Stroud . 56.
  16. Letter from A. McIntosh and A.B. Baillie, ‘The College of Nursing and State Registration’, 20 November 1916; RCN4/1918/1/9; The Royal College of Nursing Archives, Edinburgh.
  17. McIntosh, Annie, Register of Nurses, 1916–1919; The College of Nursing, 1919, 217, Registration Number 15; The Nursing Registers, 1898–1968 [Available at: www.ancestry.co.uk, accessed on 11 February 2018]
  18. Letter from Annie McIntosh to the President of the British College of Nurses, 17 January 1927, Matron's Office Papers and Correspondence; SBHB/MO38/38, 1–2; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London
  19. Staffed and run by doctors and nurses from St Bartholomew's Hospital, see: Lost Hospitals of London [Available at:  https://ezitis.myzen.co.uk, accessed on 13 August 2020].
  20. Rogers, Sarah (2022). 'A Maker of Matrons’? A study of Eva Lückes's influence on a generation of nurse leaders:1880–1919' (Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Huddersfield, April 2022)
  21. Anonymous . 4 October 1916 . 'The Supply of Nurses: A Committee of Inquiry' . The Yorkshire Post . 10.
  22. Web site: Matron and Superintendent of Nursing Miss Annie McIntosh . 2022-08-03 . Imperial War Museums . en.
  23. Anonymous, ‘Miss Annie McIntosh, C.B.E., R.R.C.’ League of Nurses Newsletter, December 1951; St Bartholomew's Hospital League of Nurses, League News 1946–1952; SBHLN/LN/1/11, 38–39; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London.
  24. League of Nurses Newsletter, June 1952; St Bartholomew's Hospital League of Nurses, League News 1946–1952; SBHLN/LN/1/11, 7; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London
  25. Probate, London, 1 December 1951 [Died 20 September 1951]; England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1966, 1973–1995 [Available at: www.ancestry.co.uk, accessed on 7 July 2018]
  26. Web site: Office papers and correspondence of Annie McIntosh, Matron . 3 August 2022 . Barts Health Archives and Museums.

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