A Colonial Nursing Association was formed by Lady Mabel Piggott in
1895. She saw a need to provide trained nurses for the Colonies to care
initially for British personnel who fell ill and often died for want of skilled
attention. Subsequently this nursing care was extended to the whole
indigenous populations in conjunction with their Medical Services. The
Colonial Secretary responded to her project by asking each colony to report
their needs in this respect. As they all responded positively, Lady Piggott set
up the Association in London; a voluntary body, to select nurses as required
and initially to meet all costs. A fund-raising committee was then formed to
provide for salaries, uniforms and travel expenses. Subsequently the
colonies were to take over these costs. By 1910 some 521 nurses had been
sent overseas and in 1918 nurses also began going to the Dominions. By
1929 some 2,532 nurses had been recruited.
Mabel Piggott died in 1949 aged 92. Meanwhile in 1940 a Colonial
Nursing Service had been set up with the (by then) Overseas Nursing
Association still responsible for its recruitment. In 1948 the CNS became the
Queen Elizabeth’s CNS and in 1954 changed again to the QEONS. During
World Wars I and II, some 55 nurses died on active duty. Thereafter
numbers fell as recruitment demands decreased with the progressive training
of local staff and the onset of Independence. In 1966, when the Colonial
Office was incorporated into the Commonwealth Office, the Service became
part of HMOCS. The QEONS and the ONA were then closed. Under the
patronage of the Queen Mother a new Association was then formed, as the
QEONSA, to enable retired members to meet annually and keep in touch
with one another. This continues today. Between 1896-1966 the ONA
recruited 8,400 nurses for overseas service.
|