Anna Baillie

Anna Beatrix Baillie
RRC
Born1864
Died21 August 1958
OccupationNursing Leader

Anna Beatrix Ballie R.R.C.[1] (1864–1958), was an inspiring manager who established the first provincial Preliminary Training School for Nurses,[2] and served as a Principal military Matron of Bristol during the First World War.[3][4] She was one of the first supporters and promoters of the College of Nursing (later the Royal College of Nursing).

Early life

Baillie was born in the Plomsegate registration district in Suffolk in 1864.[5] She was the eldest of at least ten children born to her father William and mother Anna.[6] From 1871, Anna's father ran a drapery business in Harleston, Suffolk.[7] Anna was working as an assistant in the family business by the time she was 16 years old.[8]

Early career

Later in the 1880s Baillie worked at Gloucester Infirmary for 22 months.[9] In 1888 she became a paying probationer for three months at The London Hospital under Eva Luckes.[4][9] From September 1890 she became a full time probationer at The London for two years.[9] She was promoted rapidly and in November 1892, just two months after she had successfully completed her nurse training, Baillie was appointed as a ward sister.[10]

Matronships

Bristol Royal Infirmary extension

Baillie was appointed as Matron of The Hospital of St Cross, Rugby, Warwickshire in 1896.[11][12] After two years as matron in Rugby, Baillie was appointed as matron of the Bristol Royal Infirmary, Gloucestershire in 1898.[13] She remained there for 25 years until October 1923.[14][15] Whilst she was matron she oversaw the building of a new nurses home and updated the nurses training.[16] In 1908 she was the first matron of a provincial hospital to introduce a Preliminary Training School for Nurses in England.[2] After her retirement from Bristol Royal Infirmary Baillie became matron of St. Monica’s Home of Rest at Westbury-on-Trym, near Bristol.[17]

Bristol Royal Infirmary

Military service

As part of the preparedness in the event of a large scale military conflict, Baillie was appointed in 1909 as organising matron of the local General Territorial Hospitals.[18] Baillie was Principal Matron Territorial Force Nursing Service 2nd Southern General Hospital (BRI and Southmead Hospitals), for the duration of the First World War, 1914–1919.[19]

Professional activity

Baillie became one of the first supporters and promoters of the College of Nursing (now RCN). [20][21]

Honours

In 1916 Baillie, and Agnes Watt, a fellow Londoner and matron of the Radcliffe Infirmary received the Royal Red Cross at Buckingham Palace.[1]

Retirement

Baillie died twenty years after she retired on 21 August 1958 in St. Monica’s Home of Rest at Westbury-on-Trym, where she had previously been matron.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b "Anonymous, 'Honours for Nurses (continued)'". The Nursing Times. 12: 90. 27 January 1916.
  2. ^ a b Munro Smith, G. (1917). A History of the Bristol Royal Infirmary (. J.W. Arrowsmith Ltd. p. 414.
  3. ^ "'A Great Western Training School'". The Nursing Times. 3 (105): 385–387. 4 May 1907.
  4. ^ a b 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)
  5. ^ Baillie, Anna Beatrix, ONS Births April, May, June Qtr 1864.
  6. ^ See Census 1871, 1881, 1891, Redenhall with Harleston, South Norfolk
  7. ^ William R. Baille, RG10 1833, 30, The General Record Office, The England and Wales Census 1871 for Redenhall with Harleston, South Norfolk; The National Archives, Kew.
  8. ^ Anna B. Baillie, RG11/1965, 91, The General Record Office, The England and Wales Census 1881 for Redenhall with Harleston, South Norfolk; The National Archives, Kew.
  9. ^ a b c Anna Beatrix Baillie, Register of Probationers; RLHLH/N/1/3, 188; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London
  10. ^ Anna Beatrix Baillie, Register of Sisters and Nurses; RLHLH/N/4/1, 132; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London
  11. ^ Anna Beatrix Baillie, Register of Sisters and Nurses; RLHLH/N/4/1, 132; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London.
  12. ^ "Appointment". ‘ The Nursing Record and Hospital World. 17: 29. 11 July 1896.
  13. ^ "Appointments". The Hospital. 23 (595): 187. 19 Feb 1898.
  14. ^ "Bristol Royal Infirmary Nurses' Garden Party'". Western Daily Press, Bristol: 3. 22 July 1921 – via www.findmypast.co.uk.
  15. ^ "A Distinguished Matron". Western Daily Press, Bristol: 5. 9 August 1923.
  16. ^ "Bristol Royal Infirmary: The Training of Nurses". Western Daily Press, Bristol: 5. 31 May 1909 – via www.findmypast.co.uk.
  17. ^ "Yoxford Village Website". 1 January 2025. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
  18. ^ "The Glo'stershire Territorial Forces: Enrolment of Nurses". Gloucester Journal: 10. 3 July 1909 – via www.findmypast.co.uk.
  19. ^ "Nursing and the War". The British Journal of Nursing. 56: 89. 29 January 1916 – via www.rcn.org.uk.
  20. ^ Anna Beatrix Baillie, Register of Nurses, 1916–1923, 22; The College of Nursing; The Nursing Registers, 1898–1968 [Available via www.ancestry.co.uk, accessed on 17 March 2021]
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ Baillie; Anna Beatrix, Probate Record,8 October 1958, available via ancestry.co.uk accessed on 1 January 2025