Ellen Musson

Dame Ellen Musson

Dame Ellen Mary Musson, DBE, RRC (11 August 1867 – 7 November 1960)[1] was Chair of the General Nursing Council for England and Wales. Her nursing career began in 1898. She served prominently at St Bartholomew's Hospital, West Smithfield, London.

Biography

Musson was raised in Clitheroe, Lancashire. Her father, William Edward Musson, was a surgeon, trained at St Thomas' Hospital. She decided, aged 27, to train as a nurse. She started her training on 1 February 1895 at St Bartholomew's, completing in 1898 with that year's highest marks as their gold medallist.[2][3][4] She worked as night superintendent and sister before being promoted in 1906 to assistant matron at St Bartholomew's, where she was an active member of the League of St. Bartholomew’s Nurses.[4]

By 1908 Musson was matron at the Swansea General and Eye Hospital,[5] a post she held for three years,[6] where she actively supported the campaign for the eventual Nurses Registration Act 1919. This included co-signing a published letter of support alongside women's campaigners such as Clementina Black, Charlotte Carmichael Stopes and Millicent Fawcett and leading nurses such as Sidney Browne, Annie Warren Gill and Ethel Gordon Fenwick[5]

In December 1908 Musson was appointed matron of Birmingham General Hospital.[6] Musson was the twenty-sixth nurse to be registered with the General Nursing Council in September 1921.[3] Her commitment to furthering the nursing profession included holding the position of Treasurer, International Council of Nurses from 1929 to 1947.[7][8]

She spent the next two decades working to improve the status of nursing with the College of Nursing and the General Nursing Council.[9]

Territorial Force Nursing Service

Musson joined the Territorial Force Nursing Service (TFNS) when it was established in 1908, and served as principal matron from 1915 to 1918 during the First World War.[10] The TFNS was the nursing wing of the Territorial Army, it consisted of civilian nurses who would provide a reserve of trained nurses for the army, in the event of war. Under the organisation of the TFNS, the country was divided into six regions, and Musson was appointed one of the two matrons for the Birmingham Region. Like other matrons in the TFNS, she encouraged her nurses to join.[11]

Representation on Committees

Musson was a founder member of the Royal College of Nursing, the sixth member on the register, joining in 1916.[2] She served as a Council Member from 1916 to 1939;[12] as Honorary Treasurer from 1939 to 1949;[12] and as Vice-President from 1950 to 1960.[10]

Musson was the first nurse to act as Chair of the General Nursing Council from 1926 to 1943.[12][13] In 1937 Musson sat on the Inter-Departmental Committee on Nursing Services (Athlone Report),[14] and in 1945 she became president for one year of the National Council of Nurses of Great Britain and Northern Ireland when their work was revived post-war.[12]

Honours

Death

Dame Ellen Musson died in Eastbourne, Sussex, on 7 November 1960, aged 93.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Dame Ellen Musson". The Times. London, England, UK. 9 November 1960. p. 16. Retrieved 5 August 2014 – via Times Digital Archive: Brighton and Hove Libraries.
  2. ^ a b "Royal College of Nursing Register". RCN Historic Nursing Registers Collection Ancestry. 1916. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b "General Nursing Council Register". RCN Historical Nursing Registers Collection via Ancestry. 1937. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Appointments". The Nursing Record (London, England). 30 (794). 20 June 1903 – via RCN Historical Nursing Journals, Female Forerunners Worldwide, Cengage-Gale.
  5. ^ a b "Letters to the Editor". The Nursing Record (London, England). 41 (1060). 25 July 1908 – via RCN Historical Nursing Journals Collection, Female Forerunners Worldwide, Cengage-Gale.
  6. ^ a b "Appointments". The Nursing Record (London, England). 41 (1080). 12 December 1908 – via RCN Historical Nursing Journals, Female Forerunners Worldwide, Cengage-Gale.
  7. ^ "Obituary". Nursing Times (London, England). 73 (29) – via RCN Historical Nursing Journals Collection, Female Forerunners Worldwide.
  8. ^ "Souvenir of the Sixth ICN Conference". The Trained Nurse (New York, NY, United States). 83 (1). July 1929 – via RCN Historical Nursing Journals, Female Forerunners Worldwide, Cengage Gale.
  9. ^ Dame Ellen Musson career history Archived 24 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine, rcn.org.uk; accessed 5 December 2016.
  10. ^ a b "Musson, Dame Ellen Mary". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/49195. Retrieved 24 January 2024. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  11. ^ Dame Ellen Musson career history, ibid. Archived 24 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h "Dame Ellen Musson". Nursing Times (London, England). 11 November 1960 – via RCN Historical Nursing Journals Collection:, Female Forerunners Worldwide, Cengage Gale.
  13. ^ "Obituary". District Nursing (London, England). 3 (9) – via RCN Historical Nursing Journals Collection, Female Forerunners Worldwide, Cengage Gale.
  14. ^ "Inter-Departmental Committee on Nursing Services (Athlone)". Nursing Times (London, England). 58. 30 March 1962 – via RCN Historical Nursing Journals Collection Female Forerunners Worldwide, Cengage Gale.
  15. ^ "News of the Week". Nursing Times (London, England). 65 (29). 24 July 1969 – via RCN Historical Nursing Journals Collection, Female Forerunners Worldwide, Cengage Gale.
  16. ^ Profile, Dictionary of National Biography; accessed 1 July 2017.(subscription required)