Louisa Wilkinson

Dame Louisa Jane Wilkinson, DBE, RRC (née Lumsden; 11 December 1889 – 4 December 1968) was a British military nurse and nursing administrator who served as Matron-in-Chief of the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) from 1944 to 1948.[1] She founded Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC), and was also president of the Royal College of Nursing.[2]

Dame Louisa Wilkinson
Birth nameLouisa Jane Lumsden
Born(1889-12-11)11 December 1889
Sunderland, England
Died4 December 1968(1968-12-04) (aged 78)
Crowborough, England
Buried
Crowborough Garden of Remembrance, Herne Road
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1914–1948
RankMatron-in-Chief
Commands heldQueen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (1944–48)
Battles/warsFirst World War
Second World War
AwardsDame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Royal Red Cross
Spouse(s)Robert John Wilkinson (died 1918)

Personal life

Wilkinson was born Louisa Lumsden in Sunderland, the daughter of merchant seaman James Lumsden and Louisa Lumsden (née Benskin). She was educated at Bede Collegiate School in Sunderland and Thornbeck Collegiate School in Darlington. On 20 December 1917 she married Captain Robert John Wilkinson of the Royal Irish Fusiliers at the Fulham register office, but he was killed in action in France on 2 July 1918.[2][3]

She died in 1968 in Crowborough of a coronary thrombosis.[2]

Nursing career

She saw service as a nurse during both World Wars.

The 22-year-old Lumsden began her nursing training in 1911 at the Royal Infirmary in Sunderland. She had just finished her training when the First World War began in August 1914, and she promptly enlisted as a reserve in Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS). She served in hospitals in the UK and Malta prior to her marriage in 1917.[2]

After the First World War, Wilkinson became a regular member of the QAIMNS, starting as a staff nurse in the UK. In 1926 she was posted to India.[2]

In the Second World War, after returning to the UK, she was principal matron at the War Office, tasked to set up nursing services for the war.[2] In 1942 she went back to India to organise the Indian military nursing services and centres for auxiliary nursing with the rank of Chief Principal Matron. She organised a training programme in nursing for Indian women that included postgraduate training in nursing administration.[2]

She was appointed Matron in Chief from 1944 until she retired in 48, and after retirement was named Colonel Commandant from 1948 - 1950.[2][4]

Dame Louisa Wilkinson was involved in bringing the QAIMNS and the Territorial Army Nursing Service together in 1948 as the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps. She was the first Controller Commandant until 1954. She also founded the QARANC Association. She was President of the Royal College of Nursing in 1948.[4]

Honours
  • 1919: British Empire Medal[2]
  • 1919: Associate of the Royal Red Cross (ARRC) second class. [5][2]
  • 1941: Royal Red Cross (RRC) first class [6][2]
  • 1943: Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)[7] for her work in India.[2]
  • 1946: Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)[8]
  • 1948: Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) military division[9]

References
  1. Piggott, Juliet (1990). Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps. Pen and Sword. p. 113. ISBN 9781473817395. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  2. Cohen, Susan L. "Wilkinson [née Lumsden], Dame Louisa Jane (1889–1968), military nurse". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/52050. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. Ireland, Casualties of World War I, 1914–1922
  4. "Dame Louisa Wilkinson" (57430 col G page 10). The Times. 10 December 1968.
  5. "No. 31281". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 April 1919. p. 4679.
  6. "No. 35204". The London Gazette (Supplement). 27 June 1941. p. 3751.
  7. "No. 36033". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 May 1943. p. 2426.
  8. "No. 37598". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 June 1946. p. 2769.
  9. "No. 38161". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1947. p. 10.
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