Person
McCarthy, Emma Maud (1859 - 1949)
GBE
- Born
- 22 September 1859
Paddington, New South Wales, Australia - Died
- 1 April 1949
Chelsea, England - Occupation
- Nurse
Summary
Dame Emma McCarthy was a highly decorated war-time nurse. She received the Queen's and King's Medal (1902), the Royal Red Cross (1902) and a Bar (1918c), the Florence Nightingale Medal, the Belgian Medaille de la Reine Elizabeth, the French Légion d'honneur and Medaille des Epidémies and was appointed Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE). In 1891 McCarthy left Australia to study nursing in England. After graduating, she was appointed Sister at the London Hospital and served as Sister-in-Charge at the Sophia Women's Ward during the South African War. This was followed by seven years service with the Army Nursing Service Reserve. When World War I broke out McCarthy was posted to the British Expeditionary Force and served in France and Flanders. As Matron-in-Chief, she was in charge of all British and Allied Nurses working in the extended region - around 6000 nurses at its peak. Dame Emma McCarthy returned to England after the war and worked as Matron-in-Chief of the Territorial Army Nursing Service from 1920 until her retirement in 1925.
Details
Chronology
- 1891 - c. 1894
- Education - Probationer undertaking general nursing training at London Hospital in Whitechapel
- 1894 - 1899
- Career position - Sister at the London Hospital
- 1899 - 1902
- Career position - Sister in the Army Nursing Service Reserve
- c. 1902
- Award - Royal Red Cross received
- c. 1902
- Award - Queen's and King's Medal received
- 1903 - 1910
- Career position - Matron with the Army Nursing Service Reserve at Aldersshot, Netley and Millbank military hospitals
- 1910 - c. 1914
- Career position - Principal Matron at the War Office
- 1914 - c. 1919
- Career position - Matron, then Matron-in-Chief appointed to the British Expeditionary Force in Abbeville, France and Flanders
- 1918
- Award - Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE)
- 1920 - 1925
- Career position - Matron-in-Chief with the Territorial Army Nursing Service
- 1925
- Life event - Retired
Related entries
Published resources
Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions
- McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regulary edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details
Book Sections
- McCarthy, Perditta M., 'McCarthy, Dame Emma Maud (1859-1949), Nursing Sister and Army Matron in Chief' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds, vol. 10 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1986), pp. 218-219. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100210b.htm. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q6792244. Details
- 'McCarthy, Emma Maud (1859-1949)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-744065. Details
Resource Sections
- 'McCarthy, Emma Maud (1859-1949), Biographical Entry', in Australian Women's Archives Project, National Foundation for Australian Women, 2002, http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/IMP0110b.htm. Details
McCarthy, G.J.
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 26 February 2018
- Foundation Supporter - Committee to Review Australian Studies in Tertiary Education