Conyers, Evelyn Augusta (1870 - 1944)

Summary

Evelyn Conyers was a highly regarded war-time nurse. She served in Egypt and Greece for the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during 1914-1915 and was promoted to matron. In 1916 the AIF transferred Conyers to their London headquarters to help reconcile differences between the nurses and medical staff and the Australian and British nursing services. Her contributions to the war effort and nursing in general were rewarded by her being appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), the Order of the Royal Red Cross and recipient of the Florence Nightingale medal.

Details

In her early 20s, Evelyn Augusta Conyers migrated from New Zealand to Victoria, Australia. There she set about studying nursing at the Children's Hospital and then the Melbourne Hospital. She graduated in 1896 and worked in a private hospital from around 1901 to 1903. It was also in 1903 when Conyers joined the Australian Army Nursing Service. The following year, she was employed by the new Queen's Memorial Infectious Diseases Hospital as matron. In c.1907, Evelyn Conyers and Sister Jessie MacBeth established the Lancewood private hospital in Kew.

When wore broke out, Conyers joined the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) as a senior sister. Her first post was at the 1st Australian General Hospital in Egypt, but soon after arriving Conyers was sent to the Egyptian Army Hospital (Abbassia) to give urgent assistance. By July 1915 she had rejoined the 1st Australian General Hospital which had been moved to Heliopolis, Greece. Conyers was soon promoted to matron and sent to the neighbouring 3rd Australian General Hospital. In December of the same year, she was promoted to matron-in-chief of the Australian Army Nursing Service. In 1916 Conyers was transferred to the AIF's London headquarters, where she worked in administration as well as making several trips casualty-clearing to auxiliary hospitals on the Western Front. Conyers returned to Australia in December 1918 and went back to the Lancewood Hospital.

Evelyn Conyers was a heavily involved in the development of nursing in Australia. She was founder of the (Royal) Victorian Trained Nurses' Association (later known as the Royal Victorian College of Nurses) and the Victorian Trained Nurses' Club Ltd, a ten-year board member under the Nurses' Registration Act, a member of the Australian Nursing Federation, and a member of the Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital's board of management.

Chronology

c. 1890

Life event - Migrated to Australia (Victoria)

1894

Education - Nursing Certificate, Children's and Melbourne Hospitals

1901

Career position - Founder of the Victorian Trained Nurses' Association

1901

Career position - Matron at a private hospital in Melbourne

1903

Military service - Sister with the Australian Army Nursing Service

1904

Career position - Foundation Matron of Queen's Memorial Infectious Disease Hospital in Fairfield

1914 - 1916

Military service - Senior Sister with the 1st Australian General Hospital of the Australian Imperial Force in Egypt and Greece

c. 12 December 1914

Military service - Matron-in-Chief with the Australian Army Nursing Service

1916

Military service - Matron with the Australian Imperial Force at their London Headquarters

3 June 1916

Award - Order of the Royal Red Cross (1st class)

12 December 1917

Life event - Returned to Victoria

Jan 1919 - January 1919

Award - Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)

Mar 1919 - March 1919

Award - Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)

December 1919

Award - Bar to her Royal Red Cross

23 February 1921 - 23 February1921

Award - Florence Nightingale Medal and Diploma, Red Cross Committee in Geneva

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

• Reid, John, 'Conyers, Evelyn Augusta (1870-1944)' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 8: 1891 - 1939 Cl-Gib, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1981), p. 93. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080104b.htm. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q21537549. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/91827237. Details
• CA 2001 Australian Imperial Force, Base Records Office, 'NAA: B2455, Conyers E A', B2455 First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920, National Archives of Australia, RecordSearch, https://RecordSearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=1935276. Details
• 'Conyers, Evelyn Augusta (1870-1944)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-764099. Details