HISTORIC ENGLISH WOMEN WHO SAVED LIVES
By Glynn Burrows
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE
For most of us, when we hear that short phrase, we immediately think of Nurses and, the most famous Nurse in England has to have been Florence Nightingale.
We all know the story of “The Lady With The Lamp” and how she nursed hundreds of soldiers during The Crimean War, but the thing we should all hear about is that Florence was instrumental in a revolution in the way healthcare and nursing were carried out.
In the Crimean War, 16,000 of the 18,000 deaths were not due to battle wounds, they were through preventable diseases and infections spread by poor sanitation.
After she returned from the Crimea, Florence got involved in setting up health care for all and she started to educate people about the best ways to care for others. Trained nurses were sent into workhouses and this meant that even the poorest of society received proper health care, for many of them for the first time in their lives.
The Lady With The Lamp was a true heroine; her new nursing ways saved millions of lives.
ANNA SEWELL
My next heroine was someone who helped alleviate suffering in animals and, even though the RSPCA was already formed, her book, Black Beauty, was used to illustrate the plight of horses. Through that, the care of animals became something in the public psyche.
Anna Sewell was born in Great Yarmouth in Norfolk and, although she lived in many places during her life, she spent much of her later life in Norfolk too. Disabled after an accident, she relied on a pony and trap to allow her to get around outside and she noticed that many horses were pained by the commonly used “bearing rein” and she vowed that this would be outlawed as it was so cruel.
Her book has been one of the most read books of all time and her influence on the attitude towards cruelty to animals, both for the public of her day and right up to us today, has prevented the suffering and death of many millions of animals thanks to her the work of the RSPCA into the spotlight.
EDITH CAVELL
My final martyr was Edith Cavell. Edith was an unassuming Norfolk woman, a Nurse who had travelled to Brussels to take up a position as Matron in the first training hospital in Belgium. Although she happened to be in Norfolk when the First World War broke out, she felt it was her duty to return to Belgium and did so immediately.
Her hospital treated many hundreds of casualties from both sides, as well as civilians and Edith started to help British, French, and Belgium soldiers trapped behind the German lines, to escape back home. In all, she helped around 200 soldiers to escape back to safety. The price she paid for all her work was to be condemned to death by firing squad and she was shot on 12th October 1915. Repatriated to Norwich after the War, she is now buried on the grounds of Norwich Cathedral and her memorial is just beside the Erpingham Gate in the Cathedral Precinct.
The one thing that all these women have in common, apart from them being women, is that they were just ordinary human beings who did extraordinary things. I don’t expect any of them thought they were special in any way and their stories just go to show that it is amazing what people do when circumstances arise.
Glynn Burrows is the owner of Norfolk Tours in England where he provides customized, private tours and also helps his clients trace their English family history. If you are thinking about taking a vacation to England, visit www.Norfolk-Tours.co.uk.
