British College of Nurses
- Reference:GB 1199 RCN1/1/1926/1
- Dates of Creation:1926-1933
- Name of Creator:
- Physical Description:0.01m
Scope and Content
Correspondence between the College of Nursing and its members concerning the founding and propaganda of the British College of Nurses.
Folder includes:
Letter dated 26 Sep 1926 from Miss M Alderton to Miss Rundle concerning the British College of Nurses and the members of the board of the College of Nursing;
Letter dated 20 Feb 1933 from Miss Alice Stewart Bryson of the British College of Nurses to Miss Rundle requesting members of the College of Nursing to take part in a tableau;
Constitution and Bye-Laws of the British College of Nurses;
Printed leaflets on the British College of Nurses;
The British College of Nurses - summary of article published in the British Journal of Nursing;
Letter dated 13 Jul 1926 from Mrs LC Carter to Miss Rundle voicing her concerns about the establishment of the British College of Nurses;
Letter dated 5 July 1926 from Miss LS Clark of Whipps Cross Hospital to Miss Rundle asking about the identity of the donor who enabled the establishment of the British College of Nurses;
Letter dated 22 June 1926 from Frances T Edwards to Miss Rundle mistakenly congratulating the College of Nursing (rather than the British College of Nurses) on successful fund raising activities and enclosing photographs of herself and her sister;
Letter from Viscount Knutsford to Miss Rundle concerning confusion within the nursing community between the British College of Nurses and the College of Nursing (undated);
List of president, vice-presidents and councillors of the British College of Nurses;
Letter dated 26 June 1926 from Miss Rundle to Sir Charles Russell concerning the ongoing problems caused by the College of Nurses being mistaken for the British College of Nurses;
Letter dated 22 May 1926 from Sir Charles Russell to Miss Rundle informing her that if an attempt was made to register the British College of Nurses, she would be notified immediately, and that opinion was being sought about the prevention of the formation of the British College of Nurses;
Legal opinion of Mr. W Gordon Brown regarding the British College of Nursing;
Letter dated 3 Jun 1926 from Sir Arthur Stanley to Miss Rundle stating that the College of Nursing probably had no grounds for legal action against the British College of Nurses, but that the Board of Trade might object to the registration of two institutions with similar names.
In 1926, Mrs [Ethel] Fenwick founded the British College of Nurses, which was to be an educational body with membership and fellowship by examination. She intended the college to provide nurses who desired professional self-government, an therefore did not wish to join the College of Nursing [founded in 1916 by Sir Arthur Stanley and Dame Sarah Swift], with the opportunity of professional development. The foundation was made possible by an anonymous benefactor who donated £100,000. The first fellowships were presented, with full graduation ceremony, on 27 April 1927, and were awarded to nurses who had contributed to the advancement of professional nursing, including Mrs Fenwick herself.
[From 'Battle of the Nurses' by Susan McGann, Scutari Press, London 1992, p51.]
The British College of Nurses existed until the 1940s. President, Ethel G. Fenwick died in 1947. [RCN Archives, FB, May 2013]
Access Information
This collection is available for research. Readers are advised to contact the RCN Archives in advance of their first visit.
Other Finding Aids
Most recent online Royal College of Nursing Archives Catalogue is available at http://www.rcn.org.uk/development/library_and_heritage_services.
Conditions Governing Use
Royal College of Nursing