Cowdray Club

Last updated

The British Cowdray Club (originally known as The Nation's Nurses and Professional Women's Club) was founded in 1922 by Annie Pearson, Viscountess Cowdray and founding members of the Royal College of Nursing. [1] The membership was to be made up of 55% nurses, 35% professional women, and 10% "suitable women". [2]

Contents

The Club was based at 20 Cavendish Square, London, and remained in existence until 1974, when it merged with the Naval and Military Club in Piccadilly. [3]

History

The creation of the Cowdray Club is closely linked to the beginnings of the Royal College of Nursing, and both organisations shared a building through the duration of the Club's existence at 20 Cavendish Square. The previous owner of the building was H. H. Asquith. [4] The freehold for 20 Cavendish Square was acquired for the club in 1920 after Rachael Cox-Davies shared a taxi journey with Lady Cowdray, in which time she lobbied for Cowdray to purchase the 'old Asquith house'. Lady Cowdray bought the freehold to the property for £20,000. [5]

The Club was opened in June 1922 with 650 members. By the end of July that year the number had risen to 2000. By May 1923, membership was 3045. In this time the club held and provided 53,076 lunches, 25,705 teas and 17,910 dinners. [6] [7] The Westminster Gazette of 20 June 1922 reported that in the club were several themed rooms, including a 'French Room', a 'Writing Room', 'Silence Room' and 'Recreation Room'. [8] In 1924 the club hosted a dinner for all eight women members of parliament, including the very first female MP, Lady Astor. [9]

According to one source, around 1926 the club's cream and brown colored dining room held three marble plaques. One was dedicated to Florence Nightingale, likely as she was a celebrated nurse and social reformer who helped professionalize the nursing profession, partly by establishing the first secular nursing school at St. Thomas's Hospital in London, and one was dedicated to Edith Cavell, as she was a celebrated English nurse and to some extent a martyr to the English cause in WWI. The third plaque was dedicated to the club's founder Annie Pearson, likely for her role in helping to establish the Royal College of Nursing, and possibly to honor her efforts as a philanthropist and social reformer who served as honorary treasurer for the Liberal Women's Suffrage Union, and was instrumental in making old age pensions available for certain English citizens. [10]

The popular name for the Club, "Cowdray", originates from the First Viscountess Cowdray, Annie Pearson, who was regarded as the "fairy Godmother of the nursing profession". [11] Lady Cowdray wished for the club to provide "a centre for intercourse and recreation and which should also furnish some of those creature comforts which we associate with the word 'home'". Lady Cowdray often brought things for the Club from her own home "to place in positions where she felt they would be 'just right'", and she took pleasure in deciding on and choosing furnishings. [11]

Many of the club's papers are now held at the London Metropolitan Archives, including minutes of meetings, pamphlets, scrapbooks of news-clippings that mention the club, and guestbooks which feature the signatures of health ministers, the Queen of Sweden and many of the founding members of the Royal College of Nursing. [1] [12]

Members

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Denman, 3rd Baron Denman</span> British politician (1874–1954)

Thomas Denman, 3rd Baron Denman, was a British aristocrat and politician who served as the fifth Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1911 to 1914.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margot Asquith</span> Anglo-Scottish socialite, author and wit (1864–1945)

Emma Alice Margaret Asquith, Countess of Oxford and Asquith, known as Margot Asquith, was a British socialite and author. She was married to British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith from 1894 to his death in 1928. Known for her wit, in late Victorian society she was a member of the famed aristocratic group of intellectuals called "The Souls". An opponent of women's suffrage, whose autobiography was lampooned, Lady Oxford and Asquith was a controversial yet colourful character in her time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal College of Nursing</span> British union for nurses

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union and professional body in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916 as the College of Nursing, receiving its royal charter in 1928. Queen Elizabeth II was the patron until her death in 2022, King Charles III continued the royal connection and became patron in 2024. The majority of members are registered nurses; however student nurses and healthcare assistants are also members. There is also a category of membership, at a reduced cost, for retired people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray</span> British politician

Weetman Dickinson Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray,, known as Sir Weetman Pearson, Bt between 1894 and 1910, and as Lord Cowdray between 1910 and 1917, was a British engineer, oil industrialist, benefactor and Liberal politician. He was the owner of the Pearson conglomerate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gertrude Denman, Baroness Denman</span> British suffragette

Gertrude Mary Denman, Baroness DenmanGBE was a British woman active in women's rights issues including the promotion of Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom. She was also the wife of Lord Denman, the 3rd Baron Denman, fifth Governor-General of Australia, and she officially named Australia's capital city Canberra in 1913.

The High Steward of Colchester is a ceremonial office awarded by Colchester City Council, Essex, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doris Beale</span>

Dame Doris Winifred Beale, was a British military nurse and nursing administrator who served as Matron-in-Chief of Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service from 1941 to 1944 during the Second World War. In the 1944 Birthday Honours she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), a first in the Royal Naval Nursing Service.

Charles Torquil de Montalt Fraser was High Sheriff of West Sussex in 2006–07.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Cavendish Club</span> London private members club

The New Cavendish Club was a London private members' club, run along the lines of a traditional gentlemen's club, although it had been founded as a Ladies-only club. It was located at 44-48 Great Cumberland Place in the Marylebone district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eva Luckes</span> Matron of The London Hospital (1854–1919)

Eva Charlotte Ellis Luckes was matron of the London Hospital from 1880 to 1919.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lady Strangford</span> British illustrator, writer and nurse

Emily Ann Smythe, Viscountess Strangford or Emily Anne Beaufort RRC, was a British illustrator, writer and nurse. There are streets named after her and permanent museum exhibits about her in Bulgaria. She established hospitals and mills to assist the Bulgarians following the April Uprising in 1876 that preceded the re-establishment of Bulgaria. She was awarded the Royal Red Cross medal by Queen Victoria for establishing another hospital in Cairo.

Mary Snell Rundle RRC was a British nursing reformer. She was the first ever Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing and co-ordinated the College's work for over 17 years.

Rebecca Strong was an English nurse who pioneered preliminary training for nurses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Williams (welfare worker)</span>

Alice Helena Alexandra Williams, also known as Alys Meirion, CBE, was a Welsh bard, painter, humanitarian, and voluntary welfare worker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annie Pearson, Viscountess Cowdray</span> English philanthropist and feminist

Annie Pearson, Viscountess Cowdray, GBE was an English society hostess, suffragist and philanthropist. She was nicknamed the "Fairy Godmother of Nursing" due to her financial patronage of the Royal College of Nursing and her work to promote district nursing throughout England and Scotland. She served as the President of the Women's Liberal Federation from 1921 until 1923 and was also the Honorary Treasurer of the Liberal Women's Suffrage Union. She was the only woman to hold the office of High Steward of Colchester, serving from 1927 until her death in 1932.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liverpool Maternity Hospital</span> Hospital in Oxford Street Liverpool , England

The Liverpool Maternity Hospital was established as the Lying-in Hospital and Dispensary for the Diseases of Women and Children in Horatio Street, Scotland Road, Liverpool, in November 1841. It was replaced by the Liverpool Women's Hospital in November 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penelope Ligonier</span> English aristocrat and socialite (1749-1827)

Hon. Penelope Ligonier, styled Viscountess Ligonier from 1766–1772, was an English aristocrat and socialite. She is most remembered for her affair with the Italian poet Count Alfieri, which led him to a duel with her husband Edward, Viscount Ligonier, followed by an adultery trial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethel Becher</span> British nurse (1867–1948)

Dame Ethel Hope Becher, was a British nurse who served in the War Office as matron-in-chief of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps from 1910 to 1919.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annie McIntosh</span> British nurse and nursing leader

Annie Sophia Jane McIntosh CBE, RRC was a British nurse and nursing leader. She was a Matron of St Bartholomew's Hospital, London (1910–1927), promoted the fledgling College of Nursing Ltd, and served on several wartime committees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachael Cox-Davies</span> British nurse (1862-1944)

Rachael Annie Cox-Davies CBE, RRC Bar was a British nurse, matron of the Royal Free Hospital, a leader in establishing the nursing profession in the United Kingdom and founding member of the Royal College of Nursing. 

References

  1. 1 2 Archives, The National. "The Discovery Service". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  2. ↑ Caring for Women Veterans: A Brief History of the Cowdray Club, Nursing Clio editorial collective, 28 September 2017
  3. ↑ Philip Howard. 'Women invade the 'Naval and Military' world', in The Times, 1 June 1974, p.2
  4. ↑ Elizabeth Cayley. 'Where Women Club Together', in The Times, 28 March, 1966, p.13
  5. ↑ Bowman, Gerald (1967). The Lamp and the Book : the Story of the RCN 1916-1966. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 72–74.
  6. ↑ London Metropolitan Archives, ref: A/COW/93 - Collected AGM Minutes for the Cowdray Club
  7. ↑ Archives, The National. "The Discovery Service". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  8. ↑ London Metropolitan Archives, ref: A/COW/089 - Scrapbook of press cuttings relating to the Professional Women's Club and College of Nursing
  9. 1 2 3 4 Tim Newark. The In & Out: A history of the Naval and Military Club (2015), p. 171
  10. ↑ "Norris, H. C., "Most Pitiful Thing in the World", Tacoma Daily Ledger, Tacoma, Washington, pg. 61, 14 February 1926
  11. 1 2 London Metropolitan Archives, ref: A/COW/87 - a memorial booklet written by Agnes L. Douglas, who was private secretary to Lady Cowdray 1920-1932.
  12. ↑ London Metropolitan Archives, ref: A/COW/56 - Visitors book for the Club
  13. ↑ Marion Royce. Eunice Dyke: Health Care Pioneer (2006), pp. 80-81
  14. 1 2 Hilary Heilbron. Rose Heilbron, The Story of England's First Woman Queen's Counsel and Judge (2012), p. 156)
  15. ↑ 'Miss Mary Rundle' obituary, The Times, 16 March 1937, p.18
  16. ↑ Nicola Upson. 'The Josephine Tey Mystery', in The Times Literary Supplement, 24 February, 2023
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.