Annie McIntosh


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

Early life

McIntosh was born on 21 April 1871 in Bromyard, Herefordshire, one of at least nine children born to Donald McIntosh and his wife, Elizabeth.
Donald McIntosh was a draper who became a wholesale clothier and a justice of the peace.

Nursing career

Before McIntosh commenced nurse training at The London Hospital in March 1897, she worked as a governess and nursed at Borough Hospital, Birkenhead for two years. She was popular with both patients and staff and she was awarded 1st Prize in her final end of training examination. For the final six months of her training McIntosh worked as an assistant sister in the matron's office. This was where she worked for the rest of her career at The London Hospital. In 1905, she became Assistant Matron and later Chief Assistant Matron to Eva Luckes.
In June 1910, she was appointed as matron of St Bartholomew's Hospital. In 1913, during the ongoing debate about nurse registration, and the need for it, McIntosh was said to have banned a meeting in the hospital to discuss the legalization of Nurse Registration for trained nurses. Ethel Gordon Fenwick -- a former matron of St Bartholomew's Hospital -- was a leading supporter for centralised state registration for nurses.
However, the House Committee, Treasurer and Almoner prevented the meeting as they did not wish to influence the decision of their staff. In 1916, McIntosh was co-opted onto the council of the newly formed College of Nursing Ltd. She was one of the first nurses recorded on the College of Nursing's register and actively campaigned for legal registration for nurses. McIntosh worked for six years on the College of Nursing Council on both its provisional and elected councils. Probably to maintain neutrality amongst the various nursing bodies, McIntosh refused permission in 1927 for a meeting to be held at St Bartholomew's Hospital which promoted Ethel Gordon Fenwick's British College of Nurses. During World War I, McIntosh was also Principal Matron of the First London General hospital, Camberwell.
She also served on a number of committees, including:
In 1917, McIntosh received the Royal Red Cross. She was awarded Commander of the British Empire for her "outstanding services at the hospital" in August 1917. In 1924, she was the recipient of the French Medaille d’Honneur.

Personal life

McIntosh retired in February 1927 because of exhaustion, initially living in Guildford. During the Second World War she lived in London where she interviewed auxiliary nursing candidates and packed parcels for prisoners of war. In 1945 McIntosh moved to Bexhill, East Sussex to be nearer her sisters. She had been disabled with arthritis for a while.

Death

McIntosh died in Bexhill of pneumonia and osteoporosis on 20 September 1951, aged 80. Her office papers and correspondence from 1910–1927 are held by Barts Health Archives and Museum.