Poyntzpass District Nursing Association was formed in 1908, funded by public subscriptions and a substantial initial donation from Col. and Lady Muriel Close. The General Committee had an astonishing 85 members!
Nurse Lancaster
Miss Dora Albinia Lancaster[1] was appointed as its first nurse on a salary of about £50 per annum.
Controversy dogged Nurse Lancaster’s previous employment in Holywood, Co Down. A child had died after its impoverished mother had begged Nurse Lancaster for some milk; she had refused on the basis that the child was illegitimate (which was not a legal reason to refuse the request), and the child had died soon after. Perversely, the parents were tried for cruelty and negligence, but no action was taken against Nurse Lancaster.
At an Association meeting in July 1912, it was reported:
“Nurse Lancaster has been most devoted and attentive to her patients. She has paid 2,231 visits during the year and attended 22 maternity cases; 137 cases were treated. This in itself is proof of the good work being done by the Association, and further proof is provided in the accompanying reports of the inspectors…” which stated…
“The work of the District Nursing Association continues to be carried on in a successful manner by nurse Lancaster. She manages this heavy cycling district well, and she does not spare herself to do all for her patients’ comfort. The cottage was in excellent order; the books and equipments the same.”
That is an average of over six home visits every single day of the year, come rain or snow, up and down some of the steepest hills in the country, on an Edwardian-era bicycle!
By 1930, Nurse Lancaster had resigned to take up a post as Inspector of Nurses, and Nurse Sarah Best had been appointed. However, Nursing Society subscriptions were declining, and a date was set for a special Sunday collection in all of the churches in the district. In November, the local tennis club held a whist drive and dance, attended by more than 200 people, in Acton House to raise more funds.
The society survived until at least December 1948, the last time it was mentioned in the local press. In any case, the advent of the National Health Service in July that year would have made its fundraising function unnecessary.
Nurse Best retired in the late 1940s and was succeeded by NHS District Nurse Betty Black.
For a comprehensive history of pre-NHS healthcare in the area, see Deidre Graham’s article “Local Medical Provision” in BIF Vol 11, 2012.