Author: MacKenzie, Eliza Chalmers [1816 - 1892]. Hanna, Ann Simpson Chalmers [1813 - ?]
Title: An APPEAL
Description: Edinburgh: , 1878. 1st printing (presumed). Printed self-wrappers. Now housed in a clear archival mylar sleeve. Bifolium, printed p. 1 only. 10-1/2" x 8-1/8". Age-toning. Light soil. Horizontal fold-line. Very Good. A printed APPEAL for contributions to Baroness Burdett Coutts' Turkish Compassionate Fund to benefit refugees from the conflict in Constantinople during the winter of 1877 - 1878. The body of the text, a ten stanza poem signed only "E. M." was likely by Eliza Mackenzie, though this is unconfirmed. Subscribers are encouraged to send donations to "Mrs. Hanna, 16 Magdala Crescent, and Mrs. Mackenzie, 64 Great King Street [Edinbourgh]"; Scottish census records and post office directories confirm that these addresses were those of Eliza Mackenzie and of her sister, Ann Simpson Chalmers Hanna. Eliza Mackenzie was appointed by the Board of Admiralty to serve as the matron nurse at Therapia Hospital in 1855, during the Crimean War. She traveled with her husband, Reverend John Mackenzie, who acted as an unpaid chaplain at the hospital, as well as a small nursing staff of six. Although less well known than her famed counterpart at Scutari, Florence Nightingale, Mackenzie's efficiency and tirelessness sufficiently impressed the medical officers at the hospital that she was made an honorary member of the Officer's Mess (Shepherd, The Crimean Doctors: A History of the British Medical Services in the Crimean War, Vol. 2). Mackenzie's service, which proved that trained nurses could improve care at naval hospitals, was momentous, and is credited with ultimately paving the way for the formation of the Naval Nursing Service, in 1884, and the establishment of Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service (QARNNS) in 1902. Rare. We find no record of this on OCLC, nor of any other item attributed to Eliza Mackenzie.

Keywords:


See more books from our catalog: Nursing