Louisa Parsons | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Emma Amelia Louisa Parsons 3 June 1855 |
| Died | 2 November 1916 |
| Nationality | British |
Louisa ParsonsRRC (3 June 1855 – 2 November 1916) was aBritish nurse notable during theMahdist War, at theUniversity of Maryland and theSecond Boer War.
Parsons was born in 1855 inSidbury, Devon. Her mother was Emma Amelia Parsons and she was brought up as her mother's sister because there was no named father. Her mother later married and became Emma Rose. Louisa worked as a servant. In 1880 she became a trained nurse after completing training at the Nightingale Training School in London's St Thomas's Hospital.[1]
On 23 April 1883 she was awarded theEgypt Medal and aRoyal Red Cross, by (reportedly) Queen Victoria, with other nurses who had served in theMahdist War. The Egypt Medal had a bar titled "Suakin 1885".[2] In time she would also receive the five sided star Khedive Medal bearing the image of a sphinx.[2]
In 1887 she went to California and South Carolina as a nurse and companion to Louisa P. Loring. Loring would in time be one of Parson's executors.[3]
TheUniversity of Maryland credits her as their first Superintendent of theirUniversity of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) in 1889.[4] Other sources note that she was chosen from 80 applicants to lead the new training school atThe Johns Hopkins Hospital, in Baltimore. It was only a stop-gap appointment[1] untilIsabel Hampton Robb became free.[2] However her performance during that period was appreciated.
In 1893 she was sent by the American Red Cross to help with the aftermath of the1893 Sea Islands hurricane around Beaufort in South Carolina.[1]
During theSpanish-American War she joined the U.S. Army Hospital Service and she was nursing atFort McPherson in Atlanta.[4]
She served in the second Boer War and she was given theQueen's South Africa Medal before she returned to England.[2]
After Parsons died in 1916 inSwallowfield from cancer she was given a military funeral.[1] The Louisa Parsons Legacy Society at the University of Maryland is named in her honour as she gave the first bequest to the nursing school.[5] She left the school £10,000 and her collection of medals. The school named a nurses home after her and in time commissioned an oil painting.[1]