Catherine Black | |
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Born | 12 June 1878 |
Died | 7 October 1949 | (aged 70)
Known for | Nurse to King George V |
Medical career | |
Profession | Nurse |
Institutions | Royal London Hospital |
Sub-specialties | Field hospital nursing |
Catherine Black, MBE, RRC, SRN (12 June 1878– 7 October 1949), also known as "Blackie", served in World War I and was the private nurse to King George V.
Catherine Black was born on 12 June 1878 in Ramelton, County Donegal in Ardeen House on the outskirts of the town. [1] [2] Her father was a linen draper with a prosperous shop in the town. [3] [4] Black went to Royal London Hospital to train as a nurse, and it was whilst there that she became friends with Edith Cavell. [5]
Black was working as a private nurse in Royal London Hospital when the outbreak of World War I was declared. [6] She joined Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service, first serving in Cambridge Hospital in Aldershot and then the No. 7 Hospital in St Omer where she treated soldiers suffering from shell shock. [6] Black was then sent as a replacement for a nurse who was killed at a casualty clearing station at Poperinghe, Belgium, and subsequently went on to serve at the 41st Stationary Hospital at Sailly-Lorette, nursing soldiers with self-inflicted wounds. She was moved to the No. 5 General Hospital in Rouen and various other clearing stations until the end of the war. [6]
Sister Black was the private nurse of King George V from 1928 until his death in 1936. [1] She began her service in late 1928 following a serious bout of illness for the King. [7] Black was made permanent in 1930; she was given her own chambers within Buckingham Palace. [8] She was known as "Blackie" to the members of the royal family.
Black objected to the actions of the King's doctor Lord Dawson of Penn in administering a lethal combination of morphine and cocaine to hasten the King's death. [9] [10] [11] The King's final words, "God damn you!", were addressed to Black as she gave him a sedative on the night before his death. [9]
Black wrote of her life in the Palace in her autobiography King's Nurse, Beggar's Nurse, in which she also recounted her childhood in Donegal, [12] nursing in Australia, as well as her service in WWI. [1] In reflecting on the experiences of nurses in the war, Black recounted "you went into [a casualty-clearing station] young and light-hearted. You came out older than any span of years could make you." [13]
She died on 7 October 1949 in London. [2]
Catherine Black | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | 12 June 1878 |
Died | 7 October 1949 | (aged 70)
Known for | Nurse to King George V |
Medical career | |
Profession | Nurse |
Institutions | Royal London Hospital |
Sub-specialties | Field hospital nursing |
Catherine Black, MBE, RRC, SRN (12 June 1878– 7 October 1949), also known as "Blackie", served in World War I and was the private nurse to King George V.
Catherine Black was born on 12 June 1878 in Ramelton, County Donegal in Ardeen House on the outskirts of the town. [1] [2] Her father was a linen draper with a prosperous shop in the town. [3] [4] Black went to Royal London Hospital to train as a nurse, and it was whilst there that she became friends with Edith Cavell. [5]
Black was working as a private nurse in Royal London Hospital when the outbreak of World War I was declared. [6] She joined Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service, first serving in Cambridge Hospital in Aldershot and then the No. 7 Hospital in St Omer where she treated soldiers suffering from shell shock. [6] Black was then sent as a replacement for a nurse who was killed at a casualty clearing station at Poperinghe, Belgium, and subsequently went on to serve at the 41st Stationary Hospital at Sailly-Lorette, nursing soldiers with self-inflicted wounds. She was moved to the No. 5 General Hospital in Rouen and various other clearing stations until the end of the war. [6]
Sister Black was the private nurse of King George V from 1928 until his death in 1936. [1] She began her service in late 1928 following a serious bout of illness for the King. [7] Black was made permanent in 1930; she was given her own chambers within Buckingham Palace. [8] She was known as "Blackie" to the members of the royal family.
Black objected to the actions of the King's doctor Lord Dawson of Penn in administering a lethal combination of morphine and cocaine to hasten the King's death. [9] [10] [11] The King's final words, "God damn you!", were addressed to Black as she gave him a sedative on the night before his death. [9]
Black wrote of her life in the Palace in her autobiography King's Nurse, Beggar's Nurse, in which she also recounted her childhood in Donegal, [12] nursing in Australia, as well as her service in WWI. [1] In reflecting on the experiences of nurses in the war, Black recounted "you went into [a casualty-clearing station] young and light-hearted. You came out older than any span of years could make you." [13]
She died on 7 October 1949 in London. [2]