A district nurse in rural Wales before the National Health Service - David Mills Evans

A warm account of the valuable services of district nurse Hannah Mills Evans to the community of Llanfair Caereinion and the surrounding upland area, 1920-64, comprising information about the hardships and difficulties of her calling and a tribute to her dedication to her patients. 27 black-and-white illustrations.

For forty three years, Hannah Mills Evans was ?Nurse? to everyone in the large rural Montgomeryshire district spreading outwards from Llanfair Caereinion. Born in 1899, she trained in Plaistow in Essex and started work with the Mongomeryshire Nursing Association in 1919. She then completed her midwifery training and became District Nurse and Midwife in 1921. For over four decades she served the people of that rugged, sparsely populated, farming community without a holiday and never refusing to respond to a call. Whether on a bicycle, motorbike, car, horse, tractor or on foot, in all weathers ?Nurse? would visit the most isolated homes. This absorbing book, written with affection and respect by her son, is a tribute to her dedication and commitment to her work and the people of her patch.

I enjoyed the many anecdotes about the funny, sad and unexpected incidents which occurred through those decades ? a period which saw vast changes in transport and communications leading up to, and through, the Second World War. During her career, Nurse delivered over 1700 babies, and in 1946 she became the first nurse in Montgomeryshire to be awarded the Certificate for the Use of Gas and Air Analgesia Apparatus. She worked through the start of the National Health Service in 1947 and, despite illness and family commitments, continued as District Nurse and Midwife until she died ?in harness? in 1964.

This book also gives a comprehensive account of life in Llanfair Caereinion during those years, including the flooding of the Afon Banw which occurred from time to time, businesses in the main streets, chapels, the Fire Brigade and the Home Guard during the War. Memories fade and such a detailed record, written from memory but which must also have involved extensive research, will be of considerable interest to social historians in future years. The Appendices supply copies of the records of the Llanfair & District Nursing Association?s Rules and Fees; Reports and lists of Subscriptions some of which were saved when about to be burnt.

In March 1957, Nurse Hannah Mills Evans was invested as a Member of the British Empire (Civil Division) by the Queen at Buckingham Palace, in recognition of her services to nursing. Reading of her selfless service to the people of Montgomeryshire over so many years, it is difficult to think of any one who deserved that honour more than ?Nurse?.
Dr Beryl Thomas @ www.gwales.com