Queer Places:
Carrowmullen, Fahan, Co. Donegal, F93 RW92
Agnes
Elizabeth Jones (November 10, 1832 – 1868) of Fahan, County
Donegal, Ireland became the first trained Nursing Superintendent
of Liverpool Workhouse Infirmary. She gave all her time and energy to her
patients and died at the age of 35 from typhus fever. Florence
Nightingale said of Agnes Elizabeth Jones, ‘She overworked as others
underwork. I looked upon hers as one of the most valuable lives in England.’
The biography of Agnes Jones, written by her sister and published in 1871,
narrated her life in terms of two arcs: achievements as a nurse and love for
various women.
Agnes Jones was born on 10 November 1832 in Cambridge into a wealthy family
with both military and evangelical religious connections. Her uncle was
Sir John Lawrence, later Lord Lawrence who went on to become Governor General
of India.[1]
In the early years of Jones' life, the family moved to Fahan in County
Donegal, Ireland, though they followed her father's career with the army,
notably to Mauritius. Her home education was supplemented when she went to
Miss Ainsworth's school at Avonbank near Staford up Avon and stayed until
1850.[1]
During a holiday in Europe with her family, she met and was deeply impressed
by deaconesses who were from the Institution of Kaiserwerth, which had earlier
overseen the early nursing experiences of Florence Nightingale. She visited
the Institution in Bonn, and saw the hospital, orphanage, an asylum and two
schools run by the deaconesses.[1] Jones
returned home to Ireland and used the experience she had gained. In 1859 she
went to London, making contact with Florence Nightingale and Sarah E.
Wardroper, senior nurse of St Thomas Hospital. Nightingale said of her that
she was " a woman attractive and rich and young and witty; yet a veiled and
silent woman, distinguished by no other genius than the divine genius" In 1862
Agnes Jones commenced nurse training in the Nightingale School at St Thomas
Hospital in London. When her year's training was complete, Nightingale called
her our "best and dearest pupil".[1] However
her greatest work was ahead of her and was in Liverpool. Liverpool Workhouse
Infirmary, at Brownlow Hill was one of the largest infirmaries in the country.
It catered for 1200 sick paupers.[2] Liverpool
philanthropist William Rathbone obtained permission from the Liverpool Vestry
to introduce trained nurses (at his own expense for three years) at the
workhouse hospital in 1864, and invited Jones to move from the London Great
Northern Hospital, to be the first trained Nursing Superintendent in 1865.[3] The
conditions in the infirmary when she arrived were described as "disorder,
extravagance of every description in the establishment to an incredible
degree".[4] Soon
after she arrived, Jones brought 12 trained nurses and seven probationers (all
trained at the Nightingale School of Nursing in London)[5] to
the infirmary. This initial group were supplemented by further probationers
and 54 able-bodied female inmates who were paid a small salary.[5] This
was the first training for nurses in any workhouse infirmary, paving the way
for nurse training systems in other workhouses across the UK;[6] social
reformer Eva McLaren was among those trained there as a nurse.[7]
Jones' contribution to the welfare of the sick paupers was enormous, and
she worked tirelessly to make the experiment a success. However the work took
its toll upon her, and at the age of just 35 years of age she died of typhus
fever. This condition was endemic among the poor of Liverpool during this
period. Jones's only publication was a Bible study, The Gospel Promises shown
in Isaiah I to VI. Her sister published her Memorials of Agnes Elizabeth Jones
in 1871. A Guardian review of Nightingale's introduction[8] said
it "should read like a trumpet call in the ears of any lady who is conscious
of a similar vocation".[9]
The memory of her outstanding contribution to nursing, to Liverpool and to the
poor is commemorated in Liverpool. A window in the Anglican Cathedral is
dedicated to her memory, and a statue to her exists in the Cathedral Oratory.
Also, a local housing association has named a large student hall of residence
after her. Agnes Jones is now buried in her beloved Ireland. Her recently
refurbished grave can be found in the quiet country graveyard of Fahan, 4
miles east from Buncranna in County Donegal. This graveyard is also home to
one of the oldest Celtic covering stones in Ireland dating back to the time of
St. Columba.
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