General Nursing Council

England and Wales

The Council comprised nine lay members and sixteen nurse members. Two lay members were appointed by the Privy Council, two by the Board of Education, and five by the Minister of Health. The nurses were initially appointed by the Minister; eleven were matrons or former matrons, two came from Workhouse infirmaries, four or five belonged to the Royal British Nurses' Association (including Mrs Ethel Bedford-Fenwick), and nine were from the College of Nursing (including Alicia Lloyd-Still).

The first registrar was Miss Marion Scott Riddell RRC, previously matron of Chelsea Hospital for Women and principal matron in the Territorial Force Nursing Service. The register opened in November 1921; practicing nurses with at least one year's training could apply by 14 July 1923. In the first four months, 3,235 applications were received but only 984 were approved because Mrs Bedford-Fenwick insisted on examining every case; sixteen Council members resigned, and the Minister had to intervene.

Elections for the nursing seats were held in 1922, with 12,000 registered nurses eligible to vote. Eleven were elected by general nurses (six had to be matrons) and five from supplementary registers for mental health nursing, paediatric nursing, and male nurses; Mrs Bedford-Fenwick lost her seat. Sir Wilmot Herringham served as Chair from 1922 to 1925 and as Vice-Chair from 1926 to 1928. Dame Ellen Musson was Chair from 1926 to 1944, followed by Miss D M Smith (1944-1955), Miss M J Smyth (1955-1960), Miss C A Smaldon (1960-1965), and Miss G E Watts (1965).

In June 1923, the House of Commons agreed a rule change proposed by William Chapple allowing applicants who had worked as a nurse for at least three years before 1 November 1919 to be admitted; 40,451 applications were received. The first state examination was held in 1925, admitting 4,005 nurses. The register had five parts: a general part, a supplementary register for male nurses, a supplementary part for nurses trained in mental diseases, a supplementary part for children's nurses, and a supplementary part yet to be determined.

Ireland

The GNC for Ireland was established in 1920, with Edward Coey Bigger as Chair and Margaret Huxley as Vice Chair. Members included Enid Browne, Countess of Kenmare, Sir Arthur Chance FRCSL, Colonel Taylor FRCSL, Alice Reeves, Miss O’Flynn, Miss Michie, RJ Johnson, PT O’Sullivan, Mary Bostock, Alphonsie M Curtin, Vera Matheson, Margaret Walsbe, and Mrs Blunden. The council was also referred to as the General Nursing Council for Southern Ireland and as Saorstat Eireann.

Irish independence caused challenges because the registration logo and badge became irrelevant and a new design took time to agree. In 1929 the GNC (Ireland) was reconstituted as the 'General Nursing Council for the Irish Free State', chaired by Edward Coey Bigger and including Miss Halbert RGN, Miss Walsh RGN, Miss Smithson RGN, Miss Harold RGN, Miss Willis RGN, Dr Meenan, Dr MacBride, Dr Whitla, JJ Harding RMN, and Registrar W O’B Reidy. At that point the register held 5,087 nurses: 4,044 general medical and surgical nurses, 902 mental nurses, 3 male nurses, 89 fever nurses, and 49 sick children's nurses.

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) was first established as An Bord Altranais by the Nurses Act 1950, taking over the functions of the Central Midwives Board (1918) and the General Nursing Council (1919).

Later years and replacement

The Nurses Act 1943 extended the responsibilities of the GNCs to include a register for assistant nurses, later called state enrolled nurses. Dorothy Smith served as vice-chair from 1939 until 1944, when she became chair; during her eleven-year tenure she missed only one of 134 meetings, retiring in 1955. Following the Briggs Report and the Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act 1979, the GNC, the Central Midwives Board in London, and seven other bodies were disbanded and replaced in 1983 by the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC).

Notable council members and staff

Council members were drawn from the most influential nurses in the United Kingdom, alongside prominent public appointees. For England and Wales, members included Harriet Alsop (1923-1932), Geraldine Bremner, Isabel Graham Bryce (c.1950), Letitia Clark (c.1930), Dorothy Coode (1923-1927), Gertrude Cowlin (1923-c.1931), Rachael Cox-Davies (c.1923-c.1937), Ruth Darbyshire (elected general member 1933-1937, vice chairman 1934-1937), Henry Gooch (c.1937), Lucy Duff Grant (1937-1955), Wilmot Herringham (Chair 1922-1926), Euphemia Steele Innes (c.1925), Gwendoline Kirby (1955-1965), Emily MacManus (1933-), Frederick Menzies (c.1937), Ellen Musson (c.1923-1943; Chair 1926-1943), Zena Elsie Oxlade (Chair to 1984), Kathleen Raven (c.1950), Cathlin Cecily du Sautoy, Dorothy Smith (Vice Chair 1939-1944, Chair 1944-), Ellinor Smith (1920-c.1926), Margaret Elwyn Sparshott (1920-1940), Alicia Lloyd Still (1920-1937), Susan Villiers (1920-1937), Grace Elizabeth Watts (Chair to 1973), Beatrice Brysson Whyte (1965-), Maude Eve Wiese (c.1923-c.1940), and Charlotte Seymour Yapp (1920-1925).

For Ireland (from 1922 'for Northern Ireland'), members included Edward Coey Bigger (c.1920), Alice Reeves and Margaret Huxley (who wrote the first rules), and Anne Elizabeth Musson (1922-c.1946). Rosalie Dreyer was appointed to the GNC Assistant Nurses Committee in 1943.