MATRONS OF THE LIVERPOOL ROYAL INFIRMARY

‘To be a good nurse, one must be an improving woman; for stagnant waters sooner or later, and stagnant air, as we know ourselves, always grow corrupt and unfit for use. Is any one of us a stagnant woman?’
                                                                                                                    Florence Nightingale 1872

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The Infirmary’s first Matron is not known but the position was on a live-in basis. She was responsible for supervising all the domestic and nursing staff, the purchase of provisions and, most importantly, the welfare of the patients. At first there were two nurses and this number was increased to four in 1754 and to six in 1784. Nurses at that time were not trained. They were mostly illiterate and their duties were mainly domestic.

MARY JONES

Mary Jones was born in 1880 and worked as a governess for a North Wales family before becoming a probationer nurse at the Liverpool Royal Infirmary in 1908. She was to spend the rest of her career at the infirmary. After qualifying she was appointed a ward sister and was later a housekeeping sister and home and tutor sister before rising to become assistant matron in 1917. In 1925 she became matron, a position she held until her retirement in 1947. In 1933 she founded a nurse’s league for nurses past and present who had qualified at the infirmary.

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In addition to her prominent role at the infirmary, Mary Jones was involved in the wider nursing world.

She was president of the Liverpool Branch of the Royal College of Nursing and was the first provincial matron to become president of the college itself (1940-1942). She served in the Territorial Army Nursing Service, being appointed principal matron of the 8th (1 Western) General Hospital in 1930, a position she held until the dissolution of the service in 1950. On the outbreak of the Second World War she was appointed sector matron by the Ministry of Health which involved the organisation of the civil nursing reserve in the area.

Mary Jones received a number of honours in recognition of her services to nursing. These included an O.B.E. in 1937 and an honorary MA from Liverpool University in 1942.