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Sarah Oram

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Dame Sarah Oram
Born(1860-12-25)25 December 1860
Cirencester, England
Died26 June 1946(1946-06-26) (aged 85)
South Kensington, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service / branchBritish Army
RankMatron-in-Chief
CommandsMediterranean Section, Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
Battles / warsMahdist War
Second Boer War
First World War
AwardsDame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Royal Red Cross

Dame Sarah Elizabeth Oram, DBE, RRC (26 December 1860 – 26 June 1946) was a senior member of the Army Nursing Service and the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS). She served as Principal Matron, Nursing Inspector in the QAIMNS, and was attached to the British Expeditionary Force in France from 1914 to 1915 and subsequently as Acting Matron-in-Chief, QAIMNS, in the Eastern Mediterranean Expeditionary Force from 1915 to 1919 during the First World War.[1]

Background and training

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Oram was born on Boxing Day, 1860[2] in Cirencester, the only daughter of Samuel Thomas Oram, a Surveyor of Taxes, and his wife, Sarah Oram, née Gibbons.[3]

Oram's father died in Thirsk, Yorkshire in 1868, and Oram was educated at a private school in London and at the Malvern Link.[4] Oram worked as a school teacher before commencing her nurse training at The London Hospital in February 1884.[5] Oram trained under matron Eva Charlotte Ellis Luckes, between 1884 and completed her training on 22 February 1886.[6][7]

Career

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Oram joined the Army Nursing Service (ANS) as an Army Nursing Sister on 1 May 1886 and served in Egypt for 5 years from 1891. On 11 December 1896,[8] the London Gazette announced that she was awarded the Royal Red Cross for her role in caring for the sick and wounded soldiers who served in the Anglo-Sudan war, and the award was conferred by Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle on 5 March 1897.[9][10][11] After 13 years as an Army Nursing Sister, she was promoted to the position of Superintendent in May 1899 and served in the Second Boer War in South Africa from January 1900 until 1902.[12] Oram was made a matron in the newly formed QAIMNS in 1903.[13][14] She was promoted to Principal Matron, QAIMNS, South Africa, 1911–1914; Principal Matron, Nursing Inspector QAIMNS, 1911–1914, and attached to the British Expeditionary Force, France, 1914–1915, before her final appointment as Acting Matron-in-Chief in 1915 of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force.[15][16][17]

Oram was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1919 and invested on 10 March 1920 at Buckingham Palace.

Death

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Dame Sarah Oram died, unmarried, on 26 June 1946 in South Kensington, London, aged 85.[18] The funeral took place at St George's Church, Campden Hill, and Oram was cremated at Kensal Green Crematorium on 1 July 1946.[19]

References

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  1. ^ Sarah Elizabeth Oram, British Army Nurses’ Service Records 1914–1918; WO399/6348; The National Archives, Kew
  2. ^ Sarah Elizabeth Oram, Birth Certificate, 26 December 1860, Stratton, Cirencester, Gloucestershire; General Register Office for England and Wales
  3. ^ Sarah Elizabeth Oram, Birth Certificate, 26 December 1860, Stratton, Cirencester, Gloucestershire; General Register Office for England and Wales
  4. ^ Sarah Elizabeth Oram, British Army Nurses’ Service Records 1914–1918; WO399/6348; The National Archives, Kew.
  5. ^ Sarah Elizabeth Oram, Register of Probationers; RLHLH/N/1/1, 163; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London
  6. ^ Sarah Elizabeth Oram, Register of Probationers; RLHLH/N/1/1, 163; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London
  7. ^ Rogers, Sarah (2022). 'A Maker of Matrons'? A study of Eva Lückes's influence on a generation of nurse leaders:1880–1919' (Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Huddersfield, April 2022)
  8. ^ "The London Gazette". Morning Post. British Newspaper Archive. 12 December 1896. p. 6 col.4. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  9. ^ "The Queen at Windsor". Glasgow Herald. British Newspaper Archive. 5 March 1897. p. 7 col.4. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  10. ^ Sarah Elizabeth Oram, British Army Nurses’ Service Records 1914–1918; WO399/6348; The National Archives, Kew
  11. ^ "The Boer War Nurses Database". 5 April 2018.
  12. ^ "The Boer War Nurses Database". 5 April 2018.
  13. ^ Anonymous, ‘Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service’, The British Journal of Nursing, 30 (30 May 1903), 428
  14. ^ The Minutes of the Fourteenth Nursing Board, 21 January 1903; Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service: Proceedings and Reports; April 1902– March 1903; WO243/20, Vol.1, 113; The National Archives, Kew
  15. ^ Sarah Elizabeth Oram, British Army Nurses’ Service Records 1914–1918; WO399/6348; The National Archives, Kew.
  16. ^ Anonymous, ‘The Matron in Chief in Egypt’, The Nursing Mirror and Midwives’ Journal, 24 (9 December 1916), 191
  17. ^ Oram, Dame Elizabeth (1922). "Nursing in Egypt and Palestine, 1915 to 1919". Reminiscent Sketches 1914 to 1919. Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service. pp. 35–40.
  18. ^ Sarah Elizabeth Oram, Death Certificate; 26 June 1946, The London Hospital, Whitechapel, London; General Register Office for England and Wales
  19. ^ "To-day's arrangements". The Times. No. 50491. Gale. 1 July 1946. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
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