Katherine Watt
Dame Katherine Christie Watt, DBE, RRC, CStJ (31 August 1886 – 1 November 1963) was a British military nurse, nursing administrator and civil servant.
Dame Katherine Watt | |
---|---|
Born | Govanhill, Glasgow, Scotland | August 31, 1886
Died | 1 November 1963 77) St George's Hospital, London, England | (aged
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | British Army (c. 1914–19) Royal Air Force (1919–38) |
Years of service | c. 1914–1938 |
Rank | Matron-in-Chief |
Commands held | Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (1930–38) |
Battles/wars | First World War |
Awards | Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire Royal Red Cross Commander of the Venerable Order of Saint John Florence Nightingale Medal |
Other work | Chief Nursing Officer (1941–48) |
Watt served in the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service during the First World War, and the Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service in the inter-war period. She was Matron-in-Chief of the Royal Air Force Nursing Service from 1930 to 1938, and worked at the Ministry of Health during and immediately after the Second World War.[1][2] As Chief Nursing Officer from 1941 to 1948, she was actively involved in the plans for the new National Health Service (NHS).[1][3]
Honours
On 3 June 1930, Watt was awarded the Royal Red Cross (RRC) "in recognition of exceptional devotion and competency displayed in Royal Air Force hospitals at home and in Iraq".[4] In the 1935 King's Birthday Honours, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).[5]
In the 1945 King's Birthday Honours, she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in recognition of her service as Chief Nursing Officer, and thereby granted the title dame.[6] In July 1959, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of St John (CStJ).[7]
References
- E. J. C. Scott, 'Watt, Dame Katherine Christie (1886–1963)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2008 accessed 18 Oct 2017
- 'WATT, Dame Katherine Christie', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 18 Oct 2017
- Watt, Dame Katherine Christie (1947). "The Public Health Nursing Services in England". Canadian Journal of Public Health. 38 (8): 376–380. doi:10.2307/41979707. JSTOR 41979707.
- "No. 14658". The London Gazette. 6 June 1930. p. 658.
- "No. 15180". The London Gazette. 7 June 1935. p. 494.
- "No. 37119". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 June 1945. p. 2952.
- "No. 41764". The London Gazette. 14 July 1959. pp. 4468–4469.