Jane Grace Evans-Freke Cummins (born 10 May 1899) was a doctor who served with the Royal Air Force Medical Services during the Second World War.

Early life and education

Cummins was born on 10 May 1899 in Cork to

William Edward Ashley Cummins William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conqu ...

(1858–1923), Professor of Medicine at University College Cork (UCC), and Jane Constable Cummins (née Hall). They had five daughters and six sons.

Geraldine Cummins Geraldine Dorothy Cummins (1890–1969) was an Irish spiritualist medium, novelist and playwright. She began her career as a creative writer, but increasingly concentrated on mediumship and "channelled" writings, mostly about the lives of Jesus a ...

was a playwright.

Iris Cummins Iris Ashley Cummins (1894–1968) was the first female engineer to graduate University College Cork (UCC) and was also an international hockey player. Early life and education Cummins was born on 6 June 1894 in Woodville, Glanmire, County Cork t ...

was an engineer. Mary Hearn was a gynaecologist and fellow of the RCPI. Two of her brothers also became doctors, and one, Nicholas Marshall Cummins, was involved in setting up the first blood transfusion service in Cork. Cummins distinct name comes from her mother's grandmother, Jane Grace Evans-Freke who was born in 1775 and married Sir Fenton Aylmer, 7th Baronet Donodea Castle in 1795.

Medical career

Cummins began her study in UCC and graduating with degrees in Surgery, Medicine and Obstetric Arts by 1923. She went on to complete a Diploma in Medical Radiology and Electrology in 1928. Cummins went to work for the

Colonial Medical Service The Colonial Service, also known as His/Her Majesty's Colonial Service and replaced in 1954 by Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), was the British government service that administered most of Britain's overseas possessions, under the aut ...

on the Gold Coast in 1930. She also completed her Diploma of Public Health that year. Cummins graduated in 1932 with a

Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H) is a postgraduate award, given after a prescribed period of instruction followed by an examination consisting of three parts; (a) a written examination (b) a practical laboratory examination and (c) ...

in London. During the Second World War Cummins was a squadron officer for the

Royal Air Force Medical Services The Royal Air Force Medical Services is the branch of the Royal Air Force that provides health care at home and on deployed Military operation, operations to Royal Air Force, RAF service personnel. Medical RAF officer, officers are the Physicia ...

. After the war she focused on child care clinics and in Tuberculosis becoming a physician in the Camberwell Chest Clinic in London.

Family

Cummins married accountant David McFarlane Miller in 1934. He died in 1965. They had two sons, one became an accountant and the other a doctor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cummins, Jane 1899 births People from Cork (city) Irish women medical doctors Royal Air Force Medical Service officers Year of death missing Colonial Medical Service officers