Muriel Ritson (1885–1980) was a career administrator and worked in the civil service. Her most important position was the Scottish representative for the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...

on the

Beveridge Committee The Beveridge Report, officially entitled ''Social Insurance and Allied Services'' (Command paper, Cmd. 6404), is a government report, published in November 1942, influential in the founding of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It was drafte ...

which was responsible for creating the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

of the United Kingdom.

Early life

Muriel was in born in

Gourock Gourock ( ; ) is a town in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area and formerly a burgh of the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It was a resort town, seaside resort on the East shore of the upper Firth of Clyde. Its ma ...

to John Fletcher Ritson, a railway agent, and Agnes Jane Catto. She attended Greenock Academy and a German finishing school. She always valued having been educated at a co-educational school, and worked to promote women's equality in the workplace. She began working as a social worker and rent collector for the Glasgow Workman's Dwellings Company between 1908 and 1911.

Career

Her work with the GWDC made her familiar with health insurance work. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

she served on Public Health Committees and worked social and public health in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. She joined the Commission of Investigation which visited France in connection with the WAAF. In 1919 she was appointed the only woman in the

Scottish Board of Health Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

, which consisted of only six people. It administered health policy in Scotland between 1919 and 1928. In 1929 she worked for the new

Department of Health for Scotland Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

. She sat on the Committee on the Admission of Women to the Diplomatic and Consular Service. Her most prestigious appointment was with the

representing the Department of Health, which formed the

. In 1936, she was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

Legacy

Before her retirement in 1946 she became Scottish Controller of the

Ministry of National Insurance National Insurance (NI) is a fundamental component of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It acts as a form of social security, since payment of NI contributions establishes entitlement to certain state benefits for workers and their famili ...

. She sat on the Ryan Committee which examined health insurance, and on the Committee on Admission of Women on the Diplomatic and Consular Service. She is remembered for her work in public health, health insurance, and in her promotion of women in public life. Her most important contribution was to the Beveridge Committee, which was instrumental in helping to establish the National Health Service of the United Kingdom.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritson, Muriel 1885 births 1980 deaths 20th-century Scottish civil servants Scottish women civil servants National Health Service people People from Gourock Commanders of the Order of the British Empire