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

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

Background and training

Oram was born on Boxing Day, 1860 in

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, the only daughter of Samuel Thomas Oram, a Surveyor of Taxes, and his wife, Sarah Oram, née Gibbons. Oram's father died in Thirsk, Yorkshire in 1868, and Oram was educated at a private school in London and at the Malvern Link. Oram worked as a school teacher before commencing her nurse training at The London Hospital in February 1884. Oram trained under London Hospital matron Eva Charlotte Ellis Luckes, and completed her training on 22 February 1886.

Career

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, 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

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on 5 March 1897. After 13 years as an Army Nursing Sister, she was promoted to the position of Superintendent in May 1899 and served in the Second-Anglo Boer War in South Africa from January 1900 until 1902. Oram was made a matron in the newly formed QAIMNS in 1903. 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.

Honours

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

Dame Sarah Oram died, unmarried, on 26 June 1946 in South Kensington,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, aged 85. The funeral took place at St George's Church, Campden Hill, and Oram was cremated at

Kensal Green Crematorium Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...

on 1 July 1946.

References

External links

''British Journal of Nursing''

Command & Control of Army Nurses
britisharmynurses.com * (bar to RRC award, 1918) {{DEFAULTSORT:Oram, Sarah 1860 births 1946 deaths British nursing administrators British women in World War I Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Female nurses in World War I Members of the Royal Red Cross People from Cirencester People from South Kensington Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I