Person

McCready, Georgina (1888 - 1980)

MBE

Born
17 December 1888
Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland
Died
16 September 1980
Leichhardt, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Nurse, Nurse administrator and Unionist
Alternative Names
  • Johnstone, Georgina (maiden name)

Summary

Georgina McCready was appointed as one of the first Supervisory Sisters in the New South Wales Department of Health in 1929, under the Public Health Act (1929). A founding member of the New South Wales Nurses Association (NSWNA) in 1931, she was its first Honorary Secretary and the first woman to hold such a position in an industrial organisation in Australia. McCready was one of four founders of the New South Wales College of Nursing (NSWCN) in 1949. The McCready Scholarship (tenable NSWCN) was established in 1954 by NSWNA in her honour. She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on 8 June 1963, for services to nursing.

Details

Georgina McCready (née Johnstone) was born 17 December 1888 in Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland. She married Samuel McCready (died 1940) on 25 January 1932 at St Stephen's Presbyterian Church, Sydney City, and died 16 September 1980 in Leichhardt, Sydney, New South Wales. She received her General Nursing Certificate from Eastern District Hospital, Glasgow, Scotland in 1912. She visited Australia with her father in 1913 and in 1914 the Johnstone family moved to Sydney. In 1914 she registered with the Australasian Trained Nurses Association, completing her Midwifery Certificate at the Women's Hospital, Crown Street, Sydney in 1922 and her Mothercraft Certificate at the Tresillian Centre, Petersham, New South Wales in 1928. She was appointed as one of the first Supervisory Sisters in the New South Wales Department of Health in 1929, under the Public Health Act (1929). A founding member of the New South Wales Nurses Association (NSWNA), 27 February 1931, she was its first Honorary Secretary and the first woman to hold such a position in an industrial organisation in Australia. McCready held this post again in 1935 and from 1941 to 1945, becoming Assistant General Secretary, 1946-1953.

McCready was one of four founders of the New South Wales College of Nursing (NSWCN) in 1949, and held the post of President of the Provisional Council from 12 January 1949 to 31 January 1950 (called Honorary Chairman to 19 May 1949). She was recognised as a Founder and invested as Foundation Fellow, 18 September 1952. She was one of the first two people to become Life Members of New South Wales Nurses Association (NSWNA), 1953. The McCready Scholarship (tenable at NSWCN) was established in 1954 by NSWNA in her honour. She was awarded the MBE, 8 June 1963, for services to nursing.

Chronology

1913
Private nursing home in Bedford, UK
1913 - 1915
Head Nurse at Renwick Children's Hospital in Summer Hill, New South Wales
1915 - 1916
Deputy Matron of St George District Hospital in Kogarah, New South Wales
1917 - 1918
Private hospital in Kogarah
1919 - 1923
Sister and Matron at the Cessnock Hospital, New South Wales
1923 - 1926
Matron at Maitland Hospital, New South Wales
1926 - July 1928
Matron at Broken Hill Hospital, New South Wales
July 1928 - March 1932
Baby Health Centres and Supervisory Sister with the Department of Health in New South Wales
1932 - 1943
Honorary Secretary of the New South Wales Nurses Association (NSWNA)
1943 - 1945
Salaried officer at NSWNA
1946 - 1953
Assistant General Secretary in NSWNA
1953 - 1960
Worked at NSWNA (part-time)
1963
Award - Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)

Archival resources

The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program

  • Papers, New South Wales Nurses Association, 1933 - 1987, A3 Z142; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

  • McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regulary edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details

Book Sections

Resources

Resource Sections

See also

  • Dickenson, Mary, An Unsentimental Union: the NSW Nurses Association, 1931-1992 (Sydney: Hale and Iremonger, 1993), 352 pp. Details

Digital resources

Title
Signature of Georgina McCready
Type
Image

Details

Title
Georgina McCready
Type
Image

Details

Australian Nursing History Project, Judith Cornell

EOAS ID: biogs/P004113b.htm

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