Wheatley - Village Archive - District Nurse Summers

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Archive Notes:

Interesting case of the 'appointment' of District Nurse Summers in Wheatley in 1924 showing very different attitudes to discrimination.

In 1924, Miss G W Summers had been appointed as district nurse but, because she was a non-conformist, it was cancelled. But what did such an appointment have to do with ‘Church or Chapel’? At least 15 newspaper letters and articles followed, with the one on 25 July 1924 publishing all the correspondence which ended up with Mary Savile accepting responsibility on behalf of the committee that she represented and noting that Summers, whilst a non-conformist also attended the Church of England when a non-conformist service unavailable. Our vicar, Rev. Bell gave his support for the appointment in August, but not before making the point that, had there been two candidates with one of them a firm churchwoman, then the latter ‘would no doubt have the advantage’ because ‘the greater number of her patients would be of her own religious kinship’. However, the chairman over-ruled Mary Savile and upheld the dismissal of Summers as he felt most strongly that the nurse should be a member and communicant of the Church of England.