Conyers, Evelyn Augusta (1870-1944)

Field of activity
Matron and Servicewoman; army matron; army nurse; hospital matron (general); hospital owner; nurse (general); Nurse
NLA Persistent Identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-764099

Biographies

CONYERS, EVELYN AUGUSTA (1870-1944), matron-in-chief, was born on 1 March 1870 at Invercargill, New Zealand, daughter of William Conyers, engineer, formerly of Leeds, England, and his wife Fanny, née Mainprize. She was educated privately and at Invercargill and Dunedin girls' high schools.

View the full record at Australian Dictionary of Biography Online

Evelyn Conyers was appointed to the Order of the British Empire - Commander (Military) on 22 March 1919 for nursing service with the army during World War I. She had previously been awarded the Royal Red Cross on 3 June 1916.

Born and educated in New Zealand, Evelyn Conyers migrated to Victoria, Australia in the 1890s. After training at the Children's (1894) and Melbourne (1896) hospitals she became matron of a private hospital in Melbourne in 1901.

Active in professional nurse's organisations, in 1903 she helped found the Victorian Trained Nurses' Association. When the Queen's Memorial Infectious Diseases Hospital at Fairfield was established in 1904, Evelyn Conyers became the first matron. In 1907, she and Sister Jessie MacBeth opened a private hospital in Kew.

An original member of the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) in the Third Military District, Evelyn Conyers sailed on the Shropshire on 20 October 1914. Aged 45 years, she was appointed matron-in-chief, Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 12 January 1916. She held this position until she was discharged on 6 March 1920. During this time she worked closely with the Matron-in-Chief of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Service (QAIMNS) British Expeditionary Force (BEF) Miss (Dame from 1918) Maud McCarthy.

Evelyn Conyers was appointed to the Order of the British Empire - Commander (Military) on 22 March 1919 for nursing service with the army during World War I. She had previously been awarded the Royal Red Cross on 3 June 1916.

After the war Evelyn Conyers returned to 'Lancewood' Private Hospital in Kew, Victoria. She was appointed to the board set up under the provisions of the Nurses' Registration Act (1923), was made a Life Member of the Royal Victorian College of Nurses, was a founder and director of the Victorian Trained Nurses Club Ltd, and a member of the Victorian branch of the Australian Nursing Federation. Evelyn Conyers also was a member of the board of management of the Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital, a trustee of the Edith Cavell Trust Fund, and belonged to the Returned Nurses' Club.

On 6 September 1944 Evelyn Conyers died at Epworth Private Hospital, Richmond and was buried with full military honours in Boroondara cemetery, Kew.

View the full record at Australian Women's Register

Evelyn Conyers was a highly regarded war-time nurse. She served in Egypt and Greece for the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during 1914-1915 and was promoted to matron. In 1916 the AIF transferred Conyers to their London headquarters to help reconcile differences between the nurses and medical staff and the Australian and British nursing services. Her contributions to the war effort and nursing in general were rewarded by her being appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), the Order of the Royal Red Cross and recipient of the Florence Nightingale medal.

In her early 20s, Evelyn Augusta Conyers migrated from New Zealand to Victoria, Australia. There she set about studying nursing at the Children's Hospital and then the Melbourne Hospital. She graduated in 1896 and worked in a private hospital from around 1901 to 1903. It was also in 1903 when Conyers joined the Australian Army Nursing Service. The following year, she was employed by the new Queen's Memorial Infectious Diseases Hospital as matron. In c.1907, Evelyn Conyers and Sister Jessie MacBeth established the Lancewood private hospital in Kew.

When wore broke out, Conyers joined the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) as a senior sister. Her first post was at the 1st Australian General Hospital in Egypt, but soon after arriving Conyers was sent to the Egyptian Army Hospital (Abbassia) to give urgent assistance. By July 1915 she had rejoined the 1st Australian General Hospital which had been moved to Heliopolis, Greece. Conyers was soon promoted to matron and sent to the neighbouring 3rd Australian General Hospital. In December of the same year, she was promoted to matron-in-chief of the Australian Army Nursing Service. In 1916 Conyers was transferred to the AIF's London headquarters, where she worked in administration as well as making several trips casualty-clearing to auxiliary hospitals on the Western Front. Conyers returned to Australia in December 1918 and went back to the Lancewood Hospital.

Evelyn Conyers was a heavily involved in the development of nursing in Australia. She was founder of the (Royal) Victorian Trained Nurses' Association (later known as the Royal Victorian College of Nurses) and the Victorian Trained Nurses' Club Ltd, a ten-year board member under the Nurses' Registration Act, a member of the Australian Nursing Federation, and a member of the Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital's board of management.

  • c. 1890 Life event - Migrated to Australia (Victoria)
  • 1894 Education - Nursing Certificate completed at the Children's and Melbourne Hospitals
  • 1901 Career position - Founder of the Victorian Trained Nurses' Association
  • 1901 Career position - Matron at a private hospital in Melbourne
  • 1903 Career position - Sister with the Australian Army Nursing Service
  • 1904 Career position - Foundation Matron of Queen's Memorial Infectious Disease Hospital in Fairfield
  • 1914 - 1916 Career position - Senior Sister with the 1st Australian General Hospital of the Australian Imperial Force in Egypt and Greece
  • c. 12 December 1914 Career position - Matron-in-Chief with the Australian Army Nursing Service
  • 1916 Career position - Matron with the Australian Imperial Force at their London Headquarters
  • 3 June 1916 Award - Order of the Royal Red Cross (1st class)
  • 12 December 1917 Life event - Returned to Victoria
  • January 1919 Award - Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
  • March 1919 Award - Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
  • December 1919 Award - Bar to her Royal Red Cross received
  • 23 February 1921 - 23 February1921 Award - Florence Nightingale Medal and Diploma received from the Red Cross Committee in Geneva

View the full record at Encyclopedia of Australian Science

Related people and organisations

Australian Dictionary of Biography Online

Australian Women's Register

Resources for Evelyn Augusta Conyers

Selected resources (9)

Australian Dictionary of Biography Online

Australian Women's Register

  1. Conyers, Evelyn Augusta (1870 - 1944)Australian Dictionary of Biography Online : Conyers, Evelyn Augusta (1870 - 1944)
    Reid, John
    [2006]
    Published: Australian National University
    Series: http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080104b.htm
  2. Faith, Hope and Charity Australian Women and Imperial Honours: 1901-1989
    Australian Women's Archives Project
    [2003]
    Published: Australian Women's Archives Project
    Series: http://www.womenaustralia.info/exhib/honours/honours.html
  3. Where are the Women in Australian science?
    Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre
    [2003]
    Published: Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre
    Series: http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/wisa/wisa.html
  4. Nightingales in the mud : the digger sisters of the Great War 1914 - 1918
    Barker, Marianne
    [1989]
    Published: Allen & Unwin
  5. Just wanted to be there : Australian Service Nurses 1899-1999
    Reid, Richard
    [1999]
    Published: Commonwealth Department of Veterans' Affairs
  6. Australian nurses since Nightingale 1860-1990
    Burchill, Elizabeth
    [1992]
    Published: Spectrum Publications Pty Ltd
  7. Guns and brooches : Australian Army Nursing from the Boer War to the Gulf War
    Bassett, Jan
    [1992]
    Published: Oxford University Press

Encyclopedia of Australian Science

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  1. PERSONAL.
    The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956) Saturday 5 March 1921 p 20 Article
    ... 'Warrnambool on the occasion of the sinking of the Nestor on January 0 Miss Evelyn Augusta Conyers CBE ... arded the Florence Nightingale Medal. Miss Conyers has 11 ne record of service She ... 875 words
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    ... Hawksburn, Vicioria, by the Rev. A. C. Green, William, second son of W. Dundas Fisher, to Evelyn ... Chisholm, aged 3 years and 10 months, of diphtheria. CONYERS.-June 7, at her residence, Campbelltown, Bluff Harbour, N.Z. (suddenly), Fanny Conyers, the be- loved wife of William Conyers, C.E ... 753 words
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  3. Family Notices
    The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956) Thursday 7 September 1944 p 2 Family Notices
    ... ARMSTRONG Se WHITTLE, Malvern. U2443. CONYERS. - The Funeral of the late Matron-in-Chief EVELYN AUGUSTA ... years, -Peacefully at rest. i COSTERS,-On September 6, at ft private hospital, Evelyn Augusta ... Leonard E. Barber-a son (Anthony Horton). BLEKL.Y (Roach). ~ On September 1. at St. George's, to Evelyn ... 4115 words
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