THE FIRST TIREE NURSES
Lady Victoria Campbell, a daughter of the eighth Duke of Argyll, was a frequent visitor to Tiree. Disabled by childhood polio herself, she threw herself into charitable projects on the island. In 1896 she looked back at ten years of struggle to establish a district nurse’s post on Tiree:
‘As far back as 1886 [a year of conflict, with the Greenhill land raid and the garrisoning of the island by 250 marines], I saw one of our great and crying needs was that of the trained nurse in the homes of our poor and scattered population. On my reporting this, the Duke of Argyll at once enabled me to engage the services of an efficient nurse for Tiree, who, while subsidised and enabled to gain a competence, was to take fees from all able to pay. She was succeeded by another private effort, but this one soon gave it up for the combined reasons of boisterous climate, inadequate support, and lack of fresh meat! This experience made me hail, and cast in my lot with, the efforts of Miss H. Gardyce when she proposed an association [the North Argyll Nursing Association], which would be affiliated with the Queen Victoria Jubilee Institute [for Nurses, established in 1887]. I became its president … Finally, our Association aspires to furnish women who, while living by their profession, yet recognise that we ask of them what payment cannot secure, what their nursing homes or scientific training cannot give. It is the whole-hearted surrender of self. One who will grudge no labour, shirk no hardship in our stormy winters, in order to bring to the hearths and bedsides of our sufferers, in addition to her trained skill, the word of living hope and comfort.’ (Oban Times and Argyllshire Advertiser, 27 June 1896, 3)
There had been a resident doctor on the island since around 1850.
The North Argyll Nursing Association was founded in Tobermory in 1892. The same year, Lady Victoria wrote in her diary: ‘Visited [Tiree] doctor’s wife. Spoke of nurse. I feel this is a subject we must get settled. It is disgraceful, such a large island should be without a sick-nurse.’ One must have been hired, because in 1894 it was reported that the Association nurse on Tiree had attended two patients during the year (Oban Times and Argyllshire Advertiser, 18 August 1894, 3). The estate built two ‘cottages’ in Heylipol: one for John MacKinnon, the ground officer, and the other for the nurse.
The association was still going strong in 1903:
‘The annual meeting [of the North Argyll Nursing Association] was held in the Aros Hall, Tobermory, on 21st inst. There was a large attendance, including the Lady Victoria Campbell; Mrs Melles of Gruline; Mrs Stewart of Kinlochmoidart; Mr and Mrs Morgan of Glengorm; Mrs Forsyth of Quinish; Mr and Mrs Allan of Aros; Mr Macdonald Macvicar of Invermoidart; etc. Mr Morgan occupied the chair. Mr Allan, as secretary and treasurer, reported that the Association had six nurses in its employment, situated in the districts of Tobermory, Bunessan, Salen, Shiel Bridge [Acharacle], Kilchoan and Tiree. The nurses during the year had paid 4396 visits to 209 patients [an average of two patients a day for each nurse]. The income for the year amounted to £262 7s, and the expenditure to £323 16s, leaving a deficit of £61 9s. In view of the heavy annual deficit, the meeting decided to curtail the expenditure, and with that object to place nurses in the districts of Tobermory and Bunessan at a [reduced] salary of £30 a year to cover everything except lodgings.’ (Oban Times and Argyllshire Advertiser, 29 August 1903, 3)
Funding was always an issue, at least until the NHS was set up in 1948. The island’s nursing service was dependent on donations. In the early days, the Duke paid most of the £50 salary. The nurse was meant to ask patients for a ‘fee’, but on Tiree, this may not always have been possible. In 1904, it was reported that there was a £22 deficit on the Tiree nurse budget. A local committee organised an annual house-to-house collection. And there were regular fundraisers, both on Tiree and further afield. For example, in 1896 HRH Princess Louise, a sister of Lady Victoria, put on a star-studded morning concert in London in aid of the North Argyll Nursing Association, with tickets selling for one guinea (the equivalent of £150 today).