ABSTRACT
Histories of district nursing traditionally begin from the activities of
William Rathbone in Liverpool. (His involvement with the Poor Law Infirmary in that city was discussed in Chapter 4.) As a young man, Rathbone had been a voluntary visitor for the District Provident Society, distributing charitable relief in the poorest areas of the city. In 1859 he employed a woman called Mary Robinson, who had nursed his first wife through a terminal illness, to work among the sick poor. She was initially reluctant but both of them became persuaded of the value of her work and he decided to extend it. Rathbone made various attempts to interest existing bodies like St John’s House or the Sisters of Charity. For a variety of reasons none of these organizations were able to assist and he turned to Florence Nightingale for advice. She gave him an interview and recommended that he should approach the Liverpool Royal Infirmary, a voluntary hospital, to accept women for training. A school was set up there in 1862. The probationers were shared between the hospital and the nursing association which the Rathbone family set up in 1861 to manage the scheme.
