Obituary

MISS MARY RUNDLE

THE COLLEGE OF NURSING

By the sudden death on Saturday, at the age of 62, of Miss Mary Snell Rundle the nursing profession has lost one of its most valued and active members wvho did pioneer work in the organization of the College of Nursing.

Born at Saltash, in Cornwall. she was the only daughter of John Peter and Mary Snell Rundle. One of her brothers was, until recently, medical superintendent of the Fazakerley Hospital, Liverpool, and another is Engineer Rear-Admiral Mark Rundle. She was educated privately, and in 1906 entered St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, to train as a nurse. The winner of the first Isla Stewart Scholarship, she went to Teacher's College. Columbia, New York, for a year's course in hospital economics and teaching in schools of nursing. She had her massage certificates and, in the early days. was night superintendent and assistant matron under Miss Cox-Davics at the Royal Free Hospital. In 1912 she was appointed matron of the Royal Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, and it was there that she organized some of the earliest postgraduate courses for nurses on tuberculosis nursing, health visiting, and work in the tuberculosis dispensary. With the profits from these lectures she started a nurses' library. During the War, in 1915, while retaining her post at the Royal Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, Miss Rundle was appointed matron of the Ist London General Hospital, T.A. For her war work she received the Royal Red Cross (first class).

In 1916 the Director-General, Medical Services, allowed Mliss Rundle to apply for the secretaryship of the College of Nursing, at that time hardly more than an idea.

For the first 17-j years of its existence she was its secretary, and her exhaustive knowledge of nursing affairs did much to build it into the powerful organization of which she had dreamed and which she saw materialize. It achieved a membership of over 29,000 fully trained nurses representinig every department of the profession; and, in addition to possessing a Royal Charter, has its headquarters in the beautiful building given by the late Lord and Lady Cowdray. Under her guidance the College has continued its development, and one of its finest achievements, largely due to Miss Rundle's efforts, was the part it played in the initiation of the Federated Superannuation Scheme for Nurses and Hospital Officers (Contributory), on the council and executive *of which she remained a member.until her death.

In 1925 she was awarded the Diploma in Nursing (honaoris caUsa) by Leeds University. She was at one time a member of the Advisory Board of the Diploma in Nursing of the University of London, a member of the Council of the Cowdray Club, and vice-president of St. Bartholomew's Hospital Nurses' League. Even after her retirement her interest in the welfare of the nursing profession never waned, and within a few hours of her death she was still...