Anne Bryans
Anne Bryans, DBE, DStJ (1909-2004) spent much of her life in the service of the joint Voluntary Aid Detachment of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St John of Jerusalem. She was Chairman of the Joint Service Hospitals Welfare and VAD Committee from 1960-1989.
She was born Anne Margaret Gilmour in Edinburgh on 29 Oct 1909, the only daughter of John Gilmour 2nd Baronet Gilmour of Lundin and Montrave (1876-1940) and Mary Louise née Lambert (1878-1919). Her brother John Gilmour (1912-2007) succeeded to the Baronetcy.
In 1932 she married Lt Cdr John Reginald Bryans RN (c1911-1990), they had one son Lt Cdr John Patrick Gilmour Bryans RN FRGS (1933- )
Anne joined the British Red Cross Society in the late 1920 and became a member of staff of the in 1938. She became the Deputy Commissioner of the British Red Cross and St John War Organisation, Middle East Commission, in 1943 and was Commissioner from Jan-June, 1945. She was the only woman to be appointed a Commissioner during the Second World War. She was Deputy Chairman of the BRCS Executive Committee from 1953–64, and Vice-Chairman, from 1964-76.
Other appointments included: Lay Member of the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine (a predecessor of the Health and Care Professions Council), 1973–79; Member of the Board of Governors, the Eastman Dental Hospital, 1973–79; Member, Camden and Islington Area Health Authority, 1974–79; Vice-President, Open Section, Royal Society of Medicine, 1975, President 1980-82; was a Member of the Independent Television Authority, later Independent Broadcasting Authority; Member of the Government Anglo-Egyptian Resettlement Board; Member of the BBC/ITA Appeals Committee; Special Trustee and Chairman of the Royal Free Hospital and the Friends of the Royal Free Hospital;[1] Vice-President of the Royal College of Nursing; Governor of Westminster Hospital.
She died at Lundin Links, Fife, Scotland, 21 April 2004.
References
- ↑ Anne Bryans House at the Royal Free Hospital is named after her.
External links
- Bryans, Anne. "Portrait by Carl Cheek". BBC Your Paintings. BBC. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
- Bryans, Anne. "DNB entry (subscription required)". Oxford DNB. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
- Bryans, Anne. "Diary from 1944-45". The National Archives. Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
- Bryans, Anne. "Audio Interview - three parts". Imperial War Museum. Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 19 September 2015.