Attracta Rewcastle

Attracta Genevieve Rewcastle (née Candon, 1901 - 18 February 1951) was a doctor, politician, and the first female Commissioned Officer in the Royal Navy.[1] Born in Roscommon, Ireland, Rewcastle attended National University, Dublin where she studied medicine. After working as an Assistant Schools Medical Officer in Sheffield, she went on to a position at Great Ormond Street Hospital, as well as working in Private Practice.[2]

She joined the WRNS in 1940, and took up a position at the Admiralty as the Medical Superintendent of the WRNS. In the summer of 1940, she attained the Relative Rank of Surgeon-Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Voluntary Service, and on 5 December 41, she was made Temporary Surgeon Lieutenant. She was promoted to Temporary Acting Surgeon Lieutenant-Commander in 1943, and Temporary Surgeon Lieutenant-Commander in 1945. She was released (Class A) in 1946.[3]

After the war, Rewcastle served as a Conservative Party Councillor on Westminster City Council, and ran as the Conservative candidate for Willesden West constituency in the 1950 general election (losing to the incumbent Labour MP, Samuel Viand).[4]

She married Cuthbert Snowball Rewcastle, a judge and former Liberal politician, in 1926, and they had three children. Her son, Submarine-Lieutenant Anthony Giles Candon Rewcastle, was lost with the submarine HMS Affray in 1951, the last Royal Navy submarine to be lost at sea.

References

  1. ↑ "THE NAVY'S WOMAN DOCTOR". Examiner. 1940-08-31. p. 8. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
  2. ↑ Royal Museums Greenwich, Collections Online. "Rewcastle, Attracta Genevieve, Doctor".
  3. ↑ Royal Navy, Record of Service. Attracta Genevieve Rewcastle. Navy Command Secretariat.
  4. ↑ Craig, FWS. British parliamentary election results, 1950 - 1970.
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