In May 2020, many commemorations were planned across the world for the bicentenary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, including those at Westminster and Romsey Abbeys, and at Wellow Church where she is buried. Like most of those, our own commemoration was postponed because of the Covid pandemic.

It is now our pleasure to host the talk tracing her remarkable life from a privileged childhood in Derby and Romsey through to the pioneering work for which she is so justly famous. Although best known as “The Lady with the Lamp” by the wounded and disease-afflicted soldiers she nursed during the Crimean Campaign, there is a fascinating story behind this, revealing her decision to forego marriage to be free to pursue a career that would not only elevate nursing as a profession, but become the first to use statistics to develop policies for Public Health and the practice of Medicine in civil and military institutions in Britain and throughout an Empire that governed a quarter of the world’s population at that time. In due course, her influence extended much further.

This talk by Mrs. Angela Trend has been highly praised.  She has spent a working life in education and has a great interest in local history and research. The talk will be followed by lunch at the Langton Arms, whose hospitality we have enjoyed on a number of occasions.