Eliza Chalmers

Eliza Mackenzie (born Elizabeth Chalmers; 3 July 1816 – 18 September 1892) was a Scottish superintendent of nurses with the Navy during the Crimean War. Her brief career led to the formation of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service (QARNNS) in 1902.

Early life Elizabeth Chalmers was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 3 July 1816. She was the second of six daughters of Church of Scotland minister and social reformer Thomas Chalmers and his wife Grace (née Pratt).

Education and early career Mackenzie was a superintendent of nurses, appointed by the Admiralty during the Crimean War. Having accepted this appointment, Mackenzie felt the future of female nursing in the Admiralty hospitals rested with her. If the experiment of allowing female staff to work in Therapia (now Tarabya) was successful, the Admiralty planned to make employing female nurses general practice throughout their hospitals. Therapia was situated north of Constantinople (now Istanbul), on the western shores of the Bosporus.

Superintendents were not trained nurses but educated gentlewomen. To prepare for her role in the Crimea she spent three weeks at the Middlesex Hospital in London where she focused on learning hospital management. She was apprehensive about taking up this Superintendent role, partly as she had heard that Florence Nightingale, who had already gone to Scutari Hospital, was able to participate in more advanced healthcare procedures. To prepare herself, Mackenzie did attend the operating theatre to observe the amputation of a leg at St Thomas’ Hospital. She wrote that she was ‘in a rage’ about it as the surgeon did not use chloroform even although it was available. for the Naval Hospital in Therapia. They arrived on 10 January 1855. Of the six nurses, two of them were Fry nurses, having trained at the Institute for Nursing Sisters which was set up by Elizabeth Fry in Guy's Hospital in 1840.

The hospital in Therapia was set up by a surgeon, Dr Davidson. It was well equipped in terms of stores, but lacked skilled nurses. Davidson and Dr Deas, at that time serving as Medical Inspector to the Black Sea Fleet, appealed to the Board of Admiralty who finally, in November 1854, agreed to employ female nurses.

Mackenzie was given a gold and diamond brooch by the Sultan Abdülmecid I in gratitude for her services in 1856. The family still have the jewel and a watercolour of her by Kenneth Macleay. The watercolour and brooch were shown in 2025 on a BBC Antiques Roadshow episode.

Personal life

Mackenzie married John Mackenzie on 13 August 1839 at St Cuthbert's, Edinburgh. She had no children.

The Eliza Mackenzie prize for student naval nurses is awarded each year.