Monica Baly

Monica Eileen Baly (24 May 1914 – 12 November 1998) was an English nurse, historian of nursing, and an advocate for social change. She was the first Chair of the History of Nursing Society at the Royal College of Nursing, and was elected a centenary fellow of the Queen's Nursing Institute in 1985.

Early life Baly was born on 24 May 1914 in Surrey. Monica Baly studied at the St. Hilda's School for Girls in London.

Education and career

Baly trained in the London County Council Fever Hospital followed by professional nursing training at the Middlesex Hospital, qualifying in 1938. She then qualified as a midwife at the Middlesex Hospital in 1939. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the Open University in 1979, and then undertook a PhD in Nursing and Social Change, completing it at the age of 70. She wrote her doctoral dissertation was on the life of Florence Nightingale, and also wrote a history of the Queen's Nursing Institute. When Baly died in 1988, she left money for a scholarship in the area. The Monica Baly Fund, RCN Foundation continues to offer small grants to support research into the history of nursing and midwifery by registered nurses and midwives who might otherwise not be able to undertake this work.