Guyanese-born Daphne Steele made headlines around the world when she became the UK’s first Black hospital matron in 1964 at St. Winifred’s Hospital in Ilkley, West Yorkshire. Former Deputy Director of Nursing at the Department of Health, Nola Ishmael, described Daphne as a ‘first’ who led with dignity and determination saying “She helped to shape aspirations for BME nurses across the profession who sought to follow in her footsteps.” When St. Winifred’s closed in 1971, Daphne trained as a health visitor at Leeds University. She took on her role with renewed vigour and quickly became an integral part of the community.
1929
2004
Dutch colony of Esseqibo, Guyana
Guyanese
1945 – started nursing and midwifery training in a public hospital in Georgetown, Guyana
1964 – became the first Black hospital matron in Britain at St. Winifred’s Hospital in Ilkle, West Yorkshire
1971 – trained as a health visitor at Leeds University
Daphne was born in 1929 in the Essequibo region of Guyana, where she grew up as the eldest of nine children. Her younger sister Carmen Steele later became better known as the actress Carmen Munroe. Her father worked as a pharmacist, travelling around the colony for work. The family were sufficiently well off to be able to afford servants.
Daphne started nursing and midwifery training in 1945 at the public hospital in Georgetown, Guyana. She emigrated to the UK in 1951 and started out on a fast track training programme at St. James’ Hospital in South London. In 1955, her career took her to the United States where she worked at a New Jersey hospital. She returned to the UK five years later and was a nurse at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, before moving to Manchester to become Deputy Matron at a nursing home. The nursing home was facing closure and
the Matron in charge of the nursing home encouraged Daphne to apply a Matron positionat a hospital in West Yorkshire. , with the In 1964, Daphne made history by becoming the first Black matron in Britain at St. Winifred’s Hospital in Ilkley, in the same historic building where Charles Darwin had lived a century before. News of Daphne’s appointment spread as far afield as the United States and, of course, her native Guyana. When St. Winifred’s closed in 1971, Daphne trained as a health visitor at Leeds University. She took on her role with renewed vigour and quickly became an integral part of the community.
She was a devout Methodist and was involved with volunteer organisation Soroptomist International, as well as serving as Vice President for the Association of Guyanese Nurses and Allied Professionals (AGNAP). She loved cooking, music and amateur dramatics. Her contribution to her local community was recognised by the Rotary Club and, in addition, she received an award from the Government of Guyana in recognition of her services to nursing.
https://guyanesegirlsrock.com/women-in-history-daphne-steele-uks-first-Black-hospital-matron/
https://peoplepill.com/people/daphne-steele
Daphne Steele – First Black Matron in the NHS (historycalroots.com)
