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Flora Masson (1857-1937), nurse, Author

Person

Details

Type of entity: Person

Name: Flora Masson

Date of birth: 1857 (Edinburgh)

Date of death: 1937 (Edinburgh)

Roles: nurse; Author

Source of information: Leeds University Special Collections

Profile

Flora Masson (1857-1937), was a nurse and author from Edinburgh. She was the daughter of Professor David Mather Masson (1822-1907), Chair of English at the University of Edinburgh.

Masson's career in nursing began at St Thomas' Hospital, London, where she undertook her training. She went on to become Matron at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, and the Eastern Fever Hospital, Homerton, London. She was a good friend of Florence Nightingale, who acted as her reference in her application to the Radcliffe Infirmary.

During the First World War Masson was Matron of the Red Cross Hospital at Rosewell; her services were awarded with a Royal Red Cross, 1st Class.

She later returned to Edinburgh to further pursue her writing career, editing some of her father's works before his death in 1907. She wrote a number of books, and some of her work related to the Brontë's. She died in Edinburgh in 1937.