Dame Agnes Gwendoline Hunt DBE RRC (31 December 1866–24 July 1948) is generally recognised as the first orthopaedic nurse.

She was born in London ^[1][2] and brought up at Boreatton Park, Baschurch, a village in west Shropshire, England. She was disabled from osteomyelitis of the hip that she suffered from as a child following septicaemia.^[3] In 1887, she began training as a nurse at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Rhyl and opened a convalescent home for crippled children at Florence House in Baschurch in 1900 which espoused the theory of open-air treatment.

In 1901, she sought treatment for her own condition from a Liverpool surgeon, Robert Jones.^[4] She invited him to visit the convalescent home and he eventually began travelling there on a regular basis to provide treatment to the children. By 1907, they had built an operating theatre and they introduced the diagnostic use of X-rays in 1913. During World War I, Florence House was used to treat wounded soldiers.

In 1918, Hunt was awarded the insignia of the Royal Red Cross for her contribution during the war.^[5] In 1919, the British Red Cross Society and the Shropshire War Memorial Fund provided financing to move the facility, renamed the Shropshire Orthopaedic Hospital, to a former military hospital at Park Hall. The hospital also provided training for nurses. Later, a school begun for the children developed into a training college for disabled adults, Derwen College. The hospital was used once again to treat wounded soldiers during World War II. It was later moved to Gobowen, Oswestry, and developed into what is now called The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital.

She was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1926.

Hunt died in 1948 aged eighty-one. Her ashes were interred in the parish churchyard at Baschurch, where there is also a plaque inside the church. The memorial to Agnes Hunt in Gobowen states: "Reared in suffering thou shalt know how to solace others' woe. The reward of pain doth lie in the gift of sympathy."

References [link]

1. ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 28. Oxford University Press. 2004. p. 832. 
2. ^ General Registration Officer, Register of Births England and Wales, Index for January, February and March 1867 
3. ^ "Agnes Hunt". Shropshire Routes to Roots. Archived from the original on 29 December 2006. https://www3.shropshire-cc.gov.uk/roots/packages/med/med_c01.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-05. 
4. ^ "History". Institute of Orthopaedics. Archived from the original on 19 November 2006. https://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/rjah/. Retrieved 2006-12-05. 
5. ^ "Timeline". Shropshire Routes to Roots. Archived from the original on 29 December 2006. https://www3.shropshire-cc.gov.uk/roots/packages/med/med_time.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-05. 

• "Famous nurses: Dame Agnes Hunt". Nursing mirror (ENGLAND) 148 (13): 37. March 1979. ISSN 0029-6511. PMID 370802. 
• Glupker, D F (1984). "The yesteryear of orthopaedic nursing (Agnes Hunt)". Orthopaedic nursing / National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses (UNITED STATES) 3 (6): 48. DOI:10.1097/00006416-198411000-00007. ISSN 0744-6020. PMID 6393005. 
• Ellis, Harold (November 2008). "Dame Agnes Hunt: pioneer of orthopaedic nursing". Journal of perioperative practice (England) 18 (11): 510. ISSN 1750-4589. PMID 19051965. 

External links [link]

• Shropshire History
• OsCell is a dedicated website to The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic and District Hospital for the medical and science teams to provide information available for patients and current work
• Orthopeadic Institute is a charity that helps The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic and District Hospital in Oswestry and also runs medical courses and books for doctors
• The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic and District Hospital
• Shropshire Hospitals in World War II