# Sarah Oram > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sarah_Oram > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sarah_Oram.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Oram > Source revision: 1354147800 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Dame Sarah Elizabeth Oram** (26 December 1860 – 26 June 1946) was a senior member of the [Army Nursing Service](/source/Army_Nursing_Service) and the [Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service](/source/Queen_Alexandra's_Imperial_Military_Nursing_Service) (QAIMNS). She served as Principal Matron, Nursing Inspector in the QAIMNS, and was attached to the British Expeditionary Force in France from 1914 to 1915 and subsequently as Acting Matron-in-Chief, QAIMNS, in the Eastern Mediterranean Expeditionary Force from 1915 to 1919 during the [First World War](/source/First_World_War).[1] ## Background and training Oram was born on Boxing Day, 1860[2] in [Cirencester](/source/Cirencester), the only daughter of Samuel Thomas Oram, a Surveyor of Taxes, and his wife, Sarah Oram, née Gibbons.[3] Oram's father died in [Thirsk](/source/Thirsk), [Yorkshire](/source/Yorkshire) in 1868, and Oram was educated at a private school in London and at the Malvern Link.[4] Oram worked as a school teacher before commencing her nurse training at [The London Hospital](/source/Royal_London_Hospital) in February 1884.[5] Oram trained under matron [Eva Charlotte Ellis Luckes](/source/Eva_Luckes), between 1884 and completed her training on 22 February 1886.[6][7] ## Career Oram joined the [Army Nursing Service](/source/Army_Nursing_Service) (ANS) as an Army Nursing Sister on 1 May 1886 and served in Egypt for 5 years from 1891. On 11 December 1896,[8] the *London Gazette* announced that she was awarded the [Royal Red Cross](/source/Royal_Red_Cross) for her role in caring for the sick and wounded soldiers who served in the Anglo-Sudan war, and the award was conferred by [Queen Victoria](/source/Queen_Victoria) at [Windsor Castle](/source/Windsor_Castle) on 5 March 1897.[9][10][11] After 13 years as an Army Nursing Sister, she was promoted to the position of Superintendent in May 1899 and served in the [Second Boer War](/source/Second_Boer_War) in South Africa from January 1900 until 1902.[12] Oram was made a matron in the newly formed QAIMNS in 1903.[13][14] She was promoted to Principal Matron, QAIMNS, South Africa, 1911–1914; Principal Matron, Nursing Inspector QAIMNS, 1911–1914, and attached to the British Expeditionary Force, France, 1914–1915, before her final appointment as Acting Matron-in-Chief in 1915 of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force.[15][16][17] Oram was appointed a [Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Dame_Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) in 1919 and invested on 10 March 1920 at [Buckingham Palace](/source/Buckingham_Palace). ## Death Dame Sarah Oram died, unmarried, on 26 June 1946 in [South Kensington](/source/South_Kensington), [London](/source/London), aged 85.[18] The funeral took place at [St George's Church, Campden Hill](/source/St_George_the_Martyr,_Holborn), and Oram was cremated at [Kensal Green Crematorium](/source/Kensal_Green_Crematorium) on 1 July 1946.[19] ## References 1. Sarah Elizabeth Oram, British Army Nurses’ Service Records 1914–1918; WO399/6348; The National Archives, Kew 1. Sarah Elizabeth Oram, Birth Certificate, 26 December 1860, Stratton, Cirencester, Gloucestershire; General Register Office for England and Wales 1. Sarah Elizabeth Oram, Birth Certificate, 26 December 1860, Stratton, Cirencester, Gloucestershire; General Register Office for England and Wales 1. Sarah Elizabeth Oram, British Army Nurses’ Service Records 1914–1918; WO399/6348; The National Archives, Kew. 1. Sarah Elizabeth Oram, Register of Probationers; RLHLH/N/1/1, 163; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London 1. Sarah Elizabeth Oram, Register of Probationers; RLHLH/N/1/1, 163; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London 1. Rogers, Sarah (2022). 'A Maker of Matrons'? A study of Eva Lückes's influence on a generation of nurse leaders:1880–1919' (Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Huddersfield, April 2022) 1. ["The London Gazette"](https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000174/18961212/063/0006). *Morning Post*. British Newspaper Archive. 12 December 1896. p. 6 col.4. Retrieved 20 August 2022. 1. ["The Queen at Windsor"](https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000060/18970305/012/0007). *Glasgow Herald*. British Newspaper Archive. 5 March 1897. p. 7 col.4. Retrieved 20 August 2022. 1. Sarah Elizabeth Oram, British Army Nurses’ Service Records 1914–1918; WO399/6348; The National Archives, Kew 1. ["The Boer War Nurses Database"](https://boerwarnurses.com/boer-war-nurses-database). 5 April 2018. 1. ["The Boer War Nurses Database"](https://boerwarnurses.com/boer-war-nurses-database). 5 April 2018. 1. Anonymous, ‘Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service’, *The British Journal of Nursing*, 30 (30 May 1903), 428 1. The Minutes of the Fourteenth Nursing Board, 21 January 1903; Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service: Proceedings and Reports; April 1902– March 1903; WO243/20, Vol.1, 113; The National Archives, Kew 1. Sarah Elizabeth Oram, British Army Nurses’ Service Records 1914–1918; WO399/6348; The National Archives, Kew. 1. Anonymous, ‘The Matron in Chief in Egypt’, *The Nursing Mirror and Midwives’ Journal*, 24 (9 December 1916), 191 1. Oram, Dame Elizabeth (1922). "Nursing in Egypt and Palestine, 1915 to 1919". *Reminiscent Sketches 1914 to 1919*. Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service. pp. 35–40. 1. Sarah Elizabeth Oram, Death Certificate; 26 June 1946, The London Hospital, Whitechapel, London; General Register Office for England and Wales 1. ["To-day's arrangements"](https://go.gale.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Newspapers&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&hitCount=2&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=2&docId=GALE%7CCS84099809&docType=Back+matter&sort=Pub+Date+Forward+Chron&contentSegment=ZTMA-MOD1&prodId=TTDA&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE%7CCS84099809&searchId=R1&userGroupName=leedscl&inPS=true). *The Times*. No. 50491. Gale. 1 July 1946. Retrieved 20 August 2022. ## External links - [*British Journal of Nursing*](http://rcnarchive.rcn.org.uk/data/VOLUME078-1930/page087-volume78-april1930.pdf) - [CROWN COPYRIGHT: THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, WO95/3989](http://www.scarletfinders.co.uk/43.html) - [Command & Control of Army Nurses](https://britisharmynurses.com/command-control-of-army-nurses/), britisharmynurses.com - ["Red Cross Awards"](https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000729/19180106/028/0003). *The People*. British Newspaper Archive. 6 January 1918. p. 3 col.3. Retrieved 20 August 2022. (bar to RRC award, 1918) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sarah Oram](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Oram) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Oram?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.