15 Mar 2016
In Women's History Month, we're uncovering fascinating stories of women at sea. Our Researcher, Laura Humphreys, has been looking into the life and career of Dr Attracta Rewcastle.
Women have played an important – but not always recognised – role in the Royal Navy for centuries, but it was not until the 1940s that the first woman rose to the rank of Commissioned Officer.
At the National Maritime Museum, we have hundreds of medals in our collections, but one set in particular is quite unique. These are a selection of the personal decorations awarded to Dr Attracta Genevieve Rewcastle (1901 – 1951), including her military OBE.
After qualifying as a Doctor in Dublin, Rewcastle moved to Sheffield, and later to London, working at Great Ormond Street Hospital before taking a career break with her three children. She began her Naval Career in 1940, working with the Women’s Royal Naval Service (the Wrens) as a temporary Lieutenant-Surgeon at the beginning of the Second World War.
Her appointment caused some controversy, because officers in the Wrens were paid less than their male counterparts in the Navy. Outside of the armed forces, female doctors were paid the same as male doctors, and the Medical Women’s Federation objected to Rewcastle being paid less in such a position. As a result, she was appointed to the same rank in the Royal Naval Voluntary Reserves (the RNVR) in 1940, and in 1943 was promoted to the rank of Surgeon Lieutenant Commander. She was dismissed at the end of the War in 1946, having made a considerable impact on women’s naval service. As well as blazing a trail for aspiring officers, in 1944 she secured the appointment of 20 female Surgeon Lieutenants to the RNVR, where previously there had been none.
Rewcastle was a fascinating character beyond her Naval and Medical career. She was a Conservative Councillor for Westminster City Council during the late 1940s, and ran for Parliament in 1950 in the Willesden West constituency as the Conservative candidate; although she lost, she put a big dent in the incumbent MP’s majority. Interestingly, her husband, Cuthbert Snowball Rewcastle, had previously run in three Elections as a Liberal Candidate.
Although the National Maritime Museum has been able to research Rewcastle’s career, we still know very little about her personal life or the kind of person she was. However we are now working with her family to find out more about this ground-breaking woman. In the future we plan to have more of Rewcastle's story on display in our permanent galleries.
Learn more about Rewcastle's life and career at our free Women's History Month event, Women Making Waves