A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O PQ R S T U V W XYZ
" live your life while you have it. Life is a splendid gift - there is nothing small about it"
Florence Nightingale O.M
Her Name is Florence
* Florence Ellinwood Allen
born 1884 died 1966
..... American judge and feminist, born in Salt Lake City, Utah, she graduated from New York University Law School in 1913 and was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1914. She became the FIRST woman to sit on a general federal bench and the FIRST on a court of last resort. She won high respect both as a judge and a feminist and retired in 1959
* Florence Arthaud
..... Frenchwoman who was the FIRST person to complete a solo yacht crossing of the Atlantic in under 10 days in 1990. In her Trimaran Pierre 1 she passed the Lizard Point in Cornwall and set a record crossing of nine days, 21 hours and 42 minutes
* Florence Merriam Bailey
..... FIRST female member of the American Ornithologists Union
* Florence Bates
..... in 1914 she was the FIRST woman lawyer in Texas
* Florence Bascom
..... American geologist and educator who was the FIRST woman to be appointed to the post of assistant geologist with the U.S Geological Survey - 1896
* Florence Chadwick
born 1918 died 1995
..... an American who was the FIRST woman to swim the English Channel from England to France which was a more difficult swim than France to England. On 5th August 1950 she was the13th woman to swim France to England but cut the record time taken. She was also the FIRST woman to swim the 21 mile channel between Catalina Island and Los Angeles which she did on her second attempt and also in the fastest time. She began to earn money from swimming and in 1953 achieved a grand slam of 4 channel swims in 5 weeks breaking records on each one
* Florence Gertrude Horsbrugh
born October 13th 1889 died December 6th 1969
..... FIRST woman to hold a Cabinet post in a Conservative government when appointed in 1953. She was always interested in child welfare and as a private member introduced the bill which became the Adoption of Children (Regulation) Act of 1939. She also did a lot of preparatory work on the scheme which eventually became the National Health Service
* Florence de Jong
born August 1st 1896 died 1990
..... Englishwoman who, at the age of 16,was the FIRST woman ever to play an organ in the cinema and at the ripe old age of 74 was the oldest musical director at the National Film Theatre
* Florence Kelley
born 1859 died 1932
..... American who was the FIRST woman factory inspector in Illinois and as such passed an anti-sweat bill with an eight hours clause through the state legislature. She was refused admission to Pennsylvania University to study law because she was a woman and so went to Zurich where she studied for two years and where she met many exiled East European radicals. She joined the Socialist Party and in 1884 was married but after a few years left her husband and went to Chicago with her three children where for eight years she worked at the Hull House Settlement. Her projects resulted in the Hull House Maps and Papers in 1895. In 1910 she was a founder member of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People and in 1919 was a delegate to the International Congress of Women for Permanent Peace at Zurich. Until the late 1920s she campaigned especially for protective legislation for women and children
* Florence Lawrence
died 1938
..... American silent screen star said to be the FIRST actress to become known by being the focus of the FIRST Hollywood publicity stunt. In 1910 a rumour was circulated that she had been killed in an accident. Advertisements were then taken out in the newspapers saying that she was still alive and when she was produced in St Louis by Carl Laemmle huge crowds showed up to see her. At the age of four years she was in Vaudeville as Baby Flo, the child wonder whistler, and she made her cinema debut in 1907. She worked for several film companies after achieving stardom but was badly burned in a fire in 1915 whilst trying to save someone else. A comeback in 1920 was unsuccessful and she committed suicide with poison in 1938. Three of her best films were : Romeo and Juliet (1908) Miss Jones Entertains (1909) and Resurrection ( 1910)
* Florence Nagle
nee Watson
born 1894 died 1988
..... racehorse trainer and dog breeder who, in 1966, took on the Jockey Club single-handed in the courts and won a famous victory, forcing racing's ruling body to give licences to women trainers. Eleven years later the Jockey Club admitted, for the FIRST time in its long history, three women as members (see Ruth, Countess of Halifax). In 1969 she became the FIRST woman trainer in Britain to saddle a winner under the rules of racing
* Florence Nightingale
born 13th May 1820 died 12th August 1910
..... in 1883 she was awarded the Royal Red Cross by queen Victoria, in 1907 became the FIRST woman to be awarded the Order of Merit and in 1908 became the second woman to receive the Freedom of the City of London. In 1860 she founded the FIRST school of nursing at St Thomas' in London. She is best remembered as the 'Lady with the Lamp' for her work in nursing the sick during the Crimean War but carried on with her work long after it was over. She prepared the way for the modern concept of care in the community, pioneered life saving hospital designs that became the blueprint for hospitals around the world. She also successfully campaigned for the complete reform of the Army Medical system. The Florence Nightingale Museum is now open on the site of St Thomas' hospital and among its displays are letters, childhood books, an original lamp, historical nursing artefacts and a nurse's uniform of the 1880s. She was also the FIRST woman member of the Statistical Society
* Florence Tim-Oi Lee
born 1906 died 1992
..... FIRST woman priest ordained in Hong Kong on January 25th 1944. She was asked to relinquish her orders at the end of World War 11 and agreed not to carry out any priestly functions. In 1969 she was told that she could resume her work and in 1984 a 40th anniversary celebration was held in Westminster Abbey, in her presence. The sermon was preached by the Revd. Joyce Bennett
* Florence Prag
..... FIRST Jewish woman to serve in the U.S Congress when elected to the House of Representatives - San Francisco - 1925
* Florence Sabin
born 1871 died 1953
..... American who was the FIRST woman to graduate from John Hopkins University Medical School in 1897, was the FIRST woman student there and its FIRST woman member of staff when made an assistant in the Department of Anatomy in 1902. In 1917 she became its FIRST woman Professor. She was also the FIRST woman member of staff at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York and in 1925 was the FIRST woman President of the American Anatomical Society
* Florence Barbara Seibert
born 6th October 1897 died 1990
..... American medical chemist who developed the FIRST reliable test for tuberculosis in the 1930s. Until then tuberculosis had been difficult to diagnose in its curable stages because the symptoms were hidden. Her test became the standard in America in 1941 and was adopted by the World Health Organisation in 1952
* Florence Taylor
..... Australian who was the FIRST woman to pilot a glider when in December 1909 in New South Wales she flew her husband's home built aircraft at Narrabeen Beach. In 1930 Lady Mary Bailey made her maiden flight from a hill in Buckinghamshire
* Florence Turner
..... American who was the FIRST film star to be put under contract
* Florence White
..... on 30th October 1901 she became the FIRST woman publisher with her publication of Smallpox: It's Prevention, Treatment and History