The Board of Control: Women Commissioners Appointed: The Mental Treatment Act, 1930, provides that the Board of Control shall consist of the Chairman (who FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1931, shall be a paid Commissioner) and not more than four other Commissioners, all of whom shall be paid Commissioners. These members of the Board of Control are called “Senior Commissioners,” and it is stated that of the Senior Commissioners other than the Chairman, one at least shall be a legal Commissioner, two shall be medical Commissioners, and one at least shall be a woman. These Senior Commissioners are appointed by His Majesty on the recommendation, with regard to the legal Commissioners, of the Lord Chancellor, and in the case of the other Commissioners, of the Minister of Health. In addition to the Senior Commissioners, there are to be other paid Commissioners, who are appointed, subject to the approval of the Minister of Health, by’ the Board of Control. The Act declares that women are to be included as well as men among these Commissioners, and that any Commissioners so appointed shall be officers of the Board. Last December we reported that the Senior Commissioners, consisting of the Chairman, Mr. Lawrence George Brock, C. B., and four other Senior Commissioners — one legal man, two medical men, and one lay woman, Mrs. Ellen Pinsent, C.B.E., had been appointed. At the same time, we said it was most regrettable that no medical woman had been appointed a member of the Board of Control. Last week The Times reported that this Board of Control, with the approval of the Minister of Health, had appointed the following to be Commissioners: Mr. A. E. Evans, M. B., D.P.H., Mr. S. E. Gill, M.D., D. P. H., Mr. E. 0. Lewis, D.Sc., L. R. C. P., Mr. J. W. W. Adamson, M.D, Surgeon Rear-Admiral J. F. Hall, C.M.G., K.H.S., Surgeon Rear-Admiral E. T. Meagher — at present Medical Inspectors; and Mr. C. F. Penton, Barrister-at-Law, Miss I. M. C. Duncan, B. A., LL. B., Barrister-at-Law, Surgeon-Captain H. C. Devas, Miss I. G. H. Wilson, M.D., D.P.M., and Miss R. Darwin (part-time). We are glad to note that three women are among these Commissioners appointed by the Board of Control, including one medical woman and one-woman barrister. We are, however, by no means satisfied with the composition of the Board of Control itself, as it seems only common sense that of its two medical members one should be a woman and the other a man. The proportion of women to men among the medical Commissioners appointed by the Board is also ludicrously inadequate.
Transcribed in whole or part from scanned originals: Presented with or without modified text and punctuation. For absolute accuracy refer to the original newspapers. Source: The British Newspaper Archive
Referenced
GRO0245 Devonport: Ellen Frances Parker: 1866 – 1949