[1] Kathleen Annie Raven was born and raised in Coniston in England's Lake District, attending Ulverston Grammar School.
Visiting her brother when he was a medical student at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, she decided to become a nurse and started her training there in 1933.
Raven left Leeds to go to the Department of Health in London, where she became Chief Nursing Officer in July 1958, succeeding Dame Elizabeth Cockayne.
She worked for the Civil Service Commission and was appointed a Governor of Epsom College and of Aylesbury Grammar School.
She was made a Patron of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and was an Honorary Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Barbers.