Rebecca Strong (née Thorogood) was born in Aldgate, East London on the 23 August 1843.
[1] Married young and widowed by the age of twenty,[2] Strong decided to go into a career in nursing and was accepted as one of the first probationers at the Nightingale Training School at St Thomas's Hospital, London in 1867.
This followed a speech by Sir William Macewen at the annual Glasgow Royal Infirmary meeting when he suggested that a preliminary nurse training programme could be commenced.
He suggested that instruction in elementary anatomy, physiology and hygiene could be delivered at St Mungo’s College.
[8] In 1893 at Glasgow Royal Infirmary she started its first training school for nurses, based on Nightingale's model, and her methods were later widely adopted by the profession.
[13] In the 1939 New Year Honours Strong was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
She was also presented with a number of illuminated address including ones from the Nightingale Fellowship, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the Scottish Nurses Club.