Betsi Cadwaladr

Betsi Cadwaladr
Betsi Cadwaladr
Born	Elizabeth 'Betsi' Cadwaladr 24 May 1789 Llanycil, near Bala, Wales
Died	17 July 1860 London
Cause of death	Internal abscess
Nationality	Welsh
Citizenship	British
Occupation	Nurse
Years active	1855
Relatives	Dafydd Cadwaladr

Betsi Cadwaladr (24 May 1789 – 17 July 1860), also known as Beti Cadwaladr and Betsi Davis, worked as a nurse in the Crimean War alongside Florence Nightingale, although their different social backgrounds were a source of constant disagreement. Her name today is mostly synonymous with the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (Welsh: Bwrdd Iechyd Prifysgol Betsi Cadwaladr), the largest health organisation in Wales. In 2016, she was named as one of "the 50 greatest Welsh men and women of all time". and was placed ahead of such famous Welsh individuals as the singer Tom Jones, the actor Anthony Hopkins, T.E. Lawrence and Ivor Novello

Elizabeth 'Betsi' Cadwaladr was born in 1789 at Llanycil, near Bala, Wales, one of 16 children to Methodist preacher Dafydd Cadwaladr. She grew up on Pen Rhiw Farm, Llanycil, and her mother died when she was only five years old. Very soon after this she was given a copy of the Bible as a present from Thomas Charles (a Welsh Calvinistic Methodist clergyman who had famously also given a copy to Mary Jones), something which Betsi appreciated greatly, and which she felt now gave her some purpose to life.

Cadwaladr got employment locally as a maid as Plas yn Dre, where she learned housework, to speak English, and to play the triple harp. She was not happy there, though, and aged 14 she escaped through a bedroom window using tied sheets, and left Bala. She obtaines employment as a domestic servant in Liverpool. At some point in her life she changed her surname to Davis because it was easy to pronounce, though some sources state that she was actually born as Elizabeth Davis. She later returned to Wales, but subsequently fled to London to avoid marriage, living with her sister. Here in London she first encountered the theatre, which became a great interest to her.

Working as a maid and assistant, she had the opportunity to travel widely around the world, which gave her a taste for travel. She was in France at the time of the Battle of Waterloo, and she visited the battlefield where she was moved by the plight of the injured. In 1820, aged 31, she again returned to Bala, which she now considered 'dull', so she became a maid to a ship's captain and travelled for years, visiting such places as South America, Africa and Australia. At times she performed Shakespeare on board ship, and met such people as William Carey, the missionary, and Bishop Heber, the hymn-writer. At this time she was not trained in nursing, but during the course of her time on board ship she became involved in the care of the sick, and she also delivered babies. Despite her stubbornness and independence, Cadwaladr herself claimed that in the course of her travels she was proposed to by over 20 men.

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