Georgiana Buller
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Dame Audrey Charlotte Georgiana Buller, DBE, RRC (1884 - 1953), best known as Georgiana Buller, daughter of Sir Redvers Henry Buller (1839 - 1908), a Boer War general, was a British hospital administrator and the foundress of the first school dedicated to Occupational Therapy in the United Kingdom.
She ran the Red Cross Society in Exeter. Buller went on to become the only female administrator of a large wartime hospital, and was created a DBE in 1920 for her services.
[edit] The War Workers
The character of "Miss Vivian" in E. M. Delafield’s The War Workers was reportedly based on Georgina Buller (see [1]). Delafield was a Volunteers Association of Defence worker in Exeter and there came to know Miss Buller.
[edit] St. Loye's
Buller’s later career was even more creditable, including a great deal of work to help the disabled. The Occupational Therapy School was founded by Buller, under the auspices of what was then called St. Loye’s Training Centre for Cripples (founded in 1937 and later to become known as St. Loye's College for Training the Disabled.
The first intake of students of St. Loye’s began their training on 27 September 1944. The school became affiliated with the University of Exeter and the University validated all its courses.
In 1999 the School changed its name to St. Loye's School of Health Studies in order to reflect it's commitment to a wide range of health and social courses while still retaining it's commitment to providing occupational therapy education.
Since 2003 St. Loye's has been part of the School of Health Professions of the University of Plymouth (see[2]).
Buller never married and died in 1953 of undisclosed causes.
