Claire Rayner
Encyclopedia
Claire Berenice Rayner OBE
(née Chetwynd, 22 January 1931–11 October 2010) was an English
nurse, journalist
, broadcaster
and novelist, best known for her role for many years as an agony aunt.
, the eldest of four children. Her father was a tailor
and her mother a housewife
. Her father had adopted the surname Chetwynd, under which name she was educated at the City of London School for Girls
. Her autobiography
How Did I Get Here from There? was published in 2003, and revealed details of a childhood marred by physical and mental cruelty at the hands of her parents. After the family emigrated
to Canada
, in 1945 she was placed in a psychiatric hospital
by her parents, and treated for 15 months for a thyroid
defect.
and Guy's
Hospitals in London. She intended to become a doctor; while training as a nurse, however, she met actor
Desmond Rayner, whom she married in 1957. The couple lived in London and Claire worked as a midwife and later nursing sister.
in 1958, on nurses' pay and conditions. She then began regularly writing to the Daily Telegraph on themes of patient care or nurses’ pay. She began writing novels soon after her marriage, and by 1968 had published more than 25 books.
But the birth of her first child in 1960, meant that she found full-time nursing difficult, and so she focused on a full time writing career. Initially writing articles for various magazines and publications, in 1968 she published one of the earliest sex manuals, People in Love, which brought her to national attention. Describing the "explicit content", the same reviewer commended Rayner on her "down-to-earth approach to the subject."
By the 1970s, writing for Woman's Own
Rayner had established herself as one of four new and direct "agony aunts", alongside Marjorie Proops
, Peggy Makins (aka Evelyn Home) at Woman and J. Firbank of Forum. Her advice in the teenaged girls' magazine Petticoat caused controversy. In 1972 she was accused of "encouraging masturbation and promiscuity in prepubescent girls". Her direct and frank approach led the BBC
to ask her to be the first person on British pre-watershed television to demonstrate how to put on a condom
, and she was one of the first people used by advertisers to promote sanitary towels.
The year after beginning to appear on Pebble Mill at One
, Rayner started an agony column in the Sun in 1973, but left to join the Sunday Mirror
in 1980, when she also made her second television series of Claire Rayner's Casebook. She left the Sunday Mirror shortly after the appointment of Eve Pollard
as editor, and joined the Today
newspaper for three years. Rayner was named medical journalist of the year in 1987.
Rayner was probably best known as an agony aunt on TV-am
in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She made it her personal aim to reply to every letter she received. This was an unfunded project by the station.
, and through her extensive charity work and writings was awarded an OBE
in 1996 for services to women's health and wellbeing and to health matters. Rayner had a very personal reason for supporting Sense's Older Person campaign, wearing hearing aids in both ears, and also had Age Related Dry Macular Degeneration
, a sight loss common in older people.
Between 1993 and 2002, Rayner was one of the patrons of the Herpes Viruses Association
and chaired a Press Briefing in June 1993 aimed at destigmatising genital herpes. When tendering her resignation, she cited the fact that she was patron of 60 organisations as the reason for trimming the list.
Rayner was appointed to various UK Government committees on health, and resultantly was: the author of a chapter in The Future of the NHS
(2006) edited by Dr. Michelle Tempest
. Despite being President of the Patients Association Rayner used private health care. was a member of the Prime Minister's Commission on Nursing; the Labour government's Royal Commission on the Care of the Elderly. In 1999 Rayner was appointed to a committee responsible for reviewing the medical conditions at Holloway Prison
, London, at the direction of Paul Boateng
who was then the Minister for Prisons. The recommendations of this committee led to far reaching changes in the provision of medical care within Holloway.
A lifelong Labour Party
supporter, she resigned in 2001 and joined the Liberal Democrats
in fear of the proposed changes to the NHS from the administration of Prime Minister Tony Blair
. She was also a prominent supporter of the British republican movement
, although admitted her dual standards on accepting her OBE in 1996.
Rayner was Vice-President (and formerly President) of the British Humanist Association
, a Distinguished Supporter of the Humanist Society of Scotland
and an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society
. In the weeks leading up to her death, Rayner had the following to say about Pope Benedict XVI
's state visit to the United Kingdom:
in Hampstead
; the couple married in 1957. They had three children together: writer and food critic Jay Rayner
, Electronics reviewer, Angling and motoring journalist Adam Rayner and events manager Amanda Rayner.
Rayner was found to have breast cancer
in 2002 at the age of 71. She became a breast cancer activist in order to promote the work of the charity Cancer Research UK
. She also suffered from Grave's Disease and became a patron of the British Thyroid Foundation
in 1994
Rayner never recovered from emergency intestinal surgery she received in May 2010, and died in hospital on 11 October 2010. She told her relatives she wanted her last words to be: "Tell David Cameron
that if he screws up my beloved NHS
I'll come back and bloody haunt him."
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(née Chetwynd, 22 January 1931–11 October 2010) was an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
nurse, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, broadcaster
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
and novelist, best known for her role for many years as an agony aunt.
Early life
Rayner was born to Jewish parents in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the eldest of four children. Her father was a tailor
Tailor
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...
and her mother a housewife
Housewife
Housewife is a term used to describe a married woman with household responsibilities who is not employed outside the home. Merriam Webster describes a housewife as a married woman who is in charge of her household...
. Her father had adopted the surname Chetwynd, under which name she was educated at the City of London School for Girls
City of London School for Girls
City of London School for Girls is a girls' independent school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. It is sister school of the City of London School and the City of London Freemen's School .-History:The school was founded by William Ward in 1894...
. Her autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
How Did I Get Here from There? was published in 2003, and revealed details of a childhood marred by physical and mental cruelty at the hands of her parents. After the family emigrated
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, in 1945 she was placed in a psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
by her parents, and treated for 15 months for a thyroid
Thyroid
The thyroid gland or simply, the thyroid , in vertebrate anatomy, is one of the largest endocrine glands. The thyroid gland is found in the neck, below the thyroid cartilage...
defect.
Nursing
Returning to the UK in 1951, Rayner trained as a nurse at the Royal NorthernRoyal Northern Hospital
The Royal Northern Hospital was a general hospital on Holloway Road, London N7, near Tollington Way. It had inpatient, outpatient, accident and emergency facilities and was also a centre for postgraduate education. Originally located at King's Cross, it began as an independent and voluntary...
and Guy's
Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is a large NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in south east London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It is a large teaching hospital and is home to the King's College London School of Medicine...
Hospitals in London. She intended to become a doctor; while training as a nurse, however, she met actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
Desmond Rayner, whom she married in 1957. The couple lived in London and Claire worked as a midwife and later nursing sister.
Journalist and writer
Rayner wrote her first letter to Nursing TimesNursing Times
Nursing Times is a magazine for nurses in the United Kingdom. The magazine and its website nursingtimes.net publish original nursing research and a variety of clinical articles for nurses at all stages in their career....
in 1958, on nurses' pay and conditions. She then began regularly writing to the Daily Telegraph on themes of patient care or nurses’ pay. She began writing novels soon after her marriage, and by 1968 had published more than 25 books.
But the birth of her first child in 1960, meant that she found full-time nursing difficult, and so she focused on a full time writing career. Initially writing articles for various magazines and publications, in 1968 she published one of the earliest sex manuals, People in Love, which brought her to national attention. Describing the "explicit content", the same reviewer commended Rayner on her "down-to-earth approach to the subject."
By the 1970s, writing for Woman's Own
Woman's Own
Woman's Own is a British lifestyle magazine aimed at women.Woman's Own was first published in 1932. It is one of the UK's most famous women's magazines and is published by IPC Media....
Rayner had established herself as one of four new and direct "agony aunts", alongside Marjorie Proops
Marjorie Proops
Rebecca Marjorie Proops , born Rebecca Marjorie Israel, was probably best known as an agony aunt in the United Kingdom, writing the column Dear Marje for the Daily Mirror newspaper....
, Peggy Makins (aka Evelyn Home) at Woman and J. Firbank of Forum. Her advice in the teenaged girls' magazine Petticoat caused controversy. In 1972 she was accused of "encouraging masturbation and promiscuity in prepubescent girls". Her direct and frank approach led the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
to ask her to be the first person on British pre-watershed television to demonstrate how to put on a condom
Condom
A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...
, and she was one of the first people used by advertisers to promote sanitary towels.
The year after beginning to appear on Pebble Mill at One
Pebble Mill at One
Pebble Mill at One was a popular British lunchtime chat show broadcast live originally on BBC2 before transferring to BBC1. It was produced from the Pebble Mill facilities of BBC Birmingham, and uniquely was hosted from the centre's main reception area rather than a traditional studio...
, Rayner started an agony column in the Sun in 1973, but left to join the Sunday Mirror
Sunday Mirror
The Sunday Mirror is the Sunday sister paper of the Daily Mirror. It began life in 1915 as the Sunday Pictorial and was renamed the Sunday Mirror in 1963. Trinity Mirror also owns The People...
in 1980, when she also made her second television series of Claire Rayner's Casebook. She left the Sunday Mirror shortly after the appointment of Eve Pollard
Eve Pollard
Evelyn "Eve" Pollard, Lady Lloyd, OBE is an English author, journalist and a former editor of several tabloid newspapers.-Career:...
as editor, and joined the Today
Today (UK newspaper)
Today was a national newspaper in the United Kingdom, which was published between 1986 and 1995.-History:Today, with the American newspaper USA Today as inspiration, launched on Tuesday, 4 March 1986, with the front page headline, "Second Spy Inside GCHQ". At 18 pence, it was a middle-market...
newspaper for three years. Rayner was named medical journalist of the year in 1987.
Rayner was probably best known as an agony aunt on TV-am
TV-am
TV-am was a breakfast television station that broadcast to the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 to 31 December 1992. It made history by being the first national operator of a commercial television franchise at breakfast-time , and broadcast every day of the week for most or all of the period...
in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She made it her personal aim to reply to every letter she received. This was an unfunded project by the station.
Campaigner
Rayner became president of the Patients AssociationPatients Association
The Patients Association is a lobby group operating in the UK that aims to improve patients' experience of health care. It became a registered charity in 1991...
, and through her extensive charity work and writings was awarded an OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1996 for services to women's health and wellbeing and to health matters. Rayner had a very personal reason for supporting Sense's Older Person campaign, wearing hearing aids in both ears, and also had Age Related Dry Macular Degeneration
Macular degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration is a medical condition which usually affects older adults and results in a loss of vision in the center of the visual field because of damage to the retina. It occurs in “dry” and “wet” forms. It is a major cause of blindness and visual impairment in older adults...
, a sight loss common in older people.
Between 1993 and 2002, Rayner was one of the patrons of the Herpes Viruses Association
Herpes Viruses Association
The Herpes Viruses Association is a patient-led support group for people with herpes viruses, especially genital herpes and herpes zoster.-History:...
and chaired a Press Briefing in June 1993 aimed at destigmatising genital herpes. When tendering her resignation, she cited the fact that she was patron of 60 organisations as the reason for trimming the list.
Rayner was appointed to various UK Government committees on health, and resultantly was: the author of a chapter in The Future of the NHS
The Future of the NHS
The Future of the NHS is a book published by xpl Publishing in 2006 . It is edited by Dr Michelle Tempest and brings together forty-four leading experts in the fields of health care, politics and policy making...
(2006) edited by Dr. Michelle Tempest
Michelle Tempest
Dr. Michelle Tempest is a British psychiatrist and author. In 2010 she was the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for North West Durham.-Academic background:...
. Despite being President of the Patients Association Rayner used private health care. was a member of the Prime Minister's Commission on Nursing; the Labour government's Royal Commission on the Care of the Elderly. In 1999 Rayner was appointed to a committee responsible for reviewing the medical conditions at Holloway Prison
Holloway (HM Prison)
HM Prison Holloway is a closed category prison for adult women and Young Offenders, located in the Holloway area of the London Borough of Islington, in north and Inner London, England...
, London, at the direction of Paul Boateng
Paul Boateng
Paul Yaw Boateng, Baron Boateng is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Brent South from 1987 to 2005, becoming the UK's first black Cabinet Minister in May 2002, when he was appointed as Chief Secretary to the Treasury...
who was then the Minister for Prisons. The recommendations of this committee led to far reaching changes in the provision of medical care within Holloway.
A lifelong Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
supporter, she resigned in 2001 and joined the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
in fear of the proposed changes to the NHS from the administration of Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
. She was also a prominent supporter of the British republican movement
Republicanism in the United Kingdom
Republicanism in the United Kingdom is the movement which seeks to remove the British monarchy and replace it with a republic that has a non-hereditary head of state...
, although admitted her dual standards on accepting her OBE in 1996.
Rayner was Vice-President (and formerly President) of the British Humanist Association
British Humanist Association
The British Humanist Association is an organisation of the United Kingdom which promotes Humanism and represents "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs." The BHA is committed to secularism, human rights, democracy, egalitarianism and mutual respect...
, a Distinguished Supporter of the Humanist Society of Scotland
Humanist Society of Scotland
The Humanist Society of Scotland is a Scottish voluntary charitable organisation that promotes humanist views. It is a member of the European Humanist Federation and the International Humanist and Ethical Union.-History and aims:...
and an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society
National Secular Society
The National Secular Society is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no-one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of religion. It was founded by Charles Bradlaugh in 1866...
. In the weeks leading up to her death, Rayner had the following to say about Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
's state visit to the United Kingdom:
Personal life
Rayner met her husband Desmond ("Des") Rayner at MaccabiMaccabi (sports)
Maccabi may refer to:* The Maccabi World Union, Maccabiah Games or any one of the following sport organizations around the world:...
in Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
; the couple married in 1957. They had three children together: writer and food critic Jay Rayner
Jay Rayner
Jay Rayner is a British journalist, writer, broadcaster, and food critic.Rayner is the younger son of journalist Claire Rayner and Desmond Rayner, and attended the independent Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School. He joined The Observer newspaper after graduating from Leeds University in 1988 where...
, Electronics reviewer, Angling and motoring journalist Adam Rayner and events manager Amanda Rayner.
Rayner was found to have breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
in 2002 at the age of 71. She became a breast cancer activist in order to promote the work of the charity Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK is a cancer research and awareness charity in the United Kingdom, formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. Its aim is to reduce the number of deaths from cancer. As the world's largest independent cancer...
. She also suffered from Grave's Disease and became a patron of the British Thyroid Foundation
British Thyroid Foundation
The British Thyroid Foundation is a UK-based, patient-led, registered charity dedicated to supporting people with thyroid disorders and helping their families and people around them to understand the condition.-Function:...
in 1994
Rayner never recovered from emergency intestinal surgery she received in May 2010, and died in hospital on 11 October 2010. She told her relatives she wanted her last words to be: "Tell David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
that if he screws up my beloved NHS
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
I'll come back and bloody haunt him."
Performers
- Gower Street (1973)
- The Haymarket (1974)
- Paddington Green (1975)
- Soho Square (1976)
- Bedford Row (1977)
- Long Acre (1978)
- Charing Cross (1979)
- The Strand (1980)
- Chelsea Reach (1982)
- Shaftsbury Avenue (1988)
- Piccadilly (1985)
- Seven Dials (1988)
Poppy Chronicles
- Jubilee (1987)
- Flanders (1988)
- Flapper (1988)
- Blitz (1988)
- Festival (1988)
- Sixties (1988)
George Barnabas
- First Blood (1993)
- Second Opinion (1994)
- Third Degree (1995)
- Fourth Attempt (1996)
- Fifth Member (1997)
Novels
- The House on the Fen (1967)
- Lady Mislaid (1968)
- Death on the Table (1969)
- The Meddlers (1970)
- A Time to Heal (1972)
- The Burning Summer (1972)
- Reprise (1980)
- The Running Years (1981)
- The Enduring Years (1982)
- Trafalgar Square (1982)
- Family Chorus (1984)
- The Virus Man (1985)
- Sisters (1986)
- Lunching at Laura's (1986)
- Woman (1986)
- Maddie (1988)
- Children's Ward, the Lonely One, Private Wing (1988)
- Starch of Aprons (1990)
- Postscripts (1991)
- Dangerous Things (1993)
- The Final Year (1993)
- Cottage Hospital (1993)
- Company (1993)
- The Doctors of Downlands (1994)
- Nurse in the Sun (1994)
- The Lonely One (1995)
- Children's Ward (1995)
- The Private Wing (1996)
- The Legacy (1997)
- The Inheritance (1998)
Non fiction
- What Happens in Hospital (1963)
- Essentials of Outpatient Nursing (1967)
- One Hundred and One Facts an Expectant Mother Should Know (1967)
- For Children (1967)
- Housework the Easy Way (1967)
- One Hundred and One Key Facts on Baby Care (1967)
- Shall I be a Nurse? (1967)
- People in Love: Modern Guide to Sex in Marriage (1968)
- Parent's Guide to Sex Education (1968)
- Woman's Medical Dictionary (1971)
- About Sex (1972)
- When to Call the Doctor: What to Do Whilst Waiting (1972)
- Child Care (1973)
- Shy Person's Book (1973)
- Where Do I Come from?: Answers to a Child's Questions About Sex (1974)
- Independent Television's Kitchen Garden (1976)
- Atlas of the Body and Mind (1976)
- Claire Rayner Answers Your 100 Questions on Pregnancy (1977)
- Family Feelings: Understanding Your Child from 0 to 5 (1977)
- Body Book (1978)
- Related to Sex: Talking About Sexual Feelings within Your Family (1979)
- Independent Television's Greenhouse Gardening (1979)
- Everything Your Doctor Would Tell You If He Had the Time (1980)
- Baby and Young Child Care: A Practical Guide to Parents of Children Aged 0–5 Years (1981)
- Growing Pains and How to Avoid Them (1984)
- Marriage Guide (1984)
- The Getting Better Book (1985)
- Claire Rayner's Lifeguide: A Commonsense Approach to Modern Living (1985)
- When I Grow Up (1986)
- Safe Sex (1987)
- The Don't Spoil Your Body Book (1989)
- Clinical Judgements (1989)
- Life and Love and Everything (1993)
- Grandparenting Today: Making the Most of Your Grandparenting Skills With Grandchildren of All Ages (1997)
- How Did I Get Here from There? (2003)