The Australian Women's Register

2 hours 50 minutes Gladys Tanner was born in England and came to South Australia with her parents in 1925. Her mother died when Gladys was twelve, and from that time, until commencing training at Naracoorte in 1940, she looked after her father and three brothers. She completed training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1944, and was a charge nurse there until 1949 when she did midwifery training in Sydney. In 1951 she received a scholarship to study nursing administration at the new College of Nursing, Australia, in Melbourne. She was appointed Assistant Matron, then Deputy Matron at the RAH and in 1958 became the first Matron of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital at Woodville. She remained in this post until her retirement in 1982. Gladys was also involved in the Nurses’ Board, the Royal Australian Nursing Federation and the Royal College of Nursing, Australia.