The Australian Women's Register

Catherine Michelmore was born in Adelaide. She began training at the Adelaide Children’s Hospital (ACH) after the outbreak of war in 1939. In 1947 she returned to the ACH she set up and conducted the first Preliminary Training School in South Australia. In 1960 she was appointed Deputy Matron at the ACH, from which post she retired in 1970. Miss Michelmore served as a council member of the Royal College of Nursing, Australia, and in 1965 was National President of the College.

Barbara Parker, née North, was born in Adelaide. She became a tutor (unqualified) at Ru Rua Hospital in the late 1960s and moved from there to a part-time appointment with the Public Health Department (PHD). In 1970 she became a full time member of the staff of the Occupational Health Branch of the PHD, where she is still employed. Barbara Parker has been actively involved in the professional affairs of nursing including the Occupational Health Nurses’ Association.

Patricia Deal was trained at the Rachel Forster Hospital at Redfern. She worked in various Repatriation Hospitals, becoming the Director of Nursing at the Repatriation General Hospital in Daw Park, Adelaide. She also served as a nurse in Vietnam as part of the Australian Army Nursing Corps and remained an active member, retiring in 1986 with the rank of Major.

Doreen Nellie Sturm, commonly known as Anne, was born in Adelaide, South Australia. She completed training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1937. Anne spent the early years of the war in private nursing in Melbourne, Victoria. Returning to Adelaide in 1943 she worked at the Truby King Mothercraft League of South Australia Clinic for two years. She was also an active member of various nursing organizations.

Ruth Hurn, née Derbyshire, was born in Melbourne. During the early years of World War II she was a Red Cross volunteer at the Port Lincoln Hospital. In 1945 she commenced training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH). In 1969 she was appointed Nursing Advisor to the Hospitals Department. During five years in this post, Hurn was associated with several developments in nursing education including the tertiary nursing course at Sturt College of Nursing in Adelaide. After retirement from the Hospitals Department she spent five years as Director of Nursing at the Berri Hospital.

Gladys Tanner was born in England and came to South Australia with her parents in 1925. She completed training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1944. In 1951 she received a scholarship to study nursing administration at the new College of Nursing, Australia, in Melbourne. She became the first Matron of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital at Woodville in 1958. 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.

Joyce Kitto was born in Gladstone, South Australia. In the early 1950s Joyce became a member of the Citizens’ Military Force Nursing Corps, which led to her decision to train as a nurse. In 1970 she was appointed tutor sister in charge of the newly established training school for enrolled nurses at Gleneden, Maryattville, where she remained until her retirement in 1985.

Judith Wotherspoon was born in Melbourne and came to Adelaide with her parents at the age of eight. After nursing in Papua New Guinea, Britain and Canada, Judith studied at Flinders University for a Bachelor of Arts degree. Subsequently she worked in the field of community health and as a part-time lecturer at Sturt College of Advanced Education. Between 1982 and 1985 she was senior lecturer in nursing at the Darwin Community College, then went to the University of New South Wales to complete a masters degree in health planning. At the time of the interview Judith was about to take up an appointment as lecturer in nursing at the South Australian Institute of Technology (now the University of South Australia).

Marjorie Ladkin, née Soady, was born in Sydney, New South Wales. In 1933 she began training at the Sydney Hospital, and upon graduation worked for a nursing agency. She was the first full-time secretary of the Royal Australian Nursing Federation (South Australia Branch) serving in this position from 1965-1975. The successful development of the Branch is largely due to her dedication and drive and, innovations advocated by Ladkin have resulted in a better ratio of staff/patient care. On 13 June 1983 Marjorie Ladkin was awarded an Order of the Order of Australia for service to nursing.

Heather Schubert, née Duffield, was born in Stirling, South Australia. She began nursing training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) in 1961. In 1974 she became a nursing supervisor, and in 1976 she was seconded to the South Australian Health Commission to provide education in high technology nursing for staff in country hospitals. At the time of the interview Heather was a nurse educator at the RAH. She was also actively involved in the Critical Care Nurses’ Association.

Pam Spry was born in Adelaide, South Australia and began training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) in 1945. From 1973-1984 she was Director of Nursing at the RAH. Over the years Pam has also been involved with the Florence Nightingale Committee, the South Australian Health Commission, the Education Committee of the Nurses’ Board, the Planning Committee for the first basic tertiary nursing course at Sturt College, and the SA Branch of the Australian Nursing Federation.

Eve Ainsworth was born in Adelaide, South Australia and was adopted in infancy by the couple whose name she was given. In 1941 she was called up for duty with the Australian Army Nursing Service and went to the Middle East later that year. On her return to Australia Eve nursed in Queensland, until her marriage in 1944.

Nell Allgrove, née Hannah, came to South Australia from the West with her family when she was an infant. She began nursing training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1936 and worked in the hospital’s Blood Transfusion Unit until she was called up to the Australian Army Nursing Service in 1940. In 1941 she joined the 2/4 Casualty Clearing Station and was sent to Malaya. She was among those who escaped from Singapore just before its capture by the Japanese in February 1942. When the ship ‘Vyner Brooke’ was sunk in Banka Strait, Nell and fellow nurses were interned by the Japanese. She was among 24 nurses (from a total of 65) who survived until their release in September 1945.

Marilyn Beaumont was born in Canberra. She trained at the Prince Henry Hospital, Sydney between 1968 and 1971. She came to Adelaide in 1980 and worked in a counselling capacity with the Alcohol and Drug Addiction Treatment Board. In 1981 she became a Liaison Officer for the South Australian Branch of the Royal Australian Nursing Federation and in 1982 she successfully contested an election for Secretary of that association. She later took up the Federal Secretaryship.

Kate Brown was born in South Australia. On leaving school she worked at the Kate Cocks Babies’ Home at Brighton until beginning training in 1947, at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Midwifery training followed, then country hospital nursing in various parts of Australia, and nursing overseas in Britain and South Africa. She retired in 1990.

Roxy Byrne was born in South Australia in 1912 and attended school in Adelaide. From 1922 to 1929 she attended the Methodist Ladies College (now Annesley College) where she developed her love of the theatre, as well as her skill in hockey. An excellent student (she was dux of the school in her final year) she went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts at Adelaide University in 1933, majoring in Botany and French. After graduation she joined the Adelaide Repertory Theatre, becoming a leading actress who played a variety of outstanding roles for a period of 40 years. She was active in a number of women’s organisations, including the Lyceum Club of Adelaide. She married Dr. Dudley Byrne in 1940 and had three children.

The daughter of a sea captain Winnie Levy grew up in Western Australia. She attended the White Gum Valley School and won a scholarship to the Perth Modern School. She completed a degree in French and Mathematics at the University of Western Australia and then went to the Sorbonne for two years. On returning to Western Australia she became a French tutor at the University of Western Australia. She was forced to resign when she married. After having a baby, she returned to the university to study law. Following her move to Adelaide Levy was admitted to the Bar, in 1945, and practised for 23 years. A member of the Lyceum Club Levy was a leader of the International Circle.

Aileen Bond, born Aileen Ingelby in 1898, was educated at St Peter’s Girls’ School and studied law at Adelaide University and was one of Adelaide’s earliest practising female solictors. She joined the Lyceum Club when it formed in 1922. In 1924 she married John Leslie Bond, a minister, and they moved around South Australia. During World War II her husband enlisted and went to New Guinea and she and the four children lived at Brighton, in Adelaide. After the war they lived at Clare and Victor Harbour. Her husband was given an administrative job and became in turn an Archdeacon and then a Canon. Following his death, Levy moved to Toorak Gardens, an eastern suburb of Adelaide.

Gwenneth Ballantyne who grew up in North Adelaide and Torrensville in South Australia attended Scott’s Business College. She worked for the Freemasons under Mr Charles Glover as a typist. Later she became secretary for the Adelaide, South Australian based Little Theatre Company. Ballantyne also was with the Hut theatre. She taught drama at the Wilderness School, South Australia for 27 years and worked with John Bishop to establish a Festival Theatre in Adelaide. Ballantyne joined the Lyceum Club and performed ‘Victoria Regina’ at the Club. She became President of the Club in 1978, and resigned as leader of the Play Reading Group in 1985.

Gwen McCarthy was born Gwendolen Helen Ure in Norwood in 1901. She was educated at Methodist Ladies College (now Annesley College) and studied law at Adelaide University, where, in 1923, she was awarded the prestigious Stow prize and medal, styled Stow Scholar because she won three prizes in her annual examinations that year. Gwendolen Ure was the first female Stow Scholar.

She joined the Lyceum Club in Adelaide in 1923 and was president 1967-1969. She married James McCarthy in 1927 and they set up a law practice in Kadina. Here she was involved in the Girl Guides. On her husband’s death McCarthy returned to Adelaide and joined the firm of Thompson, Cleland, Holland and McCarthy.

Dorothy Angove spent her childhood in Semaphore, South Australia and Perth, Western Australia. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Adelaide. Angove taught at St Peters College and Girton Girls’ School (Kensington Park, S. A.). She also helped Jewish graduate refugees as well as teaching at the Adelaide Children’s Hospital and Dr Barnado’s Homes. In 1939 she became President of the Lyceum Club.

Eva McLaren was born in Yorkshire and educated in England and Switzerland. She lived in India where at one stage she met Mohandas (Mahatma Ghandi). On a visit to Australia she met and married Captain Edward Smith McLaren. She joined the Lyceum Club and joined every circle except the Italian and bridge circles. McLaren was president in 1948-1949 and 1959-1961.

Nancy Bryn Jones and her husband moved to Keith, South Australia following their marriage. There she became involved with the Country Women’s Association and worked with the Italian prisoners of war. After her return to Adelaide, she became a member of the National Council of Women, United Nations Association, League of Women Voters, and the Lyceum Club.

Betty Riggs was born in 1911 and went to school at the Methodist Ladies College (now Annesley College) and the Presbyterian Girls’ College (now Seymour College). She became a nurse at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1930. In 1936 she was nursing in Scotland so was there for the coronation of Edward VIII. Riggs became ill in Scotland and went to a sanatorium in Switzerland and then returned to Adelaide. She joined the 2/4th Australian General Hospital and went to the Middle East where her first tour of duty was to nurse soldiers from Tobruk. Riggs then went to Jerusalem and Colombo before returning to Australia. Upon her return to Adelaide, Riggs cared for her aunt Emily Verco and completed a course in infant welfare. She accepted a job at the Adelaide City Council Health Department. Following her retirement at 60 she started working as a relief nurse at the Christian Rest Home and travelled to Europe and China, India and Bangkok. A member of the Lyceum Club, Betty Riggs participated in all the activities.

Dr Mildred Mocatta, a diagnostician, conducted a practice in Adelaide.

June Cochrane began nursing training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1950 and became a nurse after a chronic disability prevented her from continuing as a clinical nurse. For nineteen years she was the Principal Nurse Educator at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide. She was an active member of the Royal Australian Nursing Federation and council member of the Royal College of Nursing Australia, becoming its Executive Director in 1981.

Jean Cook spent her childhood in Quorn, South Australia. For a time she lived in Perth, Western Australia before returning to South Australia and living in Adelaide. She conducted some of her music studies under Maude Mary Puddy, a teacher of piano. Cook also taught music and was a teacher at Girton Girls’ School (Kensington Park, S. A.). A member of the Lyceum club’s embroidery circle, she also was involved with the English Embroiderers’ Guild. She helped embroider the Coat of Arms for the Law Court in Adelaide.