The Australian Women's Register

Valda Millard, née Salmon, was born in Adelaide, and spent her childhood at Quorn, South Australia. After nursing in New South Wales and Queensland Val returned to South Australia and in 1951 was Clinic Sister for the Mothers and Babies Health Association (MBHA) in Port Lincoln and at Port Adelaide. This was followed by further appointments in Victoria and on a mission station on the Solomon Islands. Her nursing career resumed in Port Lincoln in the 1960s and she remained in the service of the MBHA until her retirement in 1983.

Lynley Dohnt was born at Gumeracha, South Australia. In January 1941, she was called up for service with the Air Force. With the rank of matron, Miss Dohnt served in Australia and overseas, and was discharged from the Air Force Nursing Service in 1946. After a short time as assistant to the almoner at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, she became the House Sister, an appointment which she retained until her retirement in 1958.

Millie Rowe (Min) was born near Kadina in South Australia. She recovered from tuberculous peritonitis in her late teen years, and was accepted for nursing training at the Wakefield Street Private Hospital, Adelaide, in 1917. In 1926 she became Matron of Wakefield Street Private Hospital, a position which she occupied until her retirement in 1946. She was an active member of the Australian Trained Nurses Association.

Mollie Dutton was born in Adelaide. Her parents opposed her desire to nurse. At the age of 28 she began training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) in 1924. After a short term in charge of the Magill ward of the RAH Mollie Dutton enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Nursing Service and as a matron served at RAAF hospitals in Darwin and Laverton, Victoria. After the war Miss Dutton returned to the RAH and was Sister in Charge of Bice Ward until 1954, when she retired to care for her elderly mother.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Merla Garrett was born at Sedan, near the Barossa Valley. After two years overseas she worked in Sydney and then Mount Pleasant. In 1962 she left South Australia for Papua New Guinea where she served as a missionary nurse for 18 years. Since 1981 Merla has been a lecturer at the School of Nursing, Sturt College (now Flinders University of South Australia). Her extra curricular activities include several assignments with the World Health Organization.

Barbara Good was born in Adelaide, South Australia. After completion of schooling at The Wilderness School, she spent a short time at Clare with her family and then began training at Mareeba Babies Hospital. In 1975 she moved to Tasmania and was Director of Nursing at the Repatriation Hospital in Hobart until her retirement from nursing in 1982.

Ruth Harrington, née Meredith, was born in England and came to South Australia in infancy with her parents. After three months experience at the Adelaide Children’s Hospital she was called up for duty in the Australian Army Nursing Service and served for two years until her marriage. Ruth maintained her registration and worked in several country hospitals. In 1968 she did a refresher course at the RAH and subsequently co-ordinated other refresher courses for nurses re-entering the workforce. In 1975 she joined the staff of Sturt College, where the first tertiary nursing course began in that year.

Jenny Leak was born in Adelaide, South Australia. Following paediatric nursing and midwifery training Jenny’s later appointments included six months at the Point McLeay Aboriginal Reserve. In 1966 Jenny was a member of a surgical team working in Bien Hoa, Vietnam, for six months. Subsequently she remained in Vietnam where she administered a community aid program for children. She joined the staff of the South Australian College of Advanced Education (Sturt Campus) in 1987

Betty Lockwood was born in Britain and came to South Australia with her family in 1951. In 1968 she was appointed matron of the Gumeracha Hospital in Gumeracha South Australia, and within her term of service there she spent six months in Vietnam with a surgical team. Betty took an appointment as Director of Nursing and later Chief Executive Officer of the Ashford Community Hospital. She was also a part-time Commissioner in the SA Health Commission. Betty retired from Ashford in 1988.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.