Miss Frances G. Spencer, Matron of Parramatta Hospital for the Insane, ca. early 1890s
Object Detail
Brief description
stamp with numbers: 324 A , and date 24.3.86
Frances Spencer was the first formally nurse trained matron reflecting the desire of Dr Frederic Norton Manning (Inspector General of the Insane) for all staff to be trained as nurses. She trained at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London in the Nightingale School between 1887 & 1891. Recruited from England, evidently she did not find caring for the mentally ill very appealing. She resigned a year later taking up the appointment of the first matron of the Walker Convalescent Hospital, Concord. In June 1899 she was intimately involved with the establishment of the Australasian Trained Nurses’ Association which maintained the first register of trained nurses in NSW.
Frances Spencer was the first formally nurse trained matron reflecting the desire of Dr Frederic Norton Manning (Inspector General of the Insane) for all staff to be trained as nurses. She trained at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London in the Nightingale School between 1887 & 1891. Recruited from England, evidently she did not find caring for the mentally ill very appealing. She resigned a year later taking up the appointment of the first matron of the Walker Convalescent Hospital, Concord. In June 1899 she was intimately involved with the establishment of the Australasian Trained Nurses’ Association which maintained the first register of trained nurses in NSW.
Credit line
Purchased from an antique store in 1980. The original is now with the Cumberland Hospital Collection.
Object number
LSP00071