Who were the local hospital staff that participated in WW1?

Marilyn Jensen is a dedicated researcher and retired nurse

Our recent local history talk was conducted by Marilyn Jensen. She honoured past employees of the Maryborough General and Lady Musgrave hospitals who enlisted during WW1, including one with a connection to the Hospital Ship Maheno.

Maryborough has a hidden treasure in the Wide Bay Hospitals Museum , which displays items and documents relating to Maryborough's early hospitals.
 Included are those :
-  dating from the 1850s
-  from the first purpose built public hospital in 1865
- relating to the current hospital from 1887
- from the early maternity services and maternity hospitals, first built in 1888

Marilyn joined the small group of enthusiastic volunteers running the Museum when she retired from the nursing workforce in 2013. To her it was an obvious transition after over 40 years of nursing.

"The instruments are similar to or are the ones I used early in my career" she recollects.
"I've worked within our local public health system for so long that I sometimes feel I am a museum piece" she joked. "When you are an active member of the healthcare team, you don't really appreciated the wealth of history in our hospitals because you are so involved in present day activities" she said.  

 

Marilyn has a keen interest in history and research activities, particularly related to nursing and health care. Some of Marilyn's interest resulted from her mother Joyce Volker's influence. 
"She was a great family historian and an active participant in many organisations" Marilyn reflects. 
Marilyn grew up listening to stories about these and the family, who were pioneers in the Mackay area.   Research skills gained whilst nursing and completing post graduate university studies provided Marilyn with the expertise to match this interest.

"I believe that when we know our history we are more aware of the changes within our society. This gives us a connection to the past and helps us appreciate the enormous changes that have occurred, as well as building a little respect for our predecessors" she enthused.

Hospitals Museum display showing the Gallipoli Peninsula and the nearby Island of Lemnos from the perspective of the medical and nursing management of the wounded/sick soldiers

  

The members of the Hospitals Museum wished to acknowledge any past hospital staff who served during WW1, as part of the events leading up to the centenary of ANZACS landing at Gallipoli. They also wanted to have a display focussing on the medical and nursing management of the soldiers during the war and more importantly during the Gallipoli campaign. This display was available at the museum during April and May and was shown at the Fraser Coast Show, with favourable feedback. Both Marilyn and the museum's secretary, Dell York, worked tirelessly to produce the displays, with the support and encouragement of other members.




Hospitals Museum display depicting the injured soldiers
path to treatment during WW1
 

Hospitals Museum display depicting some of the medical
items similar to those used during WW1

With little information on staff employed in the early 1900s found in the hospital records held by the museum, a wider search was undertaken to identify the past staff who served.

The search revealed 17 past staff

• 12 nurses
• three doctors
• a wardsman and
• the hospital secretary.

Some of the nurses found had undertaken their general nursing and/or midwifery training at the hospitals. 

 

Marilyn getting ready for her presentation at the Maryborough Library

 

Do you know anybody who worked at  the  hospital at this time?

  

This is the list collated so far:On staff when enlisted:

 On staff when enlisted:

CORFIELD, Agnes Beryl (Nurse)

 FOLLIT, Harold Harry Bailly (Doctor)

 GARDE, Henry Croker (Doctor)

 HARTE, Katherine (Nurse)

 HATTON, James Edward (EJ) (Hospital Secretary)

 JACKSON, Ethel Mary (Nurse)

 McKAY, Arthur Adrian (Doctor)

 TAMBLYN, Jeremiah (Jerry) (Hospital Orderly/Wardsman)

 On staff prior to WW1 or had association with the Hospitals prior to enlistment:

 AXELSEN, Ida Maree (Nurse, trained MGH)

 BARRON, Ellen (Nurse)

 GRAHAM, Florence (Nurse)

 HARROD, Alice Mabel Valentine (Nurse, trained Midwifery LMH)

 HORSWILL, Valetta Applin (Nurse)

 MARTIN, Elizabeth Rose (Nurse, trained MGH)

 McGANN, Susannah Josephine (Nurse, trained MGH & LMH)

 MORETON, Beatrice Lillian  (Nurse)

 POLLOCK, Louisa (Nurse)

 

If you want to find out any more information about this fascinating aspect of Maryborough's past the Wide Bay Hospitals Museum Inc. is on on the corner  of 36 Yaralla Street and Walker Street, Maryborough (in the Hospital grounds, entrance via Yaralla Street). It is open Thursdays 9.00 am to 12.00 pm or by appointment and entry is by gold coin donation.

Contacts:

President. Marilyn Jensen 0416213479
Secretary. Dell York 41283991

Published with consent from Marilyn Jensen.

Tags #Maryboroughlibrary #Frasercoastlibraries #Maryborough #