Mrs Sairey Gamp - English Monasteries declined in 1405 the Chruch was said to have one third of English's wealth. Henry VIII dissolved the Monasteries despite their record of charitable and medical work and took over most of their property. This left large numbers of helpless sick and poor to die. For the next 300 years there was no nursing class "hospitals" were overcrowded (sometimes 6 people to a bed) and were dirty. Nursing was carried out by women of low character and morals. Charles Dickens satirized nursing conditions with the character of Sairey Gamp. Nursing had sunk to the lowest level.30cm Miniature Doll -Checked Apron over stripped skirt. Purple spotted top with orange and white scarf. Wool type cardigan and hat. Holding mop or duster in hand.Name Tagnursing history, nursing uniforms, nursing education equipment, northern district school of nursing

19th centrury doll , hands, feet and face made of wood, body of leather. Dressed in grey wool jacket, striped apron and underskirt, pink flowered overskirt and bonnet.toys, dolls

Belonged to Margaret Ord. She grew up at 31 Drummond Street, Blackburn, in 1946Porcelain head, hands, & half leg. Doll, shoes & socks painted, also painted face.Cotton stuffed body to knees. Long nylon hair. Dressed in black floral cotton dress, lace trimmed with long sleeves. Matching bonnet & cream calico apron. Probably a copy of a much earlier doll.?theatre (use performing arts), toys, dolls

Chef doll on wooden stand. Wooden swivelled head on wooden body. White chef hat and apron, blue shirt, grey trousers (all made of cloth). Painted brown shoes. Painted face.Polandtoys, general

In 1951 the Modern Day/Present Day Nurse uniform was selected complete with apron and red cape. This uniform continued through to 1972. 30cm Miniature doll dressed in blue dress white apron and red cape.Name Tagnursing history, nursing uniforms, northern district school of nursing, miniature dolls

30cm Miniature Doll dressed in long blue dress with long white apron. Red cape and white veil on head. White cuffs on sleevesName Tagminiature doll, nursing uniform, nursing history

This digital image shows the sun roof on the Melbourne District Nursing Society After-Care Hospital, 45 Victoria Parade, Collingwood. It shows some of the children nursed at the home. Many children were nursed there long term during the Poliomyelitis epidemic in the 1930s. It also shows uniforms worn by nurses and Sisters in the 1930s. The Melbourne District Nursing Society After-Care Home was originally established to provide nurse-managed convalescent care to poor and underprivileged patients who could not look after themselves at home due to illness, or on release from hospital. Opening in 1926 following a public appeal for funds, at a cost of £27,000, the Home included maternity, children’s and adult wards as well as accommodation for Matron, twelve Sisters and four domestic staff. Many children were nursed there, some long term, during the Polio epidemic and the Society employed two School Teachers. The Society now ran two divisions, the After-Care with its own Sisters and nurses and the District division. The Society were the first in Melbourne, in early 1928, to recognize some patients leaving the After-Care, and many at home, needed further social care and they set up ‘Almoners’ from their committee to visit these patients and be intermediaries in getting them social assistance. It was late the following year before the first training of Almoners took place in Melbourne. In 1930 the Society employed a full time kindergarten teacher to visit poor children in their homes. That year the Society were pioneers in opening an Ante-Natal Clinic at the After-Care, setting a high standard with equipment, keeping records and providing leaflets with instructions in how to keep healthy during pregnancy, what complications to look for and what to do when labour commenced. In 1934 the Society were pioneers again when they opened the first Women’s Welfare Clinic, including at the time a very controversial Family Planning Clinic, the first of its kind in Australia which was opened to support women at risk following multiple and difficult pregnancies, giving advice on birth-control. At first the clinic was attended by their own patients, but then accepting patients from public hospitals until their own clinics were opened. . Major extensions in 1934 led to the After-Care 'Home' having a name change to 'Hospital'. A trained Almoner was employed in 1934 but she resigned after twelve months due to the work load. Unable to procure another due to a shortage of trained Almoners, a Social Service Officer was employed at the After-Care who successfully gained better housing from the Housing Commission for families living under unsuitable conditions. Following Government intervention, the After-Care Hospital was separated from the Melbourne District Nursing Society in 1957. The After-care Hospital continued to operate at the same address until 1985 when it became the Melbourne Geriatric Centre. This digital Image shows two nurses and two Trained nurses (Sisters) supervising convalescing children in the roof garden of the Melbourne District Nursing Society After-Care Hospital . The two nurses are with the rear children, one on the left and one on the right. Both are wearing long white aprons over their long sleeved dark grey uniforms, and both are wearing white caps over their dark hair. On the right rear, in front of a row of glass windows, the upper portion of a Sister can be seen wearing a white uniform and white veil. In the right front is another Sister who is wearing glasses and is wearing a white uniform and dark coloured cape. She is wearing a white veil over her short dark hair. There are three boys and four girls resting on cane lounges; some are reading books and one girl is holding a doll. Another boy, who is wearing a dressing gown, is sitting on a cane chair. There is a trellis and a wall of windows on the left of the image and some brick work and a wall of windows on the right hand side behind the Sisters.. Some pots with low and tall plants can be seen.A tiled hip roof of a building can be seen in the rear of the image.mdns, melbourne district nursing society, after- care hospital, nurses uniforms

Collection of Dolls:- 4 x Corn-Husk dolls dressed in country style clothes; 3 x Straw dolls wearing hats, two carrying baskets and one carrying a baby; 2 x Peg dolls depicted as early settlers wearing mop caps and long aprons edged in lace and a wooden toy duck in a felt pink hat with ribbons, a long cotton floral dress edged in lace and a felt face with a beak.peg dolls, dolls

A peg doll made from five pegs with a wooden painted face. The doll has black woollen hair ringlets, a pink cotton dress and hat with a white apron and white pantaloons. peg dolls, dolls