Emily Jane Wood (b.c.1867): Boer War Nurse's Journal

  • Wood, Emily Jane, c.1867-
Date:
May 1900-April 1901
Reference:
MS.6034
  • Archives and manuscripts

About this work

Description

Notebook containing contemporary dated extracts from letters written by a British nursing sister serving in South Africa, in the form of a journal. The letters, written mainly from the Scottish National Red Cross Hospital (afterwards the Scottish Section of no. 3 General Hospital), Kroonstad, and later from Pretoria, include descriptions of hospital conditions, the state of the wounded, and operations, and reflect the daily lives of doctors and nurses during the Boer War. The writer is named only as 'Em'(f. 75r.), from the Hastings area of Sussex (f. 50r.-v.); research by Lt. Col. Keiron Spires has identified her as Emily Jane Wood (c.1857- ).

Publication/Creation

May 1900-April 1901

Physical description

1 volume 1 volume: 223 × 175 mm., 75 ff. Original cloth binding.

Contributors

Acquisition note

Purchased from Timothy Shaw, 1980.

Biographical note

Emily Jane Wood was born c.1867; the 1871 census records her as aged 4 and living at 12 Oriel Terrace, Hastings, with her parents and sister Alice. At the time of the 1881 census, aged 14, she was attending Kenilworth College in Hastings, whilst the 1891 census records her as living at 113 Markwick Terrace, St Leonards, with her sister and widowed mother.

In April 1894 she joined Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI), ward 15, as a probationer, leaving with her Hospital Certificate in October 1897. She returned to GRI in June 1899 as a staff nurse, leaving that September to join the Scottish Red Cross Hospital. (She is listed among the members of the Hospital inspected by General E.F. Chapman in May 1900: Army Nursing Notes in Nursing Record and Hospital World vol.4, May 26th 1900.) On May 4th 1900 she also joined the Princess Christian Army Nursing Service (Reserve) as Nursing Sister Number 519.

Her service in South Africa is documented in this manuscript. She appears on the QSA Medal Roll for 3 General Hospital, Kroonstad, which was compiled in August 1901: her entry is annotated as "medal issued 17/08/01" and "on to Pretoria 20/3/01".

The Wellcome Library is grateful to Lt. Col. Kieron Spires for his research identifying Emily Jane Wood and determining the course of her career.

Finding aids

Database description transcribed from Richard Palmer, Catalogue of Western Manuscripts in the Wellcome Library for the History & Understanding of Medicine: Western Manuscripts 5120-6244 (London: The Wellcome Library for the History & Understanding of Medicine, 1999).

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Identifiers

Accession number

  • acc. 333131