Adelaide Maud Kellett, (1 September 1873 – 12 April 1945) was an Australian army nurse and hospital matron. She served with the

Australian Army Nursing Service The Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) was an Australian Army Reserve unit which provided a pool of trained civilian nurses who had volunteered for military service during wartime. The AANS was formed in 1902 by amalgamating the nursing servic ...

in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and was matron of

Sydney Hospital Sydney Hospital, historically known as the Rum Hospital, is a major hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Macquarie Street in the Sydney central business district. It is the oldest hospital in Australia, dating back to 1788, and has been at ...

from 1921 to 1944.

Early life and training

Adelaide Maud Kellett was born in

Raglan, New South Wales Raglan is a locality in the Bathurst Region of New South Wales, Australia. It was named after FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan, commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in the Crimean War from 1850 to 1855. It had a population of 1,199 people a ...

, on 1 September 1873. Her parents were Sarah (née McClintock) and postal worker Charles Henry Kellett. She undertook her nursing training at Sydney Hospital from January 1898 to September 1901.

Nursing career

Kellett joined the

(AANS) in 1907. She was appointed deputy to matron Rose Ann Creal at

in October 1910. Following the outbreak of the

, Kellett joined the Australian Imperial Force. She embarked on the ''Euripides'' on 19 October 1914 for Egypt, where she spent ten months at No. 2 Australian General Hospital in Cairo and on board ''Gascon'' during the evacuation from

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

. She next served as matron of the Choubrah Military Infectious Hospital in Egypt for six months from February 1916. She was transferred to England to open No. 2 Australian Auxiliary Hospital at

Southall Southall () is a large suburban town in West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...

in August 1916, working with amputees. In July 1917, she was posted to Hardelot in France where she ran the 2400-bed 25th British General Hospital until its closure in March 1919. Back in England, Kellett interviewed 128 AANS nurses for the medical history war records of the Australian Imperial Force. On her return to Australia, Kellett was selected for the role of matron of Sydney Hospital following the death of Rose Creal in 1921, and remained there until her retirement in 1944. She served on the Nurses' Registration Board of New South Wales from 1 March 1934 until her resignation in March 1943.

Awards and recognition

Kellett was awarded the

Royal Red Cross The Royal Red Cross (RRC) is a military decoration awarded in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth for exceptional services in military nursing. It was created in 1883, and the first two awards were to Florence Nightingale and Jane Cecilia Deeb ...

(first class) on 23 February 1917. She was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

in 1916 and 1919 and was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

on 3 June 1919. In 1937, she was awarded the

Florence Nightingale Medal The Florence Nightingale Medal is an international award presented to those distinguished in nursing and named after British nurse Florence Nightingale. The medal was established in 1912 by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), f ...

, the third Australian nurse to be so honoured.

Death and legacy

Kellett died in the War Memorial Hospital at

Waverley, New South Wales Waverley is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Waverley is located seven kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia ...

, on 12 April 1945. Her funeral was held at St James' Church, Sydney, followed by cremation at the Northern Suburbs Crematorium. The Kellett Memorial Prize for the nurse receiving the highest marks for general nursing in final examinations was established by the

Australasian Trained Nurses' Association The Australasian Trained Nurses' Association was an association formed in 1899 to register nurses who had been trained in Australia. History Susan McGahey was a co-founder of the Australasian Trained Nurses' Association (ATNA) in December 1899 ...

in her honour.

References

External links

Matron A Kellett narrative from WWI

Index of nurses' names
compiled by Kellett for archival purposes {{DEFAULTSORT:Kellett, Adelaide Maud 1873 births 1945 deaths Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Australian military nurses Australian military personnel of World War I Australian women of World War I Florence Nightingale Medal recipients Members of the Royal Red Cross Australian women nurses Women in the Australian military