WALKER, Florence Victoria

  General Notes:

South Australian Births - Index of Registrations 1842 -1906
"WALKER Florence Victoria (F) 24 May 1873 Mount Barker dist MtB par John Thomas WALKER & Mary EDDY b122 p173"

Biographical Index of South Australians 1836 -1885
"WALKER John Thos par: Wm & Isabella nee Otto b:11.03.1848 d:20.07.1925 arr 1851 Catherine."
"WALKER John Thos d: after 1907 arr by 1874 occ: Draper, Bootmaker, Warehouseman and others res Mt Barker, Burra, Kooringa, Jamestown m: Unknown Ch: Florence (1872-) Clarence Wellesley (1874-), a son, Alfred Leslie (1877-) Louis Randolph (1879-) Oswald Gilbert (1881-) Walter Herbert , son."

Burra School Record
Admission Child Born Parent/Guardian Occupation
29-04-1884 WALKER Florence 24-05-1873 WALKER John Bootmaker
Residence Last School Sex Number
Chapel St. Kooringa Miss Josling's G 226

Note
Family history states Florence took over her mother's role in keeping house and raising her siblings (aged 18,17,15,13,11,9,7,5 & 2) after Mary's death in 1892.
She later became a nurse and is reputed to have been Matron of Royal Adelaide Hospital, which I have not confirmed to date.
At the time of her father's death in 1925, Florence was mentioned as being in San Francisco.
This is recorded on the back of a photo of Florence Victoria in nurses uniform by Sandra Walker
"Florence Victoria helped her father John Thomas rear his 9 children and later became a nurse.
She was one time Matron of Royal Adelaide Hospital.
She travelled to California and died in Adelaide."
Clearly, as indicated by the record below her service at RAH was not quite as recalled by family oral history.

Royal Adelaide Hospital
Transcript of records from the volume `Appointment of Staff at Adelaide Hospital'
(State Records Office GRS/1/303/Consigm.1)

Walker, Florence V. Appointed Probationer Nurse 15.10.1896
Appointed Night Charge Nurse 15.10.1899
Certificate Medical, Surgical, Ophthalmologic, General Nursing.
Appointed Day Charge Nurse, 01.02.1901
Resigned 07.03.1905

A further entry:
Walker, Florence Victoria,
Appointed Night Charge Nurse 09.07.1907, at Consumptive Home
Transferred Charge Nurse 01.12.1907
Resigned 30.04.1908
On re-reading the `Records of Appointment of Staff' I note that Nurse Florence Victoria Walker was appointed Night Charge Nurse in October 1899 (Not Superintendent of Night Nurses). She was transferred to the position of Day Charge Nurse on 01.02.1901, and resigned on 07.03.1905.
Thus the information previously given by me (Joan Durdin) is incorrect. Nurse Walker was at no time Superintendent of Night Nurses.
Her second appointment (09.07.1907 - 30.04.1908) was first as Night Charge Nurse, Consumptive Home and then as Day Charge Nurse - presumably also at the Consumptive Home, which was a part of the Adelaide Hospital, on the site of the 'old' (1841 - 1856) hospital.
Note: A 'Charge Nurse' was a qualified nurse in charge of patients in a ward or wards, of the hospital.

Note:
The RAH information above was provided from the research of David Walker, grandson of Oswald Gilbert Walker.

South Australian Deaths - Index of Registrations 1916 - 1972
"WALKER Florence Victoria (F) 85y stat (S) of Adelaide d 9 Oct 1958 at Adelaide dist Ade sym H b881 p 6248".


The Advertiser - Death Notices - 10th October 1958
"Walker - On the 9th October, at hospital, Florence Victoria, loved eldest daughter of the late John T and Mary Walker (late of Burra) and loving sister of Louis, Bert and Eugene,also Wells, Walter,Alfred,Sydney and Lance. In her 86th year."

Burial
Florence Victoria is interred at West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide, South Australia with her infant brother Lancelot Gordon.
Grave Location:
Plan: Z
Row: B - East Side
Plot: 21
The grave is bare earth with a small white marble headstone and rusted cast iron surround.
(CW - August 2004)