Woman's History Month...2023. Post 29. Kathleen Yeates. A Highly Decorated Nurse (1951).
This month is Women's History Month. I have decided to repost the stories of many of the wonderful women from Subiaco I have come across.
Kathleen Yeates, A Highly Decorated Nurse (1951).
The blog post is a continuation of the previous post about Charles Samuel Sparks Yeates who was an astronomer at the Perth Observatory and his daughter Mary Kathleen (Kath) Yeates who went on to be a highly decorated nurse. Miss Kathleen Yeates was the first Australian trained sister to be made an honorary member of the Australian College of Nursing in 1951.
Charles married Catherine Janet Hinckley in 1889. They had two children Mary Kathleen (Kath) Yeates (1900), and Horatio Thomas Yeates (1898). The family lived at 441 Rokeby Road, Subiaco.
Throughout the years Kathleen was a nurse at King Edward Memorial Hospital, in charge of the infant health center at Shenton Park, honorary secretary of the Australian Trained Nurses Association, involved in the foundation of the Florence Nightingale Club and was a qualified lecturer for postgraduate studies in nursing. She was also involved in creating a union for nurses.
The 1931 the Mirror newspaper wrote the following article about Charles and his daughter Kathleen who trained to be a nurse...
"Charles Yeates, who has been on the staff of the Perth Observatory since 1897, is one of the best know of our citizens. He reads the stars and their courses and is regarded as one of Australia's foremost astronomers. He first saw the light in England in 1881, and after experience in S.A. and Vic. came West and joined our Observatory. Charles Yeates has given much of his private time to those interested in the mysteries of the heavens and many a party can thank him for conducting them.
Charles Yeates has given much of his private time to those interested in the mysteries of the heavens and many a party can thank for conducting them. The Observatory to him has been something more than a bread-winning establishment and over a long association he has given his knowledge freely with the hope of making the Western Australian Observatory a model in the Commonwealth. Mr. Yeates is proud man these days in his daughter Kathleen, a native of the West, recently topped the State in her maternity course at the King Edward Hospital, Subiaco.
She is fully qualified, having taken out A.T.N.A. certificate at Perth Hospital where she underwent her training. She is at present finishing a child welfare course prior to commencing active practice of her profession. The possessor of a charming personality this young lady is a real chip of the old block and a credit to her Dad to whom she is more a pal than a daughter. Incidentally when Kathleen qualified as a trained nurse she gained fifth place in the State and as she followed up this performance with a first in maternity nursing can be seen that is going to be a star in her particular sphere." (Mirror, 14 Saturday, 1931).
In 1951 Kathleen Yeates was the first Australian trained sister to be made an honorary member of the Australian College of Nursing. The West Australian wrote the following article about her achievements.
"Honour For W.A. Nurse ...A West Australian nurse, Miss Kathleen Yeates, of Gooseberry Hill, is the first Australian trained sister to be made an honorary member of the Australian College of Nursing. This honour was conferred on her on Tuesday in recognition of her honorary work for nurses over a number of years.
Miss Yeates, who is now retired. began her training at the Perth Hospital in 1927, and after a period at the King Edward Memorial Hospital was in charge of the infant health centre at Shenton Park for some years. During that time she was appointed honorary secretary of the Australian Trained Nurses' Association, and saw that body established in a permanent office in the city.
With the foundation of the Florence Nightingale Club, of which she was also honorary secretary a permanent centre was established for nursing activity. In association with the club, the A.T.N.A. began a series of postgraduate lectures each year. "These were most valuable to nurses," Miss Yeates said, "and were greatly appreciated."
More progress was made in 1936 when the Florence Nightingale Memorial Committee was formed to provide scholarships for nurses. With this work Miss Yeates is still actively interested. The Society for the Care of Aged and Incapacitated Nurses, which was followed by the founding of Eleanor Harvey House, and the "Journal of W.A. Nurses," of which she was the first editor, were among her other interests.
Miss Yeates says that she feels greatly honoured to have been made an honorary member of the Australian College of Nursing, adding that she was present when the first discussions about its foundation on a national basis took place in Melbourne. Mrs. S. Wheatley, of Bridgetown, who is on a short visit to Perth, is staying at the Adelphi Hotel. Red Cross Society: The Quanmby club branch of the Red Cross Society will conduct a bridge party. at the club rooms. London Court, at 2 p.m. today." (West Australian, 25 January 1951.)
Mary Kathleen Yeates, Mirror, 14 February 1931.
BA3491/65: Left-right standing: Unknown, C.S.S. Yeates; sitting: Mary Kathleen 'Kath' Yeates, Catherine Janet 'Kate' Yeates, Horatio Thomas Yeates, ca.1906.
