Papers of Ellen Collett (nee Canham)

Personal papers of Ellen Collett (nee Canham) from the course of her career as a nurse, midwife and health visitor. This collection includes:

Letter from Collett’s niece to the UK Centre for the History of Nursing and Midwifery, containing biographical details – 30 Jan 2005

Six black and white facsimilie copies of photographs of Collett and her patients. The originals were taken 1955, when Collett was working as a district nurse in Thurlton, Norfolk – c. 2005

“Case Book” written by Collett in 1943 containing details about the Obstetrics and Gynaecology patients she had seen throughout the year. This casebook was assessed as part of her second exam with the Central Midwives Board. – Mar 1943

Ruth Collett (nee Candham) began her nursing training at the Whittington Hospital in 1936. She qualified as a midwife at the same hospital in 1943. Collett worked as a district nurse in Norfolk in the early 1950s before qualifying as a health visitor in the late 1950s. She worked part-timeon a private obstetric and gynaecology ward in Norfolk between 1970 and her retirement in 1972.

This collection is available for research. Readers are advised to contact the RCN Archives in advance of their first visit.

Royal College of Nursing