Jessie Margaret Langham
in 1954
Born26 March 1902
Korumburra
Died12 November 1988 (aged 86)
Heidelberg, Victoria
NationalityAustralian
Other namesCaptain Langham
Occupationmatron

Jessie Margaret Langham OBE (26 March 1902 – 12 November 1988) was an Australian nurse who was promoted to Captain during World War II when she received the Associate Royal Red Cross. She served as hospital matron at Ballarat Base Hospital for twenty years and she was given an Order of the British Empire.

Life

Langham was born in 1902[1] in Victoria State like her parents. She was born at Korumburra to Catherine (born Clark) and William Smith Langham. Her father was a pastoralist. She was in her late twenties when she began her training as a nurse at the (Royal) Melbourne Hospital in 1929.[2] After she had won an award and completed her basis training in 1932[1] she went to Queen Victoria Hospital where she extended her skills to include midwifery. In 1935 she left her position as Melbourne Hospital's night superintendent to begin two years working for the Australian Inland Mission at the Victoria River Downs Station in the Northern Territory.[2]

In July 1940 she was in England having just joined the Australian Army Nursing Service as part of the Australian Imperial Force. She was working for the 2/3rd Australian General Hospital which moved to Gaza by that November and it was redesigned as the 2/11th AGH. She was sister-in-charge at the 2/11th AGH's surgical ward in Alexandria in 1941. By that December, Japan had joined the war and she was a sister. She left the middle east and began work in Queensland where she was given the rank of Captain in 1943.[2]

She was awarded an Associate Royal Red Cross in the 1945 King's Birthday Honours together with four others, Ellen Fenner, Kath Bonnin, Ethel Youman and Martha Hateley.[3] Her award was for "great devotion to duty often in dangerous and difficult circumstances and for outstanding ability".[2]

From 1947 to 1967 she was the matron at Ballarat Base Hospital[4] and in 1969 she was awarded an OBE.[1]

Death and legacy

Her hospital named a nurses home for her in 1988[5] and Langham died in the suburb of Heidelberg, Victoria later in the same year.[2] In the following year her OBE medal was given to the Ballarat Base Hospital.[6] In 1997 all of her papers were given to the University of Melbourne as she had no surviving family.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Langham, Jessie M." University of Melbourne Archives. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Rae, Ruth, "Jessie Margaret Langham (1902–1988)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 2023-12-12
  3. ↑ "KING'S BIRTHDAY HONOURS LIST". Canberra Times. 1945-06-14. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  4. ↑ "Matron, Miss J M Langham, 1947-1967, Ballarat Base Hospital". Victorian Collections. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  5. 1 2 "[1997.0005] Papers of Jessie Margaret Langham". University of Melbourne Archives. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  6. ↑ "Matron Jessie Langham (late), presentation of her O.B.E. Medal to the Ballarat Base Hospital, 15th December 1989". Victorian Collections. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
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