[Gertrude Ward, Matron at Eton College, who trained under Florence Nightingale.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Miss Wright’, discussing their forthcoming meeting at Eton.

Gertrude Ward trained under Florence Nightingale at St Thomas’s Hospital in London (see below), after which she became a district nurse, and then sister at the Medical Mission, Zanzibar. She was appointed to the position of Matron at Eton in 1901. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium, folded twice. In good condition. Nineteen lines of text. Signed ‘Gertrude Ward.’ She confirms the day of an appointment, but wishes to change the hour, as ‘unfortunately another UMCA Candidate has arranged to come at 3.30 on that day’. If the recipient comes earlier they can have lunch; otherwise she might come ‘by a latish afternoon train & spend the evening or stay over Sunday’. She ends with directions: ‘On reaching Eton College ask for Weston’s Yard and you will see my door with ‘Matron in College’ on a brass plate.’ In volume twelve (‘The Nightingale School’, 2009) of her collected works, Florence Nightingale writes in 1892: ‘And in April Nurse Ward, who has been in children’s hospitals since she was sixteen, and is now only twenty-eight, but quite worn out, was put in. She tells matron she can’t stay [...] Nurse Ward has been excellent.'