| Personal Details |
| Name: | Mrs E E Deane |
| Type: | Staff |
| Born in camp? |
No |
| Died in camp? |
No |
| Gender: | female |
| Race: | white |
| Occupation: | nurse |
| Camp occupation: | nurse |
| Notes: | 8/2/1902: CSRC to Mrs Thomson, Secy Burgher Camp Female Employment Socy: listed as 'undesirable'. |
| Unique ID: | 1756 |
| Camp History |
| Name: | Kroonstad RC |
| Name: | Kroonstad RC |
| Notes: | 10/10/1901: telegram: Nursing Sister Deane to CSRC: Wishes to resign disagreement through senior sister may I see you personally urgent if request granted may I have a permit.
18/10/1901: CSRC to Superintendent, Brandfort: Suggests he and PMO can settle this; 'Nurses and doctors never seem to cease quarrelling.'
29/10/1901, Superintendent to CSRC: Has not engaged Mrs Deane as nurse
7/11/1901: van der Wall, PMO to CSRC: The supt of this camp informs me that you have ordered him to re-engage Mrs Deane as a nursing sister to this hospital. As I am quite certain that you have not the facts before you why we did not re-employ Mrs Deane, I wish to lay the matter before you now.
During the month of August my matron, Sister Strachan went to Durban on leave and I had to appoint the next senior nursing sister as matron. Sister Fitzpatrick being the senior nurse then was appointed. She proved to be absolutely unfit for that position, her great object being 'to have a good time', in this she was advised and led away by Mrs Deane and I do not blame her so much as Mrs Deane.
Mrs Deane set my authority at nought went into town at any time without leave, and did what she pleased. The result of this was that we had visitors to the nursing sisters' morning, noon and night, which greatly interfered with the working of the hospital, for instance often when orderlies went for stimulents and medicines &c they were told by these visitors to 'voertzek' and clear out and one complained to me tha he had a bottle flung at his head one day. Besides Mrs Deane by going to late champagne dinners in Kroonstad and coming back from dances a 3 and 4 o'clock in the morning very soon caused a scandal. You will admit that when a counter jumper in Kroonstad tells me that I have two scorching nurses and the behaviour of the refugee nursing sisters is the talk of the town something must be done.
So I thought it would be best to separate the pair so when I was asked for a nurse for the Brandfort camp I sent Sister Deane there. What happned there you know. On her coming back her I though it better not to re-engage her and try and do our best to get on until we got some other nursing sister. Besides I consider my staff quite able to do the work just now. I have five nursing sisters. You will remember authorising the supt to engage Mrs Wessels who came here as a nursing sister from Springfontein, she certainly is not a certified trained nurse, but as I understand she occupied a position of trust at Springfontein and worked herself up so tha her pay was raised to five shillings a day. I have this girl as head night nurse as it is the only position I could give her, as the nursing sisters will not recognise her as a nursing sister - and refuse to admit her into their mess and on the other side she is certainly superior to the Boer probationer nurse. I may add tha she has given every satisfaction as a nurse and the matron informs me that she is in every way as able for the work as a nursing sister. The ringleader in this friction with Nurse Wessels was also Mrs Deane. Mrs Dane informed me when she came back from Brandfort that she had come specially to nurse a case in Kroonstad and I could employ her if I liked evidently she was quite independent and now I hear that I am accused of rough handling her, when I told her tha as her appointment here would be termporally [sic] and advised her to take up nursing in Kroonstad as she had the chance. By compelling us to take Mrs Deane back you have opened up the whole question again. I am quite certain that Nurse Strachan the matron will never get on with her and the best next nurse, Sister Hays, will certainly resign if Sister Strachan goes as she does not care to associate with Mrs Deane; and if we are to have a repetition of what went on during September I do not see how I can stay. As senior MO you have lessened my authority over the staff and I feel very much hurt over the matter as I have always tried to do my best in this camp under circumstances. As matter stand at present, I am quite certain there is going to be an endless amount of trouble and friction. |
| Name: | Brandfort RC |
| Sources |
| Title: | SRC 34 |
| Type: | Correspondence: appointments |
| Location: | VAB |
| Reference No.: | 34 |
| Dates: | Oct-Dec 1901 |
| Notes: | A305, 7/11/1901, G van der Wall, PMO to CSRC |
| Title: | SRC 37 |
| Type: | Correspondence: appointments |
| Location: | VAB |
| Reference No.: | 37 |
| Dates: | Feb 1902 |
| Notes: | A754: 8/2/1902: CSRC to Mrs Thomson, Secy Burgher Camp Female Employment Socy |
| Title: | SRC 14 |
| Type: | Correspondence |
| Location: | VAB |
| Reference No.: | 14 |
| Dates: | Sept-Oct 1901 |
| Notes: | RC5239, 20/9/1901: CSRC to Secretary for Permits, Bloemfontein |
| Title: | SRC 14 |
| Type: | Correspondence |
| Location: | VAB |
| Reference No.: | 14 |
| Dates: | Sept-Oct 1901 |
| Notes: | RC5239, 20/9/1901: CSRC to Secretary for Permits, Bloemfontein |
| Title: | SRC 15 |
| Type: | Correspondence |
| Location: | VAB |
| Reference No.: | 15 |
| Dates: | Oct-Nov 1901 |
| Notes: | RC5755, 29/10/1901, Superintendent, Kroonstad to CSRC |
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British Concentration Camps