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Story: Class

Occupations: Karitane nurses

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Occupations: Karitane nurses

These nurses are feeding babies and toddlers at a Karitane home in Frederic Truby King's old property at Melrose in Wellington. Truby King was the founder of the Plunket Society, which established the Karitane homes to provide care for new mothers and their babies. Nursing was a semi-professional occupation requiring qualifications. It was almost entirely a female profession.

Using this item

Archives New Zealand – Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: AAQT 6401, A82980

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

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How to cite this page

Jock Phillips, Class – A middle-class society? – material differences, 1890 to 1970, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/29730/occupations-karitane-nurses (accessed 17 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 15 April 2011.

Comments

Alison Doig ((Scarlet))
15 May 2018
Trying to contact Shirley Jean Turner my friend from training at Dunedin in1965/66 'N