# Alice Tibbits

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**Alice Tibbits** (1854–1932) was a [South Australian](/source/South_Australia) nursing pioneer who was matron and owner of the [Private Hospital, Wakefield Street](/source/Private_Hospital,_Wakefield_Street) in the 1880s. She was one of the first to train nurses in Australia and was known as the "[Florence Nightingale](/source/Florence_Nightingale) of South Australia".

## Early life and education

Alice Tibbits was born in [Walsall](/source/Walsall), [Staffordshire](/source/Staffordshire), England in 1854. She and her friend [Kate Hill](/source/Kate_Hill_(1859-1933)) were influenced by Anglican community nurse [Sister Dora](/source/Sister_Dora) (Dorothy Wyndlow Pattison) in Staffordshire. The two friends emigrated to South Australia in 1879[1] and began nursing at the newly opened [Adelaide Children's Hospital](/source/Adelaide_Children's_Hospital).[2][3] Tibbits was the first person to receive a certificate of training from the hospital in 1881.[4] The training included care of sick children, maternity nursing, and secondment to the lying-in wards of the [Destitute Asylum](/source/Destitute_Asylum).[4] Upon completion of the course, Tibbits went to [London](/source/London) at her own expense to complete a further two years as a probationer at the [London Hospital](/source/London_Hospital) and six months training in [midwifery](/source/Midwifery) at the [Endell Street](/source/Endell_Street) Nursing Home.[4]

Tibbits was a member of the [Baptist church](/source/Baptist_church).[5]

## Career

Tibbits returned to South Australia in 1884 and worked for [William Gardner](/source/William_Gardner_(surgeon)), who requested that she become [matron](/source/Matron) of the [Private Hospital, Wakefield Street](/source/Private_Hospital,_Wakefield_Street).[6] She purchased the hospital in 1888 and doubled its bed capacity to 30.[7] In 1902, she acquired two cottages in Ifould Street,[7][8] as well as a two-storey house on [Wakefield Street](/source/Wakefield_Street), which she named "Hatherton" after [her home in Staffordshire](/source/Hatherton,_Staffordshire). She was the first woman in Adelaide to train nurses.[5]

Tibbits was a [suffragist](/source/Suffragist). She, along with eight of her trained nurses, was one of the first signers of the [South Australian Women's Suffrage Petition](/source/South_Australian_Women's_Suffrage_Petition) which led to the *[Constitutional Amendment (Adult Suffrage) Act 1894](/source/Constitutional_Amendment_(Adult_Suffrage)_Act_1894)*, giving South Australian women the right to vote and to stand for parliament.[5][4][9]

In 1902, Hill joined her as a partner and owner of the Wakefield Street Hospital.[3] Tibbits acquired further nearby properties in 1905.[8] Under her leadership, it became the [first training hospital for nurses](/source/Nursing_in_Australia) in the [colony](/source/Colony_of_South_Australia), and later state, of [South Australia](/source/South_Australia).[7][2] Tibbits herself worked ten-to-twelve hour days.[4] She retired in 1903 and sold the goodwill of the hospital to Hill.[4] In 1905, Tibbits advocated for,[10][11] and was alongside Hill involved in founding, the South Australian branch of the [Australasian Trained Nurses' Association](/source/Australasian_Trained_Nurses'_Association) at a meeting chaired by suffragist [Rosetta Jane Birks](/source/Rosetta_Jane_Birks).[4] Tibbits served as a member of the executive for many years.[4]

## Death and legacy

Tibbits lived for twenty years in a home called "Hatherton" on 2.75 acres at [Mount Lofty](/source/Mount_Lofty),[12] where she died on 2 February 1932 after a long illness.[13]

Tibbits left £1,000 in her will to the [Walsall](/source/Walsall) Hospital for a bed in memory of her grandfather.[14] Newspapers at the time said she was known as the "[Florence Nightingale](/source/Florence_Nightingale) of South Australia".[13] In November 1938, a brass [commemorative plaque](/source/Commemorative_plaque) was erected in her memory in the hospital's reception area,[15] after nurses trained by her suggested the need to "perpetuate her memory".[16][17]

## References

1. Gibberd, Joyce, ["Kate Hill (1859–1933)"](https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hill-kate-6670), *Australian Dictionary of Biography*, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 2023-11-01

1. ["Alice Tibbitt and Kate Hill create first private nurse training hospital in Wakefield Street, Adelaide, from 1888"](https://adelaideaz.com/articles/alice-tibbits-and-kate-hill-create-first-private-nurse-training-hospital-in-wakefield-street--adelaide--from-1883-). Adelaide A-Z.

1. Gibberd, Joyce (1983). [*Hill, Kate (1859-1933*](https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hill-kate-6670). Australian Dictionary of Biography.

1. Durdin, Joan (1994). "They also signed the petition: nursing pioneers of the 1890s". *Journal of the Historical Society of South Australia*. **22**: 113–121.

1. Walker, John (October 2009). ["'A Holy Liberty in the Lord'? South Australian Baptists and Female Gender Roles, circa 1870 to 1940"](https://web.archive.org/web/20210804192051/http://www.baptistresearch.org.nz/uploads/6/2/0/4/6204774/pacific_journal_5-2_october_09.pdf). *Pacific Journal of Baptist Research*. **5** (2): 39–62. Archived from [the original](http://www.baptistresearch.org.nz/uploads/6/2/0/4/6204774/pacific_journal_5-2_october_09.pdf) on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.

1. *Nursing in South Australia: First Hundred Years 1837-1937*. Adelaide: South Australian Trained Nurses’ Centenary Committee. February 1938.

1. Lyon (May 1977). "Short history of PHWS (Private Hospital, Wakefield Street) First= E. E.". *The Australasian Nurses Journal*. **6** (10): 18. [ISSN 0301-018X](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0301-018X)

1. ["City of Adelaide Heritage Survey (2008)"](https://d31atr86jnqrq2.cloudfront.net/docs/info-local-heritage-places-ada-east.pdf?mtime=20190521135449&focal=none)

1. Jones, Helen (1994). [*In Her Own Name: A History of Women in South Australia from 1836*](https://books.google.com/books?id=b4cVntiyemAC). Wakefield Press. p. 103. ISBN 9781862543218.

1. Tibbits, Alice (30 March 1905). ["Nursing Association"](https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/56329097?searchTerm=Alice%20Tibbits). *The Register*. Retrieved 20 August 2021.

1. Tibbits, Alice (3 April 1905). ["Nurses' Association"](https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/56330822?searchTerm=Alice%20Tibbits). *The Register*. Retrieved 20 August 2021.

1. ["Real Estate News"](https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/59309960?searchTerm=Alice%20Tibbits). *The Mail*. 11 June 1932. p. 6. Retrieved 20 August 2021.

1. ["Pioneer Nurse Dies"](https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/73847987?searchTerm=Alice%20Tibbits). *The Advertiser*. 3 February 1932. p. 11. Retrieved 20 August 2021.

1. ["Probate has been granted"](https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/90914609). *Chronicle*. 24 March 1932. p. 37. Retrieved 20 August 2021.

1. ["Memorial Tablet At Hospital"](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74405840). *[The Advertiser (Adelaide)](/source/The_Advertiser_(Adelaide))*. 10 November 1938. p. 10. Retrieved 16 May 2021. – via National Library of Australia.

1. ["Nurses' Meet"](https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/131898239?searchTerm=Alice%20Tibbits). *News (Adelaide SA)*. 13 October 1937. p. 6. Retrieved 20 August 2021.

1. ["Honoring Memory of Nurse"](https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/131897065?searchTerm=Alice%20Tibbits). *News (Adelaide SA)*. 14 October 1937. p. 21. Retrieved 20 August 2021.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alice Tibbits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Tibbits) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Tibbits?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.