Ida Edwards

Ida was the oldest of four children born to Reverend Ashburner and Mary Ann Lydia Watson. When Ida was ten her mother died, the children were then left in the care of indifferent housekeepers. Ida attended primary school at Warwick and the rest of her schooling at Stanthorpe. Ida trained in general nursing and midwifery at Brisbane General Hospital. On the 28th of June 1928 Ida joined the Northern Territory Medical Service. She set sail in the Malabar for Darwin, Northern Territory on the 4 July 1928. Ida was appointed as the matron of the Darwin Hospital on the 6th of February 1929, after turmoil among the staff led to resignations. With her nice, but firm, personality she helped to restore stability and provide direction to Hospital staff.The public service of the Northern Territory did not employ married women, so Ida was forced to resign from her position as matron of Darwin Hospital when she married Roy Edwards on the 7th of October 1939. Ida was evacuated from Darwin after the bombing on the 19th of February 1942. She ended up in Melbourne where she worked in a private nursing home. When the war ended Ida returned to Darwin but she developed crippling arthritis and became house bound, she eventually passed away in her house on Marella Street in Larrakeyah. Ida made a considerable contribution to the Darwin Hospital and she was held in high regard by all who worked with her.NurseEnglis