East London Nursing Society

The East London Nursing Society was established in 1868 with the aim of providing trained nurses to nurse the sick poor in their own homes in East London. Three private nurses were initially engaged to work in Bromley, Poplar and St Philips, Stepney Way. The Society merged with the Metropolitan and National Association for Providing Trained Nurses for the Sick Poor (formed in 1874), becoming its Eastern Division. However in 1881 the East End Branch assumed its original, independent position. Princess Christian became President of the Society in 1883, and in 1891 the Society became affiliated with Queen Victoria's Jubilee Institute for Nurses. From 1912 the Society's nurses began to attend the School Centre in Poplar. In the years that followed, the London County Council and Borough Councils increasingly supported the Society's work. In 1943 the London County Council asked the Society to take responsibility for District midwifery training in the area.