A History of Nursing in Nottinghamshire, 1830–1948: Shining a Light

Overview of the Volume

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Historiographical scholarship in British nursing has predominantly focused on national developments or remained heavily London-centric. A History of Nursing in Nottinghamshire, 1830–1948: Shining a Light, edited by David S. Stewart and Pauline Woodhouse, redresses this critical imbalance by offering the first comprehensive historical account of nurses, hospital care, and professional practice within the English East Midlands.

Provincial Reform and the Registration Campaign

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Bringing together original contributions from leading regional and healthcare historians, the volume reassesses traditional orthodoxy regarding Victorian and Edwardian nursing reform. Rather than viewing professionalisation purely as an initiative diffused outward from Florence Nightingale or metropolitan teaching hospitals, the authors demonstrate that provincial centres were vibrant hubs of innovation and organisational agency.

Notably, the book documents Nottinghamshire’s vigorous, well-organised provincial campaign for state nurse registration, challenging the assumption that the registration movement was exclusively metropolitan. Adopting a comparative methodology, the contributors situate county developments—ranging from workhouse infirmaries and voluntary hospitals to district nursing and wartime service—firmly within national and international movements.

Historiographical Contribution

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By restoring provincial nursing to its rightful place within the broader medical landscape, this collection opens new pathways for regional comparative research across Britain and Europe. Readers and researchers can discover related monographs and scholarly anthologies via the EAHN Publications catalogue , as well as in ongoing book reviews featured in the EAHN Bulletin Archive .

Purchase and Availability

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A History of Nursing in Nottinghamshire, 1830–1948: Shining a Light (scheduled for release on 15 October 2026) is available to order online via Amazon UK and through Palgrave Macmillan / Springer Nature .