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Constance Mabel Keys Collection

Sister Keys served in Egypt, nursing Gallipoli wounded at the 1st Australian General Hospital in Cairo. In 1918 she travelled from England to France where she served as Head Sister of a casualty clearing station. 

This digital story features her daughter, the late Margaret Thorsborne AO.

Constance Mabel Keys Collection 1914 - 1919

This extensive collection documents her five years of war service 1914-1919 and comprises photographs, correspondence, diaries and letters and souvenir objects. It provides an intimate and vivid first-hand account of the Australian Army Nursing Service during the First World War. [Acc 30674]
View the collection
Nurses from the Australian Army Nursing Service during World War I 1914
Sister Keys and Matron Wilson at a tea party, Cairo, 1915, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Image 30674-0003-0010

Collection items

Sister Constance Keys purchased many souvenir items in the bazaars of Egypt which she sent home to her family in Queensland.

Wicker Basket, woven by a Turkish prisoner of war and acquired by Sister Constance Keys while stationed in Egypt during the First World War, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Image 30674-0074-0001
Small Egyptian hieroglyphic decorated plate, ca. 1914-1918, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Image 30674-0076-0001.
Slouch Hat Trench Art, 1914-1918, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Image 30674-0073-0002

Digital story

Margaret Thorsborne AO digital story