1912 Apr 10 - 1914 Jan 27
Letters to Mabel Wolff from F.R. Madden, Catherine Richards, Ellen Hopkins, Marie S. Hazel and others concerning the opening of a children's dispensary at Fayoum, the purchase of supplies and furnishings, regulations for the running of the dispensary and the appointment of staff

1913
Annual report by [Gertrude Wolff] on the children's free dispensary for poor children at Fayoum

1914 Mar 11
Letter from `Ali Jamal al-Din to Miss Wolff re Lord Kitchener's satisfaction at the success of her work at Fayoum

1915 May 3 - Dec 28
Telegram notifying Mabel Wolff and Gertrude Wolff of their call-up for military service, with letters of thanks from J.G. Maxwell and D. Semple

1917 Jun 21
Letter from G. Russell to Mabel Wolff on the success of the new Midwives Training School at Fayoum

1919 Apr 17 - 19
Letter from R.M. Graves to Mabel Wolff on the need to reopen the dispensary and midwives school at Fayoum after the recent civil disturbances, with permits for return to Fayoum

1920
Annual report on the work of children's dispensaries in Egypt

1920
Annual report on the seven maternity schools at Damanhur, Mansura, Zagazig, Shibin el Kom, Fayoum, Minia and Sohag

1921 Feb 8 - Nov 16
Official correspondence between Mabel Wolff and C. Crispin, Director Medical Department concerning the Midwifery Training School, including rations for dayas, uniform allowance, additional supervision for midwives, the provision of dayas ' boxes and the difficulties in persuading dayas to undergo training

1922 Apr 23 - 1924 Dec 31
Official correspondence between Mabel Wolff and the Medical Department concerning the Midwifery Training School , in particular the need for economies (579/4/1); arrangements for deliveries at the school (579/4/3); lack of candidates from the provinces (579/4/5); resistance to trained dayas in Merowe (579/4/15); dismissal of a trainee midwife (579/4/20-21); inspection of midwives at Kamlin, Rufa`a, Hassa Heissa, El Obeid and Makwar (579/4/22-25); and inspection of midwives in White Nile Province (579/4/26). Also includes:

1925 Mar - 1927 Dec 30
Official papers of the Midwifery Training School including correspondence between Mabel Wolff and the Medical Department re punishment of unlicensed midwives (579/5/2-4); proposed inspection tour to Wad Medani, Rufa`a and Aba Island (579/5/7-12); steps to ban the performance of Pharonic circumcision by trained midwives (579/5/21-22); inspection tour of Dongola and Merowe Provinces (579/5/29-33,38). Also includes:

1928 Jan 20 - 1929 Dec 12
Official papers of the Midwifery Training School including correspondence between Mabel Wolff, the Medical Department and government officials on the appointment and dismissal of midwives and nurses and the selection of candidates for training; the renewal of midwives' licences (582/1/4); the need for the provision of medical care for the slave encampment at Kosti, White Nile Province (582/1/7-8,17,39); drugs and equipment required by midwives (582/1/14); female circumcision (582/1/19-20); condition of living quarters for midwives and nurses (582/1/54); proposals for changes in midwives' licences (582/1/55-57); monthly subsidies to midwives (582/1/58). Also includes:

1930 Jan 2 - 1931 Dec 5
Official papers of the Midwifery Training School including correspondence chiefly between Mabel Wolff, Gertrude Wolff and the Medical Department on the appointment and dismissal of midwives; grants to midwives (582/2/19); cases of severe trauma due to female circumcision (582/2/21-22); incidence of female circumcision in Darfur (582/2/27); budget proposals for staff and midwives (582/2/32); midwives' supplies (582/2/38-41); the need for opposition to Pharonic circumcision and for higher standards of attainment of midwives under training (582/2/48); and attendance fees for midwives (582/2/71). Also includes:

1932 May 30
Letter from Douglas Newbold re steps needed to prevent female circumcision and incidence of male and female perversion, with Mabel Wolff's reply

1932 Jun 6 - 1933 Dec 31
Official papers of the Midwifery Training School consisting mainly of correspondence between Mabel Wolff and the Medical Department on arrangements for inspection tours, also re the refusal of second class travel warrants for staff of the Midwifery Training School (582/3/4,28,36); registration of births (582/3/9); payment of midwives (582/3/19); fees for birth registrations and proposed abolition of fees for renewal of midwives' licences (582/3/20); provision of accommodation for practising midwives (582/3/31); training of midwives from the south (582/3/32-34); inspection of midwives in Berber province (582/3/47-48). Also includes:

1934 Jan 9 - Dec 3
Official papers of the Midwifery Training School including correspondence between Mabel Wolff and the Medical Department on complaints against midwives in Omdurman (582/4/3-4); provision of ante-natal care at Rufa`a (582/4/24,28); use of the habl during birth (582/4/25-26); and increase of staff for the Midwifery Training School (582/4/36). Also includes:

1934 Dec 11 - 1935 Apr 11
Correspondence between Mabel Wolff and Dr. N.L. Corkill, author of Pellagra in the Sudan (see below under Printed Material), concerning deficiency diseases in the Sudan in particular relation to women

1921 Oct 20
First annual report of the Midwifery Training School Omdurman, by Mabel Wolff

1922 Jan 29
Second report of the Midwifery Training School , Omdurman, by Mabel Wolff

1922 Jul 14
Annual report for 1922 of the Midwifery Training School , by Mabel Wolff

1923 Aug 16
Annual report 1922-23 for the Midwifery Training School , by Mabel Wolff

1924
Annual report, Midwifery Training School , by Mabel Wolff

1925 Jun 18
Annual report, Midwifery Training School by Mabel Wolff for Oct 1924 to Jun 1925

1926-1933
Midwifery Training School , Omdurman annual reports. From 1928, statistics are included:

1927-1935
Reports by Mabel Wolff of inspections carried out throughout the Sudan. Each report lists midwives inspected with comments on abilities:

1936
Report by J.S. Fairbairn, consulting obstetrician, St. Thomas's hospital London, on the training and service of midwifery in the Sudan

1937 Apr
Extract from Nursing notes v 50, no 592 by Dr. J.S. Fairbairn on the training of midwives in the Sudan

1937 May
Questionnaire submitted by Dr. Fairbairn on the work of the Midwifery Training School , used in preparation of the report above

1921-1935
Register of midwives, Midwifery Training School , Omdurman. Details include name, age, results of examinations and short assessment of their abilities

1928 Mar 7
Diary of a day's work at Omdurman Civil Hospital with list of nurse's day duties

1921-1936
Details of numbers of cases delivered each term from 1921 to 1936 (arranged monthly)

1929 Aug 13 - Oct 21
Case book containing descriptions of cases attended

1932
Diary of matron and inspectress, Midwifery Training School Fairly brief entries but includes more detailed descriptions of inspection tours to Blue Nile Province, Fung and White Nile Province, Oct-Dec 1932 (580/4/62- 82)

1933
Report of a difficult case (written on a page of a diary)

1934
Note of cases attended by Midwifery Training School midwives and town trained midwives for the year and the number of school deliveries

1934
Case book of midwife Sittenah `Uthman wad al-Bakr, trained in 1934
Language: Arabic

1934-1935
Detailed statistics for 1934 - 1935 - cases attended, births, abortions, complications, etc.

1937 Aug 31
Confidential reports on staff midwives and the chauffeur

[c. 1937]
Note of Midwifery Training School daily routine

[n.d.]
Lecture notes for elementary practical lessons for midwives with glossary of terms in English and Arabic

[n.d.]
Lecture notes as above translated into Arabic for use by staff midwives

[n.d.]
Notebook of teaching notes in Arabic

[n.d.]
Elementary practical lessons for Sudanese midwives in transliterated Sudanese Arabic

1937 Aug 14 - 1938 Jun 20
Correspondence between Mabel Wolff, Gertrude Wolff, Dr. Hovell, Dr. E.D. Pridie and J.S. Fairbairn concerning the possibility of publishing the above lecture notes as “Practical lessons for Sudanese midwives”

[c. 1930]
List of Arabic words used by midwives

[n.d.]
Notice regarding the training of midwives which was read in Arabic to villagers during inspection tours

[c. 1930]
Midwifery Training School accounts

[c. 1930]
List of expenses of "an ordinary working artisan" entailed in preparing for a birth (Wad Halfa)

1933 Feb - 1937 May
Account book for Maternity Benefit Fund. Enclosed is a letter from Flora Stack re a donation from Princess Kamal al-Din Husain

1933 Feb - 1937 Jul
Account book for Ante-natal and Maternity Benevolent Fund

1935-1936
Register of living expenses and household budgets of midwives and householders chiefly in Omdurman, compiled by Mabel Wolff, G.L.W and staff of the Midwifery Training School

1937
Register of expenses of individual midwives with details of expenses incurred for confinements and notes on customs for puberty, pregnancy, confinement, birth, naming day, sterility, engagement and marriage

[n.d.]
List of equipment provided free of charge to trained midwives

1936
List of foodstuffs, kitchen utensils and clothing with prices paid in Omdurman suq

[n.d.]
Note of food rations given daily and weekly to trainee midwives

1937 May 26
Note of pay and conditions of midwives

[n.d.]
Note of midwives fees from a "well-to-do" case in Dongola Town and for a circumcision at Tangasi Island

1924 Feb 13
Papers concerning female circumcision in the Sudan and the campaign to have it abolished, consisting mainly of correspondence between the Wolffs and O. Athey, Director S.M.S., Hanns Vischer, J.A. Gillan, G.L. Elliot Smith, Lady Huddleston and G.M. Crowfoot. Also includes:

[c. 1930]
Notes on Sudanese customs including tattooing of lips (745/2/72-73); the Mahdi's attitude towards various customs (745/2/74-75); puberty customs in Darfur (745/2/75-77); Tamai birth and death customs (745/2/78); and native cure for frequent miscarriages (745/2/79)

[c. 1935]
Notebook kept by Gertrude Wolff of Sudanese customs and sayings, mainly relating to women and children

[n.d.]
Birth chants
Language: Arabic

1917-1924
Personal letters to Gertrude Wolff and Mabel Wolff from local people in Fayoum

1921-1924
Testimonials for Mabel Wolff, with letter of notification of her appointment as matron of the new women's hospital at Omdurman

1928-1948
Correspondence re terms of service and annuities for M.E.W and Gertrude Wolff

1924-1937
Personal letters to Mabel Wolff and Gertrude Wolff from Sudanese
Language: English and Arabic

1928 Nov 2 - 1937 Sep 2
Personal letters between Mabel Wolff and Gertrude Wolff and to their mother, written while on inspection tours, and describing attempts to enlist trainee midwives, inspections of midwives, meetings with local dignitaries and government officials as well as scenery, animal life, homes visited, etc.
Digitised material for M.E. and G.L. Wolff: letters written while on inspection tours - SAD.582/7/1-125

1931 Aug 11
Personal letter from G.M. Crowfoot re the progress of the midwifery service

1937
Note of personal possessions disposed of and gifts to Sudanese friends and colleagues on retirement

1945 Nov 12 - 1946 Feb 12
Correspondence between Mabel Wolff and Miss Phyllis Dickens, matron of the Midwifery Training School , concerning the progress of the school and individual midwives and including a letter from Professor Davey of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, praising the standards at the school

1950 Jan 8 - 1963 Jul 28
Correspondence from and concerning Sitt Hawa `Ali al-Bassir, a Sudanese midwife who visited England in 1950, 1954 and 1963. See also under Newspaper Cuttings (580/2/18- 23)

1930 Jan 12- 30
Trek diary kept by Gertrude Wolff through Kordofan, White Nile and Fung Provinces, describing the journeys between villages, accommodation, Governors and District Commissioners encountered and her daily routine. Places visited include Heiban (745/2/1); Abri (745/2/1-3); Rashad (745/2/5-12); Rahad (745/2/16-22); Umm Ruwaba (745/2/23-30); Tendelti (745/2/31-34); Makwar (745/2/35-39); Singa (745/2/40-50); Karkoj (745/2/51-54); and Roseires (745/2/54-59)

1935 Jan - Mar
Diary recording the daily work programme of Mabel Wolff and Gertrude Wolff

1936 Dec
Extract from Mabel Wolff's diary describing a trek to Soderi

1933
Paper prepared by Mabel Wolff for the Sixth Imperial Social Hygiene Congress in London outlining the early history of the midwifery service, training methods, conditions, etc., with related correspondence. (Paper not submitted)

[n.d.]
Notes on the early history of the Midwifery Training School and the first welfare dispensary for children and in particular the contribution of Sitt Gindiya Salah

[n.d.]
“Some notes on the Sudan”, a paper by Mabel Wolff on the early history of the Midwifery Training School , Omdurman

[n.d.]
Article by Sitt Hawa `Ali al-Bassir on 'the responsibility of the midwife in the Sudan'

1937 Jul 6 - 13
Account of a visit by Maqbul al-Sa`id al-`Awad, `Umdah of Omdurman to the Midwifery Training School , with article on the same from al-Sudan
Language: Arabic

[1922]
Talk given by Mabel Wolff to British women at the Palace on he first year's work at the Midwifery Training School

1920-1929
Album of photographs covering the early years of the Midwives Training School and Omdurman women's hospital, and including:

[1920s, 1930s]
Album of personal photographs, mainly from Omdurman and of photographs taken on inspection tours in Blue Nile Province and on the Upper Nile

c. 1921 - 1936
Album of photographs illustrating habl delivery, also:

1923-1935
Album of photographs of trained and untrained midwives both in Omdurman and the outlying provinces, including:

1926-1928
Album of photographs taken on an inspection tour by Mabel Wolff, including:

c.1929 - 1937
Album of photographs covering the third Midwifery Training School , Omdurman, methods of training and village midwifery, including:

1932-1934
Album of photographs of the third Midwifery Training School , Omdurman including internal and external views of the buildings and numerous photographs of the Misses Wolff, midwives and their children. Most are unlabelled apart from dates. Those with labels on the reverse of the photograph are itemised below:

1933
Album of photographs taken on trek in White Nile and Blue Nile Provinces. Many are unlabelled but include views of the terrain travelled through and villages visited. Identified photographs are listed below:

1934
Album of photographs taken on trek in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile, White Nile, Kordofan and Fung Provinces. Includes scenes on the road, villages and local people including midwives. Labels from back of photographs are itemised:

1930's
Album of photographs taken by Gertrude Wolff and Mabel Wolff on trek, including:

[1930's]
Album of photographs taken on inspection tours in the northern Sudan including villages visited and numerous photographs of midwives and their patients. Those photographs with captions on the reverse are listed below.

c. 1930's
Album of photographs illustrating methods of teaching at the Midwifery Training School

1936 - c. 1938
Album of photographs covering the celebrations surrounding the birth of Sayyid Muhammad `Uthman, heir of Sayyid `Ali al-Murghani. Included are photographs of the mother and baby, Sayyid `Ali and the celebrations which took place in Khartoum North among his followers

1936 - c. 1938
Loose photographs (with negatives), as in album above, 743/3/1-57. Many are duplicates

Many of the loose photographs and negatives listed below were donated to the Archive some years after the albums and in some cases are duplicates of photographs in the albums

1920-1926
Photographs of the first Midwives Training School:

[n.d.]
Photograph of the second Midwives Training School

c. 1929 - 1937
Photographs of the third Midwifery Training School , Omdurman, (a number of these photographs are smaller duplicates of photographs in album 583/5/1-82) including:

1930's]
External views of the third Midwifery Training School buildings and gardens including matron's quarters and ante-natal clinic (3 photos, 15 negatives)

[1920's and 1930's]
Internal views of the Midwifery Training School (8 photos, 7 negs) including:

[1930's]
Photographs illustrating methods of teaching at Midwifery Training School Many of these are duplicates or negatives of photographs in album 583/6/1-66 above (32 photos, 34 negs)

[1930's]
Photographs of staff of the Midwifery Training School - midwives, cook, chauffeur, etc. as well as pupil midwives and their children and midwives, trained and untrained who were inspected by Mabel Wolff and Gertrude Wolff in their villages (44 photos, 63 negs)

1920's and 1930's]
Photographs and negatives of Omdurman (other than the Midwifery Training School ), (23 photos, 8 negs) including:

[1920's and 1930's]
Photographs of Khartoum, including:

1920's and 1930's]
Photographs and negatives of Mabel Wolff and Gertrude Wolff mainly with their pet dogs and birds but including also Mabel Wolff receiving the M.B.E. from Sir Stewart Symes, May 1935 (744/3/1-7). Friends and colleagues include the wedding of Elfrida Whidbourne to Bishop Gelsthorpe (744/3/40), L. Bolton, later of the Survey Department (744/3/41) and Mabel Wolff with Drs. Kirk and Mayne (744/3/42) (35 photos, 18 negs)

1930's - 1950's
Photographs of miscellaneous personalities, including:

[1920's and 1930's]
Photographs and negatives of official celebrations and parades, mainly in Khartoum and Omdurman. Many of these photographs are unlabelled but include celebrations in Omdurman for the coronation of George VI, 1937 (744/4/1-2); unveiling of the Slatin memorial in Omdurman by Sir John Maffey, 1936 (744/4/3-4); pre-Ramadan processions in Omdurman, 1925-26 (744/4/5-7); Maulid al-Nabi celebrations, by day and night (744/4/8-15); Abu Zabad horseshow, Kordofan, 1929 (744/4/16-18) and various parades in the presence of Sir Stewart Symes, possibly for the coronation or Jubilee celebrations (744/4/19-27) (35 photos, 4 negs)

[1930's]
Photograph and negatives of women dancing in the grounds of the Midwifery Training School in the presence of Mabel Wolff and Gertrude Wolff (1 photo, 15 negs)

[1930's]
Photographs taken on inspection trips in Khartoum Province including view of Tuti Island from the new Omdurman road (744/6/1); Mabel Wolff inspecting a trained midwife on the outskirts of Omdurman (744/6/2); and Mabel Wolff lunching by the Nile near Khartoum (744/6/3)

[1930's]
Photographs taken on inspection tours in Dongola Province including General Jackson's house at Mansurkotti (744/6/4); mosque between Dongola and Halfa (744/6/6); and celebrations at Tangasi Island for the birth of a son (744/6/7)

n.d.]
Mabel Wolff in car at Zeidab

Trained midwife and he children at Meroe village

[1930's]
Photographs taken on inspection tours in Kassala Province including building a tukl (744/6/9); midwife at Sinkat (744/6/10); trained midwife visiting children at Galabat (744/6/11); khor separating Galabat from Abyssinia (744/6/12); gateway, Suakin (744/6/13); and a wedding at Rufa`a (744/6/14- 19)

1936, 1943
Photographs taken at Umm Dubban on the last day of a trek, Sitt Surra and Mustafa crossing the Blue Nile near Wad Medani and taking the ambulance across on the Roseires ferry

[1930's]
Photographs taken on inspection tours in White Nile Province including:

[n.d.]
Loading the car on to the ferry down a steep bank

1920's and 1930's]
Photographs taken on inspection tours in Kordofan including:

1920's and 1930's]
Photographs taken on inspection tours in Darfur including:

1930's]
Photographs taken on inspection tours in Upper Nile Province, including:

1930's]
Photographs taken on inspection tours at unidentified locations. Include Gertrude Wolff, Mustafa, midwives, etc.

[1920's and 1930's]
Photographs of Sudan river scenes, including:

[1920's and 1930's]
Various Nile views including steamers and native boats, hippos and birds, wood stations and Gebel Aulia dam (744/9/21-27)

[c. 1930's]
Various trades and occupations including Khartoum sweet potato sellers (744/10/1-4); Indian sweetmeat vendor, Omdurman (744/10/5); Omdurman silversmith (744/10/6); row of shops at the Morada, Omdurman, 1934 (744/10/7-8); village shop selling coffee pots, etc. (744/10/9); and woman churning butter (744/10/10-12)

[c. 1930's]
Mainly photographs and negatives of Mabel Wolff and Gertrude Wolff's pet dogs and parrots (5 photos, 3 negs)

[1920 's and 1930's]
Photographs of Egypt including:

[1920's and 1930's]
Large photographs, mainly enlargements of photographs in albums but including Mabel Wolff and Gertrude Wolff with Midwifery Training School midwives and with a group of doctors (names recorded on the back of both photographs - 744/12/1-2)

[c. 1914 - 1930's]
Album of postcards of Egypt and the Sudan, interspersed with a few private photographs. Postcards are from several series - Sudan Railways, Atbara (S.R.); G.N. Morhig, Khartoum (G.N.M.); Karakashian Bros, Khartoum (K.B.); Ernst Landrock, Cairo (E.L.); Tutankhamen Series (T.S.)

[1920's and 1930's]
Loose postcards of the Sudan and Egypt. Various series, as above:

Midwives box (tin).
(Items 1,3,5,10 & 23 are stored separately in item 24. Request as G//S 670/1)
The contents were identified by Miss E.M. Kendall in 1982 as follows:

1911
Street plan of Omdurman, compiled by Pearson Bey at the Khartoum Town Survey office
scale:   1 to 10,000
Size: 50 x 92 cms

[1934?]
Rough plan of Omdurman showing the position of the Midwifery Training School

1929 Oct 21
Tribal map of White Nile Province
scale:   1 to 200,000
Size: 16 x 24 cms

1930 Nov
Map of Gedaref and Butana districts of Kassala Province (Sudan Survey Dept., Khartoum)
scale:   1 to 3,000,000
Size: 29 x 21 cms

1930 Apr
Map of the Beja districts of Kassala Province (Sudan Survey Dept., Khartoum)
scale:   1 to 3,000,000
Size: 34 x 21 cms

1914 Aug 5
The Egyptian gazette, including announcement of the outbreak of war between England and Germany

1920 Apr 14
Newspaper cutting concerning steps taken by certain Provincial Councils in Egypt to close down children's dispensaries and maternity schools

[1934]
Newspaper cutting announcing the appointment of Sir Stewart Symes as Governor-General of the Sudan

1936 Mar 23
Cutting from The Sudan Daily Herald announcing the birth of a son to Sayyid `Ali al-Murghani

1937 Feb 2
Arabic

1937 Jul 10
Cutting from a Khartoum newspaper describing a spectacular habub

1937 Sep 19
“Sudan loses the "Wolves"” - article from The Egyptian mail on the retirement of the Misses Wolff (copy)

1950
Newspaper cuttings re Sitt Hawa `Ali al-Bassir, a Sudanese midwife who studied midwifery in Bristol on a British Red Cross scholarship and was awarded the British Empire Medal. See also under Official Papers 580/2/24-31

1957 May 27
Article from The Times - “As other people see us”, on a visit by four Sudanese midwives to London

1959 Jun 21
Article from The Sunday Times on the methods of training Sudanese midwives

[n.d.]
Cutting from The Times announcing the death of Sayyid `Ali al- Murghani

1921-1923
Pencil sketches of scenes from the early years in the Sudan

1928 Jan 16
Programme for the opening ceremony of the White Nile bridge and electric tramway service

1935-1936
Note on the wives of Sayyid `Ali al-Murghani, with ante-natal record of his wife Sharifa Fatma and copy birth certificate for his son Muhammad `Uthman

1937-1938
Christmas cards depicting pencil sketches of the Khalifa's house, Omdurman and the south gate Omdurman

1952
Aids to memory for Sudanese midwives, compiled by past and present staff of the Midwives Training School Omdurman (Publications Bureau Juba 1952)

Corkill, N.L., Pellagra in the Sudan

1913
Egypt, Provincial Council Children's Dispensaries: Details for the installation and working of a free dispensary for poor children as advised by the Ladies Central Committee in Cairo (Alexandria, 1913)

1914
Reports by His Majesty's Agent and Consul-General on the finances administration and condition of Egypt and the Sudan in 1913 (London, 1914)

1958 Jan 23
News Bulletin no. 61 yr 2, including article on the inauguration of Omdurman Midwifery Hospital

1932
Sudan [Condominium, 1898 - 1955], Sudan Railways and Steamers: Winter tours, 1932/33

Printed material deposited with collection; now integrated into the library's printed collections and catalogued on the Open Public Access Catalogue
Corkhill, N.L., The feeding of Sudanese infants Sudan Medical Service bulletin 1 (Khartoum, 1946)
Parliamentary debates: House of Commons v 461 no. 63 18 Feb 1949 including adjournment debate Sudan (female circumcision) (London)
Kendall, E.M., “The training of midwives in the Sudan”, repr. from Sudan notes and records v.33 pt. 1, 1952