History of nursing in the United Kingdom matrons, whose work was largely administrative, even more so. Nursing in the Poor Law infirmaries, such as it was, was largely carried out by able-bodied paupers, who were not paid. In 1866 there were a total of 53 nurses employed in the 11 metropolitan workhouses, at an average salary of £20 18s. Florence Nightingale is regarded as the founder of modern nursing profession. There was no hospital training school for nurses until one was established in Kaiserwerth, Germany, in 1846. There, Nightingale received the training that enabled her in 1860 to establish, at St Thomas' Hospital in London, the first
Florence Nightingale premiering in London in 1929 with Edith Evans in the title role. It did not portray her as an entirely sympathetic character and draws much characterisation from Lytton Strachey's biography of her in "Eminent Victorians". It was adapted as a film of the same name in 1951. In 2009, a stage musical play representation of Nightingale entitled "The Voyage of the Lass" was produced by the Association of Nursing Service Administrators of the Philippines. In 1912, a biographical silent film titled "The Victoria Cross", starring Julia Swayne Gordon as Nightingale, was released, followed in 1915 by another silent film, "Florence