Daily AncestorMatron
A matron was a woman in charge of the household side of an institution such as a hospital, school, orphanage, prison or poorhouse.
Matron can simply mean a married woman of mature years, but as an occupation it names a woman who managed the domestic affairs of a public institution. In Britain the hospital matron became the head of the nursing staff.
In the United States a matron was usually not a nurse but a woman assisting the men who ran a residential place, such as a prison, boarding school or camp, and looking after its domestic side.
As seen in a recordInstitution pages of the 1880 to 1940 census
Martha Bell, Matron, 46, Widowed
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Daily Ancestor. "Matron." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/matron. Last checked 2026-10-10.