Honouring Outstanding Women

The first women recognised with campaign medals were military nurses in the 1880s. They were not eligible for Honours, but Queen Victoria changed that in 1883 by introducing the Royal Red Cross (RRC). Florence Nightingale was the first recipient of the RCC. She was awarded this medal for her heroic nursing during the Crimean War 1854–56. 

The first New Zealand women awarded a campaign medal were the 31 nurses who took part in the South African War (1899–1902). In 1884, in Auckland, Miss Annie Crisp was the first woman to be invested with a Royal Honour in New Zealand. She received the RRC for her nursing service in South Africa, Afghanistan, and Egypt. Annie was British but had come to New Zealand to establish the first school of nursing. 

The first New Zealand woman to receive a Royal Honour was Matron Janet Wyse Mackie Williamson, who was awarded the RRC in 1901. She was the superintendent of the initial group of seven New Zealand nurses who served in the South African War (1899–1902). 

Miss Mary Sarah Brock was the first New Zealand civilian woman to be honoured. In 1909 she was awarded the Imperial Service Medal for 33 years’ service with the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department. 

It was a different story for Heni Te Kiri Karamu (also known as Heni Pore and Jane Foley), a Māori warrior. In 1865 she fought on the British side as a member of the Arawa Flying Column against the Pai Mārire movement. Heni should have received a New Zealand War Medal like the men but she did not. 

Cora Anderson was outstanding in her dedication to nursing during World War I. In 1915, she was 24 years old and working as a district nurse in the Rotorua area. In April she enlisted with the New Zealand Army Nursing Service and was immediately selected as one of the first 50 nurses to go overseas. She served in the military hospital in Cairo and was quickly promoted to the rank of sister. In 1916, Cora was sent to England to work at No. 1 New Zealand General Hospital at Brockenhurst. The following year she was promoted to matron and took over the New Zealand Convalescent Hospital at Hornchurch.  

Cora’s untiring efforts were twice mentioned in reports and she was awarded a bronze oak leaf to wear on the ribbon of her Victory Medal. She was also awarded the Associate Royal Red Cross in 1917, and was presented with her award at Buckingham Palace by King George V. She continued working at Hornchurch until the end of the war. Her work with the wounded and often traumatised patients was relentless and she returned home in 1919 exhausted and rundown. In July of that year she was awarded the Royal Red Cross. 

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Vida MacLean dedicated her whole life to nursing, during both war and peacetime. She was one of seven nurses attached to the Samoa Advance Force in Apia on the outbreak of World War I in 1914. She was recalled home in 1915 to join the first 50 nurses to go overseas with the newly formed New Zealand Army Nursing Service. She first went to Cairo but was transferred to No. 1 New Zealand General Hospital in Brockenhurst, England. She became matron of the nearby convalescent hospital in Hornchurch in January 1917, but was made matron at Brockenhurst three months later.  

Between them, these hospitals had nearly 3000 beds and cared for wounded and sick New Zealand soldiers. During the war, Vida’s outstanding efforts were twice mentioned in reports. She was awarded the Associate Royal Red Cross in 1916, and the Royal Red Cross in 1918. 

 

Back in New Zealand, Vida became matron of Trentham Military Hospital until 1920. She then ran a private hospital for a few years before becoming involved in the Plunket Society, whose work focused on mothers and children.  

In 1938, she went to India to start a mothercraft clinic in Calcutta When World War II broke out, she joined the Indian Military Nursing Service. The Truby King Mothercraft Centre in Calcutta was finally opened in 1948 and Vida was its first matron. She retired and returned to New Zealand in 1955. 

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