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Cenotaph record

Mary Elizabeth Warmington

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Identity

About

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  • Title
  • Forenames
    Mary Elizabeth AWMM
  • Surname
    Warmington AWMM
  • Ingoa
  • Also known as
    • Mary Elizabeth Thomson AWMM
  • Service number
  • Gender
    Female AWMM
  • Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
  • Religion

Civilian life

About birth

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  • Birth
  • Date of birth
  • Place of birth
  • Birth notes
  • Address before enlistment
  • Post war occupation
  • Next of kin on embarkation
  • Relationship status
    1900 AWMM Single/South African AWMM

Service

Wars and conflicts

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Military decorations

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Training and Enlistment

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Embarkations

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  • Embarkation details

Prisoner of war

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  • Capture details
  • Days interned
  • Liberation date
  • Liberation Repatriation
  • POW liberation details
  • POW serial number

Medical history

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  • Medical notes

Last known rank

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Biographical information

Biographical information

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    • Trained Christchurch; went to South Africa 1900

      Arrived Cape Town March 1900 AWMM
    • ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Nurse. Suffragist. Matron. Veteran – Nurse Mary Ellen Warmington
      By Sonya Russell


      Mary Ellen Warmington (1860-1941) was a woman of conviction, who used her nursing expertise, courage, and leadership to minister ordinary New Zealanders and wounded soldiers, support women’s rights, and advocate the development of the nursing profession.

      Born in Bradford, Yorkshire on 17 November 1860,(1234) Warmington emigrated to the far-flung colony of New Zealand in 1883 aboard the SS Rimutaka.5 Despite nursing then being “regarded as a very low occupation… done by women regarded as below the status of a domestic servant”6 she found her calling, going against the wishes of her friends by enrolling in a two-year nursing course at Christchurch Hospital in 1891.78

      As an educated, driven woman, Warmington supported universal suffrage. While studying, she made her voice count: signing the 1892 Women’s Suffrage Petitions.9 10 31,872 New Zealand women, approximately a quarter of the eligible voting population, supported the petition.11 At the 1893 New Zealand General Election, she would have been one of the first women in the world to cast a vote.

      Warmington completed her training at Christchurch Hospital in 1893.12 She commenced her nursing career at the Whanganu Hospital as a junior nurse before being selected as Matron in 1894.13 She was a popular Matron, but her commitment to her staff and propensity for voicing strong views led to professional difficulties in 1898. The newly appointed House Surgeon, Dr Anderson, ignored Warmington and tasked nurses and probationers without her knowledge, disrupting the efficient running of the hospital.14 In late 1898, Anderson dismissed the Hospital’s servants with claims of insubordination. Warmington resigned in protest over their treatment.15 In their deliberations, the Board noted that nearly all hospital staff were prepared to resign in support of Warmington. Despite a divided vote, Warmington’s resignation passed, and she retreated to private practice for several years.

      When the South African War (1899-1902)ii broke out on 11 October, the colonies were quick to volunteer. After initially rejecting New Zealand’s offer of nursing personnel, the Imperial Government declared it would accept a small contingent.19 Of the approximately 25 nurses known to have deployed, only six travelled officially as part of the New Zealand Government’s war effort.20 21 Despite the continued poor attitude towards nurses and often limited or no pay22, women actively sought to serve with some paying their own way. Others were sent on behalf of patriotic towns and communities, which raised funds to support the nurses’ journeys.23 Even as independent volunteers, the Government insisted the nurses were to be formally trained.24 Warmington departed for Cape Town on 28 March 1900 (25) after Whanganui raised funds to support her deployment.26

      Upon arrival, the war authorities assigned Warmington to Number 8 Bloemfontein General Hospital,27 amid an enteric fever epidemic. The horror of Bloemfontein was acute. Fellow nurse, Elizabeth Teape, described the outbreak:
      …the place was a hotbed of fever – enteric raged everywhere… with no sanitary arrangements, animals lying dead everywhere, water bad, buildings covered black with flies, and patients covered with vermin.28

      An estimated 6000 troops were ill at Bloemfontein.29 Warmington described the cemetery as “literally packed” with 50 to 60 personnel dying every day.30 While Warmington’s service at Bloemfontein was praised by returning troops,31 she inevitably succumbed to enteric fever.3233 She departed on the casualty ship Britannic on 6 October 1900 to England.3435

      Never one to rest, Warmington used her time in England to enhance her nursing skills, focussing on massage.36 Committed to serving the war wounded, she tried to return to the front but was deemed too weak and retu Public - Adrienne - Researcher - 17 November 2021 - REFERENCES & SOURCES:
      1 Ancestry.com. 1861 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
      2 Ancestry.com. West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1512-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
      3 Ancestry.com. 1871 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
      4 Ancestry.com. 1881 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
      5 The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Wellington Provincial District] (Wellington: The Cyclopedia Company, 1897), p 1384.
      6 ‘The International Council of Nurses’, Kai Tiaki: The Journal of the Nurses of New Zealand, 1 April 1925, p 72.
      7 Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Registers of Medical Practitioners and Nurses, 1873, 1882-1933 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.
      8 The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Wellington Provincial District], p 1384.
      9 'New Zealan
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Death

About death

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  • Death
  • Date of death
  • Age at death
  • Place of death
  • Cause of death
  • Death notes
  • Cemetery
  • Cemetery name
  • Grave reference
  • Obituary
  • Memorial name
  • Memorial reference

Memorials

Memorial

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Sources

Sources

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Contributors

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DateFirst namesLocationRelationshipContact
17 November 2021AdrienneAuckland, New ZealandResearcher

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