BIDMEAD, Martha Sarah
Biography
Martha Sarah BIDMEAD was born December 5, 1862 in Guernsey, Channel Islands. Her father was a Tobacconist. She trained at Adelaide Children's Hospital, Adelaide, Australia 1886-1887 and the was a charge nurse there 1887-1889. After nursing privately for eight years she then became a staff nurse at the Burra Burra District Hospital.
Nursing Service in the Boer War
Sister Martha Sarah BIDMEAD was sent by the Colony of South Australia to care for the sick and wounded during the Boer War.[1][2][3][4][5]
Sailed from Melbourne on the Australasian on February 21, 1900. She was MID (by Lord Kitchener). The King of England, Edward VII, presented her with her Royal Red Cross at St James' Palace on March 12, 1902. Martha Sarah Bidmead was the first South Australian and one of three Australian nurses who were awarded the Royal Red Cross (RRC) medal for service during the Boer War. After her war service she continued her nursing career in South Australia and assumed the position of superintendent of the District Trained Nursing Society of South Australia from 1912 until her retirement in 1926. She died in 1940.
References
- ↑ WO 100/229 QSA Medal Roll p24 created at No2 General Hospital, Pretoria; dated August 27, 1901
- ↑ WO 100/229 QSA Medal Roll p97 created at No5 Stationary Hospital, Bloemfontein; dated August 28, 1901
- ↑ The London Gazette, July 29, 1902; p4853
- ↑ The London Gazette, September 27, 1901; p6324
- ↑ Clark, R. (1979) Bidmead, Martha Sarah (1862-1940) IN Australian Dictionary of Biography. Volume 7, Melbourne University Press.
