Jessie Bicknell was the first New Zealand-born Director of Nursing who pioneered postgraduate and specialist training for nurses in New Zealand. She was also a decorated WW1 veteran who served on the hospital ship Maheno.
Born in Oamaru on March 27, 1871, Jessie qualifed as a nurse and midwife in the early 1900s, quickly rising to managerial roles as an assistant hospital inspector.
When World War I broke out, she became matron-in-chief of the New Zealand Army Nursing Service and bravely crossed the English Channel multiple times on the hospital ship Maheno to care for wounded soldiers returning from the Somme offensive, one of the bloodiest battles in human history, resulting in over a million casualties. As a first line of treatment, Jessie and her team of nurses faced the most gruesome effects of the world’s first industrial war treating injuries of a severity and scale that medical science had never seen before.
Creator unknown: Beds aboard the World War 1 hospital ship Maheno. Ref: 1/1-002217-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23048221
ANMM Collection Gift from the Estate of John Watt
Taking the helm as Director of the Division of Nursing upon her return from war, Jessie transformed the profession. She relentlessly pushed to raise training standards, with her steadfast leadership ultimately establishing a vital postgraduate course in Wellington in 1928. Throughout her career she was a fierce advocate for her peers, shaping legislation that protected nurses’ retirement and ensuring clear, specialised training paths for both midwives and maternity nurses.
Described by her successor as a strikingly tall, dignified “Victorian gentlewoman” with a dry sense of humour, Jessie dedicated her life to elevating healthcare. She forged an enduring alliance between the New Zealand Trained Nurses’ Association and the Department of Health, and proudly represented New Zealand on the global stage.
Jessie retired in 1931 to Remuera. Passing away in 1956 at the age of 85, her thorough and dedicated work laid the foundation for modern nursing in New Zealand.
Jessie Bicknell
Died 1956
Block J, Row 09, 055
IMAGE: Auckland Regional Office, Archives New Zealand – Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, School of Nursing photographs Reference: BAOE A727 4507 Box 7 d via TEARA
