Cora Roberton nee Anderson had a distinguished career as a nurse having survived the ‘Elingamite’ disaster of 1902.
The passenger steamer Elingamite had been returning from Sydney to Auckland when in dense fog 35 miles north of Cape Reinga it struck rocks. On board were 136 passengers and 58 crew of whom 28 passengers and 17 of the crew died from drowning or exposure
Cora who was 21 years old was on the last lifeboat with her brother-in-law Dr Robert Beattie who was Medical Superintendent of the Auckland Lunatic Asylum (Carrington/Oakley Hospital). After war broke out in August 1914, Cora was one of the first selected for the contingent of 50 nurses to be sent for service under the direction of the British War Office. On August 13, 1915 Cora wrote to her brother “We are right in the thick of things, wounded and sick coming in faster than we can take them.
Roberton, Cora Beattie
Died 24 Sep 1962
aged 81 years
Serial #22817
Block M Row 18 Plot 66
