Catherine Anne Fox (18 May 1877 – 23 October 1915) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

nurse who served in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and died when the SS ''Marquette'' was torpedoed and sunk in 1915.

Early life

Fox was born at Cardrona, near Queenstown, New Zealand. The family moved to Hawea Flat and later

Waimate Waimate is a town in Canterbury, New Zealand and the seat of Waimate District. It is situated just inland from the eastern coast of the South Island. The town is reached via a short detour west when travelling on State Highway One, the main No ...

. She completed her nursing training at

Dunedin Hospital Dunedin Hospital is the main public hospital in Dunedin, New Zealand. It serves as the major base hospital for the Otago and Southland regions with a potential catchment radius of roughly 300 kilometres, and a population of around 300,000. Operat ...

. After qualifying, Fox nursed in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, Waimate and

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Waimate Hospital plaque to nurses who died on the SS Marquette

First World War

In July 1915, Fox enlisted in the

New Zealand Army Nursing Service The New Zealand Army Nursing Service (NZANS) formally came into being in early 1915, when the Army Council in London accepted an offer of nurses to help in the war effort during the First World War from the New Zealand Government. The heavy losses ...

and left

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

on board the SS ''Maheno''. The ship sailed to

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, and the contingent of nurses worked in a stationary hospital there. In October 1915, she was on board the SS ''Marquette'' when it was torpedoed by a German submarine and sunk.

Recognition

A commemorative plaque to Fox, and fellow ''Marquette'' casualties Mary Gorman and Isabel Clark, was placed in Waimate Hospital. The hospital also named its women's ward ''Marquette'' in memory of the three nurses. When the hospital closed in 1996, the plaque was moved to a display at the Waimate Museum. Fox is named on the

Mikra British Cemetery The Mikra British Cemetery is a World War I-era British military cemetery in Kalamaria, a suburb of the city of Thessaloniki in Greece. It was opened in April 1917, and used until 1920. Following the Armistice the cemetery was greatly enlarged by ...

in Greece and in the Nurses' Memorial Chapel at Christchurch Hospital. She is also remembered in the Five Sisters window at

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archbis ...

in York, England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Catherine 1877 births 1915 deaths New Zealand nurses New Zealand military nurses Female nurses in World War I 19th-century New Zealand people 20th-century New Zealand people Nurses killed in World War I Sinking of the SS Marquette