Jessie Bicknell (27 March 1871–13 October 1956) 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 ...

civilian and military nurse, and a health administrator. She served in

World War I 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 was made an Associate of the

Royal Red Cross The Royal Red Cross (RRC) is a military decoration awarded in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth for exceptional services in military nursing. Foundation The award was established on 27 April 1883 by Victoria of the Un ...

for her service.

Early life

Bicknell was born in

Oamaru Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the railway ...

North Otago North Otago in New Zealand covers the area of Otago between Shag Point and the Waitaki River, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama (which has experienced rapid growth as a developing centre for astronomy and for glid ...

on 27 March 1871 to Elizabeth Armstrong and Frederick Bicknell, a postmaster. She was one of ten children. She was educated in Oamaru and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and trained as a nurse at

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

Hospital. In 1903 she was first in the country in the national nursing examinations. After completing her training, Bicknell worked at Wairau Hospital in Blenheim, and at

Waipukurau Waipukurau is the largest town in the Central Hawke's Bay District on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on the banks of the Tukituki River, 7 kilometres south of Waipawa and 50 kilometres southwest of Hastings. H ...

Hospital. She then trained as a midwife at St Helens Hospital,

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, completing her certificate in 1906.

Career

In May 1907, Bicknell was appointed Assistant Inspector of Hospitals. Working under

Hester Maclean Hester Maclean (25 February 1859 – 2 September 1932) was an Australian-born nurse, hospital matron, nursing administrator, editor and writer who spent most of her career in New Zealand. She served in World War I as the founding Matron-in-Ch ...

, and alongside Amelia Bagley, Bicknell travelled the country, including to remote rural areas. She was primarily involved with inspecting and advising private hospitals, nurses and midwives. It was a key period of development for the professions; in 1904 the Midwife Registration Act had been passed, and many midwives had registered although they had not received formal training. In 1906, a similar act had been passed for the licensing and inspection of private hospitals. Bicknell's advice and input is regarded as crucial to the improvements in midwifery and hospital standards at this time. In 1909 the New Zealand Trained Nurses' Association was formed, and Bicknell became the honorary secretary; she held this position until 1923. In 1915, Bicknell was made deputy matron of 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 in January the following year sailed on the hospital ship '' Maheno'' as matron''.'' The ship was used to evacuate injured soldiers to England from the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

. In 1917 Bicknell was made an Associate of the Royal Red Cross for her wartime services. In 1917 Bicknell returned to New Zealand and her role as a hospital inspector. In 1923, Hester Maclean retired and Bicknell became director of the Division of Nursing in the Department of Health, and matron in chief of the Army Nursing Service. As part of her preparation for her appointment she was sent to England to observe new developments and became even more committed to nurse education; on her return she attended the Registered Nurses' Association conference in Dunedin and advocated for university training for nurses. She also attended the

International Council of Nurses The International Council of Nurses (ICN) is a federation of more than 130 national nurses associations. It was founded in 1899 and was the first international organization for health care professionals. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerl ...

(ICN) meetings in Copenhagen in 1923, and Montreal in 1929, and became a member of the ICN Education Committee. She helped establish postgraduate nursing courses, and also worked on a superannuation scheme for hospital nurses, and a review of legislation affecting nurses. When the Nurses and Midwives Board was established in 1925, Bicknell was a member and its registrar.

Later life

Bicknell retired in March 1931 and lived in

Remuera Remuera is an affluent inner city suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located four kilometres southeast of the city centre. Remuera is characterised by many large houses, often Edwardian or mid 20th century. A prime example of a "leafy" sub ...

, Auckland. She died in

Green Lane Hospital Green Lane Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in the Wick district of Devizes in Wiltshire, England. It is managed by the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. History The hospital was built in 1990 in the grounds of Roundway ...

on 13 October 1956.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bicknell, Jessie 1871 births 1956 deaths New Zealand nurses People from Oamaru New Zealand women nurses Female nurses in World War I Associate Members of the Royal Red Cross