At the outbreak of World War 1 the country did not have an official army nursing service and the Government was at first reluctant to send nurses overseas. They soon changed their mind, and the New Zealand Army Nursing Service was formed in January 1915.
Over the period of the war years New Zealand nurses served in Egypt, on the Western Front, in England and on hospital ships, working long hours and enduring many of the same dangers and discomforts as the men.
One of these nurses was Jean Grant Skinner Ingram of Richmond. She was born in November 1885 in Dunedin to John Bannerman Ingram and Annie Low Ingram, nee Skinner, and in 1886 the family moved to Nelson.
Jean was a pupil at Richmond School until 1899 and in 1909 began training as a nurse at Nelson Hospital, passing the nursing examination in 1911. Before the war she worked in Dunedin and Napier hospitals.
Jean was one of the first 50 nurses that the War Office in London accepted from New Zealand. She was farewelled at a public function, by the Mayor, G Chisnall, who expressed his and the residents of Richmond gratitude and wished her a safe return.
She embarked on 8 April 1915 for England aboard the ship ‘Rotorua’ and was posted to Egypt, spending some time at Port Said. In early February 1916 Jean was stationed at No. 1 New Zealand Stationary Hospital in Abassia, but in March she returned to New Zealand on the ship ‘Tahiti’ as Matron in charge of the sick and wounded soldiers.
After a short trip home, Jean returned to Egypt and in 1917 spent a year at Amiens and Hazelbrouck hospitals. The following year saw her at Walton on Thames rehabilitation facility and then at Mount Felix Estate Military Hospital as sub-matron.
As the war drew to a close, Jean returned home on the ‘Ruapehu’ in 1919. A hearty welcome was held for her on the Anglican Church grounds in Richmond. W Wilkes, Mayor of Richmond, expressed how proud the town was of her and paid tribute to her skill, kindness and character. He presented Jean with a silver entrée dish inscribed: “Presented to Sister Ingram by her Richmond friends, June 23rd’.”
Jean married Hugh Eric Haggitt in Richmond in June 1919 after which they moved to Balclutha to farm. Jean had nursed Hugh when he was wounded in France. A few years later they moved to Wairarapa and returned to Nelson after World War 2. Jean died on the 27 May 1966.
