Annie Alice Crisp (1854 – 11 June 1953) was an English-born nurse who established New Zealand's first school of nursing and served as superintendent of

Auckland Hospital Auckland City Hospital is a public hospital located in Grafton, Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest hospital in New Zealand,Largest hospital in New Zealand...' - News-Medical.Net, Tuesday 29 June 2004 as well as one of the oldest medical fa ...

, in New Zealand. She also established Winnipeg Children's Hospital, in Canada.

Biography

Crisp was born to a farming couple in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, England, and completed her nursing training at Queen's Hospital, Birmingham. She joined the nursing section of the British Army and served as a nurse in the Anglo-Zulu and Anglo-Egyptian wars, and in the Sudan and South Africa. She was decorated in each of these campaigns, being awarded the

Egypt Medal The Egypt Medal (1882–1889) was awarded for the military actions involving the British Army and Royal Navy during the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War and in the Mahdist War, Sudan between 1884 and 1889. Resentment at increasing British and other Eur ...

and the

Khedive's Star The Khedive's Star was a campaign medal established by Khedive Tewfik Pasha to reward those who had participated in the military campaigns in Egypt and the Sudan between 1882 and 1891. This included British Army, British forces who served during t ...

. While Crisp was serving overseas, her father became unwell in England and he and his wife emigrated to New Zealand in search of a better climate for him. Crisp travelled from South Africa to New Zealand to join her parents. She settled in Auckland, where she established New Zealand's first school of nursing and was appointed superintendent of Auckland Hospital. In August 1883, Crisp was awarded the

Royal Red Cross The Royal Red Cross (RRC) is a military decoration awarded in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth for exceptional services in military nursing. It was created in 1883, and the first two awards were to Florence Nightingale and Jane Cecilia Deeb ...

for her military nursing service; the medal was presented by Governor

William Jervois Lieutenant General Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois (10 September 1821 – 17 August 1897) was a British military engineer and diplomat. After joining the British Army in 1839, he saw service, as a second captain, in South Africa. In 18 ...

at a ceremony at

Government House, Auckland Government House, Auckland is the secondary official residence of the governor-general of New Zealand located in Auckland, New Zealand. The property is situated in the Auckland suburb of Mount Eden on Mountain Road. The building was erected in t ...

, the following April. In 1888, Crisp married a medical doctor from England, John Bond, and the couple moved to the United States in 1890. Crisp's husband worked on the British exhibit at Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair. In 1903, the couple settled in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, Canada. Crisp became aware of the high child mortality rate in the city and began to campaign for the opening of a children's hospital. In 1909, she founded a hospital on Beaconsfield Street that later became the Winnipeg Children's Hospital. Crisp died at Winnipeg Children's Hospital and was buried in the St John's Cathedral cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crisp, Annie 1854 births 1953 deaths English emigrants to Canada British military nurses English emigrants to New Zealand English nurses British people of the Anglo-Zulu War People of the Anglo-Egyptian War People from Warwickshire Members of the Royal Red Cross New Zealand nurses New Zealand women nurses