Edith Mary Statham (13 April 1853 – 13 February 1951) was a notable New Zealand singer, nurse, secretary, war graves conservator and community worker.

Early life

Statham was born in

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. It is pa ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England, on 13 April 1853. She was a daughter of a solicitor, William Statham, and his wife, Ellen Allen Statham. When she was 10 years old, she moved to New Zealand with her family.

Education

It is unknown how and where Statham got her education. She was trained as a singer and nurse 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 catchment of around 330 ...

Activities

Statham was a founding member of the "Society for the Protection of Women and Children" in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

. She was a secretary of the "Mimiro Ladies' Cycling Club", which she established around 1895, when she moved to Dunedin. Statham directed a school for many years to teach women how to cycle. She was awarded the

King George V Silver Jubilee Medal The King George V Silver Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession of King George V. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir by King George V to commemorate his Silver Ju ...

in 1935.

References

1853 births 1951 deaths 19th-century New Zealand women singers English emigrants to New Zealand 19th-century New Zealand women musicians New Zealand women nurses New Zealand nurses People from Bootle New Zealand community activists {{NewZealand-med-bio-stub