Dora Elizabeth Burchill SRN, RM, TC, OAM (4 January 1904 – 3 December 2003) was an Australian nurse, philanthropist and author.

Life

She was the youngest child of Athelstane Chase Burchill ( – 3 June 1942) and his wife Rosina née Sherrin ( – 18 August 1949) of Camberwell, Victoria. Sister Burchill trained as a nurse in Homeopathic and Women's Hospitals in

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 joined the nursing service of the

Australian Inland Mission The Australian Presbyterian Mission was founded by the Presbyterian Church of Australia to reach those "beyond the farthest fence" with God's Word. It is better known as the Australian Inland Mission (AIM). Rev. John Flynn was the first superi ...

, and in 1930 started at the Innamincka Nursing Home, where she worked with the fledgling

Flying Doctor Service Flying Doctors may refer to: * Royal Flying Doctor Service, an air medical service in Australia ** ''The Flying Doctors'', an Australian television drama series ** ''The Flying Doctor'', a 1936 Australian-British film * Los Médicos Voladores, the ...

. In 1932, she left for the Royal Hospital for Women and Children in London to gain further qualifications and later joined a British medical unit which was caring for children at Almeria displaced by the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. In 1937, she joined

Wilfred Grenfell Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell (28 February 1865 – 9 October 1940) was a British medical missionary to Newfoundland, who wrote books on his work and other topics. Early life and education He was born at Parkgate, Cheshire, England, on 28 Febr ...

's mission on the coast of

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Sister Burchill enlisted in the

Australian Army Nursing Service The Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) was an Australian Army Reserve unit which provided a pool of trained civilian nurses who had volunteered for military service during wartime. The AANS was formed in 1902 by amalgamating the nursing servic ...

, serving with the 2nd AIF in Egypt and Palestine. After her discharge in 1946, she worked as announcer with station 3SR,

Shepparton, Victoria Shepparton () ( Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the estimated population of Shepparton, ...

, where she formed the "Friendship Club", then in 1952 took charge of the Child Welfare Clinic in

Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory. It is the smalle ...

, followed by a brief stint as a Plunket nurse in New Zealand. She served as Sister in Charge of the Child Welfare Clinic on

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately north of Cape ...

, then from 1961 to 1963 with the New Guinea health service.

Family

On 24 January 1948, she married Sidney Raymond Reid Smith. In November 1956, she was engaged to Eric Cook-Buchanan.

Selected works

*''Labrador Memories'' Shepparton News Publishing Co, Shepparton, Victoria (1947) *''Innamincka'' Rigby Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. (1960) *''New Guinea Nurse'' (1962) *''Thursday Island Nurse'' (1972) *''The Paths I've Trod'' (1981) *''Australian Nurses Since Nightingale 1860–1990'' (1992)

Awards and honors

*On 8 June 1998, Sister Elizabeth Burchill was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to nursing, particularly as an historian, author and philanthropist.It's an Honour website
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Bread and Cheese Club The Bread and Cheese Club was a Melbourne-based Australian art and literary society and publisher. It was founded in June 1938 with the purpose of fostering “Mateship, Art and Letters”. Its membership was all male. It promoted Australian wri ...

's Jessie Litchfield Annual Award *Veterans' Affairs Writers Award

References

Sources

*Dustjacket notes, ''Innamincka'', Seal Books, Rigby Ltd. 1969. SBN 851790194 *
The Australian Women's Register
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burchill, Elizabeth 1904 births 2003 deaths Australian women nurses Australian nurses Australian women philanthropists Australian philanthropists Australian women writers Australian writers 20th-century philanthropists 20th-century women philanthropists