Jane Preshaw (née Norgate; 30 May 1839 – 12 December 1926) was a New Zealand nurse, midwife and hospital matron of Reefton Hospital.

Biography

Preshaw was born in

Little Plumstead Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, England, in 1839. She emigrated to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia in 1856, at age 17, where she became a general servant and later a domestic nurse and midwife. During her time in Melbourne she gave birth to her daughter Alice in January 1860. She was not married Alice's father, Henry Smith and registered her daughter as Alice Gotrow. Jane later married David Gerald McCarthy who also went by the name Timothy O'Brien. Jane then married bigamously Martin Pitersen (Peterson) just before she left for New Zealand. In about 1868 Jane O'Brien and Alice left Melbourne for

Hokitika Hokitika is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It is the seat and largest town in the Westland District. The town's estimated population is as of ...

, New Zealand, and later settled in

Reefton Reefton is a small town in the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast region of New Zealand, approximately northeast of Greymouth, New Zealand, Greymouth, in the Inangahua River valley. Ahaura is south-west of Reefton, Inangahua Junction is to ...

. Preshaw worked as a nurse and midwife, becoming the first matron of

Reefton Hospital Reefton Hospital is a hospital in Reefton on the West Coast of New Zealand. It was founded in 1872 and its closure was announced in 2024. History Reefton Hospital was established in 1872 and still stands on its original site in Broadway, Ree ...

in 1876. She married the hospital's chemist David Ogilvy Preshaw in 1879. Together they were the first Master and Matron of the hospital. They ran the hospital together until 1901 after which Preshaw continued to work as a private midwife. She died in Reefton in 1926.

References

External links

Photo of Jane Preshaw in Alexander Turnbull Library
1839 births 1926 deaths New Zealand midwives New Zealand nurses 19th-century New Zealand people New Zealand women nurses {{nurse-bio-stub