Jean Erwin

Jean Neill Erwin MBE (25 January 1890 – 24 July 1969) was a New Zealand civilian and military nurse, masseuse, and army nursing administrator.

Jean Erwin

Erwin was born in Fendalton, Christchurch, New Zealand on 25 January 1890.^[1] Her parents were the Presbyterian minister Reverend Dr Robert Erwin and Esther Erwin.^[2]

In July 1915, Erwin enlisted in the New Zealand Army Nursing Service and was posted overseas leaving on the SS Maheno.^[1][2] In October that year, she was aboard the SS Marquette when it was torpedoed by a German submarine and sunk.^[1] Ten New Zealand nurses lost their lives, but Erwin and other survivors continued to serve in hospitals and hospital ships for the remainder of World War I.^[1] She then nursed at the No. 1 New Zealand General Hospital in Brockenhurst, England from 1916 through the 1918-1919 flu epidemic.^[1][2][3] After the war had ended, she continued as a nurse in England before returning to New Zealand in 1920.^[1]

Erwin worked at Queen Mary Hospital in Hanmer Springs in 1921^[4] and then trained as a physiotherapist (known at the time as a masseuse) in 1922. She worked at Wellington Hospital before becoming head of the physiotherapy department at Christchurch Hospital.^[1][3][5]

During World War II Erwin was District Commandant of the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps^[6] as she was too old to serve overseas.^[1]

She was an elder at Knox Church in Christchurch.^[1][3] In 1968 she unveiled a memorial window in the Nurses' Memorial Chapel at Christchurch Hospital.^[1][2]

Erwin died on 24 July 1969 at Christchurch Hospital.^[1]

Honours and awards

She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1945 King's Birthday Honours just after her retirement from the military.^[1][7]