Sister Constance helps make scenes authentic

Press, 19 April 1982, Page 18

Sister Constance helps make scenes authentic

Filming is under way in Christchurch for one of a series of dramatised television . documentaries about New Zealand pioneers. Anticipated to be screened in April next year, “Pioneer Women” looks into the lives of six women whose courage and determination brought them through times of almost unendurable hardship or drove them in their work for their fellow men. One of the most remarkable of these women was Christchurch’s own Nurse Maude, matron • of Christchurch Hospital until 1896, when she resigned to establish the district nursing service she felt to be as essential as the hospital itself. For nearly 40 years Nurse Maude was a familar figure in the city, moving briskly between patients on foot,

dog-cart or bicycle and later most dangerously out of control in her. car. Maude is remembered by those who knew her as a woman of vision, faith and understanding, dedicated to providing practical help for those in need. London-based Barbara Ewing, one of New Zealand’s most successful actresses working overseas, plays Nurse Maude, with Judie Douglass as her friend and colleague, Sister Rose. One of the key locations for filming has been the chapel of the Community of the Sacred Name, St Asaph Street, where Sister Rose was a member and Nurse Maude a frequent visitor. Ninety-one-year-old Sister Constance, who was trained by Nurse Maude in 1913, remembers them both well, and was on hand to help make the dramatised scenes as authentic as possible. “Nurse Maude was a dignified person,” she said. “She was strict and direct, but everybody loved her. They respected her and knew she was doing the best for them. She’d be out in all sorts of weather, looking after people in trouble.” Although Nurse Maude was a companion of the community, and lived there for a time, she never took the vows, “Her vocation was nursing,” said Sister Constance. “She was not really fitted for a sister’s life. We have times of silence and Nurse Maude was very outspoken!” p: 'ter Constance also reft ers the alarming sight of ..se Maude at the wheel of her car. “Everybody got out of the way when they saw her coming. Once she hit a post in Madras Street and set off the fire alarms, which brought out all the fire engines! She was a most terrible driver.”

As Nurse Maude was dedicated to helping the needy, so too are the present-day nuns of the Community of the Sacred Name. But like Maude they may have a battle to fight if they are to continue their good work. Barbadoes Street has been designated for widening, which means their living 3uarters may eventually be emolished. and the community, which has existed on that site since 1893, may have to find the money to set up elsewhere. Nurse Maude would have had something to say about that.