WAR NURSE'S DEATH

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19503, 9 December 1937, Page 6

WAR NURSE'S DEATH

MRS. THOMAS STEWART SOLDIERS'' PLOT BURIAL In recognition of the deceased's war service in France as a member of Queen Alexandra's Nursing Service, the tribute of burial in the Soldiers' Plot at the Taruheru cemetery was accorded to-day to the memory of the late Mrs. Jessie Stewart, who died yestevday at the Cook Hospital after a lengthy illness. The deceased was the wife of Mr. Thomas Stewart, of No. 4 road camp, Tikiwhata, and though admitted to hospital only recently, had been in'poor health for the past four or five years.

Born in Manchester, Mrs. Stewart was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Keen, of that city, and as a girl in her teens undertook training with with the V.A.D. organisation in 1916. In the following year she entered Queen Alexandra's Nursing Service, and was sent to France, where she served for a year in various British war hospitals.

While at No. 24 General Hospital, at Etapies, well-known to thousands of New Zealanders, she nursed Mr. Stewart, who was then under treatment for his second wound. Mr. Stewart had enlisted at the age of 17 years, and served with the Highland Light Infantry and the Scottish Rifles, being wounded on three occasions.

Emigrated to Australia

After the war, Mr. Stewart emigrated to Australia, and in 1921 Mrs. Stewart followed him to be married at Toowoomba, Queensland. Some months later Mr. Stewart came to New Zealand, and took up work under the Public Works Department, his wife joining him when he found the prospects sufficiently good. They had spent the greater part of the last 17 years in Public Works Department's camps in various parts of New Zealand, the only break occurring during the depression, when they returned to Australia and spent 18 months on a cattle station 100 miles west of Bourke.

The resumption of activity in the Public Works Department in New Zealand brought them back to the Dominion, and for more than a year they had lived at Tikiwhata. Mrs. Stewart's poor health prevented her from taking part in the social life of the camp, but her warm heart and the fruits of her nursing experience were keenly appreciated by those who shared her acquaintance. She was 39 years of age, and had in her short life experienced a wide range of circumstances, bearing with fortitude her own ill-health and the occasional reverses of fortune.

The deceased is survived by her husband and by one son, Master Robert Bruce Stewart, aged five years. The funeral was fixed for this afternoon, the deceased being the first woman to receive the tribute of burial in the Soldiers* Plot in Gisborne.