HUNTER Elizabeth, MBE

Other Events:

• Occupation: Between Dec 1920 and 31 May 1945, War Memorial Hospital, Waverley NSW; Nurse and Hospital Matron
• Honors: 6 Jun 1941; Member of the Order of the British Empire, MBE (C)
• Cremated: Dec 1948, Northern Suburbs Memorial Garden and Crematorium, North Ryde NSW

Notes:

Elizabeth (Lila) HUNTER, MBE (1877-1948) sat as a subject for the well-known artist Joshua SMITH for an oil on canvas painting which was entered into the 1948 Archibald Prize. The portrait was requested and arranged by the doctors of the War Memorial Hospital, Waverley where she had been Matron for over 24 years.

Birth:
Date of birth extracted from Elizabeth HUNTER's application form to join Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve (QAIMNSR). Some mystery still surrounds her birth as it appears that her birth was not registered with the Victorian State Government Statist. Failure to register births was not an uncommon oversight on the part of parents in 19th. century Victoria.

Occupation:
Elizabeth HUNTER's initial nurse training was undertaken at the Geelong Hospital in Victoria followed by a period at the Women's Hospital in Melbourne and the Royal Hospital for Women, Sydney NSW. Some time was also spent nursing at Honolulu HI, Vancouver BC and in continental USA. Early in WWI she joined Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve (QAIMNSR) and nursed in England at Hawarden Castle Military Hospital in FLN, Birmingham and Brighton. Prior to her return to Australia she nursed in France and probably in Malta and Germany. In 1920 she was appointed as the first Matron of the War Memorial Hospital in Waverley NSW which was the first Methodist Hospital in NSW. She retired from that position on 31 May 1945 after more than 24 years of service.

Honors:
King's Birthday Honours, 1941.
Citation: Elizabeth Hunter, Matron of the War Memorial Hospital, Waverley, State of New South Wales. For public services in the Commonwealth of Australia.

Cremated:
Rev. M.L. Layton officiated.

Died:
Registration Number: 28622/1948