Cora Roberton

Cora Beattie Roberton, ( Anderson; 4 March 1881 – 24 September 1962) was a decorated New Zealand nurse who ran several Allied hospitals in the United Kingdom during the First World War. In time, she was appointed matron to every major hospital for injured New Zealand soldiers in England.

At 21 she was one of the survivors of an Australian steamer disaster when it sank off the coast of New Zealand in 1902. After the collision, she was picked up by the last lifeboat to leave the sinking ship.

Life and work Born Cora Beattie Anderson in Auckland as one of eight children of Annie Buchanan and city engineer William Anderson, she attended the local Girls Grammar School from 1895 to 1898.

On 9 November 1902, Anderson was rescued on the last lifeboat to depart the passenger steamer Elingamite that sank 35 miles off the coast of New Zealand. She was rescued while standing in waist-deep water on the sinking steamer, and spent an estimated 25 hours, cramped and extremely cold in the open boat, before it found dry land. Of the 136 registered passengers on the steamer, fatalities from the collision numbered 28 passengers and 17 crew members, many of whom died from drowning or exposure to the elements. Her experience was detailed in the local papers.

Anderson went on to study nursing, graduating from the Thames Hospital in 1909 and finishing her midwife training at St Helen’s Hospital in Auckland. In 1910 she was appointed matron of the Townley Maternity Home in Gisborne, and in 1912 she became a district nurse for Māori patients in the Rotorua district. She was 34 years old when her group sailed for London on 8 April 1915. They soon left England to staff a hospital in Cairo, Egypt, where they treated many hundreds of soldiers wounded during the Gallipoli campaign.

Distinctions and awards Anderson was awarded the following decorations and medals for her service in the First World War. The medals and badges are held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Royal Red Cross (1st Class) (RRC), 1919 Associate Royal Red Cross (2nd Class) (ARRC), 1917 1914–1915 Star British War Medal 1914–1919 Victory Medal, with oakleaf