Hanorah Philomena FitzGibbon

Hanorah Philomena FitzGibbon MBE (Nora, 19 March 1889–7 May 1979) was a New Zealand civilian and military nurse, hospital matron and nursing administrator. She was the fourth of nine children of farmers Edmond FitzGibbon and Mary, née Lynch. She attended school at the Arrowtown convent and at St. Patrick's School in Dunedin.

Career At the age of 16, FitzGibbon joined her sister Mary as a nurse aide at Seacliff Mental Hospital, near Dunedin. She became acquainted with the medical superintendent, Truby King, and his wife Bella and was inspired to train as a Karitane nurse when they opened their Karitane Home for Babies in 1907. The nurses travelled to Melbourne first, and then in April 1915 left for Suez. FitzGibbon nursed at base hospitals in Egypt and in France, and on an ambulance train near the front line. It included advice on raising babies and small children, and featured the first standard growth chart for New Zealand babies, which was the result of studying around 9,000 babies.