Henrietta Stockdale
Encyclopedia
Henrietta Stockdale was a nursing pioneer. Through her influence and pressure the first state registration of nurses and midwives in the world was brought about when the Cape of Good Hope Medical and Pharmacy Act of 1891 passed into law. As a member of the Anglican Community of St Michael and All Angels, she was known as Sister Henrietta.
, the eldest of five children of the Revd Henry Stockdale, the Vicar of Misterton
and, later of Bole
. She was confirmed by Bishop Jackson of Lincoln
on March 22, 1863, at Walkeringham
. A few weeks previously the Rt Revd Edward Twells
, newly consecrated Bishop of the Orange River Mission
(as the Bloemfontein Mission was then called), visited the Walkeringham Vicarage, where Mr. Stockdale, Henrietta and a cousin of hers met with him. The young Henrietta's missionary enthusiasm was fired by this meeting, and she and her cousin were both made Associates of the Bloemfontein Mission.
, and before he went out he visited Bole to see Henrietta. A year later the Revd Mr Bevan from the Orange River Mission visited the family and was instrumental in having Herietta's brother go out to the mission at Modderpoort
. She followed in due course, responding to a call by Webb for teachers and nurses. Miss Stockdale received some months’ training as a nurse at the Clewer Hospital and at the Children's Hospital in Great Ormond Street. She sailed for South Africa, with other volunteers and in the company of Archdeacon and Mrs Croghan, on 6 March 1874, the same day on which she had, eleven years before, been made an Associate of the Orange River Mission. Landing at Port Elizabeth, the party travelled up to Bloemfontein
, where they founded the Community of St Michael and All Angels. When Miss Stockdale was admitted to full membership of the Order, about 1875, she took her vows and was henceforth known as Sister Henrietta.
in the winter of 1876, working as district nurse in the mining camps, and then at Kimberley’s new Carnarvon Hospital. She returned to England to recover from typhoid contracted at this time, taking the opportunity to train further at London’s University College Hospital
. It was on her going back to Kimberley that she established Southern Africa’s first training school for nurses at the Carnarvon Hospital. "Inspired and guided by her", wrote Dr Charlotte Searle, "Kimberley nurses moved out to wherever they were needed, establishing hospitals, starting nurses' training schools, and providing nursing care."
Sister Henrietta spent a year as Matron at the St George's Hospital in Bloemfontein (1877), but then returned to Kimberley. In 1880-1881, during the First Boer War
, she took charge of the military hospital at Newcastle, Colony of Natal.
of Grahamstown
, to back legislation providing for registration of nurses and midwives. This was achieved through the Cape Colony's Medical and Pharmacy Act of 1891.
The Carnarvon and Diggers' Hospitals combined to become the Kimberley Hospital in 1892. Subsidised by the Cape Government, it was enlarged and attracted doctors such as Leander Starr Jameson
and John Mackenzie, who took part in the training of nurses. The Community of St Michael and All Angels withdrew from Kimberley Hospital in 1895, whereafter Sister Henrietta established a maternity nursing home and nursing co-operative at St Michael's Home.
commemorates her life and work, and in 1970 a statue of her by Jack Penn
was erected in the cathedral grounds and unveiled by Bishop Philip Wheeldon
. A bust based on the same statue was installed in the north transept of the Anglican Cathedral in Bloemfontein. In 1984 the remains of Sister Henrietta and of two fellow workers, also originally buried at Dutoitspan, were reinterred alongside.
at the Sister Henrietta Stockdale Chapel (at the hospital) every year on 6 October. This date is fixed in the Lectionary
of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, which also provides a Collect for Sister Henrietta CSM & AA. The centenary of her death in 2011 was marked with a Health and Wellness Day on the lawns at St Cyprian's Cathedral and a Thanksgiving Mass in the cathedral at which Bishop Oswald Swartz presided and preached.
in 1891. It had been through her work that South Africa became the first country in the world to legally recognise nursing education, approve nursing schools and provide statutory curricula and examinations for nurses.
The South African Nursing Association established a prize, the Henrietta Stockdale Floating Trophy at the University of the Witwatersrand
, which is awarded to students achieving the highest level of professional maturity during the four year nursing degree at the university.
In 1887 Sister Henrietta had proposed that the Sisterhood’s existing oratory
should be converted into four bedrooms, owing to the demand for extra wards as well as extra accommodation for nurses. She then sought public subscription and mining company support for the building of a new Chapel and purchase of an organ, plans being approved by 5 July 1887. By St Michael’s Day, 29 September that same year, the new chapel had been completed and was furnished and ready for its dedication. Furnishings include stained glass windows depicting St Michael the Archangel, and the Angels Gabriel, Uriel and others. Initially the property of the Anglican Church, open for use by any denomination, it was deemed from 1947 to be property of the Kimberley Hospital. Memorial plaques within the chapel were erected in memory of nursing members and associates of the Community of St Michael and All Angels as well as nursing and medical staff of the Kimberley Hospital spanning the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Assessing her impact after a hundred years, in October 2011, the Dean of Kimberley, the Very Revd Simon Aiken
, said that “Sister Henrietta's legacy is the living, active, ongoing delivery of healthcare to ordinary people, most especially the marginalised who might not have access to such opportunities.”
Early influences
Sister Henrietta was born on 9 July 1847 at Gringley on the Hill, NottinghamshireNottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
, the eldest of five children of the Revd Henry Stockdale, the Vicar of Misterton
Misterton, Nottinghamshire
Misterton is a village and civil parish in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England.-Geography:Misterton is located in the far north-east of both Bassetlaw and Nottinghamshire between Walkeringham to the South and Haxey to the North. The East of the village is bordered by the River...
and, later of Bole
Bole, Nottinghamshire
Bole is a village and civil parish in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England. It is close by the River Trent, on the eastern side of which is Gainsborough in Lincolnshire. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 140...
. She was confirmed by Bishop Jackson of Lincoln
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....
on March 22, 1863, at Walkeringham
Walkeringham
Walkeringham is a village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 908. The parish church of St Mary Magdalen is 13th century. It has one public house called The Fox and Hounds, and a post office. It also has a former station house and a...
. A few weeks previously the Rt Revd Edward Twells
Edward Twells
Edward Twells was the first Bishop of Bloemfontein in South Africa from 1863 to 1869.Twells was consecrated Bishop of the Orange Free State in Westminster Abbey in 1863 under the Jerusalem Act, and went out to the colony, in the interior of South Africa, with three priests and two schoolmasters.In...
, newly consecrated Bishop of the Orange River Mission
Anglican Diocese of the Free State
The Anglican Diocese of the Free State is a diocese in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.-History:The first service North of the Orange River to be taken by an Anglican clergyman was conducted in 1850 by Robert Gray, the first Bishop of Cape Town. In 1863, Edward Twells was consecrated the...
(as the Bloemfontein Mission was then called), visited the Walkeringham Vicarage, where Mr. Stockdale, Henrietta and a cousin of hers met with him. The young Henrietta's missionary enthusiasm was fired by this meeting, and she and her cousin were both made Associates of the Bloemfontein Mission.
"From that time, when she was only fifteen, until her death nearly fifty years afterwards, she gave her prayers, her thoughts, her time, and finally herself to the Bloemfontein Mission, and died in its cause."
Going to South Africa
In 1870 Bishop Allan Becher Webb was made Bishop of BloemfonteinAnglican Diocese of the Free State
The Anglican Diocese of the Free State is a diocese in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.-History:The first service North of the Orange River to be taken by an Anglican clergyman was conducted in 1850 by Robert Gray, the first Bishop of Cape Town. In 1863, Edward Twells was consecrated the...
, and before he went out he visited Bole to see Henrietta. A year later the Revd Mr Bevan from the Orange River Mission visited the family and was instrumental in having Herietta's brother go out to the mission at Modderpoort
Modderpoort
Modderpoort, also known as Lekhalong la Bo Tau or ‘The Pass of the Lions’, is the site in the eastern Free State, South Africa, where the Anglican Missionary Brotherhood, the Brotherhood of St Augustine of Hippo, was established by Bishop Edward Twells in the late 1860s...
. She followed in due course, responding to a call by Webb for teachers and nurses. Miss Stockdale received some months’ training as a nurse at the Clewer Hospital and at the Children's Hospital in Great Ormond Street. She sailed for South Africa, with other volunteers and in the company of Archdeacon and Mrs Croghan, on 6 March 1874, the same day on which she had, eleven years before, been made an Associate of the Orange River Mission. Landing at Port Elizabeth, the party travelled up to Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...
, where they founded the Community of St Michael and All Angels. When Miss Stockdale was admitted to full membership of the Order, about 1875, she took her vows and was henceforth known as Sister Henrietta.
Kimberley and the establishment of Southern Africa's first training school for nurses
Sister Henrietta first went across to KimberleyKimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...
in the winter of 1876, working as district nurse in the mining camps, and then at Kimberley’s new Carnarvon Hospital. She returned to England to recover from typhoid contracted at this time, taking the opportunity to train further at London’s University College Hospital
University College Hospital
University College Hospital is a teaching hospital located in London, United Kingdom. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is closely associated with University College London ....
. It was on her going back to Kimberley that she established Southern Africa’s first training school for nurses at the Carnarvon Hospital. "Inspired and guided by her", wrote Dr Charlotte Searle, "Kimberley nurses moved out to wherever they were needed, establishing hospitals, starting nurses' training schools, and providing nursing care."
Sister Henrietta spent a year as Matron at the St George's Hospital in Bloemfontein (1877), but then returned to Kimberley. In 1880-1881, during the First Boer War
First Boer War
The First Boer War also known as the First Anglo-Boer War or the Transvaal War, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881-1877 annexation:...
, she took charge of the military hospital at Newcastle, Colony of Natal.
State Registration of Nurses
Sister Henrietta registered with the British Trained Nurses’ Association in 1890 (she held certificate No 15), and maintained contact with its founder, Mrs Bedford Fenwick, who was an early advocate of State registration of nurses. In South Africa Sister Henrietta persuaded influential figures, notably Dr William Guybon AtherstoneWilliam Guybon Atherstone
William Guybon Atherstone medical practitioner, naturalist and geologist, one of the pioneers of South African geology and a member of the Cape Parliament....
of Grahamstown
Grahamstown
Grahamstown is a city in the Eastern Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa and is the seat of the Makana municipality. The population of greater Grahamstown, as of 2003, was 124,758. The population of the surrounding areas, including the actual city was 41,799 of which 77.4% were black,...
, to back legislation providing for registration of nurses and midwives. This was achieved through the Cape Colony's Medical and Pharmacy Act of 1891.
The Carnarvon and Diggers' Hospitals combined to become the Kimberley Hospital in 1892. Subsidised by the Cape Government, it was enlarged and attracted doctors such as Leander Starr Jameson
Leander Starr Jameson
Sir Leander Starr Jameson, 1st Baronet, KCMG, CB, , also known as "Doctor Jim", "The Doctor" or "Lanner", was a British colonial statesman who was best known for his involvement in the Jameson Raid....
and John Mackenzie, who took part in the training of nurses. The Community of St Michael and All Angels withdrew from Kimberley Hospital in 1895, whereafter Sister Henrietta established a maternity nursing home and nursing co-operative at St Michael's Home.
Death
Sister Henrietta died in Kimberley on 6 October 1911, aged 64, and was buried at the Dutoitspan Cemetery.Windows,statues and grave site
A stained glass window at St Cyprian’s CathedralSt Cyprian's Cathedral, Kimberley
The Cathedral Church of St Cyprian the Martyr, Kimberley, is the seat of the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman, Anglican Church of Southern Africa. It became a Cathedral when the Synod of Bishops gave a mandate for the formation of the new Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman in...
commemorates her life and work, and in 1970 a statue of her by Jack Penn
Jack Penn
Jack Penn , M.B., Ch.B., F.R.C.S.., Mil. Dec. M.B.E., S.M., was a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, sculptor and author, who was also for a time a Member of the President's Council in South Africa.-Early years:...
was erected in the cathedral grounds and unveiled by Bishop Philip Wheeldon
Philip William Wheeldon
Philip William Wheeldon OBE was the fourth Bishop of Whitby, and subsequently twice Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman.-Life:...
. A bust based on the same statue was installed in the north transept of the Anglican Cathedral in Bloemfontein. In 1984 the remains of Sister Henrietta and of two fellow workers, also originally buried at Dutoitspan, were reinterred alongside.
Annual commemorations and centenary
Sister Henrietta is commemorated by nurses and clergy and people of St Cyprian’s Cathedral with a MassMass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
at the Sister Henrietta Stockdale Chapel (at the hospital) every year on 6 October. This date is fixed in the Lectionary
Lectionary
A Lectionary is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christian or Judaic worship on a given day or occasion.-History:...
of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, which also provides a Collect for Sister Henrietta CSM & AA. The centenary of her death in 2011 was marked with a Health and Wellness Day on the lawns at St Cyprian's Cathedral and a Thanksgiving Mass in the cathedral at which Bishop Oswald Swartz presided and preached.
Institutions and awards
The Henrietta Stockdale Training College for nurses in Kimberley was named in recognition of this pioneer nurse who initiated training courses for nurses at Kimberley Hospital and was instrumental in obtaining state registration for nurses and midwives in the Cape ColonyCape Colony
The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
in 1891. It had been through her work that South Africa became the first country in the world to legally recognise nursing education, approve nursing schools and provide statutory curricula and examinations for nurses.
The South African Nursing Association established a prize, the Henrietta Stockdale Floating Trophy at the University of the Witwatersrand
University of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is a South African university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University...
, which is awarded to students achieving the highest level of professional maturity during the four year nursing degree at the university.
Sister Henrietta Stockdale Chapel
The Kimberley Hospital Chapel, built in her time at the hospital (with a dedication to St Michael), was made a national monument in 1963 (now a Provincial Heritage Site) and is known as the "Sister Henrietta Stockdale Chapel".In 1887 Sister Henrietta had proposed that the Sisterhood’s existing oratory
Oratory
Oratory is a type of public speaking.Oratory may also refer to:* Oratory , a power metal band* Oratory , a place of worship* a religious order such as** Oratory of Saint Philip Neri ** Oratory of Jesus...
should be converted into four bedrooms, owing to the demand for extra wards as well as extra accommodation for nurses. She then sought public subscription and mining company support for the building of a new Chapel and purchase of an organ, plans being approved by 5 July 1887. By St Michael’s Day, 29 September that same year, the new chapel had been completed and was furnished and ready for its dedication. Furnishings include stained glass windows depicting St Michael the Archangel, and the Angels Gabriel, Uriel and others. Initially the property of the Anglican Church, open for use by any denomination, it was deemed from 1947 to be property of the Kimberley Hospital. Memorial plaques within the chapel were erected in memory of nursing members and associates of the Community of St Michael and All Angels as well as nursing and medical staff of the Kimberley Hospital spanning the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Assessment
Dr Charlotte Searle has described Sister Henrietta as a "remarkable woman, who laid the foundation of professional nursing and modern hospital organisation in Southern Africa ... [she] was regarded as a saint by some, and as a keen business woman politician by others. She had a fearless approach to the political questions of the day, and never hesitated to enlist the aid of a Royal Princess when she felt that nursing and the care of the sick were threatened."Assessing her impact after a hundred years, in October 2011, the Dean of Kimberley, the Very Revd Simon Aiken
Simon Mark Aiken
Simon Mark Aiken is the 12th Dean of Kimberley and Rector of St Cyprian's Cathedral, Kimberley, in the Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman in South Africa. His diocesan responsibilities include his appointments as the Archdeacon of the Karoo and as Titular Rector of St Mary's, Barkly West, as well as...
, said that “Sister Henrietta's legacy is the living, active, ongoing delivery of healthcare to ordinary people, most especially the marginalised who might not have access to such opportunities.”