Neill, Elizabeth Grace (1846–1926)
Neill, Elizabeth Grace (1846–1926)
New Zealand nurse, hospital administrator, journalist, government official, and social reformer. Name variations: Elizabeth Grace Campbell. Born Elizabeth Grace Campbell, on May 25, 1846, in Edinburgh, Scotland; died Aug 18, 1926, in Wellington, New Zealand; dau. of James Archibald Campbell and Maria Grace (Cameron) Campbell; m. Channing Neill (physician), 1879 (died c. 1890); children: 1 son.
Prevented by father from entering University of Cambridge to become physician, trained as nurse at King's College and Charing Cross Hospital in London (1875–76); appointed superintendent of children's hospital at Pendlebury (1876–79); joined husband on Isle of Wight until his ill health forced family to relocate to Australia (1885); after husband's death, turned to journalism and wrote for Brisbane's Boomerang and Telegraph; moved to New Zealand and helped to establish union for women workers; was Department of Labor's 1st woman inspector of hospitals (1894–1907); named deputy inspector of mental health facilities (1895); became active in nursing reform, promoting uniform system of training and national examination, and was instrumental in drafting of Nurses Registration Act of 1901, and Midwives Act of 1904; during WWII, was in charge of children's ward at Wellington Hospital.
See also Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (Vol. 2).