First Female Doctor

On this day in 1897, Margaret Cruickshank became the first female doctor registered in New Zealand. She practised in Waimate, South Canterbury and worked tirelessly during the influenza pandemic before falling victim to the disease herself on 28 November 1918. In 1923, Waimate residents erected a statue in honour of Cruickshank inscribed, ‘The Beloved Physician / Faithful unto Death’. It’s one of New Zealand’s few memorials to a woman other than Queen Victoria. Who are your female heroes?