HINES, Frances Emma
| Service Number: | Nurse |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Sister |
| Last Unit: | Victorian Nursing Sisters |
| Born: | Apsley, Victoria, Australia, 1864 |
| Home Town: | Inglewood, Loddon, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Nurse |
| Died: | Pneumonia, Bulawayo, South Africa, 7 August 1900 |
| Cemetery: |
West Park Cemetery and Crematorium, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe |
| Memorials: | Apsley War Memorial, Australian Military Nurses Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Boer War Memorial (Queen Victoria Square), Inglewood War Memorial, Kapunda Dutton Park Memorial Bullwinkel Memorial |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Sister | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Aug 1900: | Involvement Australian and Colonial Military Forces (Boer War / Boxer Rebellion), Sister, SN Nurse, Victorian Nursing Sisters |
Death of Sister Hines
LETTERS FROM THE FRONT.
DEATH OF SISTER HINES.
Sister M Rawson, writing to Dr. R. H. Fetherston, says:—
"Since my letter to Colonel Fetherston, written at Zeerust, you would have heard of the death of Sister Hines. This news was a terrible shock to us. and I had received such good reports of her that I was not at all anxious, nor would I have left her if I thought that there was any danger. Then the lines of communication were somewhat interfered with, and it took some time to get a message through to Zeerust. It was only the matter of a brief period sister’s illness (pneumonia) and when the sad news reached me 1 could not believe it. I miss her dreadfully;
she was so good and so unselfish. When I was leaving Bulawayo she said, “Sister, do get me on with you,” and I promised to arrange it when I got things settled. Fortunately, we were not all scattered. Five of the ‘sisters’ were at Bulawayo, and they alternately, day and night, nursed her. Nothing could exceed the kindness of the house surgeon and the matron, also the staff of the Bulawayo (Memorial) Hospital. They could not have done more had Sister Hines been their relation. Dr Strong, of Bulawayo, sent a wreath, and also sent one for the ‘sisters’ on the day of the funeral. Everybody has been so kind and thoughtful. Sister had a military funeral. Sisters B Smith and Langlands, who had come on from Umtali a few
days previously were present, also Sisters Thomson’and Anderson, also Tiddy. Sisters Ivey and Dorothy Smith will by this time have reached Victoria, in Matabeleland, where they will be looking after the Yeomanry principally, as they are stationed there, and Sister Walter is with me. I believe that all particulars have been sent on to Mrs Hines from Bulawayo, both by the matron of that hospital and by our own sisters.’
The Ballarat Star Wednesday 03 October 1900 page 4
Submitted 3 March 2016 by Faithe Jones
Biography contributed by John Edwards
"Sister Frances Emma Hines was part of the Victorian 3rd Bushman's Contingent to Rhodesia, South Africa during the Boer War. Australia was not yet a nation when the Boer war broke out in 1899. Prior to Federation in 1901, each of the current six states was a colony of Britain, and each sent troops to fight as part of the British forces against the Boers in South Africa, over 16,000 in all.
For three years, around 60 Australian nurses scattered in small groups throughout South Africa, worked in British hospitals. Unmarried and mostly aged between 25 and 40 they were well educated women from middle class families, considered "desirable persons to enter a service composed of ladies."
Embarked for Cape Town 10 March 1900 per 'Euryalus'
Sister Fanny Hines was one of ten Victorian nurses who accompanied the Victorian 3rd Bushman's Contingent to Rhodesia, South Africa in March 1900. The nurses found themselves sent in different directions, posted wherever the need was greatest. Hospitals were primitive and overcrowded, with many men suffering from fever, dysentery and pneumonia. Her friend Sister Ellen Walter wrote from Bulawayo on 15 July 1900, "Sister Frances Hines is at Enkeldoorn, but we expect her here soon. She has been a long time there alone". However, overworked and sick, Fanny died alone on 7 August 1900. Sister Julia Anderson wrote,
"She died of an attack of pneumonia contracted in devotion to duty. She was quite alone, with as many as twenty six patients at one time, no possibility of assistance, or relief and without sufficient nourishment."
After her burial with full military honours, a marble cross was erected on her grave in Bulawayo cemetery by the Victorian nurses and Bushmen's Contingent. She was the only Australian nurse to die during service in the Boer War." - SOURCE (www.awm.gov.au)
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