Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Kathleen Mary Noonan, born on 17 February 1878 at Akaroa, was the third (and youngest) daughter of Robert and Mary Ann (née Newton) Noonan. Robert and Mary Ann who married in 1866 at Akaroa had seven children, the two youngest dying young. Kathleen was educated at the Akaroa Borough School where her father was a member of the school committee. At the annual distribution of prizes in December 1885, Kate Noonan was awarded first prize for Infants needlework, her sister Daisy receiving the Standard I prize. (Daisy was the familiar name of Kathleen’s sister Ethel.) On a miserable day in June 1887 – “the day fixed for the celebration of the Jubilee in Akaroa”, the Akaroa folk were able to gather in the Oddfellows’ Hall for the balls, Mr R. Noonan having done much of the decorating work. Miss Daisy Noonan’s costume (winter) was of a most effective design, and so was Miss K. Noonan’s (autumn). At a fancy dress ball in January 1889, Miss K. Noonan’s fancy costume was ‘Kate Greenaway’. Was this young Kathleen? At the Borough School children’s concert held in September 1889 in aid of the prize and picnic fund K. Noonan and infants presented he action song “Little Bo-Peep”. At the Akaroa J.B. Association’s fancy dress ball on 27 December 1889, Katie and Daisy Noonan wore fancy dress costumes, representing with two other spades, clubs, hearts and diamonds. At the 1890 school concert, D. and K. Noonan sang “Put me in my Little Bed”. At a concert in aid of St Peter’s Sunday School in November 1890, Miss Conny Watkins and Miss K. Noonan sang a duet entitled “Take me home Barney,” a chorus being sung behind the scenes. The young ladies were most deservedly encored. At the Borough School concert in December 1890, the “Kinderspiel” introduced a number of well-known nursery rhyme characters. ‘Then enters “Mistress Mary quite contrary” (Katie Noonan), who sings a pretty solo, . . . .’ K. Noonan sang ‘Dream Faces’ then ‘Come Birdie Come’, each with two pals, at the 1891 borough school concert. Miss K. Noonan won a prize in the drawing of the art union which followed a concert associated with the Horticultural and Industrial Exhibition in January 1893.

In the early 1900s Mr Robert Noonan went away to Foxton, perhaps to join family there, but had returned south before his death on 2 October 1907 at Christchurch. The second son of the family, Arthur Robert Noonan, was killed in action in South Africa on 24 February 1902. The eldest daughter, Eliza Ann (Lizzie) Noonan, who married Beilby Barker in 1891, was later to become next-of-kin for Kathleen. The eldest son, Edward Noonan, married in 1908 and died suddenly at his Banks Peninsula residence in 1927. The second daughter, Ethel Margaret (Daisy) Noonan, married Frederick John Shadbolt in 1898.

By 1904, Kathleen Mary Noonan was at the Timaru Hospital where she undertook her nursing training. As of July 1904, she was undergoing three months’ trial as a probationer. In October the matron reported that she had completed the three months’ trial and recommended that she be placed on the nursing staff. At the January 1906 South Canterbury Hospital Board meeting, the matron reported that Nurse Noonan and two others had passed their first year examinations successfully in December. She passed the second year examination and the preliminary examination under the Nurses’ Registration Act (first year State examination), held on 4 and 5 December 1906. In December 1907, she and two other Timaru nurses passed the Final State Examination for trained nurses, Kathleen Nora Barron, also of Timaru, being ranked 17th equal. She was, thus, registered. At the January 1908 meeting of the South Canterbury Hospital Board, the matron reported that they had passed and were recommended to receive their certificates. They were entitled to the third grade of salary. A year later, K. Noonan, St Helen’s, Christchurch, where she had commenced her obstetric course of training, was one of twenty-two candidates successful in the examination for midwives held on 3 and 4 December 1908, Kathleen ranking fourth equal. After the December examination the nurses at St. Helens Hospital, Christchurch, had a very enjoyable tea-party. There was a guessing competition, Nurse Noonan winning the first prize,

In the first quarter of 1910, Nurse Noonan, trained at Timaru and St. Helens, Christchurch, was appointed a Sister at the Cambridge Sanatorium. So, Sister Kathleen Noonan moved to Te Waikato Sanatorium at Cambridge, where she was in charge of the Plunket colony. Prior to her departure from there in December 1911, a pleasant little ceremony took place. As a mark of their esteem, her patients presented her with a handsome gold bracelet. The extraordinary good feeling which had prevailed in Plunket was alluded to, and it was noted that no patient had had a complaint of any sort to make against Sister Noonan’s administration during the whole time she had been in charge. Perhaps this was when Kathleen went into private nursing.

Kathleen, who was in private nursing, single and of Church of England affiliation, attested on 6 July 1915 at Wellington. She named her oldest sister as next-of-kin – Mrs B. Barker, Duvauchelle Bay, Akaroa. Both Eliza (Noonan) Barker and Edward Noonan (Kathleen’s brother) were at Akaroa. She was 5 feet 6½ inches tall, weighed 132 pounds, and had a chest measurement of 35-37½ inches. Her complexion was fair, her eyes grey, and her hair brown. Her sight, hearing, colour vision, heart and lungs were all normal, her teeth ‘pass’. She had had an appendisectomy 2 years prior but had been quite strong since, with no bulging of the scar. She was free from inveterate or contagious skin disease, vaccinated, and in good bodily and mental health. A slight defect – eyesight – was not sufficient to cause rejection. Assessed Fit.

Kathleen Noonan was one of 69 nurses selected for service in the military hospitals who left on 10 July 1915 in the Hospital Ship. They were going to provide for the Dardanelles wounded in Egypt. She had trained at Timaru and was a fully qualified nurse. In 1915 she was engaged in private nursing. “A ceremony which is becoming quite familiar took place in the Parliamentary Library on July 9th, when the New Zealand badges were presented to the nurses who left on July 10th with the Hospital Ship. There was quite a large gathering of onlookers, . . . . . . It was an interesting ceremony, and in his speech the Minister of Defence (the Hon. James Allen) did not lightly pass over the difficulties and trials that our nurses in their care for the soldiers would have to face. The Deputy-Minister for Defence said that a thousand applications had been received from nurses who wished to go on service — 400 from untrained nurses and 586 from trained nurses. . . . . . . The task of selecting those for the Hospital Ship had been carried out by himself and Miss Bicknell, and was a very difficult one, as no fewer than ten hospitals in New Zealand were represented. . . . . . . The Minister also tendered his best wishes to the nurses, and expressed the hope that they would return safely to this Dominion. . . . . . , and as each nurse left the building she was presented, on behalf of Lady Liverpool, with a box of chocolates.”

Nurse K. M. Noonan embarked on the first voyage of Hospital Ship No. I, “Maheno”. Nurse Noonan was transferred from the “Maheno” to No. 1 Stationary Hospital at Port Said on 8 August 1915. She was on duty at Mena House, Cairo, on 23 October 1915. Admitted to Shubra Infectious Hospital on 28 February 1916, with enteric, she was discharged to duty at a Cairo Hotel on 4 March, but had influenza. A hospital report issued on 28 April 1916 listed Nurse Kathleen Mary Noonan as dangerously ill in hospital with bronchitis (24 April). She had been admitted to the 27th General Hospital at Alexandria, where she had been on duty on 24 March 1916. A pre-July 1916 return of members of the New Zealand Army Nursing Service, though far from complete, lists several hundred nurses on service. Staff Nurse Kathleen Mary Noonan was at the 27th General Hospital at Abbrassia, Cairo. The Hospital Report supplied by the Base Records Office and published in the Timaru Herald of 9 May 1916 listed Nurse K. M. Noonan as out of danger, effective 29 April. But Nurse Noonan, New Zealand Army Nursing Service, was soon to return home by the “Maunganui”, invalided. Leaving on 7 May 1916, she arrived on 7 June. Staff Nurse Kathleen Mary Noonan, 22/154, was resident at Duvauchelles Bay, near Akaroa, as of 6 June 1916 and was granted sick leave from 7 June to 14 June 1916, and again from 15 June to 12 July 1916. She was granted further sick leave from 13 July to 21 August 1916.

As of mid-August 1916, the Matron in Chief advised that Nurse Noonan was still on sick leave but would be rejoining in about a month for Home Service. She noted that nurses on service in camp hospitals also required uniforms (which would need to be covered by an allowance). Sister Kate Noonan, N.Z.A.N.S., who had gone to Egypt in the Hospital Ship Marama and then was invalided home, went up to Wellington to report for duty again in September 1916. She had been in Duvauchelle for some months with her sister, Mrs B. Barker. She was now expecting to be on duty at the local camps for some time before being sent out on active duty. When a Red Cross social was held in the Duvauchelle Hall on 10 October 1916, Nurse Noonan donated a tuxor basket valued at 30 shillings towards the funds. Staff Nurse Kathleen Mary Noonan was struck off the strength of the N.Z. Expeditionary Force and posted to the Retired List, effective 20 October 1916. She was in fact finally discharged on 7 November 1916, being no longer physically fit for war service on account of illness contracted on Active Service. She was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for her service in Egypt.

A meeting of the Kelburn Epidemic Relief Committee was held on 14 November 1918. A canvass of the district revealed that the epidemic had a good hold and had been in the district for some time and in a virulent form for about a week before the committee was set up. The committee was at once brought face to face with very serious cases of pneumonia and other complications without having any advice from the authorities as to treatment . . . . . An energetic band of helpers immediately set to work to nurse the sick, to supply medicine and food. An abundant supply of food was generously given . . . . . We believe that the efforts of the committee have largely contributed to the arrest of the epidemic in the district, reported the committee in early December, and prevented very many cases developing into the dangerous stage. The nursing, foods and medicines served to bad cases were the means of saving lives. The committee acknowledged the attention given to calls by doctors. “Special thanks are due for the courage and zeal of those ladies who nursed and helped in infected homes”, among a good many there was Nurse Noonan. It was in July 1919 that Staff Nurse K. M. Noonan was posted to the N.Z. Army Nursing Service temporary reserve list.

Nurse Noonan took the “Arahura” on 11 August 1920 to get from Gisborne to Napier. This was part of quite an association with Hawke’s Bay district schools and the “Arahura”. On 2, 3 and 4 August 1920, Sister Noonan had accompanied the doctor for the medical inspection of pupils at Mangapapa School. At the summer school classes, conducted at Hastings in December 1920 for Hawke’s Bay teachers, Sister Noonan assisted with the hygiene lectures. Nurse Noonan was a passenger for Gisborne from the south on the “Arahura” at the beginning of July 1921. During July the doctor, Nurse Noonan and another nurse visited the Gisborne schools for their annual medical inspection. On 6 October 1921 at the Mahora North School (Hastings), Dr. Sands, Government medical officer for the inspection of schools, delivered an address on the health of children to the parents of the pupils. Dr. Sands was assisted by Nurse Noonan, “a lady with war service experience”. On 8 October Nurse Noonan left Napier by the “Arahura”. Dr Sands and Nurse Noonan had also visited Patutahi School in 1921 and medically examined the pupils. While her Hawke’s Bay district school nursing companion transferred to Dunedin in March 1922, Nurse Noonan remained in her present position in the district. The School Medical Branch of the Education Department was transferred to the Department of Health as the Division of School Hygiene. From 1 February 1921, Kathleen Mary Noonan (Napier) and many others became officers in the department of Health. Staff Nurse K. M. Noonan, a member of the N.Z. Army Nursing Service and Temporary Reserve was transferred to the Reserve on 1 October 1921 [N.Z. Gazette, no. 99, 24th November 1921] and then to the Retired List from the Reserve.

The Hastings Girls’ Friendly Society’s Girls’ Lodge, for the establishment of which the members of the G.F.S. had been working so devotedly for several years, took up its quarters in a two-storeyed building, in Lyndon Road in November 1923. The lodge was formally opened on 17 November in the presence of a large gathering of the public and others more intimately interested in the institution. Each person who attended brought a present as a gift for the lodge. Those who were present enjoyed afternoon tea and were conducted over the building and surroundings by Miss K. Noonan, the first matron of the lodge. The dwelling would accommodate eleven boarders in five big bedrooms. “Miss Kathleen Noonan, of Wellington, the matron, is a trained nurse, who is well known in Napier, where she had charge of the Girls’ Hostel, and through Hawke’s Bay as a gracious and sympathetic lady, kindly and capable, with a faculty for maintaining discipline by her character and personality.” On account of continued ill-health, Miss Kathleen Noonan tendered her resignation as matron of the F.G.S. Lodge, Hastings, in November 1924. Thereafter she resided in various parts of the North Island.

Kathleen Mary Noonan outlived all her siblings by almost 19 years and more. She died on 1 February 1963 at New Plymouth, just before her 85th birthday. Her last address was C/o Noradene N/Home, Vivian St, New Plymouth. She was cremated at the Taranaki Crematorium, New Plymouth, her ashes placed in the Garden of Remembrance. Kathleen was the loved aunt of Nell and Ida. It was to these two nieces – Ida Westfield and Nellie Sheen - that Kathleen bequeathed her many personal items and her estate. They were daughters of her eldest sister Eliza Ann Barker who had died in 1924. Kathleen’s brother Edward died suddenly in 1927 and her sister Ethel Margaret Shadbolt died in 1944.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [09 January 2014]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ ref. AABK 18805 W5549 0086902) [16 September 2016]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ ref. AABK 18805 W5956 0361286) [16 September 2016]; New Plymouth District Council cemetery search online [22 June 2014]; Probate record (Archives NZ/Family Search) [22 June 2014]; Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, 15 December 1885, 24 June 1887, 29 January 1889, 13 September 1889, 28 December 1889, 4 April 1890, 4 November 1890, 24 February 1891, 7 April 1891, 6 January 1893, 4 March 1902, 4 October 1907, 21 May 1915, 2 June 1916, 26 September 1916, 17 October 1916, 2 September 1927, NZ Times, 8 January 1907, NZ Mail, 9 January 1907, Auckland Star, 17 December 1907, 12 December 1911, 8 & 31 May 1916, Timaru Herald, 20 May 1904, 19 October 1904, 17 January 1906, 16 January 1907, 18 December 1907, 9 May 1916, Oamaru Mail, 18 December 1907, Kai Tiaki: the journal of the Nurses of New Zealand, 1 January 1908, 1 July 1908, 1 January 1909, 1 April 1910, 1 July 1915 [x 2], 1 July 1916, 1 April 1921, Temuka Leader, 23 January 1908, NZ Times, 12 December 1911, 8 July 1915, 13 October 1917, 4 December 1918, 3 July 1919, Waikato Argus, 12 December 1911, Evening Post, 6 July 1915, 8 May 1916, Poverty Bay Herald, 3 November 1915, 11 August 1920, 2 May 1921, 4 July 1921, 8 October 1921, Evening Star, 29 April 1916, 31 May 1916, Hawke’s Bay Tribune, 29 April 1916, 23 December 1920, 7 October 1921, 18 March 1922, 17 & 20 November 1923, 25 November 1924, Ashburton Guardian, 29 April 1916, 31 May 1916, Press, 26 April 1916, 15 October 1917, 5 February 1961, Dominion, 31 May 1916, 13 October 1917, Lyttelton Times, 31 May 1916, Gisborne Times, 2 & 4 July 1921, 27 April 1922 (Papers Past) [28 July 2014; 18 & 20 April 2017; 22 October 2021; 08 April 2022; 02 May 2023; 17 January 2024; 08, 12 & 14 February 2024]; School Admission records; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [17 September 2016]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [08 February 2024]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

• NOONAN Kathleen Mary - newspaper clippngs (pdf, 149.2 KB updated 17-Mar-2024)

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