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Kōrero: Pritchard, Ethel

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Pritchard, Ethel

1880–1964

Nō Ngā Puhi; he nēhi i te whawhai, he nēhi i te kāinga

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Marie E. Burgess, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 2000. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

Nō te 17 o Maehe i te tau 1880 i whānau ai a Ethel Watkins ki Onehunga, ko ia nei te tamāhine a Madeline (Magdaline) Rātahi Cochrane, rāua ko tana tāne, ko Bazett (Barrett) Watkins, he kaimahi mira nei tāna mahi. He mokopuna tana whaea nā te tangata whai rā, nā F. E. Maning – nō mua atu rā ia i tae mai ai ki Te Hokianga – rāua ko Moengaroa o te hapū o Te Hikutū o Ngāpuhi. Wehe tūturu tonu nei ōna mātua, ā, i te moenga anō o tōna whaea i te tau 1902, huaina ana tōna īngoa ko Ethel Watkins Taylor.

Ka hipa atu nei ōna tau i te 24, 25 kē pea, ka tīmata nei tana mahi nēhi. He kaiwhakawhānau tamariki nei ia i te tuatahi, ā, nō te tau 1906 i mutu ai tana akoranga i te mahi rā. Atu i tēnā i tīmata anō tana akoranga hei nēhi i te hōhipera o Te Hāwera. Ahakoa tana kore whai kaiwhakaako, i tana putanga i tana whakamātautau tuatahi, eke ana ia ki te taumata hōnore. Whakaotia atu ana e ia tana akoranga i te hōhipera o Ōtautahi (Christchurch), ā, eke ana anō ia ki te taumata hōnore i tana putanga i tana whakamātautau whakamutunga i te tau 1910.

He nēhi rēhita nei a Ethel ka neke atu rā ia ki te hōhipera o Kuki (Cook Hospital) i Tūranga (Gisborne), e rua tau a ia ki reira e nēhi matua ana. I te pakarutanga mai o te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao, tere tonu tana whakatūao i a ia, ka kōwhiria nei ia ko tētahi o ngā nēhi tuatahi, rima tekau nei rātou, hei haere ki tāwāhi i roto te rōpū nēhi o te ope taua o Aotearoa (New Zealand Army Nursing Service). Mutu ana te whakakākahu whārite tere nei i a rātou, ko tō rātou wehenga atu tērā i te 8 o Āperira i te tau 1915.

Ko te hōhipera tukipū Nama 15 (No 15 General Hospital) i Arekehānara (Alexandria) i Īhipa te wāhi tuatahi i whakanōhia ai a Ethel ki te mahi. Tokoiwa ngā kaiāwhina hōhipera e mahi ake ana i raro i a ia, e tiaki ana i ngā tūroro, 240 pea te nui, he mea whakanoho katoa ki rō tēneti. I te taenga mai o ngā tāruru tino nui kē nei e mau mai ana i ngā taotū i Karipori (Gallipoli), neke atu i te 166, i te 190 rānei, ā rātou mahi takai ia rā. Auau tonu te pānga mai o te mate kōea, te torohī me te taipō piwa, tae atu ki te kino kē nei o te taotū o te tangata i ngā pakūnga o ngā pū. Hāunga rā, ko te mate tino kino kē atu nei ko te mate hukapuri: ki te whakaaro o Ethel, e taea tonutia ana te tiro atu i ngā taotūnga pū, ēngari ko ētahi e pāngia nei e te mate hukapuri, kāore e taea te aha, arā, kua tūmanako kore kē. I te mutunga o te marama o Pēpuere o te tau 1916, 3,500 ngā tūroro i tiakina e ia. I runga anō i ngā kaipuke hōhipera nei a Ethel e mahi mai ana me ērā anō hoki o ngā hōhipera ope taua i Ingarangi. Tūhono atu ana ia i Rānana (London) ki te rōpū tohunga hei āwhina i te Emepaea (Legion of Frontiersmen), ā mate noa ia i pūmau tonu ia ki te mahi nei.

I te hokinga mai o Ethel ki Niu Tīreni nei i te tau 1919, whakatūria ana ia hei nēhi hauora Māori mō te rohe o Te Karaka e tata atu rā ki Tūranga, e rua tau nei ia ki reira. Tere tonu te kite a te tangata i tōna pai, arā, ahakoa he aha te wā karanga atu i a ia, ka tae atu ia. Mā runga hōiho, kiki rānei, ā, taihoa ake mā runga motokā, haerea e ia ngā takiwā tūhāhā o tōna whaitua. Nō te 5 o Hūrae o te tau 1921, i Ahuriri (Napier), i moea ai e ia a Albert Pritchard, he kaiwhakahaere pāmu nei tana mahi. E ono rā noa i muri i te whānautanga mai o tā rāua tama i te tau 1924 ka mate te tamaiti nei, ā, nā te aituā hoki i mate ai tana tama whāngai i te tau 1951.

Nā tōna mārenatanga i whakamutua ai e Ethel tana mahi nēhi ā-rohe. Tū ana te hui mihi ki a ia a te hunga kāinga; whakatakotoria ana ngā koha māna a te hunga whakamoemiti nei, arā, a ngā tāngata whai, a ngā hōia mōrehu tae atu ki te rōpū tohunga hei āwhina i te Emepaea. Hāunga rā, i mau tonu tana ratonga nēhi mō ngā Māori o ngā nohonga kāinga e rua e tata tonu ki tōna kāinga, me ērā tāngata atu anō hoki o te hapori. Nō te tau 1926 i whakahaerea ai he hui whakangahau i te hōro o Whātātutu, ā, i reira mihia anō a ia e te hunga kāinga mō tana kaha, ahakoa te wā o te pō, o te rā e karangatia ana ia e te aituā, e te hunga mate rānei, kore rawa ia i whakaae kia utua a ia. Takohatia atu ana ki a ia ngā taonga nei, te pouaka pāho reo irirangi me te pāpuoru hoki, ngā kōpae puoru me ngā tūru noho e rua.

I tōna nekenga atu ki Matawai i te tau 1928, e rua tekau tau pea a ia e mahi ana mā tana hapori. Nō te tau 1949 i ūhia a ia ki te tohu whakahōnore MBE, ā, tāpiri atu ki tēnā i ūhia anō hoki a ia ki te mētera ratonga roa a te rōpū tohunga āwhina i te Emepaea. Ruarua nei ngā mira rākau i te rohe o Matawai–Mōtū e mahi ana, ā, i taua wā, auau tonu te karanga i a ia ki te whakapai i ngā whara kino. Me pakari tonu te waka ka tika ai mō ngā rori o tuawhenua, ka riro mai nei i a ia tana motokā tuatahi, he Chevrolet pereki whero nei te kara, e ono kē ngā puoto, ā, he kuaha hei tomokanga mō ngā kauamo i muri. I ngā wā e taea ana te mahi pērā, haere kē ana ia mā runga tereina, hari atu ai i ana tūroro e tika ana mā te hōhipera e tiaki, e toru hāora toru tekau meneti te roa ka tae atu ai ki Tūranga.

He maha nei ngā rōpū i whai wāhi atu ai a Ethel, ā, e rua tau nei ia e tū ana hei perehitini mō te peka o te Rōpū mō ngā Hōia Mōrehu (RSA) i Matawai–Mōtū. He mema tūāpapa anō ia mō te rōpū o ngā wāhine o te taiwhenua o Niu Tīreni (Country Women’s Institute of New Zealand) me te hōpuni hauora mō ngā tamariki o te takiwā kāinga. He mema anō hoki ia nō te rīki o Wikitōria (Victoria League), nō te Kaunihera Wāhine o Aotearoa (National Council of Women of New Zealand), nō te wāhanga wāhine o te rōpū tūhonohono o ngā tāngata ahu whenua o Aotearoa (Women’s Division Federated Farmers of New Zealand), me te Kāhui o Hoani (St John Ambulance Brigade) anō hoki. I te tau 1950 i pōtitia a ia ki te poari o te hōhipera o Kuki, ā, i tōna whakatānga i te tau 1956, mihia ana a ia mō āna mahi i te poari, mahi nēhi ā-rohe hoki.

Nō te 19 o Hūrae i te tau 1964 i mate ai a Ethel Pritchard i Tūranga, ka mahue mai nei ko tana tāne. He wahine kāore i mataku ki te whakaputa i ōna whakaaro, he wā anō ka whakatuanui, ka whakatopatopa, ēngari, hei aha tonu, whakamīharotia ana a ia mō te roa o tana whakapau i ana kaha hei nēhi ā-rohe, i runga hoki i ngā rōpū hapori maha kē nei.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Marie E. Burgess. 'Pritchard, Ethel', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2000. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/5p38/pritchard-ethel (accessed 29 March 2024)