Edith Statham

{{Short description|New Zealand singer, nurse, secretary, war graves conservator, community worker}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=July 2019}} {{Infobox person | name = Edith Statham | birth_name = Edith Mary Staham | birth_date = {{Birth date|1853|04|13|df=y}} | birth_place = Bootle, Lancashire, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|1951|02|13|1853|04|13|df=y}} | death_place = Saint Heliers, Auckland, New Zealand | occupation = War graves inspector | parents = William Statham<br>Ellen Allen Hadfield }}

'''Edith Mary Statham''' (13 April 1853 – 13 February 1951) was a notable New Zealand singer, nurse, secretary, war graves conservator and community worker.<ref name="DNZB Statham" />

== Early life == Statham was born in Bootle, Lancashire, England, on 13 April 1853.<ref name="DNZB Statham">{{DNZB|title=Edith Mary Statham|first= Jock|last= Phillips|id=3s32|accessdate=23 April 2017}}</ref> She was a daughter of a solicitor, William Statham, and his wife, Ellen Allen Statham.<ref name="DNZB Statham" /> When she was 10 years old, she moved to New Zealand with her family.<ref name="DNZB Statham" />

== Education == It is unknown how and where Statham got her education.<ref name="DNZB Statham" /> She was trained as a singer and nurse at Dunedin Hospital.<ref name="DNZB Statham" />

== Activities == Statham was a founding member of the "Society for the Protection of Women and Children" in Dunedin.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Women Together: A History of Women's Organisations in New Zealand : Ngā Rōpū Wāhine O Te Motu|last=New Zealand. Department of Internal Affairs. Historical Branch|publisher=Historical Branch, Department of Internal Affairs|year=1993|isbn=0908896298|location=|pages=419}}</ref> She was a secretary of the "Mimiro Ladies' Cycling Club", which she established around 1895, when she moved to Dunedin.<ref name=":0" /> Statham directed a school for many years to teach women how to cycle.<ref name=":0" /> She was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal in 1935.<ref>{{cite news | url= http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=EP19350506.2.12 | title=Official jubilee medals | date=6 May 1935 | volume=CXIX | issue=105 | newspaper=The Evening Post | accessdate=5 July 2019 | page=4}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Statham, Edith Mary}} Category:1853 births Category:1951 deaths Category:19th-century New Zealand women singers Category:English emigrants to New Zealand Category:19th-century New Zealand women musicians Category:New Zealand women nurses Category:New Zealand nurses Category:People from Bootle Category:New Zealand community activists