Class of 1927
This biography is based on secondary material and has been collated by Rennae Taylor. Permission to use material and pictures from the book “South Ardoyne to Southland: History of John and Isabella Mathieson and Descendants” has been given by June Bekuis nee Mathieson, a member of the John and Isabella Mathieson Book Committee who published the book in 1985. Gore Health has given permission to use the picture from their website of Seddon Memorial Hospital.
Contents
Family and Early Background
The Mathieson twins, Alexandra Carson (known as “Bud” or “Pod”) and Annie Carson (known as “Nan”), were born in Dunedin to William and Annie Jane (nee Fleming) Mathieson on 7 February 1900. They were not identical as Alexandra had brown hair and Annie was blonde. They had one older sister, Jane Mathew (known as “Jean”) who was born on 27 October 1895. (1)
Their father William was the fourth son of a Presbyterian Scottish couple, John and Isabella Mathieson, who emigrated with their family arriving in Port Chalmers in June 1883. They settled in the Southland farming community; first at Woodlands and later at Forest Hill. William is believed to be the first member of his family to develop a career outside of farming. In Scotland he had worked as a shop assistant but within two years of his arrival in New Zealand, at the age of nineteen, he joined the NZ police force and over the next forty years he rose to the position of police superintendent. He had received a reasonable education in the parish of Oyne in Scotland and was described as tall and strong and in later years was said to have a distinguished appearance.
He married Miss Annie Carson in Mornington, Dunedin in 1895. We have been unable to find any background information on her. Due to William’s occupation, the family lived in several different NZ communities including Tapanui, Lumsden, Invercargill, Wellington, Christchurch, Napier and Greymouth. He died in 1926 at the age of sixty and his wife Annie died in 1942. (1)
PapersPast indicates that the eldest daughter Jean received some of her education in Wellington at Hill Street Convent and St Mary’s Girls College where she was dux. (2, 3) She also excelled in both singing and the violin. (1)
It is quite possible her younger twin sisters also attended these schools and Alexandra, at the age of eleven, showed strong musical ability being reported as “quite exceptionally good for one so young’ and was the winner in the under 12 years of age violin solo in the Wellington competition. (4) At some point, the twins also attended Mornington Public School and Otago Girls High School. (5)
Jean went on to marry a fellow violinist and they often performed violin duets during their marriage. They settled in Invercargill and had four children. Jean’s sister Nan, who lived with her mother Annie and their dog “Sport”, never worked except for being a supervisor for university exams for several years. She never recovered from the death of her twin Alexandra and died an early death at the age of 39 years. (1)
Medical School and House Surgeon Years
It is unclear what influenced Alexandra to study medicine or when she commenced her studies at Otago University but in 1922, she was in the first term third year medical class picture. The women from this class picture graduated between 1924 and 1927.
Alexandra graduated with her M.B. Ch.B in 1927. (6)
Alexandra worked at Porirua Mental Hospital and Dunedin Hospital as a house surgeon throughout 1927. She was appointed medical officer at Gore Hospital in September 1928 where she was known as an efficient officer and was popular with the patients and staff. (7)
Gore Hospital, which opened in 1909, had Dr Roger Morgan as its medical superintendent from 1909 to 1951. In the book, “The Rise and Demise of a Country Hospital, Gore 1909-1999” the list of house surgeons is notable for the number of young women in the first fifty years of its existence beginning with Felicia Walmsley (class of 1926 ) and later Margaret Marion “Vida” Grater (class of 1926) who was hailed as “one of the best house surgeons Gore ever had,” and Mary Tolley (class of 1947). Employment was not easy for the early women graduates, as not all superintendents would have them; this says much about Dr Rogers’ enlightened attitudes. (8)
Tragic Death
On Saturday morning about eleven o’clock on 12 January 1929, Alexandra went into the dispensary at Gore Hospital.
A nearly 4.5 Liter glass bottle of carbolic acid was kept underneath a bench in the dispensary and had a wire handle attached to it. She lifted it from a bottom shelf, and somehow, the bottle broke, spilling the contents over her face and top of her body. The matron heard her crying out “Matron, I’ve spilled the carbolic on myself; bring me an alkali quickly.” By the time the matron had obtained the alkali, Alexandra was in a collapsed state in the nurses’ room where she had gone. She had burns on her face and much of her body. On going to the dispensary for the alkali, the matron found the broken bottle on the floor and the floor practically covered with the acid.
Alexandra became deeply unconscious very quickly and despite nearly three hours of resuscitation by the two Gore doctors, being given strychnine and stimulants and an alkali being applied to the burned areas of her body she died a few minutes before two p.m. The inquest, which was carried out that evening, determined the cause was accidental. (9)
Alexandra was buried in Dunedin City Cemetery – Southern section, block 116, plot 8A. (10)
Bibliography
- South Ardoyne to Southland: History of John and Isabella Mathieson and Descendants. Invercargill: John and Isabella Mathieson Book Committee; 1985.
- About People. Southland Times. 1914 26.01.1914. Available from: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ST19140126.2.49
- School Prizes. Evening Post. 1914 08.12.1914. Available from: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19141208.2.42
- Competitions. Dominion. 1911 02.11.1911. Available from: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19111102.2.67
- Doctor’s Tragic End. Temuka Leader. 1929 15.01.1929. Available from: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TEML19290115.2.25
- Professional Medical Registration. Otago Daily Times. 1927 01.09.1927. Available from: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19270901.2.112.1
- Women’s World. Manawatu Standard 1929 17.01.1929. Available from: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MS19290117.2.107
- Smith R. The Rise And Demise Of A Country Hospital. Gore 1909-1999. Australia: Seddon Memorial; 2005.
- Sad Fatality Lady Doctor’s Death Southland Times. 1929 14.01.1929. Available from: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ST19290114.2.83
- Cemetries Search Dunedin: Dunedin City Council; 2024 [02.08.2024]. Available from: https://www.dunedin.govt.nz/services/cemeteries/cemeteries-search?recordid=111850&type=Burial
