Be Our Guest entry: Letter, Margaret Riggir
Maker
Riggir, Margaret
Production date
15 Feb 1931
Object detail
Brief Description
Letter to the Be Our Guest competition by Margaret Riggir. A transcript of a letter to her aunt and uncle, Mr and Mrs H S Riggir in which Margaret writes about her experiences during the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake. The letter is dated February 15, 1931.
Margaret was training as a nurse at the Napier Hospital in February 1931. She was in town at the time of the earthquake and after checking that her fiance Doug Purdie was safe, made her way back to the Nurses' Home which she states she knew would not stand up to an earthquake because it was cracked in many rooms. She recalls that on arrival at the hospital, there were patients and injured people all along the road, down the hill and in the gardens. She worked her duty at the tents in McLean Park and writes of people dying around her. Margaret had nearly finished her nursing training but was among many who were told that they were on indefinite leave and that they could finish their training in other hospitals. Margaret writes of only having one light dress to wear as all her belongings were lost in the earthquake. Included is a small photocopied image of Margaret in her nurse's uniform.
Margaret was training as a nurse at the Napier Hospital in February 1931. She was in town at the time of the earthquake and after checking that her fiance Doug Purdie was safe, made her way back to the Nurses' Home which she states she knew would not stand up to an earthquake because it was cracked in many rooms. She recalls that on arrival at the hospital, there were patients and injured people all along the road, down the hill and in the gardens. She worked her duty at the tents in McLean Park and writes of people dying around her. Margaret had nearly finished her nursing training but was among many who were told that they were on indefinite leave and that they could finish their training in other hospitals. Margaret writes of only having one light dress to wear as all her belongings were lost in the earthquake. Included is a small photocopied image of Margaret in her nurse's uniform.
Maker
Production date
15 Feb 1931
Production place
Production period
Production technique
Media/Materials description
A4 printed sheets, typed. Photocopied photograph.
Media/Materials
Measurements
In the Be Our Guest Folder No 2.: Height x Width: 298 x 210mm
Classification terms
Subject person
Subject period
Subject date
03 Feb 1931
Credit line
gifted by Rae Nicholls
Other number(s)
m2006/27/70, 34461
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