Biographical entry: Woods, Christine M. (1906 - )
- Born
- 1906
Details
Matron Christine Woods, born in 1906, came to the BSIP in September 1934 as a nursing sister with the Melanesian Mission (q.v.). She remained in the Protectorate during the Japanese occupation, running a hospital in the hills behind Auki, until she was ordered to leave to avoid capture. After the war she returned to the Melanesia Mission until 1951 when she transferred to government service as Matron of Central Hospital in Honiara. She retired in November 1961. 'Woodsie' was something of a permanent institution in the Protectorate, and in 1973 she was given a special ceremony to celebrate her almost fourty years with the Mission. During her years in the Solomons she helped establish five hospitals on Malaita, Isabel, Nggela and the Reef Islands. During her ten years at Central Hospital she helped establish the School of Nursing. She was awarded an O.B.E. in 1975. (NS Nov. 1961; Knox-Mawer 1986, 128-29; SND 20 June 1975, 4 July 1975)
Related entries
Published resources
Books
- Knox-Mawer, June, Tales From Paradise: Memories of the British in the South Pacific, Ariel Books, BBC Pubications, London, 1986. Details