Maker: Elizabeth Douch

Panel number: 166

Petition Sheet Number: 204

Person honouring: Eliza Putman

Relationship to makers: Great-great-grandmother

Eliza Putman was born Elizabeth Beasley in Limehouse London. She married Thomas Putman in 1853 and resided in Whitechapel. While raising her family of four (three daughters and one son), she worked at the St Thomas Hospital where she learnt her nursing skills. 

Eliza emigrated with her family to Napier, New Zealand in 1874. She was appointed first matron of the Waipukurau Hospital and received accolades found in Parliamentary reports for her excellent level of care and success in nursing patients to achieve low mortality rates.

Panel materials: Recycled materials from family sources. The only purchases were the purple and green fabric - colours used by the suffragette movement in the East End of London where Eliza hailed from.