Selina Sutherland

Selina Murray McDonald Sutherland (26 December 1839 – 8 October 1909) was a notable New Zealand nurse and social worker. She was born in Culgower, Sutherlandshire, Scotland in 1839. She came to New Zealand in 1865 and went to her sister in Gladstone in the Wairarapa. Trained in medicine, she helped many people during their illness, as the area lacked any medical provisions. She was the driving force behind the hospital in Masterton being established in 1879. In the same year, she became matron at Wellington Hospital, but left in the following year after disputes with management. From 1881, she lived in Melbourne, Australia, where she died in 1909 from pleurisy and pneumonia. She is commemorated in Wairarapa Hospital by a memorial tablet.