GAWN, Annie Margaret (1912-1996). Matron of the Balclutha Hospital and member of the South Otago Hospital Board, Nancy Gawn was one of Balclutha's best-known health administrators. Born in Dunedin on 1 August 1912, to a family which had come from Northern Ireland during the gold rush, she was the eldest of six children of James Gawn, a farmer, and Jean Jubilee Miller, nee Algie. She grew up in Romahapa where her parents farmed. After education at Romahapa Primary School and Balclutha Technical School, she left school at 15 to help at home and on the farm. At 21 she began training as a nurse at Southland Hospital, and also did midwifery training in Masterton.

In 1940 she enlisted in the NZ Army Nursing Service, and travelled to Egypt with the 3rd Echelon, spending a year in a hospital set up in a hotel near Cairo. She returned to New Zealand on a hospital ship, the Maunganui, in 1941, and was on 16 of its 17 trips between Egypt and New Zealand, tending the wounded on their journey home.

After the war, she returned to Southland before undertaking a postgraduate nursing course in Wellington. She then worked in Hawera as a tutor before returning to Balclutha in 1951 as assistant matron. She also tutored in a junior state nursing course, her class achieving 100% success one year. In 1955 she was appointed Matron at Balclutha. Although a strict disciplinarian, she was generous with practical help to both patients and staff. After retiring in 1971, she was elected to the South Otago Hospital Board, remaining a member until it was taken over by the Otago Area Health board.

In her retirement she married Lyn Scott, both being ardent bridge players. She was also active in St Andrew's Presbyterian Church. Nancy Gawn died on 9 April 1996.