Margaret Barnett Cruickshank (1 January 1873 – 28 November 1918) was a physician, notable for being the first registered female doctor to practice medicine in New Zealand.[1]
Born in Palmerston in a family of a farmer, Cruickshank was one of seven children.[1]
Cruickshank studied at the University of Otago and was the second woman, following Emily Siedeberg, in New Zealand to complete medical school.[2] Cruickshank later continued her studies at the University of Edinburgh and University of Dublin. [1] During World War I she planned the work of the Waimate Red Cross Fund. She died from the 1918 flu pandemic.
In 1923 a memorial statue was shown at Seddon Square in Waimate.[3] The plinth was prepared by Daniel Berry and the statue was carved by William Trethewey.[4] In 1948 the maternity room in Waimate Hospital was named after her.[1]