Dorothy Wyndlow Pattison, ‘Sister Dora’

Dorothy Wyndlow Pattison (1832-1878) known as ‘Sister Dora’, was a compassionate Anglican nun and nurse with ideals of thrift and hard work. She arrived in Walsall in 1865 and developed a close tie with the local community. Her devotion to her patients became legendary. Always at hand in time of crisis, she nursed through a smallpox epidemic, horrific factory accidents and a pit disaster. She turned the local hospital into a national model of economic efficiency. When she died, thousands lined Bridge Street to pay their respects. She is renowned as the first woman, apart from members of the royal family, to be commemorated in a full-size statue. The original sculpture in Sicilian marble was unveiled in October 1886, but in 1956 money was raised by public subscription to replace the very weathered marble with a bronze cast, which stands on a polished Peterhead granite pedestal with bronze reliefs. A plaster cast of the statue, which formerly stood in the Council House foyer in Lichfield Street, was moved in 2010 and installed at Walsall Manor Hospital.

Location: The Bridge, Walsall, West Midlands.