Conley, Annie Charlotte (Pocock) (1891–1990)

By Olga Ward

Olga Ward, M.A. (La Sierra University, California), retired in 2000 as lecturer at Pacific Adventist University in Papua New Guinea. Born in New Zealand of Australian parents, Ward has spent most of her working years as an educator in overseas countries. She currently occupies her time volunteering in various capacities. She is married to Martin and they have four children, eleven grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

First Published: January 28, 2020

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More Photos

Nurse Annie Conley in her younger years

From Arthur Patrick in Australasian Record, July 14, 1990.

Annie Pocock's parents, John and Charlotte Pocock with Annie's brother Arthur.

From Adventist Heritage, Vol. 15, No. 1, Spring 1992, page 15.

Charlotte Pocock (Annie Pocock's mother), c. 1920.

From Adventist Heritage, Vol. 15, No. 1, Spring 1992, page 16.

The Pocock family in 1907. Annie is seated in the front row, far left.

From Adventist Heritage, Vol. 15, No. 1, Spring 1992, page 16).

Annie Pocock served the community as a nurse for many years.

From Adventist Heritage, Vol. 15, no. 1, Spring 1992, page 18.

Annie took her turn feeding the calves on the farm.

From Adventist Heritage, Vol. 15, No. 1, Spring 1992.

Annie's brother, Arthur, married in July 1919. Annie is standing in back row, first on the right.

From Adventist Heritage, Vol. 15, No. 1, Spring 1992, page 19.

Annie Pocock's parents, John and Charlotte Pocock, c. 1930.

From Adventist Heritage, Vol. 15, No. 1 Spring 1992, page 15.

Nurse Pocock was known and respected as a midwife and founded a small hospital in Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia.

Early Experience

Annie Charlotte Pocock was born on January 18, 1891, to John and Charlotte Pocock in Arcadia, near Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.¹ According to the later obituary of John Pocock, there were five other surviving children. “Arthur of Eraring, . . . Mrs. C. Gersbach of Wyong, Mrs. B. Patrick of Pappinbarra, Mrs. E. L. Minchin of Wahroonga, Mrs. A. Brown of Victoria.”² One son had died in infancy.

In 1893, Annie’s parents had become Seventh-day Adventists in Parramatta as a result of a tent mission evangelistic series conducted by Pastor Robert Hare and David Steed.³ Then in the mid-1890s, John Pocock received an invitation from Ellen White to come to Avondale to assist with the “Health Food” work that was just being established.⁴ Because he was having difficulty finding work and his unwillingness to work on Sabbath, he accepted her invitation and subsequently lived for seven months in the White home while he worked as a tradesman completing the house.⁵ In 1899, the family moved to Avondale into the first manager’s home on the Avondale campus.⁶ Ellen White loaned the family clothes, a tent, and a cow. Mrs. White sometimes took Annie with her on visits in her horse-drawn vehicle, and Annie used to gather maidenhair fern for Mrs. White’s table.⁷

Education and Employment

When Annie was 20 years old, in 1911, she enrolled in the nursing course at the Sydney Sanitarium and Hospital.⁸ She graduated from her course at the end of 1915.⁹ After graduation, she was appointed to the “permanent staff of the Sydney Sanitarium.”¹⁰ After one year in Sydney, Annie was transferred to the Warburton Sanitarium and Hospital in Victoria.¹¹ In early 1920 she was invited to move back to the Sydney Sanitarium and Hospital.¹² A short time later she moved back to Cooranbong, where she established the Pine Hill Private Hospital. It was reported that as midwife, over the years to follow, Nurse Conley attended the birth of more than one thousand babies born in the hospital and the homes in the district.¹³

On October 12, 1926, Annie married Robert Conley in the Cooranbong Seventh-day Adventist Church.¹⁴ Two daughters and two sons were born to this Cooranbong family: George, Colin, Ruth (Mrs. Elwyn Radley), and Daphne (Mrs. Jack Kidd).¹⁵ Annie Charlotte Conley died on May 15, 1990, just a few months short of her 100th birthday.¹⁶

Sources

“Graduating Exercises at the Sydney Sanitarium.” Australasian Record, November 1, 1915.

Hare, R. “Conley-Pocock marriage.” Australasian Record, November 8, 1926.

“Miss Annie Pocock. . . .” Australasian Record, January 20, 1917.

Patrick, Arthur. “Life-Sketches: Annie Charlotte Conley.” Record, July 14, 1990.

Piper, A. H. “Charlotte Ann Susie Pocock obituary.” Australasian Record, September 11, 1950.

Pretyman, C. H. “The Recent Meetings of the Union Conference Committee.” Australasian Record, November 15, 1915.

Stewart, A. G. “A Link with the Early Years of Avondale Is Broken.” Australasian Record, August 19, 1946.

“That Nurse A. Pocock. . . .” Australasian Record, May 31, 1920.

“There was quite an exodus from the college. . . .” Australasian Record, November 4, 1912.

Notes

Arthur Patrick, “Life-Sketches: Annie Charlotte Conley,” Record, July 14, 1990, 13.↩
A. G. Stewart, “A Link with the Early Years of Avondale Is Broken,” Australasian Record, August 19, 1946, 3.↩
Ibid.↩
Ibid.↩
Patrick, “Life-Sketches: Annie Charlotte Conley.”↩
Stewart, “A Link with the Early Years”; A. H. Piper, “Charlotte Ann Susie Pocock obituary,” Australasian Record, September 11, 1950, 7.↩
Patrick, “Life-Sketches: Annie Charlotte Conley.”↩
“There was quite an exodus from the college . . . ,” Australasian Record, November 4, 1912, 8.↩
“Graduating Exercises at the Sydney Sanitarium,” Australasian Record, November 1, 1915, 7.↩
C. H. Pretyman, “The Recent Meetings of the Union Conference Committee,” Australasian Record, November 15, 1915, 7.↩
“Miss Annie Pocock . . . ,” Australasian Record, January 20, 1917, 8.↩
“That Nurse A. Pocock . . . ,” Australasian Record, May 31, 1920, 6.↩
Patrick, “Life-Sketches: Annie Charlotte Conley.”↩
R. Hare, “Conley-Pocock marriage,” Australasian Record, November 8, 1926, 7.↩
Ibid.↩
Patrick, “Life-Sketches: Annie Charlotte Conley.”↩