Sister Dora

Sister Dora (born Dorothy Wyndlow Pattison, 16 January 1832, at Hauxwell, Yorkshire; died 1878) was a 19th century nurse in Walsall, Staffordshire.

She was the second-youngest child of the Rev. Mark James Pattison, and sister of the scholar Mark Pattison Jnr. From 1861-1864, she ran the village school at Little Woolstone, Buckinghamshire. In the autumn of 1864, she joined the Sisterhood of the Good Samaritans at Coatham, Middlesbrough.

She was known for her compassion.

Recognition
There is a statue of her in Walsall, reputedly the UK's first public statue of a woman not of royal blood. It was unveiled on 11 October 1886, by a Mr. B Beebee.

A stained glass window, at St. Matthew's Church there, was dedicated to her in 1882. A British Rail Class 31 diesel locomotive (31 430) was named after her and then later a British Rail Class 37 diesel loco (37 116, now in preservation on the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway) received the name from the Class 31. Also, the Midland Metro has a tram named after her. The main road through her home village of Woolstone, Milton Keynes is called Pattison Lane.

An annual church service is held in her memory in Walsall.