Naomi Higman was born at March near Orange in October 1891 to Edward Alfred Higman and his wife Ann Jane. She was the second born of three girls; a son, Walter, was born in 1896. Naomi was educated at March Public School.
Naomi’s father, Edward, was the brother of Walter Higman, proprietor of the Empire Picture Company in Lords Place. Edward, Ann and their four children later moved from Orange to Wondai in southern Queensland, where Ann operated Nurse Higman’s Private Hospital and Naomi and her sister completed their nursing training.
Naomi enlisted in Brisbane on 7 October 1918 and embarked the following week from Sydney. She disembarked at Fremantle, WA, where she served at the quarantine station.
Nurse Higman’s appointment was terminated in Brisbane in April 1919 and she returned to Wondai, where she and her family were supporters of The Red Cross Society and the Ambulance Brigade.
In 1921 Nurse Higman moved to Southport, where she founded the city’s first private hospital with her mother and sister. It was the first hospital on the Gold Coast and the only one between Tweed Heads and Brisbane at the time.
In 1932 Matron Higman was elected a life member of the Southport District Ambulance Brigade; she was also a foundation member of the Queensland Country Women’s Association. Naomi Higman died at Southport in July 1976, aged 84. She is commemorated on the March Public School Honour Roll.
Naomi’s brother, Walter, served as a Corporal with the 14th Regiment of the 9th Battalion. He died of wounds received in Belgium in June 1917.
