Margaret Cruickshank memorial, Memorial statue in Waimate, New Zealand.

The Margaret Cruickshank memorial is a marble statue in Waimate depicting a woman in academic dress holding a Bible. The figure rests on a base inscribed with a phrase that honors the life and values of the person commemorated.

The memorial was created in 1923 by a sculptor to honor a woman who was New Zealand's first registered female doctor. She died during a major pandemic that swept through the country in the early twentieth century.

Cruickshank is shown in academic robes, not medical clothing, holding a Bible in her left hand. The base reads "The Beloved Physician/Faithful unto Death". For many years a bowl of fresh flowers was placed at the foot of the memorial, a local custom of remembrance.

The memorial sits in a public area of Waimate and is easy to reach on foot. The location provides enough space to walk around and examine the details of the statue and its base closely.

Before carving, Trethewey made a plaster cast and put it in a shop window in Waimate so residents could comment on it; he then returned to his Christchurch workshop to cut the Italian Carrara marble. The finished figure stands 3.3 metres tall, and for many years a bowl of fresh flowers was placed at its foot.