Copyright © 1998-2023 Dawn E. Monroe. All rights
reserved
|
ISBN: 0-9736246-0-4 |
Dentists
|
Grace Elizabeth
Armstrong |
Born 1867?, New Zealand. Died January 5,
1960, Regina, Saskatchewan. Grace graduated from Otage
University, Dundin, New Zealand. In 1908 she
immigrated to Regina, Saskatchewan with her younger
sister, Nora, a graduate nurse sho became one of the
first public health nurses in the city. Dr. Grace
Armstrong opened a private practice in the city. During
the First World War she became a public School Dentist
serving 1917 through 1935. She supported women's
suffrage and was active in several woman's organizations
including the University Women's Club and the Women's
Canadian Club. She was also a member of the Natural
Historical Society and the Society for prevention of
Cruelty to Animals. Source;
Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan online (accessed 2022)
|
Emma Casgrain 3947 |
née Gaudreau. Born June 1861, Montmagny, Quebec.
Died 1934. As a young woman she was educated by the
Ursuline Sisters. In 1879 she married Dr. Henri-Edmond
Casgrain (1846-1912) a dental surgeon, inventor, and
alderman in Quebec City. Emma worked and trained with
her husband in his dental practice. She
graduated from the Dental
College of the Province of Quebec (now part of McGill
University of Dentistry) in 1898 and became the
first woman in Quebec to be officially admitted to the
profession of Dentistry. She continued
her practice until 1920. Quebec City placed a
plaque on the house where she lived in recognition of
her achievement.
(2022) |
Louise Olive
Cole
0001 |
Born Cobourg, Ontario. Louise
attended Winnipeg public schools and secondary schools
and the before earning a degree in dentistry from the
University of Manitoba. She went on to earn a dental
degree from the Dental College at Northwestern
University, Chicago, Illinois, USA then did
postgraduate work at the Dewey School of Orthodontia in
New York City, USA. She returned to Winnipeg to work as
a dental surgeon. She was a member of the Winnipeg
Dental Society, Women’s Canadian Club, and the
University Women’s Club
where she served as President in 1934-1936. She was also
a member of Omicron Kappa Epsilon of Northwestern
University, Delta Sigma Phi Sorority, and American
Orthodontia Society.
(2021) |
Annie Sadie
MacKenzie 3948 |
Born in Nova Scotia. Died 1941, Toronto,
Ontario. Annie earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at
Dalhousie University, Halifax, where she earned an Avery
Prize in 1911 for distinction in physics, political
economy, history, and philosophy. She continued
her education with post-graduate studies at the
University of Washington, U.S.A. Relocating to
Vancouver, British Columbia she taught high school of
several years. Relocating once again, she attended the
Dental School of Ontario in Toronto graduating in 1922.
Dr. MacKenzie then moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba to run
her dental clinic until 1930. Closing her clinic
she spent two years in scientific research in biological
chemistry at the University of Toronto. She is known to
have practiced privately in Toronto for the five years
leading up to her death. Source: A
Real Girl and a Real Dentist: Ontario Women Dental
Graduates of the 1920's by Tracey L. Adams online
(accessed 2022) |
Arrabelle MacKenzie -McCallum
3949 |
Born March 22, 1895, Cape Breton, Nova
Scotia. Died March 28, 1984. When she was eleven she lost a
leg after infection from stepping on a rusty nail. Not
to be held back she used a wooden leg, Emelyn Laura
Mackenzie (1891-1977) and after primary
school attended Sydney Academy in Cape Breton. Arrabelle
then taught school for a year on the Canadian prairies.
Back in Nova Scotia in 1914 she attended Dalhousie
University with her sister. In 1918 she was the student
vice-president and switched her studies to dentistry. In
1918 her sister Emelyn became the first woman to
graduate in law from Dalhousie.. In May
1919 Arrabelle
became the first woman to graduated with a doctor of
dental surgery degree from Dalhousie University.
Traveling to Boston, Massauchetts, U.S.A. she studied at
the Forsythe Dental Infirmary for children to learn
about paediatric dentistry.
March 1, 1920 the Massachusetts-Halifax Health
Commission opened to help those in north
end ship yards of Halifax after the great Halifax
Explosion. This was the
first paediatric dental service organized in Canada.
Arrabelle handled 8.000 appointments a year. In 1921 she
met Dr. Archie McCallum (died 1964) a navel officer.
October 3, 1922 the two were married. After Archie left
the navy in 1924 the couple settled in Toronto, Ontario
and opened a joint practice. The couple had one
daughter. Archie was called to serve with the coming of
World War ll and in 1944 the family moved to Ottawa.
Arrabelle worked with the Ottawa Collegial Institute
Board as a high school dentist for six low income
schools. The couple retired from their profession in
1952. In 2019 the firs Arrabelle MacKenzie Bursary was
presented at Dalhousie University.
Source: 'Arrabelle MacKenzie Our First
Female Dentistry Graduate' by Deanna Foster in Alumni
Anchor 2019-2020 online (accessed 2022) |
R. Hélène L. Shingles
0002 |
Born
August 12,1917, Poland. March 2009, Sarnia,
Ontario. During world war ll
Hélène
was working in a Warsaw, Poland hospital
when she was arrested and taken to a concentration camp by the notorious
German Nazi regime. She was eventually liberated from a forced labour camp by the
Allied Forces. It took her two years to recover from the horrendous camp life. Once
recovered she joined at United Nations team of doctors traveling across
Europe helping displace war victims. In 1950 she emigrated to Canada
settling in Sarnia, Ontario, where she worked at odd jobs putting herself
through dental school. She retired from her dental practice after 20 years
of service. After her career as a dentist, Hélène started to
volunteer for Meals-on-Wheels to bring food to the homes of people who were
ill or older and unable to cook for themselves. She noticed many meals went uneaten. She found out that this was because of dental problems. She founded
a charitable Dental Health Centre and volunteered her services to help out. Her
dedication and service of others has not gone unnoticed. Dental association,
her home city, her home province all honoured her. In 1997 she became a
Member of the Order of Canada. This polish immigrant has truly honoured her
Canadian citizenship. (2021) |
Caroline Louise
Josephine Wells
0003 |
née
Irwin. Born August 1856, Aurora, Upper Canada (now
Ontario). Died March 17, 1939, Toronto, Ontario. Josephine
married a farmer, a teacher, and eventually by 1882 a dentist,
John Wells (died 1904) on March 9, 1877. The couple had five children, three
of whom survived to become adults. She assisted her dentist husband in his
office located in their home. After her husband became ill she decided to
apply to formal study to become a dentist. Family helped Josephine in her
studies by taking care of her children. By October
20,
1893
Josephine Wells was the
1st woman to graduate from the Royal College of Dental
Surgeons of Ontario and the first woman licensed in dentistry in
Ontario and possibly in Canada. The Ontario Dental Society
elected her an Honorary Member with voting privileges.
She went on to receive her doctorate degree from the
Trinity College in 1899. Josephine practiced her
profession for 36 years in Toronto. She provided dental
services at provincial mental hospitals in Toronto, Mimico, Hamilton, Orillia, and at the infamous Ontario
Mercer Reformatory for Females. Josephine retired in
1928.
Source: D C B (2021) |
Educator in
Medicine
Return
to categories
|
Meridith
Belle
Marks
0004 |
Born March 24, 1962, Channel
Post-au Basques, Newfoundland. Died April 22, 2012,
Ottawa, Ontario. Meridith attended the University of
Waterloo, Ontario and gained a keen interest in
medicine. She returned to Newfoundland to attend
Memorial University with a special interest in physical
medicine and rehabilitation. She worked at the
Rehabilitation centre in Ottawa after her June 1989
marriage Peter Bruneau. The couple had one child who
died in infancy. She earned her Masters in Education and
taught students to bring out the best in their
profession. Her work was recognized by multiple care and
teaching awards. She worked as Assistant Dean at the
Academy of Innovation in Medical Education that she
founded at the University of Ottawa in 2006.
Submitted by June Coxon,
Ottawa Ontario.
(2021) |
Nurses
Return
to categories
|
In the early 1900's one of the main
professions that opened up to women was to become a trained nurse. At the
beginning of World War l in 1914 there were not enough Nuns to do nursing of
the wounded so in January 1915 the Canadian government put out the call for
trained nurses to serve in the war. At first there were 70 positions and
2,000 trained certified nurses applied. During
World War 1 (1914-1918) 3,141 trained nurses enlisted with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps. 2,500 of these nurses served overseas. They were given the
rank of lieutenant making them the first women in the Commonwealth to be
officers in the military. The Canadian Nursing Sisters were nicknamed
'bluebirds' since their uniforms were a light blue double-breasted blouse with and
open collar and a long blue skirt. They wore a white veil head
covering and a white apron was worn over top of the uniform. They were paid
$4,10 a day with room and board included. These courageous and
adventuresome women provided medical services for Canadian and Allied troops
and enemy prisoners of war at the war near the front in Europe and they operated
treatment facilities and hospitals in rear areas of France, Belgium, and the
United Kingdom. Some 50 Nursing Sisters were casualties of disease or enemy
action such as bombings, or sinking of ships. The women earned the admiration
and affection of their patients who referred to them as Sisters of Mercy or
Angels of Mercy. I have included in this listing of nurses over 300 stories
of these courageous and adventuresome women as samples of the dedication of
the over 3,000 women who served. |
Elvina
'Eva' Adams
0005 |
née Sinclair. Born November 22,
1898, Shoal Lake, Manitoba. Died December 13, 1990, Neepawa, Manitoba. Eva
took her early education there then attended nurses training in Neepawa
General Hospital in Manitoba, beginning in February 1918. Nursing duties at
the time included milking cows for the patients’ meal trays. She worked at
the hospital during the influenza epidemic of 1918, and was also one of the
nurses who volunteered at private residences in order to contain the
illness. She was at the hospital for the second outbreak of
influenza in April 1919. She nursed in Russell, Manitoba
and Spy Hill, Saskatchewan, before settling down again at
the Birtle, Manitoba, General Hospital. In November 1922, she
married William R. Adams and the couple had four
children. She worked with the Red Cross
as a Home Nurse and at blood donor clinics. In 1982 she
wrote her autobiography, Diary of a Nurse, providing a written legacy of
being a nursing student from 1918 though 1921.
Sources: Memorable Manitobans, Manitoba Historical Society Online (Accessed December
2011); Diary of a Nurse by Eva Adams Manitoba History
no. 14, autumn 1987. (2020) (2021) |
Mary Ellen 'Minnie'
Affleck - Wolfe
Nursing Sister during Boer War
0006 |
née Affleck. Born May 28,
1874, Middleville, Ontario. Died March 21, 1956, Vancouver, British
Columbia. Minnie, like so many young women of her
generation,
taught school after graduating high school After she had save enough money
she nursing at the Kingston General Hospital Training School for Nurses in
Ontario.
Minnie worked for a year in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. prior to returning to
Canada to work at the Ottawa Children's Hospital. Within a few months
she was one of the first four women who enlisted to
serve as a nursing sister in the Boer War 1899-1901
serving with the 1st Canadian Contingent under Nursing Matron
Georgina Pope (1862-1938). This was the 1st time
the Canadian military had sent nursing sisters on overseas assignment.
The Nursing Sisters serving in the Boer War were granted the
equal rank and pay to that of lieutenant. On her return from the Boer War
she was greeted as a heroine in her home area. She was met in Perth Ontario,
by a reception committee and a procession complete with bands wound its way
through Lanark County for 19 miles to Middleville where there was a
torchlight parade to welcome her home. Minnie received the Queen's South
African War Medal for her services in South Africa. In 1900, after having had
time to recuperate from the war, she was posted to work in Vancouver,
British Columbia. In 1912 she married Adolphus Wolfe (1881-1956) and the
couple had two children. In 1913 she retired from the military and became
active for the rest of her life in the Boer War Veterans Association. She
would marry a second time to Jack George Mitchell.
(2021) |
Lizzie Ramsay Aikman
World War l Nursing Sister
3266 |
Born October 20,
1883, Whitburn, Scotland. Died December 3, 1931, Brandon, Manitoba. Lizzie
trained as a nurse at Craig House Private Nursing Home, Edinburgh, Scotland.
In 1909 she immigrated to Canada. She graduated from the Winnipeg General
Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in 1912. She began her career as an
operating room nurse at a private doctor's hospital. IN 1914 she was an
assistant Operating Room Nurse at WGH. That year she was one of three nurses
chosen to represent Manitoba in the British Red Cross. Overseas, after a
short stay in London, England she served in Malta at the residence of the
governor. Returning to London she was posted to the No. 12 Canadian
General Hospital, France and later to NO. 10 Casualty Clearing Station in
England. In June 1918 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps (CAMC) and was stationed at the Canadian Military
Hospital at Shorncliffe. Back in Canada she was posted to No. 10
Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg. She was discharged in
1923. She worked as Matron at the Brandon Mental Hospital in Manitoba and
then did some private duty nursing. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1912. online (accessed 2021)
|
Margaret Allemang
0007 |
Born July 19, 1914, Toronto,
Ontario. Died April 14, 2005. Chronic illness as a child made her formal
education a longer process than for most people. However, she was not
deterred and at 22 she entered the School for Nursing at the University of
Toronto. She began her working career at the Toronto General Hospital and
then volunteered for service during World War ll. After the war she took
advantage of educational opportunities for veterans and returned to
university studies at U of T to earn a BA and Bachelor of Science in
Nursing. She became a teacher of nursing science at Belleville General
Hospital. In 1951 she returned to teach at the School of Nursing at
University of Toronto. She continued her personal post graduate studies at
the University of Washington in Seattle, U.S.A. Her thesis was on nursing
history. It was the beginning of a lifetime interest in all things historic
and nursing. She interviewed nursing sisters from both world wars. She
collected stories, photos, uniforms and all sorts of memorabilia. In 1987
she and Barbara Keddy of Dalhousie University inaugurated the Canadian
Association for the History of Nursing. She was also a kingpin of the
Ontario Society of the History of Nursing incorporated in 1993 as the
Margaret M. Allemang Centre for History of Nursing.
(2021) |
Edith
May Allison
3225
World War 1 Nursing Sister |
Born May 14, 1878,
Marysville, Ontario. Died July 10, 1933, Calgary, Alberta. Edith graduated
from the Nursing School, Bellville, Ontario, in 1898. A few years later she
moved with her family to Calgary, Alberta. Edith enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) April 5, 1917. She served
overseas in Brighton, England and No. 2 Canadian Stationary Hospital,
Otreau, France. Back in Canada after the war she served at Colonel Belcher,
Hospital, Calgary. Discharged in January 1920 she worked as Matron in
Charge until 1933. In 1934 the Calgary Branch of the United Empire
Loyalist's Association furnished a room in the Colonel Belcher Veterans
Hospital in her honour. Source: Nurses of
World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Mabel Hilda
Allison -
Fetterly 3226
World War 1 Nursing Sister |
née Allison.
Born January 27, 1887, Demorestville, Ontario. Died April 16, 1976,
Belleville, Ontario. Mabel graduated from the Toronto Western Hospital
School of Nursing in 1914. She was working in Toronto when World War 1 broke
out. She enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC) on April 21, 1918. She was posted to Niagara Camp in Canada and later
overseas in Thorncliffe, Brighton, Bramshott and Orpington, England. She
returned to Canada at the end of the war. She worked as a nurse at the
Ontario School for the Deaf, Belleville, Ontario. She was a member of the
Albert College Guild . July 11, 1934 she married Hiram Bingham Fetterly.
Source: Nurses of World War 1 by Donald
Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Agnes Estelle
Alpaugh
World War 1 Nursing Sister |
Born July 5, 1891,
St. Jean Quebec. . Died October 12, 1918, Fredericton, New Brunswick. Agness
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC)
July 4, 1918. Agnes served at the Fredericton Military Hospital, New
Brunswick. She died from the Spanish flu in a military hospital in New
Brunswick. This was her second attack of influenza.
Source: [Canada] A Tribute to Some Women and Men Who Served in Armed
Conflict online (accessed 2021) |
Isobel Anderson
0009 |
née Rae. Born Fe bruary
18, 1910, Toronto, Ontario. Died December 5, 1999. Isobel
graduated from nursing in 1929 from Grace Hospital,
Toronto. In 1933 she married Fred Benham (d 1938). She
became ill with tuberculosis and spent four yeas in
sanitariums and at the same time endured the death of
her infant son. She returned to nursing in 1937 and
became a widow a year later. She volunteered at the
Chinese United Church, Toronto, working with young girls.
In 1943 she entered the United Church Training School.
Graduating in 1945 her 1st appointment as a Deaconess
Candidate was at a United Church in Brantford, Ontario.
Isobel became a designated Deaconess on May 28, 1947 and
worked at the Dixie Work Camp. Here she met the Reverend
Norrie Anderson and In June 1948 they married. She gave up being a Deaconess as a married woman. By
1950 the couple were serving in Scotland. After the
death of her husband in 1952 Isobel replaced him in the
pulpit. She moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, and served as
a Deaconess with the Church of Scotland. She served as a
Dormitory Matron at King Edward's School in Surry
England prior to returning to Canada in July 1954.
Isobel worked at the United Church's Five Oaks Centre in
Ontario and took a refresher courts in nursing. Nursing
wages were higher than wages of a Deaconess so Isobel
worked at the Lambert Lodge for 14 years being Director
of Nursing the last six years. Isobel retired from
nursing to care for her mother in 1969. She volunteered
at St. Andrew's United Church, Toronto and started her
own seniors home.
Source: Deaconess History of the United Church of Canada
online. (2021) |
Maude Anderson 4341 |
née Dolphin. Born 1915. Died 1995. Maude earned
her Diploma in Nursing from the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, Quebec in
1944. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Nursing in 1947 from the McGill
University, Montreal. From 1947 through 1953 she taught at the Vancouver
General Hospital School of Nursing in British Columbia. Moving on in 1953
she joined the World Heal Organization of the United Nations establishing
nursing school in Dacca, Pakistan and Mauritius. Returning to Canada
in 1959 she continued to study at the University of of Seattle. In 1961
through 1966 she was Director of Nursing at Nanaimo General Hospital,
British Columbia. She served as Director of Nursing at Maple Ridge Hospital,
British Columbia from 1973 through 1980. She was an active member of the
Registered Nurses' Association of British Columbia (R N A B C) serving on
numerous committees. In 1989 she was presented with the Award of Excellence
in Nursing Administration from the R N A B C.
(2023) |
M. Jean Anderson 4342 |
Born 1918. Died 2013, New
Brunswick. As a young woman Jean had cared for her dying mother and decided
that she would study nursing. She graduated from the Montreal General
Hospital School of Nursing and spend 16 years working in Montreal and then
Vancouver, British Columbia. She completed her Diploma in Schools of Nursing
Administration from McGill University, Montreal. She served as Directory of
Nursing Services at the Victoria Public Hospital, Fredericton, New Brunswick
and during this time took study leave to earn her Bachelor of Nursing from
Columbia University, New York City, U.S.A. In 1964 she became President of
the New Brunswick Association of Registered Nurses (N B A R N) and in 1968
was appointed as executive director. She retired in 1976. She was also a
welcome volunteer with the New Brunswick Mental Health Association as well
as the Heart and Stroke Foundation. In 1977 she was presented with the Queen
Elizabeth ll Silver Jubilee Medal and two years later was given an honourary
life membership with the N B A R N. In 1992 she received the 125th
Anniversary of Canadian Confederation Commemorative Medal.
Source: Memorial Book, Canadian Nurses' Association. online
(accessed 2023) |
Pearl Anderson - Boal 3828 |
Born December 26, 1923, Ninette, Manitoba. Died 1986,
Brampton, Ontario. Pearl grew up on her parents farm near Gibbs,
Saskatchewan. She enlisted in the Women's Division of the Royal Canadian Air
Force in 1941. She served in administrative roles as various postings across
the country. At the end of the war in 1945 Pear studied nursing. She Married
December 18, 1948 a former service man and engineer, Earl William Boal
(1921-2010). She helped the family finances working as a home care nurse.
Source: Saskatchewan Legion, Military Service Book,
online (accessed 2022) |
Alba Elizabeth Andrew
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3110 |
Born September 23,
1884, Newdale, Manitoba. Died May 26, 1949, Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1909 Alba
Graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing.
April 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted to the Moore Barracks Hospital,
Shorncliffe, England, No. 2 Canadian General Hospital and No. 2 Casualty
Clearing Station in France. She returned to Winnipeg in January 1919.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. online (accessed 2021) |
Maude Annie
Andrews
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3277 |
Born January 5,
1887, Swindon, England. In 1913 Maude graduated from the Winnipeg General
Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing, Manitoba. After graduation she relocated
to Saskatchewan. In 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps (CAMC) as part of the Saskatchewan Nurses' Unit. Overseas
she was posted to Granville Canadian Stationary Hospital, Ramsgate, and then
to Shorncliffe, England. She then served at No. 8 Canadian Stationary
Hospital, France and No. 15 Canadian General Hospital, The Duchess of
Connaught's Red Cross Hospital, England. After the war she settled in
San Francisco, California, U.S.A. working as a private nurse. Died
1960, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1913.. online (accessed 2021) |
Augusta
Edith Ariss
0010
|
Born 1871*, Guelph, Ontario. Died
January 9, 1952, Grand Falls, Montana, U.S.A. Augusta
took her studies at the Guelph General Hospital
Nursing School graduating as a Registered Nurse. She
then graduated from the Toronto Methodist Deaconess Home
and Training School in 1900. She worked with the Fred
Victor Mission in Toronto for her Deaconess internship.
Working in Toronto she did what was called 'rescue work'
which today would be called being a street nurse
dealing with the homeless and prostitutes. She was a
familiar figure riding her three wheel bicycle though
slum areas of the city. She went on a two year loan
program to to Grand Falls, Montana, U.S.A. and her
work at the Grand Falls Methodist Hospital became her
life career. In 1905 she started the nursing school and
served as the Superintendent of the Hospital and the
School for 30 years. The school had strong religious
requirements including nursing students to attend daily
chapel prior to going on duty. *some
records indicate 1877.
Source: Deaconess History of the United Church of
Canada. Online 2019 (2021) |
Evelyn Mary Aston -Simister
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3288 |
née Aston.
Born October
13, 1889, Grenfell, Saskatchewan. Died January 14, 1971, Port Burwell,
Ontario. Evelyn graduated in 1914 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH)
School of Nursing. She worked at the Regina Hospital, Saskatchewan and then
the Royal Jubilee Hospital, Victoria, British Columbia. In 1917 she
joined the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service. Overseas she
worked for a year at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley, Hants, England
before she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Military
Corps (CAMC) in February 1918. She was then posted to No. 14 Canadian
General Hospital, Brighton, England. After the war she served as a private
nurse in Winnipeg before she married Alexander Simister. The couple settled
to Ingersoll, Ontario. Source: Health Sciences Centre
Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1914, online (accessed 2021) |
Alfreda Jenness Attrill
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3108 |
Born July 31, 1877,
Minden, Ontario. Died October 14, 1970, Winnipeg, Manitoba. She was
christened Isabella Jane but legally changed her name to Alfreda Jenness
Attrill, taking the name of her stepfather in 1904. Her family moved to
Manitoba when she was an infant and her mother left her father and took the
children to Bismark, North Dakota, U.S.A. By 1894, the mother was a widow
and she moved her family back to Manitoba. Alfreda studied at Normal School
after high school earning her teaching certificate in 1896. She would
teach for a couple of years in Dauphin, Manitoba until the death of her
mother in 1899. From 1898 through 1906 she worked at various jobs to support
herself and her siblings. By 1909 she had graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing and worked on staff at the WGH. In
1912 she took a military Nursing Course in Kingston, Ontario, and joined the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) reserve nursing service. In 1914 she was
working at the Winnipeg Public Health Department for a short time prior to
enlisting as a Nursing Sister with the CAMC. She served at No. 2 Canadian
Stationary Hospital, Le Touquet, France, Salonika, Greece, Malta, and in
England at No. 4 Canadian Military Hospital, Basingstoke and No 10 Granville
Canadian Special Hospital, Buxton. Returning to Winnipeg after the war she
worked at the city's Department of Public Health until 1943. In 1924 she
became the Superintendent of the Fort Gary Division of the St. John's
Ambulance. In 1966 she was proclaimed a Dame of Grace of the St. John
Ambulance Association and a year later she was named a Dame of Justice.
Source: Health Sciences Centre
Archives, Winnipeg, online, (accessed 2021) |
Patricia Hill Bailey
0011 |
Born fall 1947, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Died November 15,
2017, Sudbury, Ontario. Patricia earned her nursing
diploma from Grace Hospital, Winnipeg, Manitoba in
1966. Desiring to further her knowledge of her chosen
profession she studied at McGill University, Montreal
for her undergraduate years and went on to earn her
Master's at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
Still pushing forward she studied at the University of
Edinburgh, Scotland, and earned her PhD. While working at
the emergency department at the Queensway General
Hospital in Toronto, she met and married Bruce Bailey.
The couple settled in Sudbury in Northern Ontario and
raised two children. Patricia would teach her beloved
nursing at Laurentian University in Sudbury for 30
years. In 2014 she became a professor Emeritus. Along
the way of her career she was presented with the Queen's
Golden Jubilee Medal as a person who has made significant
contribution to Canada, to their community and to their
fellow Canadians.
(2021) |
Ruth Bailey
3313
Black Nurse |
Born Toronto, Ontario. Ruth
had applied to Ontario nursing schools but was rejected each time. Ruth's
sister Doris, discouraged with rejection at Ontario nursing schools chose to
train in Tennessee, U.S.A. while Ruth applied and was accepted in the
Canadian Maritimes. Ruth and Gwennyth Barton were the
first Black Nurses to earn a diploma in nursing in Canada. They graduated in
1948 from Grace Maternity Hospital School of Nursing, Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1948.
Prior to this time, Canadian Nursing Schools did not accept non white women
as students and Black women wishing to study nursing had to study in the
U.S.A. where Black nurses could be educated since 1870. Ruth would go
on to study Public Health Nursing at the University of Toronto and worked in
Chatham, Ontario. (updated 2023) |
Miriam Eastman Baker
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3402 |
Born August 20,
1886, London, England. Died October 17, 1918, Clivedon, England. Miriam
graduated from Saint-Rubis Hospital training for nurses, New York, U.S.A. in
1915. By October 1917 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps (CAMC) in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She was posted overseas to
the No. 16 Canadian General Hospital and No 15 Canadian General Hospital.
She was admitted to No. 15 Canadian General Hospital October 3, 1918 and
shortly died from bronchopneumonia. She is buried Cliveden War Cemetery,
Buckinghamshire, England. Source: [Canada] A
Tribute to Some Women and Men who Have Died in Conflict. online (accessed
2021). |
Dorothy Mary Yardwood Baldwin
3885 |
Born October 10, 1891, Toronto, Ontario. Died May 30, 1918,
Doullens, France. Dorothy was born a twin but sadly her sister died in
infancy. Dorothy studied nursing at the Victoria Hospital School of Nursing,
London, Ontario. On the day she graduated she enlisted with as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corp to serve during World War l. She
arrived in France on July 25, 1917. she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with
the Canadian Army Medical Corps. While serving at No. 3 Canadian
Stationary Hospital, Etaples, Frances she was killed in the operating room
when the camp was bombed by enemy aircraft. Two other Nursing sisters
Eleanor Lyal Pringle (1893-1918) and Agnes MacPherson (1891-1918) were also
killed during the bombing. Her name appears on the plaque at Queen's Park,
Toronto dedicated to the Nursing Sisters who died in the First World War as
well as in the Book of Remembrance, Ottawa and the War Memorial, Halifax,
Nova Scotia. |
Pauline Douglas Ballock
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3301 |
Born February 23m
1882, Centreville, New Brunswick. Pauline graduated as a nurse and was
working in Toronto when World War 1 broke out. In the spring of 1917 she
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC).
Overseas she served at No. 3 Canadian Stationary hospital BEF, France. She
returned home to New Brunswick after the war.
Source: Canadian Nursing Sisters Harold A. Skaarup. Online (accessed
2021) |
Sibella 'Bey/Bay' Annie
Barrington
0012 |
Born December 4, 1867, Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia. Died
December 7, 1929, Saint John, New Brunswick. She was
called 'Bey' (sometimes spelled Bay) from 1901 through
1904 she attended the Aberdeen School of Nursing in New
Glasgow, Nova Scotia. She followed these studies with
post graduate work in Chicago, Ireland and London
England. She volunteered in the recovery during the
Halifax explosion in 1916 and was made a life member in
the British Red Cross. By 1917 she was set up in Halifax
in private practice. From 1918-1923 she was
superintendent at the Halifax Infant Home. She became an
Registered Nurse when Nova Scotia opened its registration of nurses in
1922. She was a member and served as president of the
Graduate Nurses Association of Nova Scotia. By 1924 she
was working with children through the Red Cross. She was
by all accounts a gifted speaker and lectured about Home
Nursing classes linking support from various
organizations throughout the province. By 1928 she was
Port Nurse at Saint John, New Brunswick. She was well
remembered for her skills, service and dedication to her
profession.
Source:
D C B vol. 15 1921-1930 (2021) |
Gwennyth Barton 4296
Black Nurse |
Born Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Gwennyth Barton and Ruth Bailey were the first Black Nurses to earn a
diploma in nursing in Canada. They graduated in 1948 from Grace Maternity
Hospital School of Nursing, Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1948.
Prior to this time, Canadian nursing schools did not accept non white women
as students and Black women wishing to study nursing had to study in the
U.S.A. where Black nurses could be educated since 1870.(2023) |
Sheela Basrur 4308 |
Born October 17, 1956,
Toronto, Ontario. Died June 2, 2008, Kitchener Ontario. Sheela grew up in
Guelph, Ontario and attended the University of Western Ontario, London, to
obtain her Bachelor of Science in1979. She continued her education earning
her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Toronto in 1982. She returned
to Guelph where fo a year she had a private practice. She spent a year in
India in the mid 1980's where she became interested in public Health. She
earned a Master of Heal Science in 1987 from the UofT. During her residency
she was an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences
at UofT. In 1998 she became the Medical Officer of Health for the new
amalgamated city of Toronto. She gained recognition in 2003 during the
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (S A R S) outbreak in Toronto. She
contributed articles to the Canadian Journal of Public Health. She arranged
for the city program that required restaurants to post health inspection
results in their windows and worked on a citywide ban on cigarette smoking
in 20014. In 2004 she was appoined Chied medical Officer of Health and
Assistant Deputy Minister of Public Health in Ontario. In 2007 she was
granted life membership in the Ontario Public Health Association (O P H A) A
oncology nursing fellowship was established in her name by the Registered
Nurses' Foundation of Ontario and the O P H A created an award for social
justice in her honour. The Headquarters of the Ontario Agency for Health
Protection and Promotion are located in the Sheela Basrur Centre. She
was inductd posthumously into the order of Ontario shortly after her death.
(2023) |
Bertha Baumann
0013 |
Born September 1,1916, Arbuthnot, Saskatchewan. Died April 19,
2005, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Bertha had worked for two years at
St. Joseph’s Hospital in Gravelbourg before entering the
Grey Nuns Order on February 5,1939. She graduated as a
registered nurse in 1947 from the St. Boniface General
Hospital School of Nursing and, in 1951, as a Laboratory
Technologist specializing in Clinical Chemistry. Named
Supervisor of the Laboratory at St. Boniface Hospital,
she served for twelve years until she became Assistant
Administrator of St. Boniface Hospital in 1962. A few
years later, she was appointed administrator of the St.
Boniface Sanatorium, later to become the St. Amant
Centre, where she helped the cognitively impaired
children and young adults of Manitoba. After 22 years
she retired and continued until 1994 to serve at the
Grey Nuns Provincial House as coordinator for the
visiting residents whose health required medical needs. She was inducted into the
Order of Canada
in 1985 and the
Manitoba Order of the
Buffalo Hunt the following year.
Sources: Obituary,
Winnipeg Free Press,
21 April 2005; Memorable Manitobans Online
(accessed December 2011) (2021) |
Hilda Tumaine
Beeston -Scott
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3303 |
née Beeston.
Hilda graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH)
School of Nursing in 1915, She joined the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Nursing
Service Reserve as a staff nursed in 1917 and served until 1919. After the
war she married Richard Scott a Major with the British Imperial Indian Army
and the couple lived in India where he was posted.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital
Class of 1915. online (accessed 2021) |
Constance Bell
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3300 |
Constance
graduated in 1915 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing, She served overseas during the war but is unknown with whom
nor at which hospitals. In 1919 she returned to Winnipeg where she worked at
No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park.
Source: Heath Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg
General Hospital Class of 1915. online (accessed 2021) |
Lola Bell
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3103 |
Born November 5,
1885, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died July 22, 1951, Victoria, British Columbia.
Lola graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in
1908. She took her first job with the Winnipeg School Board as a
school nurse in 1910. In 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She was posted to No. 1 Canadian
Stationary Hospital, Salonika, Greece and then to No. 3 Canadian Stationary
Hospital, France where she would work with others from WGH. Returned to
Canada in 1919 she was posted to No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo
Park, Winnipeg. After the war she returned to nursing with the Winnipeg
School Board. She instituted the school nursing divisions in both Moose Jaw,
and Regina, Saskatchewan. Lola retired in 1943.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class or1908. online (accessed 2021) |
Yvonne Beaudry / Baudry
World War 1 Nursing Matron
0014 |
Born October 16,
1875, Beauharnois, Quebec. Died 1947. In 1901 Yvonne graduated for the
Nursing School of the St.-Luke Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario. After
graduation she worked for six years at the Strathcona Hospital in Ottawa.
In 1909 she became Head Nurse at the Gross-Ile quarantine station, Quebec.
Grosse-Ile was the quarantine station for all immigrants headed for Quebec
City as a port of entry to Canada. Yvonne managed a team of 12 nurses. In
the late fall of 1915 Yvonne enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian
Medical Corps (CAMC) and by February 1916 she was serving in England before
proceeding to the No 8 Canadian General Hospital and the No. 6
Canadian General Hospital with the rank of Matron. In June 1919 she was back
in Canada where she was discharged. In 1919 she was presented with the Royal
Red Cross 2nd Class medal and in 1926 she was awarded the French Médaille
des Epidemies Or. She worked with the Dominion Bureau of Statistics in
Ottawa until her retirement in 1939.
Source:
A Tribute to some women and men who served in armed conflicts. Online (2021)
|
Ethel Bennett
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3366
|
Born August 18,
1883, Northumberland, England. Died July 19, 1959, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Ethel graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing
in 1916 and for awhile worked at the King George Hospital, Winnipeg.
Overseas she was posted to Ontario Military Hospital, Orpington, the
Canadian Military Hospital, Basingstoke and the West Cliff Canadian Eye and
Ear Hospital, Folkestone, England. In the late fall of 1917 she was
serving in France at No. 10 Canadian Stationary Hospital. By March
1917 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps (CAMC). After the war she worked at the Winnipeg City Welfare
Department.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class or1916. online (accessed 2021) |
Myra Bennett
0015 |
née Grimsley. Born April 1, 1890, London, England. Died April
26, 1990, Daniel’s Harbour, Newfoundland. As a girl Myra
studied nursing and continued courses as a midwife. During World War l
she worked in England in the North London slums.
She was persuaded by Lady Harris, wife of the governor
of Newfoundland, to immigrate and on April 13, 1921 she
sailed for St. John’s, Newfoundland. She worked caring
for the people of the great northern peninsula, a 200
mile stretch of isolated coastline in colony. In 1922
she married Angus Bennett, a former merchant marine. The
couple had three children. Once her paid contract ran out,
Myra worked free lance. She served as nurse, midwife, dentist, veterinarian, educator, and was known as the
'Florence Nightingale of Newfoundland'. She retired in
1953 but still continued to care for folks. In 1935 she
was presented with the King George V Jubilee Medal and
in 1937 the coronation Medal of George VI. She was made
a member of the Order of the British Empire and the
Order of Canada. In 1974 the CBC made a documentary on
her life. In 1991 the province of Newfoundland and
Labrador declared her home in Daniel’s Harbour an
Historic Site.
Source:
100 more Canadian Heroines
by Merna Forster, Dundurn Press, 2010; Heritage
Newfoundland (accessed June 12, 2012. (2022) |
Mary Agnes Best
World War l Nursing Sister
3121 |
Born September 24,
1884, McKillop, Ontario. Died July 26, 1968, Walhalla, North Dakota, U.S.A.
Mary graduated in 1910 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (W G H) School of
Nursing. She found work on staff with the Regina General Hospital,
Saskatchewan. In April 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) . Overseas she served at No. 3 Canadian
Stationary Hospital, Egypt, No. 4 Canadian General Hospital, Basingstoke,
England as well as in France. Returning to Canada in 1918 she was posted at
St. Andrew's Military Hospital, Toronto. She was discharged in April 1920.
She returned to Winnipeg and then relocated to North Dakota, U.S.A. In 1933
she worked as Matron of an American hospital in Mexico for several years.
Source: Health Sciences centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1910. online (accessed 2021). |
Mary Ellen Birties
0016 |
Born 1858, Sheffield, England. Died June
22, 1943, Alexander, Manitoba. Mary Ellen immigrated to Canada with her
family in June 1883, settling at Winnipeg. In 1889 she
was one of the first three graduates of the nurse
training program at the Winnipeg General Hospital,
established in 1887. Upon graduation, she left to work
at a small hospital in North Dakota where she remained a
few months. In 1890 she accepted a position as assistant
nurse at a new hospital in Medicine Hat, North West
Territories (now Alberta), staying there two years until
a hospital opened at Brandon. She took the position of
senior nurse and remained there a year and a half.
Moving to Calgary in 1894, she was in charge of the new
hospital being built there, the first Matron of the
Calgary General Hospital. She attended British
celebrations of the 1887 60th anniversary of the reign
of Queen Victoria, returning to Manitoba the next year
to become Matron of the Brandon General Hospital, where
she stayed until her retirement in August 1919. In 1935,
she received the
Order of the British
Empire.
Source: Memorable Manitobans. Profile by Gordon
Goldsborough Online (accessed December 2011) (2021) |
Elizabeth Hazeltine 'Bonnie'
Bjarnarson
0017 |
née
Polson. Born August 22, 1893, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died
November 12, 1979, Gladstone, Manitoba. Bonnie's family
moved to Gimili, Manitoba in 1901 where she taught school
for five years before taking nursing training at the
Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1916. She
nursed privately and worked for the Victorian Order of
Nurses (VON) until her marriage in 1922. After marriage
she continued to provide nursing support to her
community and especially to residents of the Sandy Bay
First Nation, where she was known as “Mrs. Barney”. In
1969 she was presented a
Good Citizenship
Award for meritorious service to Manitoba.
(2021) |
Donna Margaret Louise
Blight
0018 |
née
Crosland. Born September 30, 1936, Calgary, Alberta. Died February 5, 2008,
Calgary, Alberta. Donna graduated from the Calgary
General Hospital, went on to earn a Bachelor of
Nursing Science Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario,
and a Master's Degree from University of Manitoba,
Winnipeg. While nursing in Saskatoon, she met her
husband, Dr. William J. Blight. The couple moved to Winnipeg
Donna worked briefly for the VON (Victorian Order of
Nurses) prior to raising the couple’s two sons. She
returned to work as a nursing instructor and registrar
at the St. Boniface Hospital School of Nursing and as
registrar with the Manitoba Association of Registered
Nurses. She was a long time member of the Alpine Club of
Canada, and she served as a member of the Manitoba
Environmental Council. She was actively involved with
the
University Women’s Club of
Winnipeg and the Provincial Council of
Women of Manitoba, serving on a variety of committees
and as president of both organizations. The latter
organization honoured her in 2007 at its first
Celebration of Women.
Sources: Obituary,
Winnipeg Free Press,
9 February 2008; Memorable Manitobans. Online
(accessed December 2011)
(2021) |
Florence Bloy
World War l Nursing Sister
3305 |
Born May 12, 1884,
Dereham, England. In 1915 Florence graduated from the Winnipeg General
Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. She worked after graduation at the Weyburn
Hospital, Saskatchewan. In 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) and went overseas with the Saskatchewan
Nurses Unit. Overseas she was posted to the Moore Barracks Hospital,
Shorncliffe Canadian Military Hospital, No. 8 Canadian Stationary Hospital
and No. 2 Canadian General Hospital. She resigned her position in October
1918. Returning home to Canada she took courses in Public Health at the
University of Toronto. Source: Health Sciences
Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1915. online (accessed 2021). |
Ada Lucy Bodkin
3434
World War l Nursing Sister
|
Born October 28,
1887, Delaware, Ontario. Died March 16, 1962. In 1914 she graduated
from the Victoria Hospital Training School for Nurses, London, Ontario. On
December 14, 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC). She served overseas at No. 12 Canadian General
Hospital and No. 16 Canadian General Hospital , Orpington, England and No.
12 Canadian General Hospital. Returning to Canada after the war she worked
as the first Matron of Crèche Day Nursing in London, Ontario. From 1923
through 1932 she worked at Westminster Hospital.
Source: Class of 1914, Victoria Training School, London Public Library
(accessed 2021); Canada Great War Project, Nursing Sisters, online (accessed
2021) |
Grace Errol Bolton
Nurse in World War 1
3413 |
Born September 14,
1890, Quebec. Died February 16, 1919. She served as a nurse with the
Canadian Voluntary Aid Detachment during World War 1.
Source: [Canada} A Tribute to Some Woman and Men Who Served in Armed
Conflict. online (accessed 2021) |
Annie Crisp - Bond
0019 |
née
Crisp. Born 1854, Warwickshire, England. Died June 11,
1943, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Annie trained at Queen’s Hospital before joining
as Nursing Sister in the British army.
She served in the South Africa Zulu War, as well as in
Egypt, and the Sudan. She was decorated in each
campaigns, receiving the Royal Red Cross Medal in
1884. That same year she moved to Auckland, New Zealand,
to establish New Zealand’s first school of nursing. In
1886 she married
Dr. John Henry Richard
Bond. The couple moved to the U.S.A.
to administer the British exhibit at the Chicago
World’s Fair in 1896. They eventually settled in
Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1903. She began urging the foundation of a
children’s hospital in 1906 and in 1909 she began one
on Beaconsfield Street which became the Winnipeg
Children’s Hospital.
Sources:
Dictionary of Manitoba
Biography by
J. M. Bumsted
(University of Manitoba Press, 1999); Memorable
Manitobans. Online (accessed December 2011)
(2021) |
Marie Bonin
0020 |
Born November 15, 1932, Laurier, Manitoba. Died January 20,
2003, Lexington, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Marie entered the
Grey Nuns novitiate in St. Boniface, Manitoba, August
1950 and dedicated herself to the service of the poor in
February 1953. Sister Marie received her nursing diploma
from the Regina Grey Nuns School of Nursing. She also
earned her Masters in Nursing and a Doctorate in
Education. She was director of the School of Nursing,
Saint Boniface, Manitoba, from 1960 to 1963. She helped to establish
the baccalaureate degree in nursing at the University of
Montreal from1965 to 1972 and 1978 to 1980 she became
director of Pastoral Care at Saint Boniface General
Hospital. In 1983, she was inducted into the
Manitoba Order of the
Buffalo Hunt. She served as local superior
and provincial superior of St. Boniface from 1980 to
1986, and was elected assistant general of the Grey Nuns
congregation in 1986. Towards the end of her life, she
did mission work in the USA.
Sources: Obituary,
Winnipeg Free Press,
25 January 2003; Memorable Manitobans. Profile by
Gordon Goldsborough. Online (Accessed December 2012.)
(2021) |
Beulah
Vernon Bourns
0021 |
Born March 28, 1906, Havelock, New Brunswick. Died March 28,
1990, Morden, Manitoba. She studied nursing graduating
from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing,
Manitoba, in 1929. Her first job was on the nursing staff at the
United Church Hospital in Hafford, Saskatchewan. In 1931
she spent a year in Toronto preparing to leave Canada
for Missionary work in Korea. In 1932 she took charge of
nurse training in a 50 patient hospital while
Superintendent Ada Sandell went on furlough. In 1933 she
was assigned to a small hospital in Ling Chin Sen,
Manchuria, and carried out public health work and began
her interest in working with mothers and babies. She
moved on to North Korea as an itinerant, travelling by
ox cart, horse and train along the Manchuria border.
While nursing she provided baby clinics, established
mother’s club, cooking, and sewing classes, and
challenged herself with learning the local language.
During World War ll she and Dr. Florence Murray
(1894-1975) were held under house arrest and worked in
an adjacent hospital. She was repatriated in a Prisoner
of War exchange and returned to work in a United Church
Hospital in British Columbia until the end of the war.
At the end of the war she studied Psychiatric Care and
went on to work in Matheson, Ontario, before returning
once more to Korea, this time to serve by special
request of the Koreans. She was the only western woman
and the only Canadian not to leave Seoul during the
Communist Invasion. During the Korean War she worked at
refugee camps, helping organize evacuation of hundreds
of orphans. In 1959 she was made a Honourary Life Member
of Winnipeg General Hospital Nurses (WGH) Alumnae
Association and in 1962 she received the Korean
Presidential Medal for her distinguished public service.
She retired home to Manitoba in 1974. A chapel at Severence Hospital in Korea is named in her honour. In
1979 she received the Jubilee Award from WGH Nurses
Alumnae Association. The Koreans called her their
“blue-eyed-angel” and took her ashes to be buried in
Yanghwajim International Cemetery, Seoul, Korea.
Source:
Beulah Bourns. Winnipeg General Hospital/Health
Sciences Centre Nursing Alumnae Association Archives.
online (accessed April 2014) (2021) |
Jean Kathleen Boyce -Fisher
3227
World War 1 Nursing Sister |
née Boyce.
Born June 11, 1889, Grafton, Ontario. Died December 12, 1965, Fonthill,
Ontario.. Jean moved with her family to Belleville, Ontario in 1894. She
graduated from the Toronto General Hospital School of Nursing in 1916. She
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC)
March 12, 1917. Overseas she served at the Duchess of Connaught Canadian Red
Cross Hospital, Taplow, England. In June 1918 she was serving on transport
duty returning wounded to Canada and then returning overseas. She was
on board the Canadian hospital ship, Llandovery Castle, returning from
Halifax, Nova Scotia when the ship was torpedoed by an enemy U-boat, U-86,
(submarine) off the coast of Ireland on June 27, 1918. Jean was one of the
survivors of 14 Nursing Sisters and 210 medical personnel and seamen who
died when the ship sank. The German U Boat Captain even fired on occupants
of a life-raft in an attempt to cover up the fact that he had fires on a
clearly marked hospital ship. The German Captain thought that the ship was
carrying armaments. Firing on a hospital ship was against international law
and standing orders of the Imperial German Navy. She served at hospitals in
Kingston, Montreal and Cobourg Military Hospital, Ontario and was discharged
on April 30, 1920. She married Harold Fisher on September 1, 1923. The
couple settled in Belleville, Ontario, to raise their family. Source:
Nurses of World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Constance
Eleda Brewster
0022 |
Born September 27, 1888, Brantford, Ontario. Died July 4,
1988. After completing her nursing studies at the University of
Toronto, Constance taught school in Saskatchewan. She
took additional studies in nursing at the Royal Victoria
Hospital at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, and
began working in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1925. From 1934
through 1953 she was Director of the School of Nursing
at the Hamilton General Hospital. During her career she
improved working conditions, strove for shorter working
hours, better accommodations, and fought for a higher
rate of pay for the nurses under her charge. She also
served as President of the Registered Nurses Association
of Ontario from 1938-1940. (2021) |
Marjorie Brook
0023 |
née Buck. Born
1898, Port Rowan, Ontario. Died April 5, 1988. A talented hospital
administrator she took her early nursing training in the United States. She
became the 1st Superintendent of the Norfolk General Hospital in Simcoe,
Ontario, in 1925 and remained in the position until 1943. She was an active
member national nursing organizations, the I.O.D.E., the University Women’s
Club, and the Norfolk Historical Society.
(2021) |
Margaret
Martha Brooks
World War 11 Nursing Sister |
Born
April 10, 1915, Ardath, Saskatchewan. Died January 9, 2016,
Victoria, British Columbia. Margaret studied household science at
the University of Saskatchewan. After her graduation Margaret
enrolled in the Canadian Navy on March 9, 1942 as a Nursing Sister
dietician with the rank of a sub-Lieutenant. While serving in the S
S Caribou, the ship was torpedoed in mid October 1942. Margaret
clung with one hand to a lifeboat and with her other hand she held
on the her friend and colleague, Agnes Wilkie. Unfortunately Agnes
died due to the frigid temperatures in the Cabot Straight off the
coast of Newfoundland. Margaret became the only Nursing Sister
during World War ll to be named a member (Military Division) of the
Order of the British Empire for her heroic effort to save her friend.
Margaret remained in the Canadian Navy and in April 1, 1957 having obtained
the rank of Lieutenant Commander. She retired in 1962. Returning to
Saskatchewan she resumed her post graduate studies in paleontology earning
her PhD. She would author numerous research papers in her discipline. She
retired to Victoria, British Columbia. In the spring of 2015 she was
contacted by Canadian Defense Minister, Jason Kenny to inform her that the
Canadian Navy would name one of the new arctic offshore patrol ships in her
honor.
Sources: James Goldie,
“Canada’s Navy names vessel after living Victoria woman for the
first time.” In Globe and Mail April 14, 2015.;
Arctic/offshore Patrol Ships Naming Biographies – HMCS Margaret
Brooks. National Defense and the Canadian Armed Forces. Online
(accessed June 2015). (2022) |
Maude
King Brown
World War 1 Nursing Sister
0024 |
Born April 11,
1876, Chatham, Ontario. Maude Graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital
School of Nursing, Manitoba, in 1898. In 1915 she relocated to England with
her husband, Dr. John K. Brown who was serving with the British Royal Army
Medical Corps. In Maude joined the St. John's Ambulance and was appointed
Matron in Charge of the Auxiliary Hospital, Shorne Hill, Totton. England.
In 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps (CAMC). She was one o the first married Canadian nurse permitted to
enlist. Maude served three years in England working at Granville Special
Hospital, Ramsgate, Canadian Red Cross Special Hospital, Buxton, and No. 16
Canadian General Hospital, Shorncliffe. She returned to Winnipeg in 1918 and
served at No 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park. After the war she
and her husband settled in British Columbia.
Source: Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg, Class of 1898. (accessed 2021)
|
Janice Christine Buller
r 26 |
Born April 14, 1972. Died
January 17, 2013, British Columbia. Janice earned an Associate of Arts
Degree in general studies and then went on to earn her Diploma of Registered
Nursing fro University college of the Cariboo (now Thompson Rivers
University), Kamloops, British Columbia. She worked in various posts before
taking on the role as a rural nurse at Lillooet Hospital. She worked in
maternity, palliative care, emergency and operating room nursing as well as
doing general ward duties. She became a community health nurse when she
became a certified by the Canadian Vascular Access Association. She was the
only nurse in this Integrated Community Health Nurse job working with the
Home Care, Long Term Care Case Manager, Palliative Care Support nd the
Ambulatory Care Clinic for Lillooet and area which provided attention to the
more remote community. Janice died in a car accident on her way to provide
services to a remote community. Source: B C History of
Nursing Society. online (accessed 2023) |
Phyllis Burgess
0025 |
Born 1917,
Assiniboia,
Saskatchewan. Died November 9, 1988. Between 1957-1977 she was the Director
of Nursing at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, Ontario. She was
internationally renowned for developing nursing strategies for the treatment
of cancer patients. She would pioneer programs to meet physical and emotion
needs of the hospital’s cancer patients. For her contribution to ontological
nursing she was presented with the Civic Award of Merit from the city of
Toronto. She would also serve on the Board of Directors of the Canadian
Cancer Society of Ontario for 20 years. In 1988 she was awarded the
Volunteer of the Year Award from the Canadian Women’s Breast Cancer
Foundation. (2021) |
Kathryn 'Kay' Emilor
Burns Rodger
3805
Pioneer Nurse in Northern
Ontario |
Born December 31, 1906, Spanish, Ontario. Died April 25,
1990, South Porcupine, Ontario. As a youngster Kay and her family moved to
the Porcupine area of northern Ontario. After high school she studied
nursing in Fort William (now Thunder Bay), Ontario. In 1927 she began
nursing in Porcupine at St. Mary's Hospital. Within a year she was working
at the Presbyterian Hospital in South Porcupine which was an outpost
supported by the Presbyterian Women's Missionary Society. In 1930 she
married Frank Rodger and the couple had three children. While it was normal
for a nurse to stop working after marriage there was a shortage of good
nurses in northern Ontario and Kay continued to work as a nurse. In 1936 her
husband became ill with tuberculosis and was sent to a Gravenhurst
sanatorium leaving her as sole supporter for her family. A new hospital
was built in 1938 and Kay would work there until she retired in 1956. That
year she became the administrator of the Golden Manor seniors home. She took
courses in typing, bookkeeping and nutrition to make sure she did her job
well. She retired from the Golden Manner in 1967.
(2022) |
Mary Irene Burns -Thomas
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3094 |
née
Burns. Born March 6, 1883,
Woodstock, Ontario. Died December 16, 1966. In 1883 Mary moved to Manitoba
with her family. In the 1890's she was working at the offices of the
Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) but then decided to study nursing. Mary
Graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in
1907. After graduation she worked with the Eye and Ear Department of
the WGH. In 1914 she joined Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing
Service and served at Valletta Hospital with the Red Cros in Malta. By
November 1915 she was working at Hamrun Officers Hospital, Malta. From there
she served at No. 5 British General Hospital and No. 20 Casualty Clearing
Station in France. In June 1918 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) and was sent to No. 11 Canadian General
Hospital, Shorncliffe, England and then to No. 15 Canadian General Hospital,
The Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross Hospital, Clivedon, England.
Returning to Canada she was posted to No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital,
Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg until 1922. On June 9, 1923 she married Wesley Thomas
(died 1956). Source: Health Sciences
Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1907. online (accessed 2021) |
Norma Busby
0026 |
née
Ingimundon. Born February 25, 1930, Lundar, Manitoba. Died
April 8, 2008. She trained to be a nurse then
worked at Whitehorse, Edmonton, and Winnipeg with the
federal government working in Aboriginal and Northern
Health and in Occupational Health. In 1978, she led a
national federal nurses’ strike resulting in salary
increases and other benefits for nurses. In the 1980s,
she was instrumental in developing national guidelines
for occupational health nursing certification and she
initiated the Nurses-at-Risk program, the first of its
kind in Canada. In 1992 she was awarded the
Confederation Medal.
Sources: Obituary,
Winnipeg Free Press,
10 April 2008: Memorable Manitobans. Online (Accessed
December 2011) (2021) |
Julie C. Cardigan
Volunteer Nurse 1918 Influenza
3486 |
Born 1871?, Glace
Bay? Nova Scotia. Died 1918? Marble Mountain, Nova Scotia. In 1918 the city
of Boston, Massauchetts, U.S.A. was one of the hardest hit cities during the
influenza pandemic. Julies soldier son was at Camp Devens in Boston
suffering from influenza and she headed there to help nurse her son.
Returning to Canada she volunteered at an influenza hospital in Sydney, Nova
Scotia. Learning that there were 100 influenza cases in Marble Mountain,
Inverness County, Nova Scotia she once again volunteered. Sadly seven days
later she herself died of influenza.
(2021) |
Grace Louise Reynolds
Calder
0027 |
née Reynolds. Born 1854, United Kingdom. Died June 16,
1924, Saskatchewan. Grace trained in Leeds,
England with the teachings of the Florence Nightingale
system of nursing. In 1884 she immigrated to Winnipeg,
Manitoba. In 1890 she became the 1st
Matron at the new Medicine Hat General Hospital which
opened June 4, 1890. This hospital was the 1st
such hospital between Winnipeg and British Columbia.
Grace is credited with introducing the Nightingale
system of nursing to the Canadian west. Grace resigned
her position on December 14, 1891 and on January 12,
1892 she married the chief Medical Superintendent of the
hospital Dr. John George. Calder (d 1912). John served as
superintendent from 1881 through 1894. August 1, 1894 a
training school for nurses opened at the hospital with
Miss Jean Miller as Head Nurse. Perhaps Jean Miller
called upon the expertise of Grace in establishing the
student curriculum. The Calders remained in Medicine Hat
and john took over his brothers pharmacy in 1911 just a
year before his death. There is not much information on
Grace and her son after this date but there is a record
of a Mrs. J. G. Calder purchasing 160 acres of land in
Saskatchewan in 1912.
Source:
Kay Saunderson, 200 Remarkable Alberta Women,
(Famous Five Foundation, 1999); Find a Grave Canada.
online (accessed 2021). (2021) |
René M. Caisse
0028 |
Born 1888, Bracebridge, Ontario. Died December 26, 1978,
Bracebridge, Ontario. While nursing in Hailabury Hospital in northern
Ontario, René (she pronounced it Reen) came across an old woman who
had survived much longer with cancer than doctors had projected. The old
lady had used a remedy that she said was an old Indian cure for cancer. The
old lady shared the recipe for this life saving tea and René, whose goal was
to control cancer and alleviate pain, used it to help cancer patients,
including her own mother, who were considered to be incurable. René
began to refine the herbal tea. She joined with Dr R. D. Fisher to study in a
makeshift lab and began to research on mice with the herbal tea and found it
to be successful in treating breast cancer and other cancers. They
isolated what they deemed was the herb responsible for reducing the tumors
and called their product ESSIAC which is René’s surname spelled backwards.
In 1926 she was charged with practicing medicine without a license by the
Canadian Government. Thus began a 50 year controversy over this “cure”. From
1928 through 1930 René worked at the Christie Street Hospital Laboratories,
Toronto and even consulted with Dr. Frederick Banting (1891-1941), one of the discoverers of
Insulin) but she always kept the formula of Essiac to herself. She opened a
cancer clinic in Bracebridge, Ontario where tending patients deemed hopeless
by other doctors. René continued to treat patients in Bracebridge even
though her cure fell out of favour. She married Charles McCaughey, a North
Bay Lawyer, and former patient but retained her maiden name. In retirement
she took up oil painting. In 1977 René handed her formula to the Resperin
Corporation, controlled by uranium magnate Stephen Roman of Toronto who paid
$250.00 during a test period and promised of a share in future profits. In 1985 a Dr. Gary Glum purchased the formula for $120,000.00 from one of
René’s former patients and released this formula into public domain in
1988. He wrote a book, Calling of an Angel: Essiac Nature’s cure for
Cancer. Mary McPherson who had worked with René in preparing the formula
did not want to die with the controversy over her head so she released the
formula, as she had prepared it, to public domain on December 23, 1994. Today
several versions of Essiac are on the market sold as a natural remedy. The
Rene M. Caisse Memorial Theatre was built and named in her honour in her
hometown of Bracebridge. Sources: Obituary.
Bracebridge Examiner, 1978 : Lisa Wajna. Great Canadian Women: Nineteen
Portraits of Extraordinary Women. (Folklore publishing, 2005). (2021) |
Ann
Thomas Callahan
Indigenous Nurse
0029 |
Born 1935, Peepeekisis First Nation,
Saskatchewan. Ann was forced
to attend File Hills Residential School away from her family for ten yeas.
In 1946 she went home to Peepeekisis and attended Birtle Indian Residential
School. She enrolled at the Winnipeg General Hospital three year nursing
school. After working twice as hard as non-indigenous students who had
received good primary education, and surviving racism, she graduating in 1954
as one of the 1st aboriginal nurses to graduate from the program. In 1958
she worked in the gynaecology ward of the WGH. She
quickly was promoted to Head Nurse, a position she held until 1973. After
leaving the hospital job she took a position with the newly formed
Continuing Care for People in Need providing care to people in the inner
city. In 1983 she became an instructor and counselors with the Southern
Nursing Program at Red River Community College. She retired in 1996.
Retirement did not meant she stopped learning as she earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master
degree. On June 28, 2006 the Winnipeg Health Services named a building in her
honour.
(2021) |
Helen Margaret Calverley
r 27 |
Born September 25, 1942,
Orpington, Kent, England. Died November 6, 2020, Vancouver British Columbia.
Helen graduated in nursing from the Royal Free Hospital , London , England
in 1963 where she earned an award as the most helpful operating theatre
nurse. Helen married John Calverley and the young couple immigrated to
Canada in 1964. The couple had two children. After qualifying to work as a
Registered Nurse in Canada she began her Canadian career at the Vancouver
General Hospital (V G H) in 1966.She became an Assistant Head Nurse in
the Pediatric and Orthopedic operating rooms at the V G H. She moved to work
at the Children's Hospital where she worked with her beloved child patients
for more than 30 years. She participated in the separation of conjoin
twins, a first in the hospital. As an active member of the BC Operating Room
Nurses' Group she held head office of Regional Presiding Officer for the
Vancouver Region and served as chairperson of the Hostess Committee for
numerous conference. She was also a keen runner who entered many marathons
until her knees began to say 'no way!' Helen retired in 2003 and began
volunteering for six overseas missions with Operation Rainbow which assists
cleft pallet victims in third world countries. She also enjoyed in her
retirement being a member of the Lions Gate Chorus.
Source: BC History of Nursing. Online (accessed 2023); Obituary.
Vancouver Sun November 113, 2010. online (accessed 2023) |
Christina Campbell
World War 1 Nursing Sister died at sea
3346 |
Born August 17,
1877, Beauly, Scotland. Christina graduated from the Royal Jubilee Hospital
School of Nursing, Victoria British Columbia in 1897. On September 16, 1915
she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC)
in London, Ontario. Over seas she was posted to No. 5 Canadian General
Hospital and then she served on the Llandovery Castle. On June 27, 1918 she
was aboard the Canadian Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle sailing from Halifax
to Liverpool, England. The hospital ship was torpedoed an enemy U-boat
(submarine) 46 and only 24 people of the 234 souls on board survived. 14
Canadian Nursing Sisters lost their lives. The U-Boat captain felt that even
though the ship was well marked as a hospital ship that it carried munitions
for the British. When there was no great explosion of munitions from the
ship the captain of the U-Boat ordered he crew to fire on people in life
boats in order to kill survivors in an attempt to cover his sinking of the
ship. It was against wartime convention to fire on an hospital ship.
It was the deadliest Canadian naval disaster of the First World War.
In 2018 composer Stephanie Martin and playwright Paul Ciufo commemorated the
nurses in an opera. |
Edith
"Daisy' Campbell
Matron of Nursing world War 1
3412 |
Born November 1871, Montreal, Quebec. Died 1951, Toronto,
Ontario. Daisy graduated from the Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing,
New York, U.S.A. in 1907.She worked at the hospital after graduation and
then worked in Manhattan before returning to Montreal to work. In
September 1914 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she assisted in the establishment of the
Duchess of Connaught Canadian Red Cross Hospital, Taplow, England. She was
one of nine Canadian Nursing Sisters to receive the Military Medal for
bravery shown on May 31 1918 at the No. 1 Canadian General Hospital,
Etaples, France was bombed in an enemy air strike. After the war she was
Superintendent of the Toronto Branch of the Victorian Order of Nurses (VO N)
retiring in 1934. She also received the King George Jubilee Medal in
1935. A collection of her medals and some personal affects are maintained at
the Canadian War museum, Ottawa, Ontario. |
Margaret
Amelia
Campbell
0030 |
Born June 27, 1923, Vancouver, British
Columbia. Died January 29, 1992, Vancouver, British Columbia. She earned her Bachelor
of Arts at the University of
British Columbia (UBC) in 1947 and then earned a second bachelor degree in Nursing
Science in 1948. She would continue her studies with a Masters of
Science in Nursing at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio,
U.S.A. in 1955 and returned to again
study to earn her Education Doctorate at Columbia University, New York City,
U.S.A. in 1970. She
was the co-developer of conceptual models for nursing. In 1987 she was
recognized for her research efforts with the Award of Excellence from the
Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia. She was also the
recipient of an Award of Distinction from the Nursing Division of the Alumni
Association of the University of British Columbia in 1988. followed in 1990
by a Certificate of Merit. She was an instructor and professor of nursing at
the UBC School of Nursing from 1955 through 1988. She died six months after
her retirement. (2021) |
Olive Marie
Campbell -Menzies
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3228
|
née Campbell. Born May 7, 1890, Cannifton,
Ontario. Died January 23, 1989, Syracuse, New York, U.S.A. Olive Marie
graduated from the Hospital for Sick Children School of Nursing, Toronto in
1914. She enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC) on November 19, 1917. Overseas she served at the Granville Canadian
Special Hospital, Buxton, England May 20, 1918 she married Dr. Percival
Keith Menzies, a Lieutenant Colonel with the CAMC. After the war the couple
settled in Syracuse, New York, U.S.A.. The couple raised two sons together.
Source: Nurses of World War 1 by Donald
Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Mary Lillian
Cameron -Chisholm
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3291 |
Born December 8,
1894, Canso, Nova Scotia. Died August 26, 1956, Montreal, Quebec. On May
22, 1917 Mary graduated from nursing school in Montreal, Quebec and after
graduation she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps (CAMC). In December 1916 through January 1917 Mary with the 8th Field
Ambulance in Montreal and then she worked in a Montréal military hospital.
She went overseas and served at the University of Toronto No. 4 Canadian
General Hospital, Basingstoke, Kent, England. She also served for a short
time at No. 15 Canadian General Hospital before returning home in July 1919.
She worked in New York City, U.S.A. and in Montreal, Quebec as a public
health nurse. On June 27, 1927 she married Colin Andrew Chisholm and after a
year the couple relocated to Kirkland Lake, Ontario where they raised their
four daughters together. In 1951 the family moved to Stirling, Cape Breton,
Nova Scotia. By 1956 they were back in Montreal. Sources:
Lieutenant Mary Lillian Cameron, A Nursing Sister's Story, The First War
Veterans of Guysborough County. Bruce Macdonald. Online (accessed 2021) |
Anne Canning
World War 1 Nursing Sister
0031 |
Born August 6,
1885, Helensburg, Scotland. Died ???? In 1909 she graduated from the
Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. In October 1917 she
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC).
She was posted to No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg.
Overseas she served at NO. 4 Canadian General Hospital, Shorncliffe England.
She returned to Canada in January 1919 where she worked for the Manitoba
Agricultural Hospital and the Deer Lodge Hospital.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. online. (access 2021) |
Marguerite Carr -Harris
World War 1 Nursing Sister
0032 |
Born July 4, 1879, Ottawa, Ontario. Died 1964.
Marguerite was born into a family of means. Her father was a university
professor. In 1886 to 1899 she attended Queens University, Kingston, Ontario,
where she was a member and captain of one of the earliest women's hockey
teams. There was a reversal of family fortune and Marguerite left Queen's
without graduating. She trained as a nurse at New York Presbyterian
Hospital, New York, U.S.A. She worked in New York and Canada prior to
enlisting May 12, 1915 as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps (CAMC) serving at the No.16 Canadian General Hospital, Shorncliffe,
England.. She was awarded the Red
Cross 2nd Class medal for bravery while evacuation patients from the
hospital during the bombing of Etaples in northern France in 1918. After the
war she worked for a short while at the Canadian Department of
Soldiers Civil Re-establishment Hospital. By 1927 she was attending teachers
College at Columbia University, New York City, New York, U.S.A. after having
earned a Bachelor of Science. Her story was written by Meryn Stewart and published in the
Canadian Medical Lives Series.
(2021) |
Ethel Carter
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3289 |
Ethel graduated
from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in 1914. After
graduation she relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia and then to Skagway,
Alaska, U.S.A. In 1917 she joined the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military
Nursing Service. She served overseas but it is not known where. After
the war she worked at a mission in Romania. She returned to Canada and
settled in Ontario. Source: Health Sciences Centre
Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1914, online (accessed 2021) |
Anne
'Annie' Sutherland Cavers
3396
Nursing Instructor & Historian |
Born 1888,
Dutton, Ontario. Died November 1971, Vancouver, British Columbia. As a
teenager Annie moved to Calgary Alberta so that she could attend high
school. At 18 Annie Annie graduated with honours from the Calgary Normal
School (teacher's college). After graduation she moved to join her family who
had relocated to the Okanagan in British Columbia. Between 1910 and
1918 she taught school in Armstron, British Columbia and served as principal
from 1917. As the family storey goes she was brokenhearted by the death of
her fiancée after World War 1. By 1920 she was teaching in Vernon, British
Columbia. At 36 she entered the Vancouver General Hospital (VGH)
School of Nursing where she earned the Alison Cummings medal for heights
standing in the 1927 graduating class. She became Instructress of Nursing at
VGH and won the adoration of her students until she retired in 1947. After
retirement she wrote the book, Our School of
Nursing 1899 to 1949. Source: Anne
Sutherland Cavers (1888-1971) Vancouver General Hospital School of Nursing
Alumnae Association. online (accessed 2021) |
Ah Fung 'Agnes' Chan
Asian-Canadian Nurse |
Born 1904?, China. Died
1962, China. Ah Fung was just one more girl in the family which already had
five girls. Her partents wanted her to have a better life so she was given
to a family friend who promised to raise her as his own. However growing up
she was actually sold several time including to a family in Victoria,
British Columbia. Treated unjustly she ran away to a missionary school
called the Chinese Rescue Home. It was here she took the name Agnes.
She had been able to keep in touch with her family at home in China and
really wanted to send money home. Her sister was placed in the
Wesleyan Methodist School for Girls in Fatshan, China with the help of a
missionary charity in Toronto. It was the same charity that was
willing to help enrol Agnes in the Women's College Hospital School of
Nursing. She proved to be an exceptional student and stood top of her class
for obstetrics and was the first Chinese-Canadian to graduate. After
graduation she did postgraduate pediatric studies in nursing in Detroit,
Michigan, U.S.A.. Returning to China she worked in a missionary hospital.
She would keep in touch with her nursing colleagues in Canada and would
attend occasionally returned to Canada for nursing Conventions. She earned a
promotion as Superintendent of Nurses at the missionary hospital and wrote
to her colleagues about the Japanese occupation in China. Source:
Katie Daubs, They Said I was too tall, too big...how three nurses broke
through the nursing's starched white world The Toronto Star May 5,
2019. (accessed 2023) |
Annie
Amelia
Chesley
0033 |
Born 1857/1858,
Toronto, Canada West (now Ontario). Died November 6, 1910, Ontario. Anne
studied nursing at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. In
the mid 1890's Annie was appointed Lady Superintendent of Nurses at the new
St Luke's Hospital (later Ottawa Civic Hospital) which had patterned
on the nursing school of the Lady Stanley Institute founded in 1891. The
school provided instruction and residences for nursing students. Annie
administered the 30 bed hospital and she up the three year training program
for nurses. Seven nurses graduated in 1901. Annie served also as the 1st
president of the Ottawa Graduate Nurses Association and established the
first registry of professional nurses in the city. Source: D C B
(2021) |
Jane Chisholm
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3290 |
Born December 29,1888, Bresaylor, Saskatchewan. Died
February7, 1976, Saskatchewan. Jane graduated from the Winnipeg General
Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in 1914. She enlisted as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted to No.
10 Canadian Stationary Hospital, Eastbourne, England. In 1918 she suffered
from poor health and by late fall was back in Canada where she was admitted
to the No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg. Once
recovered she moved to Saskatchewan where she married.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg.
Class of 1914, online (accessed 2021) |
Kathleen 'Kay' Christie
World War ll Nursing Sister
0034 |
Born 1911. Died 1994, Toronto, Ontario. By 1934 Kay trained
and worked as a nurse. When World War ll broke out she did not hesitate to
sign up with the Royal Canadian Medical Corps in 1941 as a Lieutenant. She
was posted to Hong Kong. The British military hospital where she served came
under heavy Japanese shelling and the British surrendered on Christmas Day
1941. Kay spent the next 21 month as a POW (Prisoner of War) in the Far East
living under severely crowed conditions with little food and water loosing
some 20 pounds. In September 1943 she and other nurses were part of a
prisoner exchange between the Allies and the Japanese. The conditions on the
ship before the exchange were worse than at the camp. Even after the
exchange she was more than a month before reaching home. After V E Day, Kay
received a position with a prominent Toronto heart specialist as a medical
nursing secretary. She was granted a discharge from the Royal Canadian Army
Medical Corps on October 30, 1945. After her discharge, she worked as a
medical secretary for a neuropsychiatry specialist until retirement. She was
awarded the Associate Royal Red Cross medal for her distinguished service,
and in ensuing years she was named Honorary Patron of the National Council
of Veterans, Honourary President of the Nursing Sisters Association of
Canada, and in 1995, both she and fellow nurse, Ms. Waters were honoured by
a plaque erected in the Police Academy in Hong Kong in recognition of their
outstanding service. Sources:
Women of Courage 1812-2012 Reading and Remembrance. Online (accessed
March 2015) ; Veterans Affairs Canada. Nursing Sister – Kay Christie.
Online (Accessed March 2015) (2021) |
Eleanor Christopherson
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3360 |
Born June 28, 1893,
Yorkton, Saskatchewan. Died January 1965, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Eleanor
graduated in 1916 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing, Manitoba. She worked on the Military Wards of the WGH, and at No.
10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg. In March 1917 she
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC),
She was posted overseas to No. 13 Canadian Stationary Hospital,
Hastings, England and in France to No. 3, N0., 8, and No. 6 Canadian
Stationary Hospitals. After returning to Canada she married W. M. Graham and
the couple settled in Yorkton Saskatchewan. IN the 1960's they
resettled in Winnipeg. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital Class of 1916.
online (accessed 2021) |
Mary Clark - Pyne |
SEE - Social Activist |
Jessie Agnes Anne
Clarke
World War 1 Nursing
Sister 3500 |
Born January 4,
1885, Elizabeth Bay, Ontario. Died September 12, 1987, Gore Bay, Ontario.
Like many of the young women of her day , Jessie taught school after she
graduated High School in 1904. In 1907 she relocated to Calgary, Alberta to
attend nursing school at the Calgary General Hospital. Sadly she was forced
to return to her Gore Bay home for six months to recuperate from Typhoid
fever. She took up her nurse training again at the Guelph Sanatorium for
mental and nervous patients. The supervisor at Guelph suggested that Jessie
take studies at the Massachusetts's General Hospital, Boston, U.S.A.
She spent three years at the Harvard University Branch of the hospital and
served as head of the surgery department. In 1911 she worked the
Massachusetts Hospital, Fitchburg as Superintendent of nurses for a year and
then returned to the Harvard University Peter Brent Brigham Hospital.
Hospital. With the breakout of World War 1 in Europe Jessie served in June
1915 with the Harvard Medical Unit in hospitals in both England and France
until February 1916. Returning from the front to England she enlisted
as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She
served back in France at a Canadian Casualty Clearing station. In England
she served at a hospital in Hastings, England. She returned to Canada after
the war. During the war she had kept track of the local Manitoulin Island
Boys and often sent them boxes with cakes and candy which had
been sent to her from Canada. She also wrote letters to the local boys who
were wounded and in hospitals. In 1919 she worked in Wheeling, West
Virginia, U.S.A. as Superintendent of Nurses in Training and also as
Superintendent of Nursing Schools for the state of West Virginia. In the
early 1920's she returned to Gore Bay on Manitoulin Island to care for the
three children after the death of their mother Nora, Jessie's sister. As the
children grew up she ran a nursing home. During World War ll when the local
doctor enlisted to serve she was a mainstay for her community. She worked at
the Registry Office in Gore Bay but retired early to care for her
brother. When her brother was take to a nursing home Jessie moved to Toronto
to be with her niece, Noreen. Jessie was a honourary member of the Canadian
Legion and the American Veterans of Foreign Wars. Jessie is remembered in
national memorials and at the Memorial to Women who have fought in Canadian
Wars
Memorial, Manitoulin Island. Source:
Manitoulin Roots online (accessed 2021) |
Daphne Veronica Clarke |
SEE - Social Activists |
Mabel Clint
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3338 |
Born June
21,1876, Quebec City, Quebec. Died March 17, 1939. A trained nurse she
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps on
September 25, 1914. She served at No. 2 Canadian General Hospital. She
suffered from Dysentery at Lemnos and later she had Influenza. In February
1916 she was admitted to hospital in Cairo, Egypt with phlebitis. and became
dangerously ill with an embolism in her right lung. In May 1916 she was
discharged to England. After having taken extended medical leave she
re-enlisted in December 1917 and served at No. 16 Canadian General Hospital.
England, France, Turkey, Lemnos Island. In February 1918 she was serving at
No. 4 Casualty Clearing Station. After the war she returned to Canada
and continued her nursing career. She wrote about her wartime experiences in
a memoir, Our Bit: Memories of War Service by a Canadian Nursing Sister
published in 1934. Source: Mabel Clint, Library and
Archives Canada. online (accessed 2021) |
Agnes Clinton 4297
Black Nurse |
Agnes was the first Black
nursing school student graduating from the three year program at the Women's
College Hospital School of Nursing June 1, 1951. She had been rejected
numerous times to be accepted to train as a nurse with weakly disguised
excuses that hid the discrimination against accepting Black nursing
students. After graduation she worked as a surgical nurse at the Women
College Hospital. . She continued her studies taking Public Health Nursing
at the University of Toronto and worked in the filed of public health for 13
years. She also went on to study substance abuse at Yale University in New
Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A. She was paramount in establishing a public health
program for the homeless working with the Detroit Health Department in,
Michigan, U.S.A. where she was a committed worker in mental health caring
for people with HIV. (2023) |
Olive
Maud
Coad
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3114 |
Born March 5, 1884,
Wingham, Ontario. Died April 23, 1974, Neepawa, Manitoba. In 1890,
Olive and her family relocated to Eden, Manitoba. Olive graduated in
1910 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. She served
at the Camp Sewell (lated Camp Hughes) military hospital, Manitoba to gain
military nursing experience. In November 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted
to No. 9 Canadian Stationary Hospital and No. 12 Canadian General Hospital,
Bramshott, the University of Toronto No. 4 Canadian General Hospital,
Basingstoke, England. In France she served at No. 9 Canadian Stationary
Hospital, Etaples, France where she survived enemy air raids. After the war
she returned to Canada working as private or special nurse in both Canada
and the U.S.A. Source: Health Sciences
Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1910. online (accessed 2021) |
Jessie Winnifred Cochrane - Coombe
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3278 |
Born July 17, 1888,
Ranchvale, Manitoba. Died 1961, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Jessie graduated from
the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in 1913. In September
1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC). Overseas she was posted to West Cliff Eye and Ear Canadian
Hospital, Folkstone and was transferred to Princess Patricia's Canadian Red
Cross Hospital, Ramsgate, England. In 1917 she was serving at No. 4 Canadian
Casualty Clearing Station in France. After the war she married C. V.
Coombe and the couple settled in Winnipeg.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1913.. online (accessed 2021) |
Gertrude
Ethel Comerford - Durling
3229
World War 1 Nursing Sister |
née
Comerford.
Born June 29, 1892, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. Died April 2, 1954, New York
State, U.S.A. Gertrude Ethel graduated from the Nursing School, Belleville,
Ontario in 1916. April 17, 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted to No. 16
Canadian General Hospital, Orpington, England and then she served in France.
She was herself hospital in England in the fall of 1917. After the war she
immigrated to the United States in 1924 to work at the Detroit Board of
Health. Later she relocated to work at the Oregon Hospital, Portland,
U.S.A. November 2, 1928 she married Vernon Beckwith Durling and the couple
settled in New York State, U.S.A.
Source: Nurses of World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed
2021) |
Grace
Jean Conner -McKenzie
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3286 |
Born May 21, 1887, Morden, Manitoba. Died February 7, 1974,
Manitou, Manitoba. Jean graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School
of Nursing in 1914. After graduation she worked in the operating room at the
WGH. May 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she served at No. 1 Canadian General
Hospital, Le Treport and the Canadian Casualty Clearing Station in France.
She also served at No. 14 Canadian General Hospital, Brighton , England
before returning to Canada in 1919. After the war she married William
McKenzie. They lived in Peace River, Snowflake and Pilot Mound where Grace
continued her nursing career. She retired in 1952 to Manitou, Manitoba.
Source: Health Science Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of
1914, online (accessed 2021) |
Margaret Connolly
World War 1 Nursing Sister
0035 |
Born April 18, 1879, Antrim, Ireland. Died
August 26, 1926, Winnipeg, Manitoba ? In 1913 she graduated from the
Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing, Manitoba. She worked on
staff at the King George Hospital, Winnipeg. In may 1917 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was
posted to No. 16, Canadian General Hospital, the Ontario Military Hospital,
Orpington, England. After the war she returned to the King George Hospital,
Winnipeg.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1913.. online (accessed 2021); Find a grave Canada,
online (accessed 2021). |
Margaret Elizabeth Copland - Hunter
3830
Nurse in 1885
Insurrection |
née Copland. Born April 18, 1849, Kirkgunzeon,
Scotland. Died February 18, 1940, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Margaret trained
as a nurse prior to her marriage to William Hunter (1845-1894) in 1870. The
following year the couple emigrated to Ontario and then moved west to
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The couple homesteaded in Llewellyn community
raising seven children At the outbreak of the Métis insurrection in 1885 the
Copland homestead was an encampment ground for Canadian troops. Margaret
used her nursing skills to treat wounded from both sides of the conflict.
Source: Saskatchewan Legion, Military Service
Book. Online (accessed 2022); Find a Grave Canada (accessed 2022) |
Rebecca "Ruby' Muriel Cornette - Kidd
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3352 |
née Cornette. Born March 9, 1889, Orangeville,
Ontario. Died 1973, Leduc, Alberta. Ruby enlisted as a nursing Sister with
the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) on May 5, 1915. She registered
with sever of her roommates from the Nurse's Home, Kingston, Ontario. She
was posted to N0. 5 Canadian Stationary Hospital. She was then sent to
France at N0. 1 Canadian General Hospital for two month. Back in England she
was sent to Egypt. In 1916 she was serving at No. 2 Canadian General
Hospital, France and after a month she was transferred to No. 7 Canadian
General The hospital was bombed on May 6, 1918 which caused Ruby
anxiety and she was found to be fit in July of 1916 to return to duty at No.
& Hospital. After the war she married Dr. Clarence Kidd (Died 1946)in
Edmonton, Alberta, in 1919. The couple settled in Leduc, Alberta where they
raised their son. Source: Beckwith Heroes , Officers
of Beckwith Township. online. (accessed 2021) |
Dorothy MacLeod Penner Cotton
World
War 1 Matron of Nurses
3098 |
Born August 2,
1886, Quebec City, Quebec. Died August 12, 1977, Outremont, Quebec. Dorothy
graduated from nursing at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal. In 1915 she
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Overseas
she served at No. 3 Canadian General Hospital, supported by McGill
University. Later she was one of nurses who were sent to serve in an
Anglo-Russian hospital at Dmitri Palace, Petrograd. In 1917 she returned to
England to serve as acting Matron at an officer's hospital, London. Her
diary (1915-1916) and several photographs taken during her war are preserved
at the Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
Sources: Canada Great War Project, Nursing
Sisters, online (accessed 2021); Library and Archives Canada (accessed 2021) |
Hilda Corelli
World War 1 Nursing Sister
0036 |
Born May 30, 1884,
Birkenhead, Cheshire, England. Died July 3, 1963, Sussex, England. Hilda
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in
1909. She originally worked with the Winnipeg Children's Hospital but soon
left her position to work as a private nurse. She relocated to British
Columbia to work at the Royal Inland Hospital, Kamloops. By 1914 she was
working at the Regina General Hospital in Saskatchewan. the following year
she was Acting Superintendent at Ninette Sanatorium, Saskatchewan. In
November 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was stationed at the Duchess of
Connaught's Red Cross Hospital/No. 15 Canadian General Hospital, Clivedon,
England, No. 3 Canadian General Hospital, South Hampton, England, No. 3
Canadian Casualty Clearing Station, Canadian Special Hospital, Lenham and
also on the hospital ship H. M. A. T. Araguaya. After the war she took
courses in child welfare work and was certified by the Central Midwives
Board, London, England. In 1921 she returned to Winnipeg working until
retirement in 1952 when she returned to England.
Source: Heath Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. online (accessed 2021) |
Annie Jane Coulter
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3127 |
Born February 6, 1877, Sault Ste. Marie,
Ontario. Died October 17, 1934, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Annie graduated
in 1911 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. In
February 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she served at Moore Barracks
Hospital, England before she was sent to France. She was posted to No. 1 and
No. 2 Canadian General Hospitals in France prior to serving at the Canadian
Casualty Clearing Station in Shorncliffe, England. After the war she
returned to Sault Ste. Marie where she worked with the city as a relief
officer.
Source: Heath Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. online Class of 1911 online (accessed 2021); The Canadian Great
War Project, Nursing Sisters, online (accessed 2021) |
Irene Pearl
Courtice -Lambert
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3230 |
née Courtice.
Born September 26, 1887, Bethany, Ontario. Died August 17, 1963, Toronto,
Ontario. After attending Albert College Irene Pearl attended Normal School
(Teacher's College) and taught school in Fortescue, Ontario. By 1913 she had
graduated from the Toronto General Hospital School of Nursing. April 7, 1915
she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC)
jut a few weeks after her brother Dr. John Thomas Courtice had enlisted.
Overseas she was posted to No. 4 Canadian General Hospital, Shorncliffe,
England and later in France and Salonika, Greece. She also served on
transport duty in 1918 on the H. M. H. S. Araguaya. She became Matron
at the Whitby Military Convalescent Hospital in Ontario. March 30, 1920 she
married Rev. Sidney Lambert who became president of the Amputee Association
of the Great War (War Amps). Source:
Nurses of World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Jean Cowan
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3207 |
Born August 7,
1891, Guelph, Ontario. Died April 1, 1971, Saskatchewan. Jean graduated in
1915 rom the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. In April
1916 jean enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC). She travelled overseas with the Saskatchewan Unit of Nurses and was
posted to Moore Barracks Hospital, Shorncliffe Canadian Military Hospital,
No 8 Canadian Stationary Hospital, Hastings in England and then in France at
NO. 6 Canadian General Hospital. She suffered from poor health, extreme
fatigue and a bout with the mumps before she returned home in 1919. She
settled in Toronto, Ontario and worked for the Department of Soldier's Civil
Re-Establishment (now Veterans Affairs) IN the early 1960's she returned to
Saskatchewan. Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1915. online (accessed 2021). |
Jean Cowie - Harry
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3268 |
née Cowie.
Born June 9, 1888, Fort McMurray, Northwest Territories (now Alberta). Died
February 11, 1982, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. In 1912 Jean graduated from
the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. The next year she was
working as Nigh Supervisor at the Royal Island Hospital, Kamloops, British
Columbia. Shortly after she worked in the Operating Room at WGH. By 1916 she
was on staff at the King George Hospital, Winnipeg. Later that year she
joined Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service. While serving
overseas she met and married Lieutenant W. Earl Harry. After the was the
couple returned to Manitoba and she became teaching supervisor at WGH from
1928-1932. She served as president ot the Nurses' Alumnae Association in
1932. Until 1959 she worked as Superintendent of both Administration and
School of Nursing of Victoria Hospital, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. In 1935
she was presented with the King George V Jubilee Medal.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1912. online (accessed 2021) |
Rafina 'Rita' Cox 4307
Black Nurse |
Born October 24, 1935,
Trinidad and Tobago. In the 1960's she immigrated to Canada and settled in
Winnipeg, Manitoba where she pursued studies to become a Registered Nurse.
She would work at varius hosbitals in both Winnipeg and toronto
including 50 plus years at St. Boniface, Sunny Brook Health Science Centre,
Misericoardia Deer Lodge and Sharon Home. While she worked full time she
always had time to help out with the children at school organizing fund
raising events and after school activities. After living 20 years in Toronto
she returned to Winnipeg in 2010 to live with her daughters. She was the
mother of four children. Source: Obituary; Online
(accessed 2023) |
Elsie Cressman
0037 |
Born April 13, 1923, Wilmot Township, Wellington County,
Ontario. Died September 11, 2012, New Hamburg, Ontario. Elsie attended
Goshen College in Indiana, and Easter Mennonite College, Virginia, U.S.A.
and studied nursing at St Mary’s Hospital, Kitchener, Ontario. Later in life
she took extra midwifery training in England. As a Mennonite medical
missionary from 1953 through to the mid 1970’s she established a
number of health clinics in East Africa. She also established a Leprosarium
in Shirati, Tanzania and the Tom Mboya Memorial Health Centre in Kenya.
Elsie was also responsible for setting up midwifery program at various
Canadian Universities such as McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario,
Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, and Laurentian University, Sudbury,
Ontario. All of these universities offer a bachelor degree in midwifery. Her
efforts earned her recognition with the Order of Ontario. She retired from
birthing babies in 1998 at 75 years of age. In 2010 she was the subject of
a documentary aired on CTV.
Source: Waterloo Region Hall of Fame.
Online (Accessed July 2014) ; “Elsie Cressman was staunch advocate of
midwifery in Ontario.” The Record, Kitchener/Waterloo September 13,
2012. Online (Accessed July 2014) ; “Elsie Cressman” .
Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. (Accessed July 2014)
Book: Elsie Cressman: A trailblazing life by Nancy Silcox, 2012
(2021) |
Gladys Elizabeth Matheson
Crim
0038 |
née Matheson. Born September 27, 1892, St Barnabas Mission,
Onion Lake. Died 1968, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Gladys was the daughter of Dr.
Elizabeth Scott Matheson (1866-1958) who was the 1st woman
licensed doctor in the area. From 1906 through 1909 she attended
Kilborn Sister’s School at Dunham Ladies College, Ottawa, Ontario. She
returned home to work at her parent’s mission for two years before she began
training as a nurse at Memorial Hospital in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Again she returned home to work. She taught at the mission school for
three
years while helping in her mother’s hospital. In 1914 she went to Winnipeg
General Hospital to complete her nurse training. In 1916 both her father
and her fiancé died but she continued her studies graduating in 1917. She
worked at Tuxedo Military Hospital in Winnipeg prior to enlisting on May 25,
1917 for overseas war service as a lieutenant nursing sister at the Eastborne, England hospital for Canadian soldiers. On May 6, 1918 she was
ordered to serve at no three Canadian General Hospital in Boulogne, France which
was a series of huts near the front line of the war. In May 1919 she was
back serving at the Winnipeg Tuxedo Military Hospital. In 1920 she was worn
out and went to Vancouver, British Columbia for three months. In 1926 she
married U.S. Infantry officer Stirling Crim (1891-1980) in Hawaii. The
couple settled in San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A.. After the death of her husband
she returned to live in Winnipeg.
Source: The Story behind the Statue,
Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Association. Online (Accessed June 2014)
(2021) |
Doris Crummey - Harrison
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3387 |
née Crummey. Born February 25, 1892, Nellore,
India. Doris graduated in 1917 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH)
School of Nursing. By April 1918 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with
the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Over seas she served at No. 10
Canadian General Hospital, Brighton and No. 14 Canadian General Hospital,
Eastbourne, England. After the war Doris married Charles Harrison and the
couple lived in California, U.S.A. where she worked as a private nurse.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1917. online (accessed 2021); |
Cathy Crowe |
SEE - Social Activists |
Ada Victoria
Cuddy - Morgan
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3388 |
Born June 28, 1887,
Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died 1954, Toronto, Ontario. Ada graduated from
the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in 1917. After
graduation she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted to the Duchess of Connaught's Red
Cross Hospital, Taplow, West Cliffe Canadian Eye and Ear Hospital,
Folkestone, and the Ontario Military hospital, No. 16 Canadian General
hospital where she served until she was hospitalized with appendicitis. In
March 1919 she married Dr. A. E. Morgan in England. After the war the couple
returned to Canada and settled in Toronto, Ontario.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1917. online (accessed 2021); |
Ethel Eva
Cutter - Jackson
World War 1 Nursing
Sister
3315 |
Born March 12,
1888, Aldershot, Ontario. Died August 31, 1966, Kern, California, U.S.A.
Ethel trained in Vancouver, British Columbia to be a nurse. She relocated to
Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. in November 1914 to continue her
nursing training at the Good Samaritan Hospital. Rather than return to
Canada to serve with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) during World War
1 she joined and served with the American Red Cross. After the war she
relocated to Honolulu in September 1920 nursing at Queens Hospital. In 1922
she married Clarence E. Baxter in California but sadly they divorced in
1924. In 1964 she married Harold L. Jackson. Source:
Flamborough Archives and Heritage Society. Flamborough Nursing Sisters.
online (accessed 2021) |
Ainslie
St. Clair
Dagg
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3358 |
Born February 5,
1892, Selkirk, Manitoba. Died November 29, 1918, Clivedon, England. After
graduating from Havergal College in 1909, Ainslie graduated from the
Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in 1916.In 1917 she joined
the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service. Overseas she served
for a year prior to enlisting as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC) in April 1918. She was posted to the Duchess of
Connaught's Red Cross Hospital, also known as No. 15 Canadian General
Hospital, Taplow. Shortly after her posting she contracted influenza and
then pneumonia. Source: Health Sciences
Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital Class of 1916. online
(accessed 2021) |
Grace
Annie Lamby
Dainty
3560 |
Born 1877, England. Died 1974, Lethbridge, Alberta. While she
was still an infant her parents immigrated and settled in Ontario. In 1904
she followed her father and brother to settle in Cardston, Alberta. In
1905 she opened a Children's Shelter which she ran through to 1909 when she
opened a private maternity hospital. The city of Lethbridge has names a
street in her honour. She soon was a familiar figure working as the first
public health nurse in Lethbridge. She worked as a registered nurse at
the Galt Hospital in Lethbridge earing her nursing degree in 1919. A
generous person , after a staff cut in pay she gave part of her earnings to
supplement the hospital maid's pay. In 1918 her private hospital
became a public regional facility where she housed victims of the First
World War Spanish influenza epidemic. In 1922 she retired but continued to
care for people in her neighbourhood. St. Mary's Anglican Church named the
parish hall Dainty Hall. The city of Lethbridge names a street in her
honour. Source: Legacy of Lethbridge Women,
Lethbridge Historical Society, 2005; Find a Grave Canada. online (accessed
2021) |
Sarah Persis Johnson
Darrach
World War 1 Nursing
Matron
0039 |
née Johnson. Born February 8, 1886, Rosscarberry, Ireland. Died September
4, 1974, Brandon, Manitoba. Sarah's family emigrated to Canada in September 1898
and settled at Beresford, Manitoba. In 1908, she was admitted to the nursing
program at Brandon General Hospital graduating as gold medalist in 1911.
She did her postgraduate work at Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. and returned home to
become Assistant Matron of Brandon General Hospital. She was posted
overseas in 1914. Working as a nurse during the First World War she
nursed in field hospitals in France, and war hospitals in England. She
served Matron of No. One Canadian Casualty Clearing Station. She was awarded
the Royal Red Cross, Second and First Class, the latter being awarded to her
by the Prince of Wales in 1919. Returning home in 1919, she became
Superintendent of Nurses at Brandon Hospital where she worked to improve the
working conditions of nurses and establishing standardized nursing training
programs. In 1920 she married Robert Darrach. The couple set up a fresh-air
camp for disadvantaged kids at Lake Clementi, south of Brandon that accepted
needy children for ten years. In 1934, she was the recipient of the
Order of the British Empire.
In 1936 she became the Dean of Women at
Brandon College
where she retired in 1953. She received the Canada
Centennial Medal
in 1967. Darrach Hall at Brandon University was named in her honour
as was Darrach Avenue in the City of Brandon.
Source: Memorable Manitobans Online (accessed February
2014) (2021) |
Winnifred Dawson
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3292 |
Born February 26,
1890, Ontario. Died June 1972, New Brunswick? Winnifred graduated in 1914
from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. After
graduation she nursed in Canora, Saskatchewan. By 1916 she was working at
the WGH in the operating room. In 1917 she became nurse in charge of the
operating room at the N0. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park,
Winnipeg. She enlisted in the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) in
September 1917. Overseas she was posted to No. 10 Canadian General Hospital,
Brighton, England. After the war she returned to Canada and worked in
Toronto for the Child Welfare Department. In 1922 she moved to Rio d
Janeiro, Brazil working for the Rockefeller Foundation as a public
health nurse. In 1937 she became the Eastern Supervisor of the Victorian
Order of Nurses (V O N), Moncton, New Brunswick.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1914.. online (accessed 2021); |
Edith Deason
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3280 |
Born November 28,
1880, Lancashire, England. Died February 12, 1967, Brandon, Manitoba.
In 1913 Edith graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing. After graduation she worked at the WGH> In April 1915 she
enlisted with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She was posted to No.
2 Canadian General Hospital, France and then to NO. 3 Canadian Stationary
Hospital, Lemnos Island and Alexandria, Egypt. Returning to England she
served at the Moore Barracks Hospital, Shorncliffe. She was then transferred
to No 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital and NO. 11 Canadian General Hospital,
France. In 1919 she was working at No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo
Park, Winnipeg. In 1922 she relocated to San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
to work as a private nurse. In 1927 she was in Illinois, U.S.A. where she
took a course in anesthetics. She would return to Canada and settled at the
Brandon Mental Hospital, Manitoba.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1913.. online (accessed 2021); |
Ida Georgina Denmark -MacNutt
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3231 |
née Denmark. Born July 13, 1886, Belleville,
Ontario. Died February 12, 1969, Vancouver, British Columbia. Ida began her
nursing training at the Montreal Maternity Hospital, Quebec. In August 1909
while visiting his daughter in Montreal she father collapsed and died.
graduated from the Royal Victoria Hospital School of Nursing, New
Westminster, British Columbia in 1912. September 18, 1914 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was
posted to No. 2 Canadian Stationary Hospital LeTouquet, France. This was the
first of all Canadian units to set up in France. In July 1916 she resigned
her commission and married Dr. Louis Wellington MacNutt. After the war the
couple settled in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Source: Nurses of World War 1 by Donald
Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Agnes Dennis
0040 |
née Miller. Born April 11,
1859, Truro, Nova Scotia. Died April 21, 1947, Halifax, Nova Scotia. She attended Truro's Model and Normal Schools and taught at
the Model School for two years prior to her marriage in 1878 to William
Dennis (d 1920),
publisher of the Halifax Herald newspaper. Agnes served as president
of the Victoria Order of Nurses (VON) from 1901 through to 1946. She was
president of the Halifax Council of Women from 1906 through 1920.
Agnes mobilized women in World War I for the Red Cross for which she was
also president at the provincial level from 1914 to 1920.
She
actively participated include the Women's Auxiliary, YMCA 1910-1921,
Halifax Relief Committee, Canadian Council of Immigration of Women, and Nova
Scotia Provincial Girl Guides.
She also helped co-ordinate relief efforts for the
Halifax Explosion of 1917. In 1919 she was named to the Order of Queen
Elizabeth of Belgium. Even with all this work she found time to raise
ten children of her own! After the death of her husband she became
president of the Halifax Herald Ltd. In 1934 she became a Commander
of the Order of the British Empire. The following year she received the King
of England's Silver Jubilee Medal.
(2021) |
Agnes Foley Dick
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3232 |
Born May 3, 1891,
Lochgelly, Scotland. Died ???? Agnes immigrated to Canada in May 1911. She
graduated from the Nursing School, Belleville, Ontario in 1917. She settled
in Toronto and enlisted as a Nursing Sister in January 1918. She was posted
to Davisville Military Orthopaedic Hospital, Spadina Military Hospital and
Base Hospital, Toronto. She herself was hospitalized for influenza, then
anaemia and was giver a disability discharge on August 31, 1919. After the
war she nursed in Toronto. Source: Nurses
of World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Ruby Belle
Dickie
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3365 |
Born July 29, 1890,
Carlyle, Saskatchewan. Died March 20, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Ruby
graduated in 1916 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing, Manitoba. Right after graduating she joined the Queen Alexandra's
Imperial Military Nursing Service and served in Mesopotamia, Egypt and
England. After the war, she returned to Winnipeg and worked with the Manitoba
Provincial Board of health. In 1925 she was working out of Brandon,
Manitoba. Later she would joint staff at the Out Patients Department of St.
Boniface Hospital where she retired in 1956. Ruby was an active member of
the WGH Nurses' Alumna Association and enjoyed working on the Alumnae
Journal. Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1916. online
(accessed 2021) |
Mildred Sarah
Dobbs
3561 |
Born June 11, 1878, Gloucestershire, England. Died January
17, 1974, Lethbridge, Alberta. Mildred trained as a nurse in England and for
awhile worked with the Queen's Nurses, an English organization similar to
the Victorian Order of Nurses (V O N) in Canada. In 1911 she immigrated to
Canada following her brother to Lethbridge, Alberta. She began working at
the Isolation Hospital just outside of Lethbridge. She hauled coal to
keep the six coal fires burning. Her assistant was 'fumigated' and allowed
out for one day each three months. Relatives left treats for patients
outside the hospital fence. By 1828 there wa new quarters for the Isolation
Hospital which was furnished with beds from the Grace Hospital. Mildred
retired after 32 years in 1950 at 74 years of age, never having taken so
much as one day sick leave. The local I O D E chapter was named in her
honour. The city of Lethbridge names a street in her
honour. Source: Legacy of Lethbridge Women,
Lethbridge Historical Society, 2005; Find a Grave Canada. online (accessed
2021) |
Carola Josephine
'C J" Douglas
World War 1 Nursing Sister died at sea 3341
|
Born April 7, 1887,
Toronto, Ontario. Died June 27, 1918 at sea. She enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) on March 2, 1915.
On June 27, 1918 she was aboard the Canadian Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle
sailing from Halifax to Liverpool, England. The hospital ship was torpedoed
an enemy U-boat (submarine) 46 and only 24 people of the 234 souls on board survived. 14
Canadian Nursing Sisters lost their lives. The U-Boat captain felt that even
though the ship was well marked as a hospital ship that it carried munitions
for the British. When there was no great explosion of munitions from the
ship the captain of the U-Boat ordered he crew to fire on people in life
boats in order to kill survivors in an attempt to cover his sinking of the
ship. It was against wartime convention to fire on an hospital ship.
It was the deadliest Canadian naval disaster of the First World War.
In 2018 composer Stephanie Martin and playwright Paul Ciufo commemorated the
nurses in an opera. |
Jean Isabel 'Jennie' Drummond - Field
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3316 |
Born July 28, 1882,
East Flamborough Township, Ontario. Died October 28, 1985, Burlington,
Ontario. Jennie travelled to the U.S.A to train as a nurse at the
Episcopalian Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After graduating
she returned to Canada and worked at a hospital in Toronto. March 17, 1918
she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC). She was posted to the Base hospital, Military District No. 2
organizing blood donor clinics. After the war she married Arthur Thomas
Field on June 22, 1921. Source: Flamborough
Archives and Heritage Society. Flamborough Nursing Sisters. online (accessed
2021) |
Lylia Miller Drummond -Plunkett
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3233 |
née Drummond. Born
May, 16, 1886, Keene, Ontario. Died September 3, 1961, Peterborough County,
Ontario. In 1910 Lylia graduated from the Nursing School, Belleville,
Ontario. She went overseas to work at Bloomingfield Bridge-of-Allan,
Scotland. October 7, 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She was posted to military hospitals in Ramsgate,
London, England Brighton and Eastbourne, England, She returned to Canada
after the war and nursed in Belleville. She went on to private nursing in
Rochester, Minnesota, U.S.A. for awhile and then returned to Canada.
November 27, 1942 she married Robert Plunkett and the couple settled in
Keene, Ontario.
Source: Nurses of World War 1 by Donald
Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Thurley May
Duck |
Born 1928,
Victoria, British Columbia. Died September 26, 1997, Duncan, British
Columbia. In 1951 Thurley graduated from the Royal Jubilee Hospital School
of Nursing in Victoria, British Columbia. She worked as a staff nurse at the
hospital and went on to become a Head Nurse and Assistant Supervisor. She
furthered her education with a Bachelor of Nursing, McGill University,
Montreal, Quebec. From 1966 through 1973 she was Assistant Supervisor of
Centennial Pavilion of the Vancouver General Hospital (VGH). from 1975-1978
she was Building Supervisor of the Heather Pavilion, VGH. In 1978 she became
Director of Nursing at VGH. She also served as the 24th president of the
Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia. After retirement she
relocated to Shawinigan Lake, British Columbia.
Source: BC History of Nursing Society. Online
(accessed 2021) |
Beverly
Witter Du Gas
0041 |
Born June 29,1923, Vancouver, British Columbia. Died November
20, 2012, Vancouver, British Columbia. She studied nursing earning a Bachelor
degree in
nursing in 1945 and earning her masters in 1947 at the University of
Washington in Seattle, U.S.A. Later in life she would return to school for
her PhD in Adult Education in 1969. She began her nursing career at the
Vancouver General Hospital and in 1957 she became acting director and
director in 1960. Beverly was married and the mother of four children. She
introduced students to real people as patients and wrote a 1st year nursing
textbook, the 1st of many textbooks in the nursing education field. In 1965
through 1967 she worked for the World Health Organization (WHO) of the
United Nations going to India. Back home in Canada she began working at
Health and Welfare Canada and with World Health. In Barbados she established
a program to prepare teachers for the Health Sciences. In 1982 she joined
the faculty of nursing t the University of Ottawa and became director of the
School of Nursing in 1987, retiring in 1989. She continued in nursing with
WHO going to Fiji, China, Manila, and India as well as producing more nursing
textbooks. In 1999 she was presented with the Order of British Columbia and
in 2001 the Order of Canada.
Source: School of Nursing at the University of
British Columbia, Online accessed November 2012. ; Obituary. (2021) |
Wendy Duggleby
0042 |
née Rennie. Born November 1953, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Wendy earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Saskatchewan in 1975.
She married Tom Duggleby and the couple have two children. She furthered her
education with a Master’s in Nursing at the University of Alberta before
heading to The University of Texas Health Sciences Centre, Houston, Texas,
U.S.A. to earn her PhD in 1999. She returned to Saskatoon in 2001 to work at
the College of Nursing. Her main efforts in research have been on eldercare.
She is the founder of Living in Hope Program with the mandate to explore and
foster hope in terminally ill health. In 2006 she earned the Distinguished
Researcher Award from the University of Saskatchewan before moving to become
Professor and acting Vice Dean, for the Endowed Nursing Research Chair in
Aging and Quality of Life at the University of Alberta. She is a regular
contributor to medical and scholarly journals on her area of expertise and
she has contributed several chapters to books on this topic as well. In
January 2013 she was presented with the Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee
Medal.
Source: Herstory 2012: The Canadian Women’s Calendar
(Coteau Books, 2011) (2021) |
Alexina Dussault
World War 1 Nursing Sister Died at Sea
3339 |
Born March 25,
1875, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. Died June 27, 1918 at sea. Alexina enlisted
as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) on September
25, 1914. It is possible that she claimed she was born in 1882 to be younger
than was allowed to enlist. She was posted to No. 1 Canadian General Hospital
and No. 2 Canadian Stationary Hospital. In February 1916 she was on the
front in Boulogne, France. She volunteered to serve on hospital ships caring
for wounded being sent back to Canada. On June 27, 1918 she was aboard
the Canadian Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle sailing from Halifax to
Liverpool, England. The hospital ship was torpedoed an enemy U-boat
(submarine) 46 and only 24 people of the 234 sould on board survived. 14
Canadian Nursing Sisters lost their lives. The U-Boat captain felt that even
though the ship was well marked as a hospital ship that it carried munitions
for the British. When there was no great explosion of munitions from the
ship the captain of the U-Boat ordered he crew to fire on people in life
boats in order to kill survivors in an attempt to cover his sinking of the
ship. It was against wartime convention to fire on an hospital ship.
It was the deadliest Canadian naval disaster of the First World War.
In 2018 composer Stephanie Martin and playwright Paul Ciufo commemorated the
nurses in an opera. Source: Alexina Dussault, Library
and Archives Canada. online (accessed 2021) |
Eunice
Henrietta
Dyke
Public Health
Pioneer 0043 |
Born February 8, 1883, Toronto, Ontario. Died September 1,
1964, Toronto, Ontario. In 1905 she studied nursing at the John Hopkins
School of Nursing in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. Back home in Toronto she
began working for the Toronto Department of health and worked her way up to
Superintendent of Nurses in the department. In 1914 she established Public
Health Nursing in the Toronto Department of Health. Her advocacy for Public
Health Nursing got her fired at the peak of her career. This was an era when
nurses were nothing more than hand maids for doctors. Eunice went on and
facilitated the education of public health nurses in a university setting.
She developed a visiting housekeeper service which was the forerunner of the
Visiting Homemakers Association. She would travel throughout North America
and Europe lobbying and encouraging others in the field of Public Health
Nursing. After her retirement she established the Second Mile Club for
seniors in Toronto. This was the 1st senior citizens organization in Canada.
In 1960 the Canadian Public Health Association honoured Eunice with a life
membership. The book Eunice Dyke: Health Care Pioneer by Marion Royce
from Dundurn Press tells the whole story. Suggestion submitted by Dave
Ferguson.
(2021) |
Margaret Eaton
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3317 |
Born June 11, 1865,
Carlisle, Canada West, (now Ontario). Died ???? While living with her
brother Dr. John Murray in 1901 she worked as a nurse in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
She travelled on a medical excursion with her brother and another doctor to
Havana, Cuba in 1911. She worked after her Cuban trip in London, Ontario.
Jun 2, 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps (CAMC). When she enlisted she gave the date of her birth as June 21,
1878 so that she could meet the age restrictions of the CAMC. She served in
England and in Canada until 1920. Source: Flamborough
Archives and Heritage Society. Flamborough Nursing Sisters. online (accessed
2021) |
Susan 'Susie' Mae Elliott
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3435 |
Born January
15, 1889, London, Ontario. Died 1965?, London, Ontario. Susie graduated from
the Victoria Hospital Training School for Nurses, London, Ontario in 1914.
She enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC)
on April 5, 1917. After the war she returned home to London, Ontario.
Source: Class of 1914, Victoria Hospital Training School for
Nurses, London Public Library online (accessed 2021); Canada Great War
Project, Nursing Sisters, online (accessed 2021); Find a grave Canada.
(accessed 2021) |
Kathleen Wilhelmina Ellis
0044 |
Born July 16, 1887, Penticton British Columbia. Died March 9,
1968, Penticton, British Columbia. As a child Kathleen professed that she always
wanted to help people. In 1915 she graduated in nursing from the Johns
Hopkins College, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. Returning to British Columbia
she became Matron of the Vancouver Island Military Hospital in Victoria. She
went on to work in Detroit Michigan, U.S.A. and Toronto, Ontario. In 1921
she became Superintendent of Nurses and Principal of the School of Vancouver
General Hospital. During this time she was President of the Vancouver
Graduate Nurses Association and went on to be president of the Graduate
Nurses of British Columbia. In 1929 she enrolled in a Public Health Course
at Bedford College, London, England. Returning to Canada she worked as
Director of Nursing at the Winnipeg General Hospital in Saskatchewan. In
1930 she had a major role in publishing the National Survey of Nursing in
Canada which is a historical milestone in Canada’s nursing history. In 1938
she played a major role in opening the School of Nursing at the University
of Saskatchewan and served as Director of the school until her retirement.
She would serve as vice-president of the Canadian Nurses Association and
during World War ll she was the national emergency advisor for the Canadian
Nurses Association as well as holding the position of secretary treasurer.
During her distinguished career she published numerous articles in the
Canadian Nurse Journal. In 1966 she was presented with ‘the Freedom of the
City’ from Penticton, British Columbia. (2021) |
Muriel Shirecliffe Parker Ellis - Slevin
World War 1 Nursing
Sister 3415 |
Born October 27,
1878, London, England. Died December 9, 1965, Vancouver, British Columbia.
The family immigrated to Canada just prior to 1911 and settled in British
Columbia. . Muriel enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC) in May 1915. Her enlistment declaration gives her date
of birth as 1881 but she may have lied to be sure she would be accepted for
service. She served at No. 1 Canadian General Hospital, Etaples, France
after a short time with the No. 4 British General Hospital. In August 1916
she was invalidate to Villa Tino Hospital. Fit for service by the end
of November she was posted to the Duchess of Connaught's Canadian Red Cross
Hospital, England. By February 1917 she herself was in Hospital and given 14
days leave. She was posted to France serving at No. 3 Canadian Stationary
Hospital, Doullens. May 4, 1918 she was again back in hospital. Recuperated
she was posted at the No. 14 Canadian General Hospital and later at the No.
16 Canadian General Hospital. December 1918 once again found her in
hospital. By March 1919 she was declared medically unfit and she
returned to British Columbia. She was posted for the last time to Hastings
Park, Vancouver. In July 1919 she was discharged. November 30, 1929 she
married Edward Lawrence Slevin (died 1953).
Source: [Canada] A Tribute to Some Women And Men
Who Served in Armed Conflicts. online (accessed 2021) |
Gertrude Lagoria English
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3318 |
Born September 29,
1888, Waterdown, Ontario. Died May 25, 1980, Waterdown, Ontario. Gertrude
travelled to the U.S.A. to train as a nurse at Grace Hospital, Detroit,
Michigan. After graduation she worked for the Packard Motor Car Company,
Detroit. In 1918 she joined the American Red Cross to serve overseas during
World War 1. After the war she returned to work again at the Packard Motor
Car Company, Detroit. In September 1921 she took out her American
citizenship. Source: Flamborough Archives and Heritage
Society. Flamborough Nursing Sisters. online (accessed 2021) |
Mary
Catherine English
World War 1 Nursing Sister 0045 |
Born May 11,
1877, Keady, Ireland. Died Died September 7, 1925, Dublin, Ireland. In 1912
Mary immigrated to Montréal, Quebec. February 5, 1912 she registered to be
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) and enlisted in Montreal May 1 of that year. She was
originally posted to No. 2 Canadian Stationary Hospital Le Touquet, France
and then transferred to England working at the No. 3 Canadian Stationary
Hospital in South Hampton, England. By August she was serving on the Greek Island of Lemnos. Here she suffered from jaundice and was sent to England where by
February she was once again fit for service. February 23, 1917 King George V
himself presented her with the Royal Red Cross 2nd class (A. R. R. C. ). The
next month she was serving in Boulogne, France. July 1918 she was with the
No. 8 Canadian General Hospital where Canadian Head Matron reported that she
was one of the best nurses. She served in various additional locations in
France. June 20, 1919 she arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia. and was
demobilized July 1, 1919. Source: A tribute to some
women and men who served in armed conflicts. Online (accessed 2020) (2021) |
Muriel
Marguerite
Fell
World War 1 Nursing Sister 0046 |
Born September 6,
1889, Burlington, Ontario. Died July 31, 1941, Toronto, Ontario.
Muriel's father was a dentist in Gore Bay,
Manitoulin
Island, Ontario. Muriel Marguerite graduated from Nursing School, Clifton
Springs, New York, U.S.A. She enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps (CAMC) on December 15, 1916. Overseas she served in
several hospitals in England and then at No. 6 Canadian General Hospital,
Troyes, France and then to No. 16 Canadian General Hospital, Orpington,
England. In 1919 she herself was in hospital with anaemia. After the war she
worked at the Belleville General Hospital and served as Superintendent of
Nurses at the new San Jose Hospital, California, U.S.A. She returned home to
Canada working for the Victorian Order of Nurses (V O N ) in Toronto. She is
remembered for her service in the Book of Remembrance, Ottawa, the Canadian
War Memorial, and on the Manitoulin Women's War Memorial.
Source: Nurses of World War 1 by Donald
Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Ida Hattie May Ferguson
World War 1 Nursing
Sister |
Born June 26, 1885,
Assiginack Township, Manitoulin Island, Ontario. Died August 25, 1981. Ida
was doing nursing studies at the New York Post Graduate General Hospital
during World War 1. In June 1917 Ida, was a member of the New York Hospital
Unit with the Army Nurse Reserve Corps. Th eir
ship headed to serve in France was rammed by a German vessel and their
departure was delayed. Much of their equipment and personal possessions were
ruined. In August the group set sail again this time on the S.S. Finland as
part of a convoy. This trip they were involved in a battle with a German
U-Boat (submarine). The finally arrive at St. Naziare, France where they
marches 18 kilometres to a Base Hospital No. 8. While serving at Field
Hospital No. 12 Ida display great courage on October 8, 1918 when the
hospital was bombed for an entire day. She remained at her post in the
operating room risking he own life for 12 hours. She and another nurse
received a citation Certificate and the Crois De Guerre Medal from France
for their bravery. Both the citation and medal are on display in the
War room of the Assiginack Museum. When she returned home from overseas to
Manitowaning, Manitoulin Island she was met by a large crowd who had
decorated the town in her honour. Source:
Manitoulin Roots. online (accessed 2021) |
Sadie Ferguson - Hook
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3267 |
née Ferguson. Born December 30, 1888, Belfast,
Ireland. Died January 6, 1965, British Columbia. Sadie graduated in 1912
from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing, by 1914 she
worked on the staff of the Regina General Hospital, Manitoba. In February
1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian army Medical Corps
(CAMC). Overseas she was posted to No. 2 Canadian General Hospital, Le
Treport, France, and No. 5 Canadian General Hospital, Salonika, Greece.
Suffering poor health she was discharged and returned to Manitoba in
1917. Having recuperated she worked that summer at Keewatin Beach in charge
of the convalescent cottage for returned soldiers. She then became Assistant
Matron at No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg. After
the war she married John Hook and the couple settled in California and then
returned to British Columbia.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1912. online (accessed 2021) |
Eileen Flanagan 4337 |
Born Pontiac County, Quebec.
Died November 1, 1988? Montreal, Quebec. After graduation from high
school she trained as a nurse at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal.
She sailed to England where she took post graduate studies. She became
the first Director of Nursing at the Montreal Neurological Institute. Eileen
successfully lobbied for the passing of the Quebec Nurses Act in 1946 which
was the firs Canadian legislation that required a licence to practice
nursing. She retired in 1961. After becoming a retired nursing director she
taught the legal aspects of nursing with McGill University Faculty of Law.
Some of her correspondence is maintained at the University of British
Columbia Archives. Source: Famous Women in M U H C
History: An Invitation to Discover Some Exceptional Women Who Made Our
History, by Dr. Liane Feldman McGill University Health online (accessed
2023) |
Georgina Flemming
4001
|
Born 1894, Nova Scotia. Died 1918, Boston, Massauchetts,
U.S.A. In December 1917, when Halifax suffered the great explosion that
killed some 3,000 people, the City of Boston, Massauchetts, U.S.A. had
responded by immediately sending medial works and aid. In 1918 Boston was
suffer from Influenza with 85, 000 flu cases. The call to help Boston was
received at Victoria General Hospital in Halifax. In all 32 Nova scotia
nurses served in Boston in the fall of 1918 with at least 12, Including
Georgina and her sister Winnifred (1885-1918), making the ultimate
sacrifice, dying with the flu that they had come to fight.
Source: The Nurses who repaid Halifax's 1917 debt to Boston.
online (accessed 2022) |
Winnifred Flemming 4002 |
Born 1894, Nova Scotia. Died 1918, Boston, Massauchetts,
U.S.A. In December 1917, when Halifax suffered the great explosion that
killed some 3,000 people, the City of Boston, Massauchetts, U.S.A. had
responded by immediately sending medial works and aid. In 1918 Boston was
suffer from Influenza with 85, 000 flu cases. The call to help Boston was
received at Victoria General Hospital in Halifax. In all 32 Nova scotia
nurses served in Boston in the fall of 1918 with at least 12, Including
Georgina and her sister Winnifred (1885-1918), making the ultimate
sacrifice, dying with the flu that they had come to fight.
Source: The Nurses who repaid Halifax's 1917 debt to Boston.
online (accessed 2022) |
Rachel Fogarty
World War 1 Nursing
Matron
0047 |
Died 1954. Rachel
graduated from the Winnipeg General hospital School of Nursing, Manitoba, in
1898. She served as a missionary nurse to South Africa in 1900 and worked at
Cottage Hospital, Bloemfontein where she became Nurse Superintendent in 1921
in charge of both hospital and training school for nurses. She served with
Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service during World War 1
receiving the Royal Red Cross Medal First Class from King George V on July
26, 1919. She returned to Winnipeg after she retired and became the first
librarian in the Nurses Residence Library.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1898: The British Journal of Nursing,
August 2, 1919 pg. 78. online (accessed 2021) |
Minnie
Asenath Follette
World War 1 Nursing Sister died at sea 3342 |
Born November 11, 1884, Port Grenville, Nova Scotia. Died June 27, 1918 at
sea. Minnie enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps on September 25, 1914. She was posted at No. 1 Canadian Casualty
Station, Quebec. Serving overseas she was diagnosed with nervous exhaustion
on April 8, 1916 and was given two months res. Returning to duty she
contracted bronchitis and was once again in hospital this time at No. 3
Canadian General Hospital near the end of march 1917. In August of
1917 she served on the H M S Letitia and was transferred to the Ontario
Medical Hospital that fall. In March 1918 she was posted to serve on the
Llandovery Castle hospital ship. On June 27,
1918 she was aboard the Canadian Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle sailing
from Halifax to Liverpool, England. The hospital ship was torpedoed an enemy
U-boat (submarine) 46 and only 24 people of the 234 souls on board survived. 14
Canadian Nursing Sisters lost their lives. The U-Boat captain felt that even
though the ship was well marked as a hospital ship that it carried munitions
for the British. When there was no great explosion of munitions from the
ship the captain of the U-Boat ordered he crew to fire on people in life
boats in order to kill survivors in an attempt to cover his sinking of the
ship. It was against wartime convention to fire on an hospital ship.
It was the deadliest Canadian naval disaster of the First World War.
In 2018 composer Stephanie Martin and playwright Paul Ciufo commemorated the
nurses in an opera. Source: [Canada] A
Tribute to some women and men who served in armed conflicts, online
(accessed 2021) |
Agnes
Annie
Forbes
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3267 |
Born September 12,
1887, East Flamborough Township, Ontario. Died ???? Agnes Annie travelled to the
U.S.A. to train as a nurse at White Plaines Hospital, New York. After
graduation she returned to Waterdown, Ontario and worked as a nurse for a
year. In 1914 she returned to White Plains, New York with her step -sister
who was a student nurse. August 22, 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC).
Source: Flamborough Archives and Heritage Society.
Flamborough Nursing Sisters. online (accessed 2021) |
Sara Forbes
Nursing Sister of the Boer War 0048 |
Born April 7, 1880,
Liverpool, Nova Scotia. Died December 1, 1902, Liverpool, Nova Scotia.
Sara's early education was at Liverpool Academy and later at a young ladies'
finishing school. Although interested in becoming a nurse, her father was
opposed and it was not until after his death in 1887 that she attended
Columbia Hospital, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. Under the Canadian nurse
Georgina Fane Pope (1862-1938). Sara worked in Montreal, Quebec, with the Victoria Order
of Nurses and then returned to Columbia Hospital as head nurse under Georgina Pope.
Back once again in Canada she worked in private nursing. Sara was one of
four nurses in the 1st contingent of Nursing Sisters sent to the Boer War in
South Africa in the fall of 1899. Sara, Minnie Affleck (1874-1956), and
Elizabeth Russell (1879-???), served under Matron Georgina Pope.
(1862-1938). The Nursing Sisters were given a rank and pay equal to
that of an army Lieutenant. They were the 1st Canadian military Nursing
Sisters to be sent overseas. These were the nurses worked at No.1 General
Hospital, and then at No. 3 General Hospital at Rondebosch (Cape Town). In
May 1900 she assisted Georgina Pope in establishing a temporary hospital and
finally worked in Pretoria at a Irish Hospital Sara was awarded the Queen's
South Africa Medal for her services. Sara returned home for awhile but was
soon back in South Africa with the 2nd Regiment, Canadian Mounted Rifles at
No 19 Stationary Hospital near Harrismith. She would return to Halifax at the
end of the war in 1902 weakened by the overseas ordeal.
Source: D C B (2021) |
Agnes Florien Forneri
Nursing Sister of the Boer War0049 |
Born April 18,
1881, Belleville, Ontario. Died April 24, 1918, Bramshott, England. Agnes
graduated from the Lady Stanley Institute Nursing School, Ottawa, Ontario in
1906. February 22, 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with teh Canadian
Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she served at the Kitchener Memorial
Hospital, Brighton, England and then was posted to No. 8 Canadian General
Hospital St. Cloud, France. In February 1918 she was invalided to England
where after a month's rest she was posted to Bramshott, Canadian Military
Hospital, England. Within a few weeks she suffered a relapse and died of
hemorrhagic peptic ulceration. She is buried in the church yard at
Bramshott, England where her nursing colleagues erected a marble cross. She
is also commemorated on a plaque at St. Luke's Church, Kingston, Ontario
where her father was minister. Source:
Nurses of World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Annie
McInnis
Forrest
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3096
|
Born November 16,
1880, Renfrew, Ontario. Died ???? Annie Graduated from the Winnipeg General
Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in 1907. After graduation she worked in
charge of the Operation Room at Galt Hospital in Lethbridge, Alberta. By
1909 she was working in the Operating Room at the WGH. In 1914 she was
appointed Lady Superintendent at Ninette Sanatorium in Manitoba. May 1915
she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC). She served overseas at No. 5 Canadian Hospital, Shorncliffe and then
at a Casualty Clearing Station Hospital in France. In 1918 she was posted to
a Canadian Special Hospital, Lenham, England. After the war she settled in
London, Ontario working at the Queen Alexandra Sanatorium.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1907. online (accessed 2021) |
Jessie
Mary Forshaw -Byron
3484 |
née Fraser. Born October 1, 1892, Vancouver,
British Columbia. Died January 28, 1958, New Albany, Ohio, U.S.A. Jess took
her step-father's ? name Forshaw, as an infant. Jessie graduated from the
St. Joseph's Hospital School of Nursing 1915. The following spring she was
working at the St. Ann's Hospital, Juneau, Alaska. In 1918 she was working
with the Victorian Order of Nurses (V O N) and was the first V O N to
establish a health centre in Saanich, British Columbia under the provincial
Public Health Department. She travelled throughout the eastern part of the
province visiting Women's Institute groups espousing the virtues of public
health facilities. In 1922 she was in Quebec teaching Public Health Nursing
at MacDonald College, part of McGill University, at the agricultural
extension on Montreal Island. She went on a four month extended tour
inspecting and surveying in Eastern Quebec, the Maritimes, and touched some
parts of Northern Ontario. She relocated to New York State in the U.S.A. for
post graduate studies in mental hygiene and by 1930 she was in Queens, New
York working to employ nurses. She was also very active in community life.
In 1934 she married Richard M. Bryon and by 1948 the couple had settled in
Pennsylvania, U.S.A. (2021) |
Margaret Jane
'Daisy' Fortesuce
World War 1 Nursing
Sister died at sea |
Born 1878, York Factory, Manitoba Territory. Died June 27, 1918,
at sea. Daisy spent her childhood at the home of her paternal grandfather in Dawlish, England. She returned to Canada living in Kingston, Ontario, and
then attending the Montreal General Hospital School of Nursing graduating in
1905. April 22, 1915 she enlisted with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC) serving in France at various hospitals. By June 1918 she was assigned to HMHS Llandovery Castle returning war wounded to Canada.
On June 27, 1918 she was aboard the Canadian Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle
sailing from Halifax to Liverpool, England. The hospital ship was torpedoed
an enemy U-boat (submarine) 46 and only 24 people of the 234 souls on board survived. 14
Canadian Nursing Sisters lost their lives. The U-Boat captain felt that even
though the ship was well marked as a hospital ship that it carried munitions
for the British. When there was no great explosion of munitions from the
ship the captain of the U-Boat ordered he crew to fire on people in life
boats in order to kill survivors in an attempt to cover his sinking of the
ship. It was against wartime convention to fire on an hospital ship.
It was the deadliest Canadian naval disaster of the First World War.
In 2018 composer Stephanie Martin and playwright Paul Ciufo commemorated the
nurses in an opera. Her name
appears on a Halifax memorial at Point Pleasant Park and memorials in
Kingston, Ontario and Dawlish, England. (2021) |
Annie
Mabel
Foster
3236
World War 1 Nursing
Sister |
Born February 22,
1891, Moira, Ontario. Died February 18, 1949, Belleville, Ontario. Annie
Mabel graduated with honours in 1917 from the Toronto Wellesley Hospital
School of Nursing. May 1, 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). In December 1938 she designed and built
a new home in Belleville. She served first at Camp Borden before going
overseas where she was posted to No. 16 Canadian General Hospital,
Orpington, England. After the Armistice she was left in charge of the
hospital until the patients were transferred or discharged. After the war
she travelled to Europe visiting France and Germany. Sadly when she returned
to Canada she never enjoyed good health having contracted tuberculosis
during her service. Source: Nurses
of World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Margaret Vitaline Foster -Harston
World War 1 Nursing
Sister 3237 |
née Foster. Born
July 28, 1894, Bancroft, Ontario. Died May 1, 1990, Toronto, Ontario
Margaret graduated in 1917 from the Nursing School, Belleville, Ontario.
After graduation she worked at the hospital for a few months before
enlisting as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) on
May 5, 1917. Overseas she was posted to No. 15 Canadian General
Hospital, Cliveden, which was also called the Duchess of Connaught Canadian
Red Cross Hospital. She resigned in January 1919 and married Rev. Ernest
Harston. The couple returned to Canada after the war. After the death of her
husband in 1944 she returned to her nursing career working at the Toronto
General Hospital and then at Lockwood Clinic.
Source: Nurses of World War 1 by Donald
Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Margaret Marjory 'Pearl' Fraser
World War 1 Nursing Sister & Matron died at sea 3340 |
Born March 20,
1885, New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Died June 27, 1918 at sea. Pearl graduated
from the Lady Stanley Institute for Trained Nurses, Ottawa, Ontario, in
1909. She became Head Nurse at Vancouver General Hospital, British
Columbia Pearl enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps (CAMC) on September 28, 1914. She served overseas in England and
at No. 2 Canadian Stationary Hospital in France. In July 1917 she was
transferred to Kin's Red Cross Special Hospital, England and promoted to
Matron with the rank of Major. In March of 1918 she was posted to the H M C
S Llandovery Castle, a hospital ship that took wounded soldiers home to
Canada. On June 27, 1918 she was aboard the Canadian Hospital Ship
Llandovery Castle sailing from Halifax to Liverpool, England. The hospital
ship was torpedoed an enemy U-boat (submarine) 46 and only 24 people of the
234 souls on board survived. 14
Canadian Nursing Sisters lost their lives. The U-Boat captain felt that even
though the ship was well marked as a hospital ship that it carried munitions
for the British. When there was no great explosion of munitions from the
ship the captain of the U-Boat ordered he crew to fire on people in life
boats in order to kill survivors in an attempt to cover his sinking of the
ship. It was against wartime convention to fire on an hospital ship.
It was the deadliest Canadian naval disaster of the First World War.
In 2018 composer Stephanie Martin and playwright Paul Ciufo commemorated the
nurses in an opera. Source: Valour
Canada, Matron Fraser and the Llandovery Castle. online (accessed 2021) |
Christina C. Frederickson
World War 1 Nursing Sister
|
Born July 9, 1886,
Skagafjord, Iceland. Died October 24, 1918, Edmonton, Alberta. Christina was
a trained nurse and worked at Strathcona's Military Hospital, Edmonton,
Alberta. On January 10, 1918 Christina enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She died in the isolation section of the
hospital from influenza. Source:
[Canada] A Tribute to Some Women And Men Who Served in Armed Conflicts.
online (accessed 2021) |
Isabella Flora Frid
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3320 |
née McGregor. Born
October 28, 1889, Waterdown, Ontario. Died October 8, 1987, Waterdown,
Ontario. January 27, 1917 Isabella married Herbert Percival Frid. She
joined the American Red Cross in 1917 as a nurse even though she had no
formal training the Canadian Army Medical Corps did not accept married women
of those without formal training as Nursing Sisters. She served in England
with the American Red Cross. Source: Flamborough
Archives and Heritage Society. Flamborough Nursing Sisters. online (accessed
2021) |
Minnie
Katherine
Gallaher
World War 1 Nursing Sister died at sea 3343 |
Born January 10.
1876, Pittsburgh, Ontario. Died June 27, 1918 at sea. Minnie was a graduate
nurse from the Protestant General Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario. On
September 2, 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps in England. On June 27, 1918 she was aboard the Canadian
Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle sailing from Halifax to Liverpool, England.
The hospital ship was torpedoed an enemy U-boat (submarine) 46 and only 24
people of the 234 souls on board survived. 14
Canadian Nursing Sisters lost their lives. The U-Boat captain felt that even
though the ship was well marked as a hospital ship that it carried munitions
for the British. When there was no great explosion of munitions from the
ship the captain of the U-Boat ordered he crew to fire on people in life
boats in order to kill survivors in an attempt to cover his sinking of the
ship. It was against wartime convention to fire on an hospital ship.
It was the deadliest Canadian naval disaster of the First World War.
In 2018 composer Stephanie Martin and playwright Paul Ciufo commemorated the
nurses in an opera. |
Evelyn
Grace
Galloway - Richards
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3321 |
Born April 4, 1893,
Freelton, Ontario. Died July 1987, Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S.A. Evelyn was
a trained nurse. On May 2, 1917 she enlisted along with her sister Ruby
Lorene Galloway (1888-????) as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC) at Base Hospital, Toronto, Ontario. She went overseas
and served in France. After returning to Canada at the end of the war she
married on October 14, 1920 to Albert Edgar Richards, in Hamilton, Ontario.
The couple relocated to Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S.A. in 1928, Source: Flamborough
Archives and Heritage Society. Flamborough Nursing Sisters. online (accessed
2021) |
Ruby
Lorena Galloway
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3322 |
Born August 17, 1888, Freelton, Ontario. A trained nurse she and her
sister Evelyn Grace Galloway-Richards (1893-1987) enlisted as Nursing
Sisters with the Canadian Army Medical Corps on May 2, 1917 at Base
Hospital, Toronto. Ruby served overseas in France. After the war she
moved to New York City, U.S.A. and worked as a private nurse.
Source: Flamborough
Archives and Heritage Society. Flamborough Nursing Sisters. online (accessed
2021) |
Laura Adelaide
Gamble
World War 1 Nursing
Sister
3100
|
Born September 4,
1887, Wakefield, Quebec. Died 1939?, Ontario. In 1910 Laura graduated in
nursing from the University of Toronto (U of T). She enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) on May 4, 1915. She
served overseas at the No. 4 Canadian General Hospital which had been
organized by the U of T. She was also posted to No. 5 Canadian General
Hospital. Most of her service was spent on a medical ship in Malta and
Salonika, Greece. Laura's war diary, which describes the nurses' social
life, is preserved at the Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.
Source: Library and Archives Canada, Nursing
Sisters, online (accessed 2021); Find a Grave Canada. online (accessed 2021)
|
Sarah Ellen
Garbutt
World War 1 Nursing
Sister 3399 |
Born May 14, 1875, Pickering, England. Died August 20, 1917, England. On
April 3, 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC). She was posted overseas to the No. 16 Canadian General
Hospital, England. She herself was in hospital at the end of June 1917 at
Queen Alexandra Hospital. She died of abdomen cancer and is buried at
Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surry, England. Her name appears on an plaque
at Queens Park, Toronto, honouring the Nursing Sisters who died in W W l.
[Canada] A Tribute to Some Woman and Men who Served in Armed Conflict:
online. (accessed 2021); Great War Project, Nursing Sisters online (accessed
2021)
|
Celestine Geen - Steele
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3238 |
née Geen. Born
February 7, 1878, Belleville, Ontario. Died August 16, 1972, Toronto,
Ontario. In 1910 Celestina graduated from the Halifax Military
Hospital School of Nursing. She enlisted as a nursing Sister in the Canadian
Army Medical Corps, September 25, 1914. Overseas she was posted to No. 3
Canadian General Hospital, Boulogne, France and also served in England and
Belgium. In January 1916 she was hospitalized in England with influenza and
nervous exhaustion. In November 1917 she returned to Canada and was
discharged in May 1918. December 26, 1918 she married a decorated war
veteran Samuel Steele (died 1923). Source:
Nurses of World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Jessie
Margaret
Gent -Newton
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3113 |
née Gent. Born
November 22, 1883, Birmingham, Warwickshire, Died 1967, British Columbia
England. Jessie graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing in 1909. She immediately began working as Head Nurse of the
Maternity Ward at the WGH. In 1910 she left the WGH and worked as a private
nurse. In 1913 she became Night Supervisor at the Regina General Hospital,
Saskatchewan. Jessie enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC) in April 1916. She was part of a Saskatchewan Nurses
Unit which went to England in JUly 1916. She served overseas at Granville
Special Hospital , Buxton, England, Shorncliffe Military Hospital, Canadian
Stationary Hospital, Ramsgate, England and No. 8 Canadian Stationary
Hospital and No. 2 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station, France. She returned
to Saskatchewan in June 1919 and later lived with her husband Lancelot
Newton (1882-1965) in British Columbia.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1909. online
(accessed 2021); Find a Grave Canada online (accessed 2021) |
Alice M. Gerard |
SEE - Academics |
Clara
Sophia Gilles
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3269 |
Born September 22,
1889, Selkirk, Manitoba. Died May 5, 1971, Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1912 Clara
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing.
By 1914 she was working at the King George Hospital, Winnipeg. In 1916 she
became Lady Superintendent of the King George Hospital for a year before
enlisting as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) in
April 1917. Overseas she was posted to the No. 10 Canadian General Hospital,
the Granville Canadian special Hospital, and the No. 15 Canadian General
Hospital in England. After the war she returned to her position at the King
George Hospital. In 1920 she worked on the staff of the City of
Winnipeg Anti-Tuberculosis Department. In 1926 she relocated to New York
City to do special nursing. She would go on to nurse in Washington and
Virginia in the U.S.A. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1912. online (accessed 2021)
|
Jean
Cuthand
Goodwill
Aboriginal Nurse 0050 |
Born August 14, 1928, Little Pine First Nation, Saskatchewan. Died
August 25, 1997, Regina, Saskatchewan. Orphaned as a child she was adopted by
the Cuthland family of Little Pine Reserve, Saskatchewan. Her adoptive
mother and grandmother were community midwives and healers. Jean attended
high school in Saskatoon. She had tuberculosis when she was a student but
new drugs helped her survive and while at a sanatorium she worked as a
nurses aid. She studied nursing at Prince Albert Holy Family Hospital and
began her career at Fort Qu’Appelle Indian Hospital.
She was the 1st Aboriginal woman from Saskatchewan to complete a nursing
program. She married Ken Goodwill in 1965 and the young
couple moved to Ottawa for Ken’s job with the Canadian Government. Jean soon
was working as well. In 1973 she was coordinator with the Native Citizen’s
Directorate with the Secretary of State. 1975 was the International year of
the woman and she worked on a book on First Nation and Inuit women while
working on a survey on Aboriginal nurses. Between 1983 and 1990 she was
president of the organization Registered Nurses of Canadian Indian Ancestry
(Now Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada). While working with the
Canadian government the travelled the country to identify health problems in
Aboriginal communities. In the late 1980’s she was back in Saskatchewan
heading the Indian Health Care Program at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated
College a part of the University of Regina.
(2021) |
Edith Alma Graham
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3239 |
Born October 18,
1889, Belleville, Ontario. Died May 4, 1959, Tweed, Ontario. Edith Alma
graduated from nursing school in New York City, U.S.A. about 1914. March 18,
1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC). She served over seas as the Canadian General Hospital, Basingstoke
and Westerhanger, England. She also served in France posted at the No. 1 and
No. 8 Canadian Stationary Hospitals. She returned to England to serve at the
Duchess of Connaught Canadian Red Cross Hospital, Taplow. After the war she
nursed for many years in the United States before retiring to Tweed, Ontario.
Source: Nurses of World War 1 by Donald
Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Mary Graham - Archibald
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3240 |
Born February 7,
1887, Elmvale, Ontario. Died June 28, 1984, Belleville, Ontario. After
leaving high school she worked on the family far and then as a nanny in
Toronto. In 1913 she graduated from the Monteal Western Hospital School of
Nursing. April 14, 1914 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she served at the Imperial Stationary
Hospital and the Canadian General Hospitals in Rouen and Etaples, France.
She was transferred to the West Cliff Eye and Ear Hospital, Folkestone,
England where within thre months she was admitted suffering from influenza.
March 12, 1919 she married Alexander Archibald. In 1925 the couple relocated
to Belleville. Mary served as a nurse at the Red Cross Blood Donor Clinic,
helped organize the Young Women's Guild and was a member of the School for
Leisure which helped women in strained circumstances learn to keep house.
Source: Nurses of World War 1 by
Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Katherine Ethelwynne Gray - Borden
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3267 |
née Gray. Born May
19, 1892, Brierwood, Manitoba. Died !975, British Columbia. Katherine
graduated in 1916 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing. In January 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was stationed at Granville Canadian
Special Hospital, England and then to NO. 3 Canadian General Hospital,
France. She returned to England to serve at No. 11 Canadian General
Hospital, Moore Barracks. After the war she joined the staff at WGH/ She
married L. E. Borden and the couple settled in British Columbia.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class or1916. online (accessed 2021) |
Lilly
Naomi
Gray
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3241 |
Born October 29,
1881, Beaurepaire, Quebec. Died February 19, 1967, Ottawa, Ontario.
Lilly Naomi graduated from the Montreal General Hospital School of Nursing
in 1913. She went on to receive a Certificate of Military Instruction from
the Divisional School of Instruction in March 1915 in Quebec City. April 22,
1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC). Overseas she served at Canadian military hospital in Etaples and
Camiers, Frand and then at Shorncliffe and Eastbourne in England. Returning to Canada after the war she worked at the Tuberculosis Sanatorium
, Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan. She relocated to the U.S.A. and worked at
the Contagious Disease Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Henry
Street Settlement in New York City. Back in Canada she served with the
Victorian Order of Nurses (V O N ) in Montreal, Quebec and Renfrew, Ontario.
In 1928 she became Superintendent of the V O N in Belleville before settling
in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Source: Nurses of World War 1 by
Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Caroline Graham
Green
World War 1 Nursing Sister
|
Born February 7,
1891, St. Thomas, Ontario. Died April 4, 1922 St. Thomas, Ontario.
Caroline enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC) in January 1917 in Toronto. Overseas she was posted to the Ontario
Military Hospital ,Orpington, England. At the end of the years she was in
hospital for diphtheria. By February 10, 1918 she was fit for duty and
returned to duty. In the fall of 1918 she was serving on a hospital
ship. In February 1919 she suffered from influenza and returned to
Canada. Source: [Canada] A Tribute to
Some Women And Men Who Served in Armed Conflicts. online (accessed 2021)
|
Alice C. Green |
SEE - Academics - Historians |
Lucy
Ann
Green
3778 |
née Hunter. Born October
14, 1867. Died July 24, 1955, Alberton, Prince Edward Island. Alice was a
trained nurse. October 30, 1906 she married George Campbell Gordon
(1860-1916) a wealthy fox rancher. The couple had two children. Lucy served
as midwife to her community helping with the birth of children with almost
every family. Her daughter Alice (1908-1980) also became a trained
nurse who served as a medical missionary in western Canada. Alice returned
home to care for Lucy when she was ill and remained home becoming a noted
local historian. (2022) |
Matilda Ethel Green
3887
World War 1 Nursing Sister
|
Born August 14, 1886, Listowel, Ontario. Died October 9,
1918, Etaples, France. Matilda graduated from the Medicine Hat General
Hospital School of Nursing, Alberta. April 30, 1917 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps and ten days later she
arrived in England. She served at the Ontario Military Hospital, Orpington
and then at No. 16 Canadian General Hospital, Orpington. She was
Struck-off-Strength )S o S) on June 7, 1918 and granted leave from August 10
through August 1918, She was assigned to the No. 7 Canadian General
Hospital (Queen's University Hospital) in August 1918. Suddenly on October
4, 1918 she was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with lobar pneumonia and
a few days later she was listed as dangerously ill. She died following an
attack of influenza Matilda died of double pneumonia. Her name appears
on a plaque at Queen's Park, Toronto dedicated to Ontario Nursing
Sisters who died during World War l. Source: Canadian
Expeditionary Force Research Group. online (accessed 2022) |
Sarah
Hannah Roberta Grier - Coome
Matron of Nursing Sisters at the 1885 Northwest
Rebellion 0051 |
née Grier. Born
October 28, 1837, Carrying Place, Upper Canada (now Ontario). Died February
9, 1921, Toronto, Ontario. July 23, 1859 Hannah married Charles Horace
Coome, Widowed in 1878 Hannah took her nursing training at Trinity Hospital,
New York, U.S.A. as a novitiate of the Anglican Sister of St Mary. Shortly
after she established the Sisters of St John the Devine in Toronto. In
April 1885 she was the Nursing Matron in charge of five Nursing Sisters
serving in the Northwest Rebellion. The women, Mother Hannah, Amelia
Elizabeth Hare, Helen Augustine Crouch , Mary Campbell MacKenzie, Florence
Caroline Cottle, and Joan Matheson were the 1st women to serve as Nursing
Sisters in the Canadian Military. The group reached Moose Jaw Saskatchewan
on May 30, 1885. Their patients, who had been transported several days from
the scene of the battle were waiting for them. The nursing sisters tended
the sick and wounded for 33 days. The Rebellion was suppressed by June
26, 1885 and the Nursing Sisters were ordered to return home. Back in
Toronto, Mother Hanna and the other nurses in her Order established
St. Jon House, the city's 1st women's surgical Hosp. The Nursing Sisters
received the North West Canada 1885 silver medal for their service as
members of the expedition.
(2021) |
Ivy Griffiths - Randall
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3308 |
Born March 3, 1891,
Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died June 4, 1963, Vernon, British Columbia. Ivy
graduated in 1915 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing. for two years she worked as Lady Superintendent of the Royal
Jubilee Hospital, Kenora, Ontario. In April 1918 she enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted
to No. 4 Canadian General Hospital, Basingstoke, England. She returned to
Canada in the summer of 1919. She married Phillip Randall in May 1920. Source: Health Sciences
Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1915. online (accessed 2021). |
Irma
Elizabeth
Hacking
0052 |
Born September 17, 1917, Aneroid, Saskatchewan. Died November
4, 2014, Victoria, British Columbia. After her nursing training Irma Served
with the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps during the second World War. She
served in field hospitals on the front lines in Europe where the nursing
lieutenant met and served with Dr. Lawrence Hacking (d 1961) At one point he
asked her to cut her long hair so that he could use the hair for stitching
up wounded soldiers. Romance ensued and the couple were married. Returning
from the war the couple 1st settled in Regina, Saskatchewan and
then in 1955 with three children they moved to Nanaimo British Columbia. Widowed
suddenly, Irma became a determined single parent. She refreshed her nursing
skills and began working in the admitting department at the Nanaimo Regional
General Hospital. She retired from nursing in 1983 at 66 and began working
at a jeweler store. She enjoyed buying jeweler for herself and her
daughters.
Source: ‘Lives
Lived: Irma Elizabeth Hacking’, the Globe and Mail
February 13, 2015.
Suggestion submitted by June Coxon Ottawa, Ontario
(2020) |
Evelyn
Emily
Hall -Patterson
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3270 |
née Hall. Born
August 29, 1888, Indian Head, Saskatchewan. Died January 25, 1977, Indian
Head Saskatchewan. In 1912 Evelyn graduated from the Winnipeg General
Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing, Manitoba. She joined the Queen Alexandra's
Imperial Military Nursing Service and was overseas in 1916. She served a
year posted in Malta. In 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) and was posted to No. 10 Canadian General
Hospital, Brighton, England until April 1919. In 1922 she was on staff at
the Social Service Department of the WGH. She married W.R. Patterson and the
couple settled in Indian Head, Saskatchewan.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1912. online (accessed 2021) |
Gertrude May Hall
4003 |
Born May 6, 1897, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died October 14, 1960.
In 1916 she completed a one year maternity nursing course at the Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing and she then completed three more
years of nursing training to become a Registered Nurse. She received a
scholarship and too post graduate work earning a Public Health Nursing
Certificate at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. Returning to her home
province she worked for twelve years with the Manitoba Department of health
at various positions including in Portage-la-Prairie. From 1936 through 1943
she served on the executive of the Manitoba Association of Registered
Nurses. In 1943 she served as Director of Public Health Nurses with
the Winnipeg Department of Health. From 1944 through 1952 she served as a
National Advisor of the Canadian National Association of Registered Nurses
in Montreal. In 1952, with a severe shortage of nurses in Calgary she became
Director of Nursing Services and Nursing Education at the Calgary General
Hospital. Here she would take the Calgary General into the modern era a
nursing. In the face of budget cuts she resigned in 1960. In 1959 she was
name an honourary life member of the Winnipeg General Hospital Alumni
Association. She was also a member of the Business and Professional Woman'
Club. Source: Memorable Manitobans online
(accessed 2022) |
Mary
Hale
Hambly -Young
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3242 |
née Hambly. Born
October 29, 1885, Belleville, Ontario. Died November 1, 1929, Santa Ana,
California, U.S.A. Mary travelled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. to
live with her brother Charles and study at the Nursing School. She graduated
about 1910. Back in Canada at the beginning of the first world war she
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) on
May 5, 1915. Mary served overseas at the Canadian Military Hospital, Etaples
as well as at several Canadian medical hospitals in England. She suffered
influenza, neurasthenia, pleurisy and gastroenteritis during her war service
and was often in hospital herself. After the war she retuned to Belleville
to live with her parents. By 1920 she was in the U.S.A. November 25, 1926
she married James Young in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. Source: Nurses of World War 1 by
Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Annie Bertha
Hamilton
World War 1 Nursing Sister
0053 |
Born August 17,
1888, Saskatchewan. Died ???? Annie graduated in 1912 from the Winnipeg
General Hospital (WGH) School of nursing. By 1914 she was nursing in
Revelstoke, British Columbia. She became part of the British Columbia Unit
for overseas service when she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps (CAMC) in September 1915. She was posted to No. 5
Canadian General Hospital, the Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross in England
and No. 4 Canadian General Hospital, Salonika, Greece. In 1918 she returned
to British Columbia. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1912. online (accessed 2021)
|
Bessie
Maud Hanna
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3507 |
Born December 24, 1884, Wingham, Ontario. Died September 5,
1921, Toronto, Ontario. On January 30, 1916 Maud enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corp. She served at Orpington Hospital
Kent, England, Shorncliffe Hospital, England, La Treport Canadian Hospital,
France Canadian Stationery Hospital No. 3. She contracted diphtheria after
being transferred to the Canadian Casualty Clearing Station after a few
weeks of beginning her tour at the hospital. She was placed in the base
Isolation Hospital and then transferred to England. She died from
diphtheria in Toronto. |
Charlotte Hardcastle -Coltart
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3309 |
Died November 30,
1970, California, U.S.A. Charlotte Hardcastle graduated in 1915 from the
Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. After graduation
she was on staff in the operating room at the Royal Jubilee Hospital,
Victoria, British Columbia. She served during World War 1 but it is not
known where or with what organization. After the war she worked as a private
nurse in Winnipeg. She married Ian Coltart and the couple settled in
California. Source: Health Sciences
Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1915. online (accessed 2021). |
Amelia 'Aimee' Elizabeth
Hare
Nurse in 1885 Northwest
Rebellion
0054 |
In June 1881 she entered the novitiate of the Anglican order
of the Sisters of St Mary at Peekshill New York, U.S.A. She trained as a
nurse at Trinity Hospital, New York City and spent time at hospital missions
in New York City. Aimee joined Mother Sarah Hannah Roberta Grier Coome
(1837-1921) as she founded the Sisterhood of St John the Devine in Toronto,
Ontario. In
April 1885 she was among five Nursing Sisters serving in the
Northwest Rebellion. The women, Mother Hannah was the Matron in Charge,
accompanied by Amelia, Helen Augustine Crouch, Mary Campbell MacKenzie, Florence
Caroline Cottle, and Joan Matheson. These women were the 1st women to serve as Nursing
Sisters in the Canadian Military. The group reached Moose Jaw Saskatchewan
on May 30, 1885. Their patients, who had been transported several days from
the scene of the battle were waiting for them. The nursing sisters tended
the sick and wounded for 33 days. The Rebellion was suppressed by June
26, 1885 and the Nursing Sisters were ordered to return home. Back in
Toronto, Mother Hanna and the other nurses in her Order established
St. Jon House, the city's 1st women's surgical Hosp. The Nursing Sisters
received the North West Canada 1885 silver medal for their service as
members of the expedition.
(2020) |
Grace Irene Harriott -Tickell
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3368 |
née Harriott. Born
October 11, 1888, Selkirk, Manitoba. Died May 12, 1966, British Columbia.
Grace graduated in 1916 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing. By the fall of 1916 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with
the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted to the
Ontario Military Hospital, Orpington, England and then to No. 2 Canadian
General Hospital Le Treport, France. While in France she was in
hospital herself with appendicitis and spend several months recovering. Fit
for duty again she served at West Cliff Canadian Eye and Ear Hospital and
then the Canadian Red Cross Hospital, Buxton in England. While in England
she married Gordon Tickell. After the war the couple settled in
British Columbia.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class or1916. online (accessed 2021) |
Marion
Belle
Harvie
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3323 |
Born April 9, 1892,
Kirkwall, Ontario. Died June 25, 1981, Cambridge, Ontario. Marion trained as
a nurse in Toronto. October 4, 1918 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with
the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She was posted to the Burlington
Military Hospital until she was discharged in 1919. After the war she did
post graduated studies at Albany General Hospita, New York, U.S.A. in 1925.
Source: Flamborough
Archives and Heritage Society. Flamborough Nursing Sisters. online (accessed
2021) |
Lulu
Jenny
Hastey - Kidd
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3351
|
Born April 8, 1888,
Wakefield, Quebec. Died October 26, 1941, Vancouver, British Columbia. In
1911 she moved to Kingston, Ontario and started nursing at a nursing home.
On August 14, 1913 she married George Edward Kidd (Died 1948) when he was
studying medicine at Queen's University, Kingston. Lulu enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) on May 5,1915 and
began serving beside her husband. While married women were not usually
accepted in the CAMC, Mrs. Hastey-Kidd was most likely accepted to serve
with her physician husband. She was posted to N0. 5 Canadian Stationary
Hospital and later at No. 7 Canadian General Hospital. After the war the
couple settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba and later to Vancouver, British
Columbia. Source: Beckwith Heroes, Officers of
Beckwith Township. on line (accessed 2021) |
Amorita Heath 4009 |
Born Bloomburg, Ontario. Amorita was a trained nurse living
in Brantford, Ontario when she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CA M C). Traveling though post world War l
(1914-1918) France, Switzerland, Austria and Czechoslovakia, Amorita went to
Poland in July 1919 with Mr. and Mrs. Paderewski. She was there to clean up
villages and Care for the sick. She wrote to her sister of the post war
conditions expressing concern for the ragged looking people who had no
shoes. Letters to her sister are preserved by the Great War Centenary
Association, Brantford, Ontario. (2022) |
Eliza Parks Hegan
0055 |
Born 1861, Saint John, New Brunswick. Died February 18, 1917,
St John, New Brunswick. In 1888 she was one of ten women chosen to tale a trial
in nursing training at the Saint John General Public Hospital. All the women
remained for two years after their training. After graduation in 1890 she
moved to Fredericton, New Brunswick were she took charge of the 20 bed
Victoria Public Hospital. In 1892 she was back in Saint John as matron at
the Saint John Public Hospital. Here she made changes dividing duties and
appointed a head nurse. She was strict with student nurses as shown when she
refused to sign graduation certificates for 4 students who had broken rules
during training. When the Hospital turned against her decision she left in
1895 and spent the next 3 years as night supervisor at the New York
Polyclinic Medical School and Hospital. After contracting typhoid fever she
returned to Saint John and opened a private hospital. She played a role in
forming in 1903 the 1st society for nurses in the Maritime
Provinces. By 1909 the society admitted all nursing graduates in the city
and was called the Saint John Graduate Nurses Association with Eliza serving
as its 5th
president. The group was incorporated in 1916 as the New Brunswick
Association of Graduate Nurses and Eliza helped draw up the by-laws.
Source:
D C B (2020) |
Lenora Herrington
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3243 |
Born July 17, 1873,
Ameliasburgh, Ontario. Died November 16, 1960, Kingston, Ontario. Lenora
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in
1912. She enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corp
(CAMC) on May 5, 1915. Overseas she served in Canadian Military hospitals
first in England and then in France. She served as Night
Superintendent at No. 1 Canadian General Hospital, France and was on duty in
June 1918 showing courage and determination during an enemy air raid.
Returning home after the war she worked at Sydenham Hospital, Kingston,
Ontario,
until the hospital burned down. She went to California for awhile
after the fire. She retired to Napanee, Ontario, living with her brother
Walter Stevens Herrington. Source: Nurses
of World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021);
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg.
Class of 1912. online (accessed 2021) |
Mabel Frances Hersey
4338 |
Born 1872, Lucan, Ontario.
Died December 21, 1943, Montreal, Quebec. Mabel took her training to become
a Registered Nurse in 1905 at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal. She was
the acting night supervisor of nurses before being appointed in 1908 as Lady
Superintendent of Nursing at the Royal Victoria Hospital. In 1912 Mabel
attended the Conference of the International Council of Nurses (I C N) in
Cologne, Germany. In 1917 she joined with Grace Fairley of the Alexandria
Hospital to work on a plan to establish a higher standard for nurses'
training . By 1920 this dynamic duo approached McGill University Faculty of
Medicine to establish a nursing school. The plan was approved immediately
and the first class in advanced training at the School of Graduate Nurses
received their degrees in 1921. In 1925 she was once again in attendance at
the conference of the I C N in Helsingfors (Helsinki), Sweden were attendees
were called upon to meet again in 1929 in Montreal, Quebec. Mabel served as
president of the Canadian Association of Nurses and presided over the I C N
conference. She would also serve as president of the Association of
Registered Nurses' of the Province of Quebec. For her outstanding service to
nursing Mabel was inducted into the Order of the British Empire and received
the Mary Agnes Snively Memorial Medal. The Hersey Pavilion at McGill
University is named in her honour.
(2023). |
Isabelle
Maud
Hill
3430 |
Born 1871. Died
1936, British Columbia. Isabelle Maud graduated from the Hamilton General
Hospital (H G H) School of Nursing in Ontario in 1900. She went on to take a
year of training in Montreal with the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON)
Isabelle Maud was chosen as the first Vancouver nurse for the Victorian
Order of Nurses (VON) in 1901. She would go on to become what is now called
an occupational health nurse when she worked with the Britannia Mining
Company in Howe Sound, British Columbia in 1905. She opened the first
private hospital in New Westminster, British Columbia in 1917 and helped
open the Vancouver Military Hospital which would become known as Shaughnessy
Veterans Hospital. In 2004 a miniature costumed doll of Isabelle in uniform
was displayed by the B.C. Nursing History group. In 2006 the Isabelle Hill
Memorial Fountain was dedicated at the Family Respite Centre and Home Care
Society of BC. Source: B.C. Nursing History Group.
Nursing Dolls, online (accessed 2021) |
Judy Hill
0056 |
Born Kingsbridge, Devon, England.
Died November 1972. She studied to be a nurse. She worked at the nursing
station at Spence Bay in the Canadian North. In the seclusion and solitude
of the far north, nurses were forces to also serve as dentists, Public
health inspectors and take care of serious heath cases that had to be flown
out to Yellowknife hospital. It was during such an attempt of evacuation
that Judy Hill was killed in an airplane crash. The pilot survived the crash
but spent a month in the wilderness before being located. The incident was
surrounded by controversy as pilot Hartwell decided to use Judy’s body as
nourishment to survive. The controversy forced action. The Spence Bay
Nursing Station became a hospital, communications to the North were
investigated and improved. Evacuation of the extremely ill was written into
formal procedures. A foundation in Judy Hill’s name finances specialized
northern nursing training.
Source: Angel of the Snow: the Story of Judy Hill by
Jim McDougall (London, Frederick Muller Ltd., 1977) (2020) |
Meta Hodge
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3363 |
Born January 28,
1882, Clontribet, Ireland. Died June 19, 1954, Vancouver, British Columbia.
The family immigrated to Canada in the early 1900's. Meta graduated from the
Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing, Manitoba, in 1916. After
graduation she worked in the Military Wards of the WGH. In March 1917 she
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC).
Overseas she was posted to Granville Canadian Special Hospital, Ramsgate,
England and then to No. 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital, France. At night
May 30, 1917 enemy aircraft bombed the hospital. Three nurses were killed and
Meta even though she was wounded remained at the post helping survivors and
evacuating patients until she became
unconscious. She was sent to hospital in London, England, and received the
Military Medal for bravery. Once recovered she was posted to No. 4 Canadian
General Hospital, Brighton, England. After the war she returned to work at
the WGH. She later worked as a Public Health Nurse with the Manitoba
government. In 1921 she relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. to
take post-graduate courses on infectious diseases. Meta returned to Canada
and settled in British Columbia working with the Department of Education,
Victoria. Source: Health Sciences
Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class
of 1916. online (accessed 2021). |
Sophie Mary
Hoerner
World War 1 Matron of Nurses
3097 |
Born August 21,
1877, Montreal, Quebec. Sophie trained as a nurse at McGill University,
Montreal. During World War 1 she enlisted on August April 22, 1915 as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She served at
No. 1 Canadian General Hospital, France, Canadian General Hospital, and
later she became Assistant Matron at No. 3 Casualty Clearing Station
Hospital. During her first year of service Sophie wrote letter home and some
of these letters are preserved with the Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.
Sources: Canadian Great War Project,
online, (accessed 2021); Library and Archives Canada (accessed 2021) |
Annie Julia Hood -Moorehead
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3272 |
née Hood. Born
August 17, 1887, Shadeland, Manitoba. Died February 28, 1979, Ontario.
In 1912 Annie graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing. She enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps (CAMC) in May 1917. Overseas she served first at Moore Barracks, No.
11 Canadian General Hospital before serving at No. 10 Canadian Special
Hospital, No. 2 Canadian General Hospital and then No. 7 Canadian General
Hospital, France. In May 19, 1919 she married W. J. Moorehead in England and
the couple returned to Canada. Source:
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1912. online (accessed
2021) |
Clara
May
Hood -Morrison
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3093 |
Born October14,
1874*, Goderich, Ontario. Died April 21, 1948, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Clara
moved with her family to Manitoba in 1878. She graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in 1901. She enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) in May 1915. Overseas she
served as the Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross Hospital, also known as No.
15 Canadian General Hospital, Clivedon, England, for tow years and then was
posted to N0. 2 Casualty Clearing Station. From there she served at No. 2
Canadian General Hospital, Le Treport, France. Her final overseas posting
was at Granville Special Hospital, Buxton, England. Returning to Winnipeg
after the was she married Dr. John Francis Morrison (1876-1963) on April 22,
1922. She continued in her profession working as a private nurse. She served
two times as president of the Manitoba Association of Registered Nurses.
*Some sources put date as December 14,1876.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1901. online (accessed 2021); Canada Great War Project,
Nursing Sisters, online (accessed 2021) Find a Grave Canada, online
(accessed 2021) |
Jean Houston
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3310 |
Born December 23,
1884, Glasgow, Scotland. Died March 1959, British Columbia. In 1915 Jean
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. She
worked after graduation in the operating room of the Children's Hospital in
Winnipeg. In March 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Over seas shw was posted to the Ontario Military
Hospital, Orpington and No. 16 Canadian General Hospital, England.
After the war she took courses in Public Health Nursing at the Henry Street
Settlement, a housing complex that offered nursing services to immigrants in
New York City, U.S.A. She also enrolled in post graduate studies at the
Teacher's College ad Columbia University, New York City. By 1927 she was on
staff at Ninette Sanatorium where she retired in 1943 as Superintendent. In
retirement she settled in British Columbia. Source: Health Sciences
Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1915. online (accessed 2021) |
Mary Houston
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3369
|
Born September 4,
1888, Ottawa. Died July 10, 1970. In 1900 the family relocated to
Saskatchewan. In 1916 Mary graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital
(WGH) School of Nursing, Manitoba. She joined the Queen Alexandra's Imperial
Military Service and overseas for a year prior to enlisting as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical corps (CAMC) in October 1917.
She served at No. 10 Canadian General Hospital, Brighton, England and then
in France at No. 7 Canadian Stationary Hospital. After the war Mary worked
at the Saskatchewan Sanatorium, Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan where she
worked until retirement.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class or1916. online (accessed 2021) |
Margaret Howe
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3128 |
Born October 9,
1888, Ottawa, Ontario. Died ???? Margaret graduated in 1911 from the
Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. She worked on staff with
the WGH. In 1915 Margaret enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she we posted to No. 4 Canadian Casualty
Clearing Station, France, No.16 Canadian General Hospital, Shorncliffe,
England and the Canadian Casualty Clearing Station , Shorncliffe,
England. She returned home to Winnipeg and was posted to No. 10 Manitoba
Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg until 1922 when she relocated to
the United States. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1911. online (accessed 2021); |
Laura
May
Hubley
World War 1 Nursing Sister & Matron
0057 |
Born June 2,
1879, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Died April 15, 1964, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Laura
enlisted November 15, 1915 as a World War 1 Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She served with the Dalhousie
University Medical Unit as Matron of the unit. She was sent to England in
January 1916 and six months later was in France at the No. 7 Canadian
Stationary hospital. She also served at the Shorncliffe Military Hospital,
the West Cliffe Eye and Ear Hospital, and the Canadian Red Cross Special
Hospital. She returned home to Nova Scotia in 1919. For her
services during the war she received the Royal Red Cross 1st Class.
Laura retired from nursing in 1938.
(2021) |
Deborah Hurcomb
Boer War Nursing Sister
0058 |
Born 1867,
Montreal, Quebec. Died February 28, 1907, Buffalo, New York, U.S.A.. A
few months after her birth her family settled in Alverstoke, Hampshire,
England where she would grow up. She returned to Canada where she studied
and graduated from the Montreal General Hospital Training School for Nurses.
She worked at first as a private nurse and then relocated to Ottawa to
become superintendent of the Perley Home for Incurables. In 1900 she
volunteered to enter the Canadian Military as a Nursing Sister and was sent
in the second contingent of Nursing Sisters to serve in what was called the
Second Boer War in South Africa. The nurses were given a rank and pay equal
to that of an army lieutenant. She sailed with three other nurses in
February 1900. They served at No. 3 Hospital at Rondebosch and then at
Kimberly at a makeshift hospital in a Masonic Temple. They were soon
relocated to Bloemfontein to help with an epidemic where Deborah and tow
other nurses became ill bur still continued their work. By July 1900 the
Nursing sisters were in Pretoria serving in an Irish hospital. By December
1900 the women were an their way back to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Deborah was
presented with the Queen's South African Mar Medal for her services. Deborah
returned to South Africa in 1902 as a member of the British Army temporary
unit. She served at the the Canadian 10th Field Hospital as it moved to
various locations. She became ill again with enteric fever and had to be
evacuated back home in May. After her last enrolment for service Deborah
worked as a private nurse in Ottawa. She died while visiting her father in
Buffalo, New York. (2020) |
Alice
Edith Isaacson
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3099 |
Born October 2,
1874, Bray, Ireland. Died ???? Shortly after her birth Alice and her
family immigrated to the U.S.A. Alice studied nursing at Sr. Luke's
Hospital, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S.A. She went on to complete graduate work
at the Chicago Lying-I Hospital, Illinois, U.S.A. She joined the Royal Army
Medical Corps in 1914 but transferred and enlisted as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps in London, England on August 29, 1916.
She served at No. 2 Canadian General Hospital , Le Treport, France. A
amateur photographer her war photographs and her diary are preserved at the
Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.
Source: Great War Project, Nursing Sisters, online (accessed 2021); Library
and Archives Canada, Nursing Sisters, online (accessed 2021) |
Helen Glass
3463 |
née Preston. Born
October 24, 1917, Regina Saskatchewan. Died February 14, 2015, Winnipeg,
Manitoba. Helen studied at the Royal Victoria Hospital School of
Nursing, Montreal, Quebec graduating in 1939.She studied to earn a Master of
Arts in 1951. By 1953 she began a career in nursing education at the Holy
Family School of Nursing, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Two years later she
relocated to Winnipeg to raise her daughter and to earn a certificate in
teaching and supervision from the University of Manitoba in 1958. In 1960
she received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing form Columbia University, New
York City, U.S.A. In 1962 she began teaching as the University of Manitoba's
School of Nursing. By 1970 she had earned a Master of Education and
the following year a Doctor of Education in Nursing all from Columbia
University. She served as Director of the School of Nursing at the
University of Manitoba from 1972-1979. She would also play an important role
in establishing the graduate program of nursing and creating the Manitoba
Nursing Research Institute. She served as president of the Canadian Nurses
Association and the Manitoba Association of Registered Nurses. In 1977 she
received the Queen Elizabeth ll Silver Jubilee Medal. In 1983 she was
inducted into the Teacher's College Nursing Hall of Fame at Columbia
University. In 1984 she worked in helping with the scope and wording
of the new Canada Health Act. In 1987 she was inducted into the Manitoba
Order of the Buffalo Hunt and the following year the Order of Canada. In
2002 she was presented with the Queen Elizabeth ll Golden Jubilee Medal. In
2012 she received the Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Medal. The Helen
Glass Centre for Nursing at the University of Manitoba was named in her
honour. Source: Memorable Manitobans online
(accessed 2021) . |
Isabel Jaffares - Gibb
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3370 |
née Jaffares. Born
November 6, 1895, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died June 14, 1951, Nanaimo, British
Columbia. Isabel graduated in 1916 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH)
School of Nursing. That summer she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas in England she served at No. 9
Canadian Stationary Hospital, Bramshott and at No. 16 Canadian General
Hospital, Orpington. In France she was posted to No. 2 Canadian
General Hospital, Le Treport, and No. 2 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station.
Returning to Canada after the war she worked for the Manitoba Board of
Health, Winnipeg. She relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia and worked as
a public health nurse. She married John Gibb and the couple lived in British
Columbia.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1916. online (accessed 2021) |
Winnifred James
4169 |
Born 1925, Brussels, Ontario. Died 1997. Winnifred
earned her nursing degree from Victoria Hospital, London, Ontario. She would
continue her education studying for her Canadian Public Health Nurse Certificate at the University of Western Ontario in London. She joined the
Victorian Order of Nurses (V O N) and became V O N Nurse in charge in Truro,
Nova Scotia. Moving back to Ontario she worked at various senior positions
with the V O N in Kent County and in North York. By 1958 she was Nurse in
Charge of the Sarnia Branch of the V O N. Here she expanded the care to
include seniors. She became VO N Director in the Prairies where she remained
until retirement. Source: The Story of Winnifred
James, Canuckhistorian Project: Canadian History for Kids by Kids!
online (accessed 2022) |
Mary Jamieson - Pepper
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3281 |
née Jamieson.
Born February 9, 1886, Dumbarton, Scotland. Died October 17, 1982, Victoria,
British Columbia. In 1913 Mary graduated from the Winnipeg General
Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. She returned to Scotland and worked in a
hospital in Glasgow for two years prior to enlisting as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) in spring of 1918. She was
posted to No. 12 Canadian General Hospital, Bramshott, England. Returning to
Canada after the war she worked as a nurse in Victoria, British Columbia for
a couple of years and then relocated to work at the Fort Qu'Appelle
Sanatorium in Saskatchewan. She married T. W. Pepper and the couple settled
in Victoria, British Columbia in the 1940's.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1913.. online (accessed 2021); |
Stella May Jenkins
World War 1 Nursing Sister
0059 |
Born November 20,
1881, Belleville, Ontario. Died March 23, 1954, Utica, New York, U.S.A.
Stella May graduated in 1906 from the St. Luke's Hospital, School of
Nursing, Utica, New York. U.S.A. January 6, 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She sailed overseas in
the spring of 1916 with the Queen's University Unit of Nursing Sisters. She
served at the Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross Hospital in England before
leaving for France to serve at the No. 2 Canadian General Hospital, Treport.
From there she was posted to Etaples near Boulogne. She was commended for
conspicuous bravery and honour and was awarded England's Laurel Leaf along
with the Royal Red Cross First Class Medal and the Victory Medal. Back in
Canada she was posted to the Queen's Military Hospital, Kingston before being
discharged in the fall of 1919. Returning to Utica, New York she worked as
Director of the Utica Red Cross and in 1942 she was presented with the
Business and Professional Club of Utica's Scroll of Achievement.
Source: Nurses of World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed
2021) |
Lenna
Mae
Jenner
World War 1 Nursing Sister
0060 |
Born November 17, 1889, Brookfields, Nova Scotia. Died
December 12, 1918, North Finchley, Great Britain. In 1901 Lenna and her
family moved to Halifax when her father was hired on as minister at North
Baptist Church. in 1913 she graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital
(WGH) School of Nursing nursing school. Lenna joined the Volunteer Aid Detachment (VAD)
for service in World War l. These units were formed to provide medical
assistance in time of war. By April 1917 Lenna was working at a military
Hospital in Kentville, Nova Scotia, where nurses were known to work 12 hour
days. She went on to work at the West Cliff Canadian Eye and Ear Hospital in Folkstone, Great Britain. In October 1918 she complained of lack of strength
and was diagnosed with tubercular peritonitis and she was sent to Clarence
House, North Finchley for an operation where she died of septicaemia.
Source: Debbie Marshall, War Changes Everything.
Online (accessed July 2015) (2021);:
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1912. online (accessed
2021) |
Susan
'Sue' Johanson
Sex Educator |
SEE - Social Activists |
Ethel Johns
0061
Person of National Historic Significance |
Born 1879, England. Died September 2, 1968. Ethel's family
emigrated to Canada and family friend, Cora Hind, encouraged the girl to
graduate in 1902 from the Winnipeg General Hospital Training School for
Nurses. After working in several provinces and in the U.S. she attended
Teachers College at Columbia University in New York City before returning to
Canada in 1915 as superintendent of the Children's Hospital, Winnipeg. In
1919 she was appointed to the dual position of director of nursing service
and education of the Vancouver General Hospital and coordinator of the newly
established program in Nursing at the University of British Columbia.
In 1925 she left for Europe to work for the Rockefeller Foundation,
establishing training programs and schools of nursing. In 1933 to 1944
she worked as editor and business manager of the Canadian Nurse
magazine. After retirement, she collaborated in writing a history of Johns
Hopkins School of Nursing, a series of health pamphlet and the history of
the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing. In 2009 was declared a
Person of National Historic Significance and an historic plaque was placed
in the garden adjacent to the UBC Hospital in 2019
(2020) |
Inga Johnson
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3095 |
Born October 17,
1881, Gimili Manitoba. Died January 3,1948, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Inga
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in
1907. For two years after graduation she served as a staff nurse at the WGH.
She took a leave of absence in 1909. In 1910 she was appointed Lady
Superintendent in charge of Social Service Department at WGH. August 10,
1916 she enlisted, in Kingston, Ontario, as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She was posted overseas to the No.1
Canadian General Hospital in France. By 1917 she was serving at No. 4
Canadian Casualty Clearing Station in France and then at the hospital in
Mons, France. After the war in 1919 she completed post graduate course in
Boston, Massauchetts, U.S.A. and then resumed duties as head of the Social
Services Department at WGH in 1921 but was forced by ill health to resign in
December of that year. In 1926 she joined the staff of Ninette Sanatorium
(now Rural Municipality of Prairie Lakes) Manitoba. She relocated to
Victoria, British Columbia in the early 1930's but soon returned to be
Matron of the Icelandic Old Folks' Home in Gimili, Manitoba.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1907. online. (accessed 2021); Find a Grave Canada,
online (accessed 2021) |
Lillie Johnson
Black Nurse & Activist |
SEE - Social Activists |
Sybil Johnson - Dunfield
0062
Lady Dunfield |
née Johnson. Born November 19, 1887, St. John’s,
Newfoundland. Died December 14, 1973, St. John’s, Newfoundland. In 1920
Sybil traveled to Liverpool England to visit with family and attend
Cheltenham Girls School for two years. At 16 she traveled to Germany and
studied the violin at the Leipzig Music Academy. By 1909 she was back
Newfoundland where she performed at various concerts and charity events. By
December 1916 she was back in England where she joined and trained with
V A D’s. She nursed at the Western Military Hospital Fozakerley in Liverpool,
England
until 1918. Her sister Jill also served at this hospital. Returning to
Newfoundland Sybil married a lawyer, Brian Dunfield on August 8, 1918. The
couple had three children. She continued to play violin at various charity
events. In 1949 her husband was knighted and she became Lady Dunfield. Her
wartime correspondence and description of wartime life in England is on
Deposit with the Newfoundland Archives. Source: Bert Riggs. The Gazette
November 13, 1997. Online Accessed March 2016. Suggestion submitted by Nora Phillips,
Newfoundland.
(2021) |
Annie Johnston - Argue
0063
World War 1 Nursing Sister |
Born March 9, 1879,
Glencross, Manitoba. Died January 17, 1965, Toronto, Ontario. Annie attended
the Winnipeg Normal School to earn her teaching certificate. She taught High
School for four years but decided that she wanted something else. She
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in
1907. She worked as a school nurse with the Winnipeg School Board and was
involved with the Medical inspection of schools. In 1915 she went overseas
and served with the Red Cross in Malta. She was posted to Nor 5, Canadian
General Hospital, France. In 1918 she married Captain (Dr.) R. Fletcher
Argue. The couple returned to Canada in 1919 and she once gain took up her
position Editor of the WGH
Nurses' Alumnae Journal.
Source:
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1907.
online (accessed 2021) |
Mabel Jones 4299
Indigenous Nurse |
Born Cape Croker, Ontario.
Died 1983, Cape Croker, Ontario. Mabel's father, Chief Charles Kegedonce
Jones, petitioned the Indian Agent to allow his daughters could go to
Nursing School. Mabel traveled by horse and then took a steam train
from Owen Sound to Toronto. In 1928 she was the first Indigenous woman to
graduate from the Women's College Hospital School of Nursing in Toronto.
Her graduation causes a legal stir when she status as an Indian was put on
the line as once one became a professional they were no longer an Aboriginal
person according to the Indian Act. She maintained her status when she
married George Douglas Charles, a member of the Chippewas of Georgina
Island, Ontario. Mabel settled with her husband on Georgina Island and
worked for the Victorian Order of Nurses (V O N) for 40 years. She also
served as the local midwife. When her husband became ill they moved to the
Sutton area and she volunteered at a local hospital. After the death of her
husband she moved back to her home at Cape Croker and she she continued to
care for the community combining her nursing training and Indigenous
practices of healing. She became an reputed expert in the medical use of
native plants and she even helped professors from the University of Toronto
by sharing her knowledge. Source: Katie Daubs, They
Said I was too tall, too big...how three nurses broke through the nursing's
starched white world The Toronto Star May 5, 2019. (accessed 2023)
|
Alice Mary Jones - Holt
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3361 |
née Jones. Born December 21, 1886, Shropshire,
England. Died January 17, 1970, West Kootenay, British Columbia. After the
death of her mother Alice along with her father and brother immigrated to
Canada and settled Shackleton, Saskatchewan. Alice graduated in 1916 from
the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing, Manitoba. She worked
on staff at the WGH. By 1917 she was working at the Brett Hospital,
Banff, Alberta. In February 1918 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she contracted influenza in
England and was in hospital at the Granville Canadian Special Hospital,
Buxton and when she suffered from pneumonia she was sent to the Canadian Red
Cross Special Hospital. Once recovered she was posted to King's
Canadian Red Cross Convalescent Hospital, Bushey Park, Hampton Hill. After
she returned to Canada in 1919 she was posted to the Saskatchewan Military
Hospital, No. 12 District Depot Moose Jaw. In March 1920 she was working at
Balfour Tuberculosis Sanatorium, West Kootenay, British Columbia. She
married war veteran Charles Holt who operated the local country store and
post office.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1916. online (accessed 2021)
|
Cecilia/Cecelia Clara Ellen Jowett
4064
Nurse in Northern
Ontario |
Born November 11, 1890, East India Docks, England. Died June
3, 1983, Gravenhurst, Ontario. . When Cecilia was just three her family
broke up. She was placed in one of the English Dr. Barnardo Homes along with
her sister Ethel and brother Ernest. In 1901 Cecilia was sent to Canada to
the Hazel Brae home, Peterborough, Ontario. She was taken in by the
Partridge family of Shanty Bay (near Barrie), Ontario, a good Methodist home
and a good farm life. She was teased at school because she was a 'Home
Child'. and felt a deep loneliness for her family. Studying at night and
working during the day Cecilia put herself through nursing school at the
Orillia General Hospital. She went on to nurse at Mount Sinai, Toronto
General Hospital, Toronto Sick Kids and the Hamilton General Hospital.
In 1930 she went to Northern Ontario as a Missionary Nurse. Cecilia spent
seven years nursing her brother Ernest who had served a World War l
(1914-1918) and suffered from pleurisy and was living in Hunta, a small
Northern Ontario area. She enjoyed life in the north and had a cabin build
to live in. She skied, walked, paddled or rode a bicycle to visit patients
who often paid for her services with a loaf of bread or a chicken or ham. It
was during the long northern evenings that she began to write enjoying
correspondence with various people. She wrote to England and eventually
connected with her father. Selling her home, Journey's End, in Northern
Ontario and went to England meeting her father and an aunt. In 1934, feeling
disconnected in England she returned to Canada and settled in Langford Mills
on Lake Simcoe and nursed the Ojibwa peoples at Rama. Here she also
worked in Orillia caring for the wife of the author Stephen Leacock
(1869-1944) and he encouraged her to write. In 1948 she published the
history of Geneva Park , the Young Men's Christian Association (Y M C A) in
Langford Mills. In 1954 published her autobiography called
No Thought for Tomorrow - The Story of a Northern Nurse.
Source: Cecelia Jowett, Her sisters Ethel & Annie, Rose,
Violet .... British Home Children in Canada. Online Accessed 2022)
|
Helen Mary Kendall
3531
World War 1 & World War
11 Nursing Sister |
Born November 29, 1892, Sydney, Nova Scotia. Died 1982, Cape
Breton, Nova Scotia. Helen studied nursing at the Royal Victoria Hospital
School of Nursing, Montreal, graduating in 1916. . Helen joined the Canadian
Army Military Medical Corps (C M A C) as a Nursing Sister. Helen when
overseas in March 1917 but almost did not make it as the ship she sailed on,
S. S. Essequibo, was stopped by an enemy submarine. The next day the
ship arrived safely in Liverpool, England. She was posted at the Canadian
Hospital, Orpington, England and by September 1917 she was serving in
France. She often worked as an Anaesthetist because doctors were too busy.
By May 1918 she was posted to No. 7 Canadian General Hospital, Etaples,
France where on May 31 the hospital was attacked by enemy bombers intent on
destroying a nearby bridge. She earned the Royal Red Cross Class 2 medal for
her exceptional acts of bravery while on duty. Later in 1918 she contracted
the Spanish Flu but did survive. Helen served in England until 1919
before returning to Canada. During World War 11 she served once more working
at No. 1 Neurological Hospital, Basingstoke, England from 1940 through 1942.
Source: Nasty Work: The forgotten role of
Canada's Nursing Sisters during WW 1 CBC News Nova Scotia November 11, 2021. |
Nancy Blodwen
Kennedy -Reid
3840 |
Born August 2, 1902,
Caernarvon, North Wales, United Kingdom.
Died, 1994, Quebec. Nancy seems to have globe trotted for several years
going to Bangkok, and Siam (now Thailand). In 1926 Nancy immigrated to
Canada and trained as a nurse at the Montreal General Hospital in 1929 in
Quebec. With the onslaught of the Second World war she travelled with
the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada to England in December 1940.
Enlisting with the Canadian Army Medical Corps she worked as an Assistant
Matron at No. 1 Canadian Hospital, Marston Green, England. In June 1942 she
was promoted to Major and served as a Matron. The following year was
serving at No. 1 General Hospital, Andria, Italy and later moving to Rome.
Back in England in August 1944 she served at No. 23 Canadian General
Hospital, Leavesden. Returning to Canada on January 1, 1946 she took
the position of Director of Nursing at St. Anne's Hospital at St. Anne de
Bellevue, Quebec. She retired in 1967 and the following year served as
president of the Canadian Nurses Association. Nancy is buried at the
National Field of Honour Cemetery, Pointe Claire, Quebec. Some of her war
time mementoes are maintained at the Archives, McMaster University,
Hamilton, Ontario. Source: Angels of Mercy:
Canada's Nursing Sisters in world war l and ll. McMaster University.
Online (accessed 2022); Find a Grave Canada (accessed 2022) |
Jean Elizabeth Kidd -Ramsay
World War l Nursing Sister
3353 |
Born April 22,
1889, Beckwith Township, Ontario. Died 1988, British Columbia. A trained
nurse Jean served with the Dr. Depage unit in Belgium in Belgium which
was the firs exclusively military hospital established during the Balkan
Wars 1912-1914. She Enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC) and served at the first Station Hospital and then the
Canadian Red Cross Hospital, Buxton, England. She was also posted to The
Canadian military Hospital , Basingstoke and served in Salonika, Greece. She
was part of the first 107 Canadian Nursing Sisters to serve in World War 1.
After the war she settled in Ducks, British Columbia and married Kenneth
Alan Ramsay (Died 1949) in Grimsby, Ontario. The couple lived in
Cariboo, British Columbia. Source: Beckwith Heroes,
Officers of Beckwith Township. online (accessed 2021) |
May Eleanor
Kilborn 4033 |
Born 1924, Chengdu, China. May studied nursing in Canada at
the Women's College in Toronto, Ontario. She went on to do some postgraduate
studies in Montreal prior to accompanying her father Leslie Kilborn
(1895-1967) back to Chengdu China in October 1949, May worked at the
University Hospital at West China Union University (W C U U) making her the
third generation of the Kilborn family to do medical work in China.
May returned to Canada in 1951. Source: Offspring of
Founder (O. L. Kilborn, Canada) of Modern Medical Science in West China
Visited Sichuan. online (accessed 2022) |
Susan Emma Kilpatrick
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3129 |
Born September 14,
1880, Kemptville, Ontario. Died November 10, 1943, Manitoba. Susan graduated
in 1911 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. She
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) on
March 27, 1917. Overseas she was posted to No. 16, Canadian General
Hospital, Orpington, England . She suffered poor health and spent several
months in hospital. She returned to Winnipeg in the spring of 1919 and
later in 1923 she relocated to Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. She eventually
returned to Manitoba and worked at the Ninette Sanatorium. Source: Health Sciences Centre
Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1911.
online (accessed 2021); Find a grave Canada. online (accessed 2021) |
Jessie
Nelson King
|
Born June 8, 1892,
North Vancouver, British Columbia. Died April 4, 1919, Boulogne, France.
Jessie graduated from the Royal Jubilee Hospital, Victoria, British Columbia
in 1916. By the spring of 1917 she had enlisted to serve in the Canadian
Medical Corps in response to the call to service in World War l. By June of
1917 she was serving at the 9th Canadian Stationary Hospital. She went on to
serve with the 12th Canadian General Hospital and the 1st Canadian General
Hospital and the 14th General Hospital at Wimereux, France. It was here she
was hospitalized in November 1918 with influenza. She was in hospital as a
patient again in the spring of 1919 . She is buried in the British Cemetery
in Terlincthun, Boulogne, France. Source: A
Tribute to some women and men who served in armed conflicts Online;
Canadian Virtual War Memorial (CVWM) Veteran Affairs
Canada Online. (2020) |
Cécile Lalande - Dagenais 4283 |
Born 1923. Died April 16,
1987, Laval, Quebec. Cécile studied to be a nurse and graduating from
L'Ecole des gardes-malades. in 1947. Her first job was in the
operating room at the hospital in Laval, Quebec. By November 10, 1957 she
and a few partners created the first general hospital in Sainte-Rose,
Quebec. The hospital was at first located in a family home but soon moved to
larger quarters housing 30 beds that was run by Cécile. Throughout the
1960's she remained a major player in the development of health care in
Laval. With a diploma in hospital administration she had earned in 1963 and
additional studies at the University of Montreal in 1967, she was the only
woman to be a member on the Commission Paiement dont les travaux meneront à
la Creation de la Santee, Laval, Quebec. Cécile's son Raymond would study to
become a doctor. (2023) |
Louise de Kiriline Lawrence
0064 |
née Flach.
Born January 30, 1894, Sweden. Died April 27, 1992, Pimisi Lake, Ontario.
Louise was named for her godmother, Princess Louise of Denmark. Her possible
life as a rich socialite was cut off when she became a nurse during World
War l serving with the Red Cross. At the end of the war in 1918 she married
a young lieutenant from the Russian Imperial Army, Greb de Kiriline who died
in revolutionary Russia. . While in Russia with her husband incarcerated she
ran an Red Cross orphanage. In 1927 she immigrated to Canada taking a
position as a solitary nursing outpost in Bonfield, Northern Ontario. Having
gained a strong reputation for her nursing skills she became the head nurse
for the famous Dionne Quintuplets in May 1934. Upset with the Ontario
Government treatment of the five babies she retired from nursing in 1935.
The following year she published the book; The Quintuplets' First Year.
She married a carpenter, Len Lawrence in 1939 and the couple had a cabin on
Pimisi Lake. Retirement allowed her more time to pursue her lifetime
interest in nature. She became interested in the wild birds about her home
and earned herself the title of Bird Lady of Pimisi Lake. She went on to
write scientific articles and five books about birds becoming an
international accredited ornithologist. She was the 1st Canadian women to be
elected to the American Union of Ornithologists. In 1969 she earned the John
Burroughs medal, and the Sir Charles G. D. Roberts Special Award. In 1980
she earned the Frances H. Kortright Outdoor Writing Award for her
autobiography To Whom the Wilderness Speaks.
Sources: Ontario Historical Plaque; the Canadian
Encyclopedia. |
Marguerite
Merle
Lazier -Tyrer
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3245 |
née Lazier. Born
July 2, 1891, Belleville, Ontario. Died December 12, 1975, Chatham, Ontario.
Marguerite Merle studied nursing around 1914. She enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) on August 10,
1916. Commission in the fall of
1917. She married Captain Dr. Wilfred Tyrer (died 1940). Marguerite Merle
retired to Chatham, Ontario living with her daughter.
Source: Nurses of World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed
2021) |
Mary Gabriel
LeClair
4000a |
Born 1924. Died 1994. Mary Gabriel graduated from the
Charlottetown Hospital School of Nursing. In 1948 after her graduation she
entered the Sister of St. Martha of Prince Edward Island. She went on to
study Pediatrics at the Toronto Sick Children's Hospital in Ontario.
Returning to Charlottetown she became Supervisor of Pediatrics at the
Charlottetown Hospital in 1954 through to 1964. She then becae a clinical
supervisor at the Charlottetown and Prince Edward Island Schools of Nursing.
In 1973 she was appointed Director of the Prince Edward Island School of
Nursing a position she held until retirement in 1993. Sister Mary Gabriel
also enjoyed painting and many of her works are hung at Mount St. Mary's.
The University of Prince Edward Island created an Memorial Award in nursing
in her honour. Source: Prince Edward Island
University. online (accessed 2022) |
Gertrude Elizabeth 'Nora' Livingston
Pioneer Nursing Administrator 3357 |
Born May 17, 1848,
Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, U.S.A. Died July 24, 1927, Val-Morin, Quebec.
When her father retired from the British Army the family settled on Lac des
Deux Montagnes in Quebec. Nora graduated from the New York Hospital Training
School for Nurses in the U.S.A. and worked on staff at the hospital after
graduation. February 20, 1890 she began working at the Montreal
General Hospital in Quebec as hospital Superintendent. By April 1890 the
Montreal General Hospital had accepted its first students at the School of
Nursing. She imposed draconian rules of conduct on students and nurses hired
at the hospital. April 17, 1905 she was instrumental in establishing the
Club of Graduated Nurses of the Montreal General Hospital known as the
Livingston Club. In 1940 the Nora Livingston Scholarship Fund was
established. Nora Livingston established the model and standards for other
nursing schools to follow where nurses were relieved of domestic
housekeeping duties and were centered on patient care. In 1954 the
Livingston Hall nurses residence was opened at the Montreal General
Hospital. Source: D C B (accessed 2021) |
Isabel Agnes Elizabeth
Lloyd
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3104 |
Born September 28,
1884* Gladstone, Manitoba. Died January 3, 1939**, Manitoba. Isabel
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in
1908. After training she relocated to Fernie, British Columbia, working at
the general hospital. Within the year resigned and accepted a position
as nurse with the T. Eaton, Company. In June 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She was posted to the
Kitchener Military Hospital Brighton, England and then to No. 10 Canadian
General Hospital, England. She suffered bronchitis and was diagnosed with
Epilepsy and deemed unfit of service and was discharged to No. 10 Manitoba
Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg in 1918. After the War she once
again took her nursing Position at the T. E Eaton Company. She also worked
at the Selkirk Mental Hospital in Manitoba.
* Tombstone states birth date as 1882 but CAMC
record says 1884. ** death sometimes reported as December 1938. Source:
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Class of 1908. online (accessed 2021); Find
a Grave Canada online (accessed 2021); Canada Great War Project, Nursing
Sisters, online (accessed 2021) |
Ellie Elizabeth
Love
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3311 |
Born March 2, 1884,
Seaforth, Ontario. Died May 30, 1963, Ariss, Ontario. In 1915 Ellie
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. She
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) in
May 1918. She was posted in Canada to the No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital,
Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg., also known as Deer Lodge Convalescent Hospital. She
was discharged in August 1919. After the was she relocated to Saskatchewan
where she worked at the Sanatorium in Fort Qu'Appelle. Source: Health Sciences
Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1915. online (accessed 2021) |
Margaret Lowe
World War 1 Nursing Sister died on
duty 3359 |
Born January
26,1886, Morayshire, Scotland. Died May 28, 1918, Etaples, France.
Margaret's father brought her and sister to Canada settling in Binscarth,
Manitoba where thy had relatives. In 1916 Margaret graduated from the
Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing and enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) in March 1917. Overseas
she was posted to No. 16 Canada General Hospital, No. 10 Canadian Stationary
Hospital and No. 4 Canadian General Hospital in England. By 1918 she was in
France at the No. 10 Canadian Stationary Hospital, Calais and then No. 1
Canadian General Hospital, Etaples. May 19, 1918 German aircraft attached
Etaples with 116 bombs, one of which fell near the nursing sisters'
quarters. One nurse was killed outright, Nursing Sister Katherine Macdonald
(1893-1918), and Margaret was one of seven nurses wounded. Her name
appears on a plaque at Queen.s Park, Toronto, dedicated to the Ontario Nurse
Sisters who died in World War 1. Source:
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital Class
of 1916. online (accessed 2021) |
Edith
'Effie' Lumsden
0065
World War 1 Nursing Sister |
Born October 2,
1875, Brooklin, Ontario. Died December 23, 1954, British Columbia. Effie
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing,
Manitoba, in 1900. She relocated to British Columbia and on September 13,
1915, she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC). Overseas she served at the No. 4 Canadian Casualty Clearing
station, No. 5 Canadian General Hospital, Salonika, Greece, serving as
Acting Matron, and at the Duchess of Connaught's Canadian Red Cross
Hospital, Taplow, England. Back home in British Columbia she was
posted to the Esquimalt Military Hospital until being discharged in April
1919. Source: Health Sciences Centre
Archives, Winnipeg, Class of 1899/1900. online (accessed 2021) |
Lilian Lynch
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3287
|
Born June 10, 1889, Westbourne, Manitoba. Died
March 30, 1965, Regina, Saskatchewan. Lilian graduated in 1914
from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. In February 1915
she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps.
Overseas she served at No. 2 Canadian General Hospital, Le Treport, France
and No. 4 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station. After the was she lived in the
United States working as a private nurse in California and Arizona. In 1923
she returned to Canada to work with the Saskatchewan Department of Education
in the Regina public school system. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1914, online (accessed 2021)
|
Ruth
Catherine
MacAdams
0066 |
Born July 21, 1880, Sarnia, Ontario. Died December 16, 1959,
Calgary, Alberta. Roberta was a graduate from Macdonald Institute of the
Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, Ontario (Now University of Guelph.) In
1912 she was hired by the Alberta Government to offer “institute” courses
for rural women across the province. As well the Alberta Department of
Agriculture had her conduct a survey to determine the viability of a
provincial Women’s Institute. Roberta was what was called a new woman
participating in society out of the home in non-traditional ways through
education, employment and civic engagement. In 1914-1916 she worked for the
Edmonton Public School Board creating the 1st Department of
Domestic Economy (Home economics) in Alberta. In 1916 she left her job to
serve as a lieutenant during World War l. She served as a dietitian in the
Canadian Military Hospital in Orpington, England. In 1917 the Alberta
Military Representation Act allowed the 38,000 Alberta soldiers and 75
nurses overseas to elect 2 representative to the Provincial legislature. On
September 17, 1917 Robert Pearson and Roberta MacAdams were elected. Roberta
was the second woman in the Empire after fellow Albertan Louise McKinney to
be elected to office. In 1918 she became the 1st woman in the
British Empire to introduce legislation when she brought forward a bill to
incorporate the War Veterans Next of Kin Association Bill. After the 1st
legislative session she was back in Britain with the Khaki University which
provided women’s staff for continuing education for overseas Canadian
forces. Back in Alberta in 1919 she served as district Director of the
Soldiers Land Settlement Board. After this position Roberts married lawyer
Harvey Price and was less prominent in the public eye.
Source: Our Future, Our Heritage. The Alberta Heritage
Digitization Project. Online (accessed May 2014) ; Roberta MacAdams and
the New Woman. Alberta’s Women’s Institute. Online (accessed May 2014).
(2020) |
Beatrice Mary MacDonald
3497
Most Decorated Nurse in World
War 1 |
Born 1881, North
Bedeque, Prince Edward Island. Died 1969, New York City, New York, U.S.A.
After graduating from the Notre Dame Academy, Charlottetown she went to the
New York City Training School for Nurses and graduated in 1905. She worked
in new yor becoming surgical assistant and office manager for a Dr. George
Brewer. When World War 1 broke out she served with Dr. Brewer. The doctor
and his tem signed up twice for service. at the British Casualty Clearing
Station No. 61 at Poperinghe, Belgium they were only four miles from front
lines. The medical encampment was bombed and she was wounded becoming blind
in her right eye. She was the firs seriously injured person from the
American Army during the war. She returned to her unit in Etretat. She went
on to serve as Chief Nurse at the American base at Baccarat in the spring of
1918. She also served in Coblentz, Germany before returning home in time for
Christmas that year. She received the American Distinguished Service Cross,
the Distinguished Service Medal and the Purple Heart. She was als presented
the British Military Medal for bravery in the battlefield and the the
Associate Red Cross Medal which was given to nurses for exceptional duty.
From France she received the Croix de Guerre. This accumulation of medals
made her the most decorated nurse of World War 1. In 1924 she became an an
American Citizen. Source: Bedeque Area Historical
Museum Facebook. online (accessed 2021) |
Jean Alexandrina
MacDonald
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3273
|
Born March 11,
1888, Canon Bridge, Scotland. Died November 23, 1969, Roblin, Manitoba. Jean
immigrated to Canada in 1908. She graduated in 1912 from the Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing. After graduation she worked as a private
nurse in Winnipeg and then relocated to Edmonton, Alberta to work in the
operating room of the hospital. In January 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) as part of the Queen's
University Unit from Kingston, Ontario. Overseas she was posted at the
Granville Stationary Hospital, Ramsgate, England before being transferred to
No. 7 Canadian General Hospital, France. In the spring of 1919 she was
presented with the Médaille des Epidemies 'en argent' , an award from France
given to Nursing Sisters for attending wounded civilians under fire.
By June 1919 she was back in Canada posted to No. 10 Manitoba Military
Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg. In 1922 she was working on staff a city
hospital in Mexico. By 1933 she was working special duty in New York,
U.S.A. She returned to live in Roblin, Manitoba.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1912. online (accessed 2021) |
Jessie Macdonald
3482
World War 1 Nursing
Sister & Halifax Explosion
|
Born June 20, 1880,
Copper Lake, Nova Scotia. Jessie graduated in 1915 from the Victoria General
Hospital School of Nursing, Halifax, Nova Scotia. She enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) April 3, 1916. She served
overseas at Canadian Convalescent Hospital, Uxbridge, Moore Barracks
Military Hospital, Shorncliffe, England and at No. 9 Canadian Stationary
Hospital. She resigned August 20, 1917 and returned to Halifax. Jessie
was part of the head nurse of operating staff at the Victoria General
Hospital during the aftermath of the Halifax explosion in 1917 when staff
worked 2-3 days and nights. Source: History of
Victoria General Hospital online (accessed 2021) |
Jessie Robina Gilchrist -MacDonald
World War 1 Nursing
Sister
3485 |
Born July 25, 1893,
Brandon, Manitoba. Died April 14, 1992, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Jessie enlisted
on May 18, 1917 as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC). She served at No. 2 Canadian General Hospital, Shorncliffe and
Granville Canadian Special Hospital. In France she served at No. 3 Canadian
General Hospital, Le Treport where she herself was in hospital with
influenza. She also spent some time in England with influenza. She returned
home to Canada in 1919. Jessie married Nathanial Macdonald and the couple
raised two children together. Source: Great War
Project Nursing Sisters, Online (accessed 2021) |
Josephine 'Josie' Angeline MacDonald
World War 1 Nursing
Sister
3116 |
Born October 31,
1878, Brantford, Ontario. Died ???? Josie moved with her family first to
Emerson, and then to Portage, Manitoba in 1906. She graduated from the
Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in 1910. Her first job was
as Nurse Superintendent at the Lashburn Hospital in Saskatchewan. A year
later she was employed as a private nurse in Portage la Prairie. Josie
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC)
July 21, 1916 at Camp Hughes, Manitoba. Overseas she was posted to the
Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross Hospital/No. 15 Canadian General Hospital,
Taplow, England and then in 1917to No. 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital. She
was also posted to No. 1 Canadian General Hospital, Etaples, France
surviving several enemy air raids. After the war she spent two years nursing
in La Jolla, California, U.S.A.. Returning to Canada she nursed at No. 10
Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg. In 1926 she joined the
staff of Deer Lodge Hospital where she worked until her retirement in 1940.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1910. online (accessed 2021) |
Katherine
Maud MacDonald
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3119 |
Born January 18,
1893, Brantford, Ontario. Died May 19, 1918, Etaples, France. Katherine
studied nursing at Victoria Hospital, London Ontario graduating in the
spring of 1915. enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps (CAMC) on April 16, 1917. Overseas she served at No. 10 Canadian
Stationary Hospital, Eastbourne, England and then in January 1918 she was
posted to No. 1 Canadian General Hospital, Etaples, France. On May 20 1918
the hospital was bombed in an enemy air strike. 66 patients and staff were
killed during the bombing. Katherine became the first Canadian Nursing
Sister casualty of World War 1. Nursing Sisters Margaret Lowe and Gladys
Maude Mary Wake also died of injuries sustained in this attack. Katherine is
buried at the Etaples Military Cemetery, France. She is commemorated in the
Canadian Book of Remembrance, The Canadian War Memorial, Halifax, and with a
memorial plaque at Victoria Hospital, London, Ontario.
Source: We Remember, G W C A; Brantford, Brant County, Six Nations,
online (accessed 2021); Library and Archives Canada, online, (accessed 2021) |
Edith Frances Macey
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3105 |
Born January 15,
1886, Saskatchewan. Died 1951. U.S.A. Edith graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in 1908. After her training she
worked for a short time in Fernie, British Columbia, before returning to her
home province and working in Maple Creek. she then returned west taking a
position as Lady Superintendent, Kamloops Hospital. By 1916 she was working
as a private nurse when she joined the Queen's Alexandra's Imperial Military
Nursing Service. She was stationed at first for a year in Malta and then in
late 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps (CAMC). She served at the No. 10 Canadian General Hospital, Brighton,
England prior to being posted in France. While in France she suffered from
appendicitis and required an operation at No. 24 General Hospital, Etaples.
Once recuperated she was sent to No. 12 Canadian General Hospital. Back home
in Canada in 1919 she worked as a Public Health Nurse for the Manitoba
Provincial Board of Health in 1920. Later , relocating to Prince Albert ,
Saskatchewan working at the Victoria Hospital. She then left to work at
Iverson Memorial Hospital, Wyoming, U.S.A. and eventually nursed in San
Diego, California. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1908. |
Jessie Gertrude
Macey
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3372 |
Born November 18,
1891, Saskatchewan. Died November 1967, Ontario. Jessie graduated in 1916
from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. She enlisted as
a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) in the spring
of 1917. Overseas she was posted Granville Canadian Special Hospital,
Ramsgate and No 16, Canadian General Hospital know as Ontario Military
Hospital, England. In France she was stationed at No. 7 and No. 2 Canadian
General Hospitals, Le Treport. Going back to England she served at No. 11
Canadian General Hospital, Moore Barracks. After the war she worked in the
United States as an anaesthetist at St. Mark's Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio and
then as a private nursed in California and Hawaii. She also worked as
Nurse Superintendent at one of the Mayo Clinic Hospitals.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg
School of Nursing 1916. Online (accessed 2021) |
Idella 'Dell' Gertrude MacGregor
0068
World War 1 Nursing
Sister 3112 |
Born June 30, 1880,
North Gower, Ontario. Died 1947, Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1909 she
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing.
After graduation she relocated to Vancouver British Columbia where she
worked as a private nurse. In August 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) in Kingston, Ontario. Overseas
she was posted to the Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross Hospital /No. 15
Canadian General Hospital, Taplow. In France she served at No. 3 Canadian
Casualty Clearing Station and then to N0. 7 Canadian General Hospital and
No. 2 Canadian General Hospital, Le Treport. Back home in Canada after
the war she worked with the Victoria Order of Nurses (V O N) in Ontario. IN
1921 she took a course in Public Health in Toronto and then returned to
British Columbia where she worked at Kamloops Hospital.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg Online (accessed 2021) |
Dorothy Macham
0067
World War 11 Nursing Sister and Matron |
Born July 19, 1910, New Lowell, Ontario. Died July 12, 2002, Toronto,
Ontario. In 1932 she graduated from the Toronto Women's College Hospital
School of Nursing. She then did post graduate work in psychiatric nursing
and nursing administration at the Whitby Mental Hospital. She retuned to
work as an operating room supervisor at the Women's College Hospital in
1936. On September 10, 1939, one day after Canada entered World War
11, she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC). She was posted to No. 15 Canadian General Hospital organized
as the Toronto Military Hospital. In June 1940 she went overseas to England.
She was posted to No. 15 Canadian General Hospital, Bramshott Chase, England
and then to a plastic surgery unit in Basingstoke, England where she was
promoted to Nursing Sister in Charge. In 1943 she was serving at No. 5
Casualty Clearing Station. She was promoted to Matron with the rank of
Captain. In 1944 she was posted to No. 8 Canadian General Hospital in
England, Holland, France and Belgium. In December 1944 she was promoted to
Principal Matron with the rank of Major. At the end of the war she took on
the task of closing several Canadian General Hospitals. Dorothy returned to
Canada after the war and was appointed as Women's College Hospital's
Superintendent. She served at the hospital for 30 years retiring as
Executive Director in 1975. After her retirement she joined the staff or
West Park Hospital as Executive Director for four years. In 1976 the City of
Toronto presented her with the Toronto City Award of Merit. In 1981 she was
inducted into the Order of Canada. |
Christine MacInnis
4000e |
Catherine graduated from the Victoria General Hospital School
of Nursing in 1918. In December 1917 when Halifax suffered the great
explosion that killed some 3,000 people, the City of Boston, Massauchetts,
U.S.A. had responded by immediately sending medial works and aid. In 1918
Boston was suffer from Influenza with 85, 000 flu cases. The call to help
Boston was received at Victoria General Hospital in Halifax. Eveline
Pemberton, a night supervisor at the hospital, lead the first contingent of
eight nurses, including Christine, to help Boston. Christine earned the name
of 'The Nightengale of Nova Scotia' for her care and devotion to her
patients in Boston. In all 32 Nova scotia nurses served in Boston in the
fall of 1918 with at least 12 making the ultimate sacrifice, dying with the
flu that they had come to fight. Source: The Nurses
who repaid Halifax's 1917 debt to Boston. online (accessed 2022) |
Elizabeth 'Eliza' Margaret
MacKenzie |
SEE - Physicians |
Mary Irene
Mackinnon 4000 |
Born 1917. Died 2002. Mary was a Sister of St. Martha of
Prince Edward Island. Sister Mary worked in nursing a Charlottetown
Hospital. She became supervisor and an instructor in the Charlottetown
Hospital School of Nursing (C H S N). In 1969 she became the first Director
of the Prince Edward Island School of Nursing. She served on the executive of
the Canadian Nurses Association. From 1973 through 1981 she was the
Congregation Leader of the Sisters of St. Martha. The University of Prince
Edward Island presents a memorial Award in Nursing in her honour.
Source: Prince Edward Island University online (accessed
2022) |
Edna Estella
'Stell' MacLachlan
World War 1 Nursing
Sister 3246 |
née Thompson.
Born October 16, 1881, Whitby, Ontario. Died
October 31, 1976, Wiarton, Ontario. Edna became a young orphan and was
raised in Clarenceville, Quebec by her aunt Edna Mary Caldwell,. Edna
graduated in 1903 from the Nursing School in Belleville, Ontario earning the
Gold Medal for her studies. In September 1904 she married Donald MacLachlan
in Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A. She worked at the Manhattan Hospital in New
York and raised her family She relocated to work in Montreal, Quebec, when
she became estranged from her husband. In 1915 she graduated from the
Divisional School of Military Instruction, Quebec City and within a few
months enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC). Overseas she served at a Canadian Clearing Station in France.
While posted in France her post came under enemy fire several times and for
her bravery was awarded the Croix de Guerre with Palms by the French
government. After the war she reunited with her veteran husband and the
couple settled in Toronto. In 1973 the couple retired to Wiarton, Ontario.
Source: Nurses of World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed
2021) |
Anne
Isobel MacLeod
0069 |
née Black. Born June 24, 1913, Sturgeon Falls, Ontario. Died
October 19. 2019, Ottawa, Ontario. Isobel
relocated, with her family, to Edmonton, Alberta in the 1920’s. After high
school she courageously enrolled in a five year degree program at the
University of Alberta. Isobel was one of just three graduates in 1936. For
awhile she was assistant Supervisor for the Victorian Order of Nurses. From
1944 through 1949 she earned her Master’s degree in Nursing Administration
from Columbia University in New York City, U.S.A. After graduating she took
a position of Director of Nursing and Principal at the School of Nursing at
the Montreal General Hospital in 1953 and remained until retirement in 1975.
At 1st some were sceptical since she was not a graduate of the
School of Nursing. She was the 1st
director who was not a graduate. Sometime later she was presented with a
nursing cap of the Montreal General Hospital and she wore it with pride. The
School of Nursing now provides an annual Isobel MacLeod Award for nursing
assistants. She would oversee 1, 852 graduates during her tenure. In
1953 she also married. Alistair William Thompson MacLeod (d 2004)
psychiatrist and after her retirement from the School of Nursing she worked
with him as his Montreal practice. In the mid 1990’s the couple retired and
moved to retirement living in Ottawa. In 2003 they celebrated their 50th
wedding anniversary. In 2013 she celebrated her 100th birthday.
Source: Sonia Mendes, ‘Nursing Pioneer’s reflections at 101’.
The Ottawa Citizen, June 21, 2014. Suggestion
submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario.(2020) |
JoAnn Lee MacMorran
3845 |
Born 1934, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died April 2, 2021. In 1955
JoAnn graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing. Ten
years later she had returned to school and graduated from the university of
Manitoba. Her nursing career took her to Los Angles and San Francisco in
California, U.S.A, to England and finally back in Canada to Calgary,
Alberta. She eventually settled in Winnipeg and workded with the
Victorian Order of Nurses (V O N), the Manitoba Public Heal Department , and
the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Manitoba. In 1971 she had worked
as a nurs consultant i the treatment of Tuberculosis (TB) and chronic
pulmonary disease giving workshops around the world. In 2001 she retired and
joined the Canadian International Development Agency on a project in Guyana.
IN 2021 she was named a Manitoba Woman Trailblazer by the Nellie McClung
Foundation. Source: Memorable Manitobans
(accessed 2022); Obituary online (accessed 2022) |
Margaret Wilhelmina MacRae
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3130 |
Born November 12,
1882, Scotland. Died 1962. Mary Graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital
(WGH) School of Nursing in 1911. She worked as a staff nurse at the Regina
General Hospital, Saskatchewan in 1915. In May 1917 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She was posted
to the Kitchener Military Hospital (No. 10 Canadian General Hospital),
Brighton, England. Returning to Canada she was appointed to the Winnipeg
city Bureau of Child Hygiene in 1920. In the early 1930's she
relocated to Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. working as a private nurse. She
eventually moved to Victoria British Columbia.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1911. online (accessed 2021) |
Mary
Winnifred
MacNutt -
MacRae
0070 |
née MacNutt. Born March 10. 1912, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Died
August 1990, Prince Edward Island. In 1938 she graduated from the P.E.I.
Hospital School of Nursing. As a youth she had been part of the Girl Guides
and she continued her services as an adult for over 50 years. In 1935 she
received Their Majesties Silver Jubilee Medal for her work with the Girl
Guides. In 1941 she served with the Royal Canadian Medical Corps and was
sent overseas in 1943 to work in England and Italy. While working in
Newfoundland she received the Royal Red Cross
First Class for deeds during a dynamite explosion in Lewisport. She was the
1st Canadian nurse in World War ll to be so honoured. She
also received the Italian Star for her services in that country. Returning
to civilian life she worked in the North West Territories before taking
additional nursing courses at McGill University, Montreal. In 1949 she
married Norman MacRae of P.E.I. She would continue her nursing career
through to 1969 also continuing community service with the Women’s
Institute, her church and other community projects.
Source: Outstanding women of Prince Edward Island
Compiled by the Zonta Club of Charlottetown, 1981. (2020) |
Agnes MacPherson 3886
World War 1 Nursing Sister |
Born March2, 1891, Brandon, Manitoba. Died May 30, 1918,
Doullens, France. Agnes studied nursing in Winnipeg. On May 30, 1918 she was
killed during an enemy bomb while in the operating room at No. 3 Canadian
Stationary Hospital Etaples, France. Two other nurses were killed in the
same bombing, Dorothy Mary Yardwood Baldwin (1891-1918) and Eden Lyal
Pringle (1893-1918). |
Anna Judson Rossborough Mair
0071 |
Born 1889, Moosehead, Nova Scotia. Died April 10, 1963,
Prince Edward Island. When she was a child her family moved to Prince Edward
Island where Anna grew up. She attended Prince of Wales College and became a
teacher. After several years teaching she switched careers and in 1923 she
graduated from the P.E.I. School of Nursing. She took additional courses at
the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal and in 1926 became Superintendent at
the P.E.I. Hospital. This new position allowed her to use her teaching
skills with student nurses. Later she took courses in Medical Records in
Toronto, returning, as always, to P.E.I. she retired from nursing in 1952.
She held various positions in the Registered Nurses’ Association and in 1931
established and was the first president of the Nurse’s Alumnae. She received
the King George V Medal at the Jubilee celebration in recognition of
services, loyalty and professional nursing skills.
Source: Outstanding Women of Prince Edward Island
Compiled by the Zonta Club of Charlottetown, 1981 (2020) |
Jeanne Mance
0072 |
Baptised November 12, 1606, Langres, France. Died June 18, 1673 Montreal Lower Canada.. As a young
reader she had enjoyed the
Jesuit Relations, published reports of priests in the new world and
thus she became interested in foreign missions. Jeanne joined the Société
Notre-Dame de Montréal. She sailed as the 1st
lay nurse for New France May 9, 1641
with financial support from some
wealthy patronesses and
and landed in Quebec in August. She founded
Hôtel-Dieu hospital in
Montreal in the fall of 1642 with construction taking place in1645. In 1651
Iroquois attacks on Ile de Montreal forced her to close the hospital and
take refuge in the fort. in the Winter of 1657 she was inured as the result
of a fall and lost the use of her right arm and she sailed to France in
1658.to seek help to run the hospital. While in France she recovered the use
of her arm and returned to New France within the year.
Sources: Dictionary of Canadian Biography,
Online; The Canadian Encyclopedia, Online. (2020) |
Jeanne Maranda |
SEE - Social Activists |
Dorothy Marshall
4184 |
Born March 12, 1934, Melville, Saskatchewan. Died December
17, 2019, Regina, Saskatchewan. At elementary school Dorothy
enjoyed sports including track and field, Hockey and curling. She trained as
a nurse at the Saskatoon City Hospital Student Nurse's Program graduating in
1955.She worked for a year and then using a scholarship she attended the
College of Nursing at the University of Saskatchewan earning a diploma in
Teaching and Supervision. In 1957 Dorothy married Elton Marshall and the
couple had one son who survived infancy. She taught at the Regina General
Hospital, Provident Hospital, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Nurse supervisor at
the Ottawa Civic Hospital, Admissions Nurse at the Ontario Hospital,
Kingston, Ontario, and Student Nurse Teacher, Stratford General Hospital,
Teaching Master, Humber College, Toronto and Teaching Master at Sir Sanford
Flemming College, Peterborough, Ontario. She was also a board member of the
Victoria Order of Nurses (V O N) in Peterborough and Regina, Saskatchewan..
While in Kingston, Ontario, she was a member of the Elizabeth Fry Society
visiting female inmates at the Prison for Women (P 4 W).
Source: Obituary. online (accessed 2022) |
Katherine McMillan Martin
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3371 |
Born November 26,
1891, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died 1955, Whonnock, British Columbia. Katherine
graduated in 1916 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing. By that fall she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted to the Granville,
Canadian Special hospital, Ramsgate, Canadian Convalescent Officers Hospital
Kent, and West Cliff Canadian Eye and Ear Hospital, Folkestone, England. In
France she served at No. 2 Canadian General Hospital. After the was she
returned to Canada settling in Whonnock, British Columbia.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1916. online (accessed 2021) |
Gladys Elizabeth Matheson -Crim
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3283 |
Born September 27,
1892, Onion Lake Saskatchewan. Died July 22, 1991, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Gladys Elizabeth graduated in 1917 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH)
School of Nursing. After graduation she worked at NO. 10 Manitoba Military
Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg. By November 1917 she had enlisted as
a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she
was posted to No. 14 Canadian General Hospital. Eastbourne, No. 15 Canadian
General Hospital, Taplow, England at the was transferred to France serving
at No. 3. Canadian General Hospital. After the war she married Colonel S. M.
Crim and the couple lived in several cities in the United States.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1917. online (accessed 2021) |
Jean Matheson
0073
World War 1 Nursing Matron
|
Born April 23,
1874, Clinton, Ontario. Died April 22, 1938, Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1899 she
and her family relocated to Manitoba. Jean graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in 1899. After graduation Jean did
some private nursing and worked as the Superintendent of Nurses at the
Regina General Hospital, Saskatchewan- From 1901 through 1906 she was Matron
of the Royal Island Hospital, Kamloops, British Columbia. The following year
she took a position as first Lady Superintendent of the new provincial
Tuberculosis Sanitorium in Tranquille, British Columbia. By 1912 she was
home in Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan for a short time prior to becoming
Superintendent of Nurses at the Queen Victoria Hospital Revelstoke,
British Columbia where she opened a school of nursing in 1914. On September
14, 1915 she enlisted with the Canadian Army Medical Corps and was assigned
at Matron with No. 5, Canadian General Hospital Salonika, Greece for two
years. Later she took charge of the clearing hospital, Kirkdale, Liverpool,
England. She also served at the Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross Hospital in
England. She received the Mons Medal, the Royal Red Cross Medal, the Victory
Medal and later the King George Jubilee Medal in recognition of her war time
service. Returning to Canada in 1919 she was posted as the second Matron of the
Shaughnessy Military Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia where she worked
until retirement in August 1937 when she returned to Winnipeg. In 1946 the
Jean Matheson Pavilion was built at Shaughnessy Hospital.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1899. online (accessed 2021); B C Nursing History. Jean
Matheson Memorial Pavilion. online (accessed 2021) |
Johanna 'Joan' Matheson
Pioneer
Military Nursing Sister |
Born May 20,1842,
Gairloch, Ross-shire, Scotland. Died June 11, 1916, Perth, Ontario. Joan was
born while he mother was visiting family in Scotland. She
was brought up in Perth, Upper Canada (now Ontario). In 1881 she entered
training at Bellevue Hospital Training School for nurses in New York, City,
U.S.A. After graduation she worked at New York's St Luke Hospital. In 1885
she was one of 12 nursing sisters who joined the military expedition to the
Canadian Northwest Rebellion. This was the 1st time the Canadian Military
included Nursing Sisters for service. The call went out in April 1885 by Dr.
James Bell (1852-1911), Surgeon Major in charge of Base Hospitals, for
trained nurses only. The group served under Matron Mother Sarah Hannah
Roberta Grier-Coome of the order of the Sisters of St John the Devine, An
Anglican Order of nuns out of Toronto. The group of Nursing Sisters reached
Moose Jaw on May 30, 1885. Their patients, who had been transported several
days from the scene of the battle were waiting for them. The Nursing Sisters
tended the sick and wounded for 33 days not loosing one patient. The
Rebellion ended on June 26, 1885 and the women were discharged from the
military. Joan returned to New York City to St Luke's Hospital. In 1889 she
was Head Nurse at the Bellevue Training School for Male Nurses. Joan retired
in 1891 and returned to her home in Perth. She would receive the North West
Red Cross silver medal for her services during the Northwest Rebellion.
While the Nursing Sisters term of service was short it laid the basis for
using trained female nurses in future military conflicts such as the Boer
War in South Africa. Source: Joan of the Northwest.
Online (accessed 2020) |
Ruth
Adelaide McClelland - Moody
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3293 |
née McClelland.
Born September 23, 1884, Letellier, Manitoba.
Died February 24, 1966, Morris, Manitoba. Ruth graduated in 1914 from the
Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. After graduation she
relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia and then to Skagway, Alaska, U.S.A.
In March 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted to No. 10 Canadian Stationary
Hospital, No. 14 Canadian General Hospital, Eastbourne, Granville Canadian
Special Hospital, Buxton, No 15, Canadian General Hospital, Taplow, and No,
16, Canadian General Hospital, Orpington, England. Returning to Canada at
the end of the war she married Robert Moody and the couple lived in Morris,
Manitoba.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1914.. online (accessed 2021); |
Madeleine Morgan |
SEE - Social Activists |
Janet McClung
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3274 |
Born July 29, 1885,
Ripley, Ontario. Died March 24, 1962, Vancouver, British Columbia. Janet
graduated in 1912 from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing,
Manitoba. She worked as a private nurse in Winnipeg prior to enlisting
as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian army Medical C (CAMC) in 1915. She was
posted as Assistant Matron tat the Canadian Military Training Camp Sewell
Camp, near Carberry, Manitoba. In 1916 she was discharged from the CAMC and
joined the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service serving for a
year before she once again enlisted with the CAMC. Overseas she was posted
to No. 15 Canadian General Hospital, Taplow, England. She returned to Canada
in 1919 . By 1922 she was working as a private duty nurse in Los Angeles,
California, U.S.A. Returning to Manitoba she worked on staff at St. Boniface
Hospital, Winnipeg. The following year she relocated to Vancouver, British
Columbia. Source: Health Sciences Centre
Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1912. online (accessed 2021) |
Rebecca Helen McEachen
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3407 |
Born May 7, 1889,
Drummond Township, Ontario. Died November 16, 1918, Cobourg, Ontario.
Rebecca Helen enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps in June 1918. She developed middle ear disease while on duty at the
Ontario Military Hospital, Cobourg, Ontario. She was transferred to Hotel
Dieu Hospital, Kingston for treatment. She recovered only to have a
recurrence of the problem that developed into meningitis.
Source: [Canada] A Tribute to Some Women And Men
Who Served in Armed Conflicts. online (accessed 2021) . |
Margaret Helen McGill
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3282 |
Born March 10,
1895, Minnedosa, Manitoba. Died ???? In 1913 she graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. After graduation she worked
on staff at the WGH. Travelling overseas in 1915 she enlisted with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) in France. She was posted to No. 2
Canadian General Hospital, Le Touquet and then at No. 4 Canadian Casualty
Clearing Station. After the war she worked as a private nurse for two years
in Santiago, California, U.S.A. In 1922 she relocated to Arizona, U.S.A.
where she worked in public health nursing before taking a position in
Saskatchewan with the Public Health Department. From 1925 through 1943 she
was a nurse at the Saskatchewan Normal School (Teacher's College). She would
retire to Vancouver British Columbia when she retired in 1943.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1913.. online (accessed 2021); |
Agnes Buchanan
McIntyre - Whiddon 4260 |
Born March 22, 1858*,
Edinburgh, Scotland. Died December 8, 1912, Toronto, Ontario. Agnes
immigrated to Canada in 1882 originally settling in Montreal before moving
to Toronto in the mid 1980's. For work as a nurse at the Toronto Smallpox
Hospital in 1888 she received $100.00 and a gold medal from city council.
By the 1890's she was provided a haven for girls and street children in her
home. In 1892-1893 she was superintendent of the Night Shelter for
woman and in 1895 and of the Gospel Mission Rooms in 1894. In 1897 she
was matron of the Shelter for Girls. On January 27,1898 she married Edward
Gauthier Whiddon, a widower and became step mother to his four children. At
one point just prior to her marriage she had worked as a part-time police
Matron. January 1899 she became Matron fond for 13 years and her
office was set up to accommodate her living on site at Police Court Station
No. 1. While she was tough enough to handle tough female inmates she was
also known on occasion to pay legal expenses of needy women. In March
1910 an assistant matron was hired and Agnes was transferred to police
headquarters so she could attend Police court.
*this date appears on her gravestone however Mach 22, 1863 is
listed in the 1901 census. Source D C B (accessed 2002 (2023) |
Ruth Ester McKay
World War 1 Nursing
Sister 3373 |
Born November 23,
1891, Moncton, New Brunswick. Died August 5, 1920, Albany, New York, U.S.A.
Ruth graduated in 1916 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing. By March 1917 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted to the Canadian
Convalescent Hospital, Uxbridge and then the No. 10 Canadian General
Hospital known as the Kitchener Military Hospital, Brighton, England.
Transferred to serve in France she contracted influenza. She returned to
Canada February 1919. After the war, Ruth worked as a special duty nurse at
the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal. Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1916.. online (accessed 2021); |
Mary Agnes McKenzie
3886 |
Born Toronto, Ontario. Died June 27, 1918 at sea. Mary
graduated the nursing school at the Rochester General Hospital, New York,
U.S.A. in 1903. Her name appears in the Book of Remembrance, Ottawa, the War
Memorial, Halifax and on a memorial Plaque dedicated to the Nurses who died
during World War l at Queen's Park, Toronto. |
Hattie May Mastin - McLennan
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3247 |
Born July 31, 1888,
Deseronto, Ontario. Died January 2, 1968, Oshawa, Ontario. In 1908 she and
her family relocated to Belleville, Ontario. She worked as a clerk at a
local store. By 1915 she had graduated from the Nursing School, Belleville
and January 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC). She first served at the military hospital in
Belleville and then overseas was posted at teh No. 7 Canadian General
Hospital, Le Treport, France. She was admitted to a convalescent home in the
fall of 1916 suffering from pleurodynia. She returned to service in England.
Back home in Belleville she worked as a private nurse and then at St. Mary's
Hospital, Rochester, Minnesota, U.S.A. Returning to private nursing she
lived California. She became a widow with the death of her husband Bruce
Gould in 1945 and in 1953 she married a second time to Byrne McLennan.
Source: Nurses of World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed
2021) |
Elizabeth Josephine McLoughlin
World War 1 Nursing
Sister 3397 |
Died April 4, 1927, Montreal, Quebec. Elizabeth serves during World War 1 as
a Nursing Sister with the Queen Alexandra Imperial Nursing Service and
served overseas. [Canada] A Tribute to Some
Woman and Men who Served in Armed Conflict: online. (accessed 2021). |
Minnie
Pearl
McBride - Neelin
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3248 |
Born February 18,
1891, Selby Ontario. Died September 12, 1985, Belleville, Ontario. Minnie
Pearl moved to Humboldt, Saskatchewan in 1907. In 1914 she returned to
Ontario to graduated from the Nursing School, Belleville, in 1914. May 5,
1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC). She was posted to Canadian military hospitals in Etaples and
Etretat, France. She became disabled and invalided to England in September
1915. In early 1916 she returned to Canada. She married Frederick Neelin
(died 1937)October 1, 1916. The couple settled in Toronto. Minnie Pearl
retired from nursing and relocated back to Belleville.
Source: Nurses of
World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Jessie Mabel McDiarmid
World War 1 Nursing
Sister died at sea
3344 |
Born August 14,
1880, Aston, Ontario. Jessie enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps (CAMC) on September 16, 1915 in London, England. She had
served at No. 5 Canadian General Hospital, England prior to enlisting. She
was posted to the Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross Hospital, Taplow and was
then sent to Salonika, Greece. She was then posted to No. 4 Canadian
General Hospital, Basingstoke, England in 1917 and then to No. 5 Canadian
General Hospital, Liverpool England. On June 5, 1918 she was posted to the H
M C S Llandovery Castle. On June 27, 1918 she was aboard the Canadian
Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle sailing from Halifax to Liverpool, England.
The hospital ship was torpedoed an enemy U-boat (submarine) 46 and only 24
people of the 234 souls on board survived. 14
Canadian Nursing Sisters lost their lives. The U-Boat captain felt that even
though the ship was well marked as a hospital ship that it carried munitions
for the British. When there was no great explosion of munitions from the
ship the captain of the U-Boat ordered he crew to fire on people in life
boats in order to kill survivors in an attempt to cover his sinking of the
ship. It was against wartime convention to fire on an hospital ship.
It was the deadliest Canadian naval disaster of the First World War.
In 2018 composer Stephanie Martin and playwright Paul Ciufo commemorated the
nurses in an opera. |
Bertha
Evelyn McDonald
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3401 |
Born March 3, 1895,
Alexandria, Ontario. Died December 16, 1973, Ottawa, Ontario. For a
month in the spring of 1918 she was in hospital at Laurentide Sanatorium ,
Sainte Agathe, Quebec. September 18, 1918 she enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps in Montreal. Declared
medically unfit in January 1919 she was hospitalized in April 1919 with
influenza at Montreal General Hospital. She was then at Sainte Anne de
Bellevue Hospital until June and was demobilized in July 1919.
Source: [Canada} A Tribute to Some Women and Men Who Have
Served in Armed Conflict. online (accessed 2021) |
Agnes A. McDougall
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3438 |
Born October 8,1872
Westminster Township, Ontario. Died July 18, 1919, London Ontario. .Agnes
graduated from the Victoria Hospital Training School for Nurses, London,
Ontario. In 1916 Agnes enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she served at No. 10 Canadian Stationary
Hospital, England. Source: Great
War Project, Nursing Sisters, online (accessed 2021). |
Margaret Campbell McGilivray
World War 1 Nursing
Sister
3117 |
Born June 26, 1878,
Glasgow, Scotland. Died May 29, 1947, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Margaret came to
Canada with her family in 1886. She graduated from the Winnipeg General
Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in 1910. Her first post was as Lady
Superintendent of the Tranquille Sanatorium, Kamloops, British Columbia. In
1912 she returned to Winnipeg working as a private nurse for several years.
In 1916 she joined the staff at King George Hospital, Winnipeg. Shortly
after she worked with the Public Health Unit on the prevention of
tuberculosis. In March 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted to No. 8
Canadian Stationary Hospital, Hastings, and No. 12 Canadian General
Hospital, Bramshott in England. Back home in 1919 she worked as a staff
nurse and supervisor of Military Wards at the WGH. She became
Night Superintendent in 1923 and remained in this position until her
retirement in 1939. In 1936 she was awarded the King' Jubilee Medal.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1910. online (accessed 2021) |
Elizabeth
Muriel
McGregor - Baker
World War 1 Nursing
Sister 3324 |
née
McGregor. Born November 12, 1887, Waterdown,
Ontario. Died November 23, 1987, Hamilton, Ontario. She trained as a nurse
in Canada and then went to New York City in August 1912 to do additional
studies at Roosevelt Hospital, New York, U.S.A. On March 31,
1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC). She is known to have served overseas. After the war she returned to
Canada and on June 9, 1923 she married Orrin Hugh Baker in Waterdown. Source: Flamborough
Archives and Heritage Society. Flamborough Nursing Sisters. online (accessed
2021) |
Lillian McGregor
Aboriginal Nurse & Activist |
SEE - Social Activists |
Evelyn Verrall McKay
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3398 |
Born November 24,
1892, Galt, Ontario. Died November 4, 1918, Boulogne, France. Evelyn
graduated from the Grace Memorial Hospital Training for Nurses, Toronto. She
served for a year at the Toronto Base Hospital on Gerrard St. Evelyn
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) in
November 1916 in London, Ontario. She was posted to Exhibition Camp
Hospital, Toronto , probability for final training, before going overseas.
Overseas she arrived in London, England in December 1916 and by August 1917
she was posted to No. 3 Canadian General Hospital, Boulogne, France. She
became dangerously ill October 30, 1918 and was admitted to hospital. She
died of Bronchopneumonia. She is the only Nursing Sister to appear on the
Galt, Ontario War Memorial. * birth date
sometimes reported as September. Source: [Canada] A Tribute to Some Woman
and Men who Served in Armed Conflict: online. (accessed 2021); Canada Great
War Project, Nursing Sisters online 9accessed 2021) . |
Agnes McKeague
World War 1 Nursing
Sister 3389 |
Born November 11,
1886, Ireland. Died August 13, 1964, Santa Monica, California, U.S.A.
Agnes graduated in 1917 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing. By April 1918 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted to No. 15
Canadian General Hospital, Taplow, No. 5 Canadian General Hospital,
Liverpool and No. 16 Canadian General Hospital, Orpington, England.
She returned to Canada in September 1919. She relocated to California,
U.S.A. where she work at the Angeles Hospital in Los Angeles.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1917. online (accessed 2021); |
Mary
Agnes
McKenzie
World War 1 Nursing Sister died at sea
3345 |
Born April 28,
1880*, Toronto, Ontario. Mary was a graduate in May of 1903 of the Rochester
City Hospital Training School for Nurses, New York, U.S.A. She returned to
work in Toronto and later worked at the Military Hospital, Halifax,
Nova Scotia. She enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps (CAMC) and was posted overseas at the Ontario Hospital , Orpington,
and the Canadian war hospital, Kent, England. On June 27, 1918 she was
aboard the Canadian Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle sailing from Halifax to
Liverpool, England. The hospital ship was torpedoed an enemy U-boat
(submarine) 46 and only 24 people of the 234 souls on board survived. 14
Canadian Nursing Sisters lost their lives. The U-Boat captain felt that even
though the ship was well marked as a hospital ship that it carried munitions
for the British. When there was no great explosion of munitions from the
ship the captain of the U-Boat ordered he crew to fire on people in life
boats in order to kill survivors in an attempt to cover his sinking of the
ship. It was against wartime convention to fire on an hospital ship.
It was the deadliest Canadian naval disaster of the First World War.
In 2018 composer Stephanie Martin and playwright Paul Ciufo commemorated the
nurses in an opera. Source: Illuminated
History, Shining a Light on the Shadows of the Past, Mary Agnes McKenzie,
Lost on the Llandovery Castle. online (accessed 2021) * some record indicate
1877 |
Isabel McKinnon
World War 1 Nursing
Sister
3131 |
Born August
24, 1882, Inverness, Quebec. Died 1961, Victoria, British Columbia. Isabel
graduated in 1911 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing. She worked for several years in Calgary, Alberta, Winnipeg,
and Vancouver, British Columbia as a private nurse. In 1915 she was on staff
at the Firland Sanitorium, Washington, U.S.A. In July 1917 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she
served in England at No. 10 Canadian General Hospital, Brighton and No. 16
Canadian General Hospital, Orpington. She returned in the spring of 1919 to
Canada. By 1922 she worked on staff at the Seattle State County
Hospital Health Department before returning to Canada to settle in Dauphin,
Manitoba.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1911. online (accessed 2021) |
Rena Maude
McLean
0075
World War 1 Nursing Sister died at sea |
Born June 14,
1879, Souris, Prince Edward Island. Died June 27, 1918, at sea. Rena was
mainly known by her nickname 'Bird" She studied at Mount Allison Ladies
College, Sackville, New Brunswick and then at Halifax Ladies College in
Nova Scotia. Wanting to study nursing she attended Newport Hospital,
Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.A. where she completed her training in 19008. She
worked as Head Nurse at the Henry Heywood Memorial Hospital, Gardner,
Massauchetts, U.S.A. With the on slot of World War l she enlisted and was
appointed to the Canadian Army Corps in the fall of 1914. She served in
France converting a luxurious hotel into a field hospital. Later she
served at the Duchess of Connaught's Canadian Red Cross Hospital, Taplow,
England. She also served a year at the No 1 Canadian Stationary Hospital in
Greece. She was serving on the ship the Llandovery Castle returning wounded
to Halifax when the vessel was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of Ireland
June 27, 1918. Plaques in her memory were erected at St James United Church,
Souris, P.E.I, at Mount Allison Memorial Library, and in the X-ray
laboratory at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Charlottetown, P.E.I. A veterans
hospital in Charlottetown was named in her honour but was closed within a
couple of years. Source D C B (2020) |
Caroline
Beull McLenaghan
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3353 |
Born November 29,
1880, Perth, Ontario. Died ???? Caroline was a member of the local militia.
She enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC)
in 1916 in Kingston, Ontario. Overseas she was posted to Moore Barracks
Hospital, to the Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross Hospital, Faflow,
and the Kitchener War Hospital, Brighton, England. In France she England.
She also served in France but suffered Gastro Enteritis (vomiting) and was
sent back to England. She returned to duty at No. 2 Canadian Stationary
Hospital, No. 4 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station, No. 11 Canadian General
Hospital. Source: Beckwith Heroes, Officers of
Beckwith Township. online (accessed 2021) |
Clara McLeod
0079
World War 1 Nursing Sister |
Born February 2,
1875, Belfast, Ireland. Died August 20, 1954, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Clara graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing,
Manitoba in 1899. In May 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted to No. 5
Canadian Stationary Hospital, Le Treport, France and the Kitchener Military
Hospital, Brighton, England. She returned to Canada April 1919. After the
war she worked as a private nurse in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1899. online (accessed 2021) |
Elizabeth Jennet Wyllie
McMaster
0076 |
née Wyllie.
Born December 27, 1847, Toronto, Canada West (now Ontario). Died March 3, 1903, Chicago,
Illinois. Elizabeth married June 1, 1865 Samuel Fenton McMaster a wealthy
businessman. The couple had four children. She cared for the poor and
December 10, 1874 she established a fund to set up a children's hospital in
Toronto. The Hospital for Sick Children opened March 23, 1875 in a rented
house with eleven rooms. I was the 1st hospital of its kind in Canada. $$
child patients were cared for in the 1st year of operation. Until 1891
Elizabeth served various positions on the hospital's female management
committee. In 1886 she helped found the Training School for Nurses. She even
took a nursing course herself so that she would be better qualified in
management. After the death of her husband in the fall of 1888 she studied
at the Illinois Training School for Nurses graduating in
1891. Back in Toronto she became the 1st
superintendent of the Hospital for Sick Children.
She gave a course to untrained women of the Young Women's
Christian Guild which is considered the 1st First Aid course given in
Toronto. After the opening of the new Hospital building on May 6, 1892
Elizabeth left Toronto to live in the U.S.A. She is credited with founding
the Hospital of the Good Samaritan in Los Angeles, California and a
children's home in Schenectady, New York, U.S.A.
Sources D C B; Sick Kid's Online. (2021) |
Olive Ethelwyn McMillan -Butler
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3283 |
née McMillan.
Born Jun 22, 1891, Minnedosa, Manitoba. Died ???? In 1913 Olive graduated
from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. She went on to
do post graduated studies at the Neurologic Institute, New York, U.S.A. in
1917. Returning to Winnipeg in 1918 joined the staff of the No. 10 Manitoba
Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg and enlisted as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Military Corps (CAMC). By July 1918 she was
serving overseas at the No. 15 Canadian General Hospital , the Duchess of
Connaught's Red Cross Hospital, England. After the war she returned to
the hospital at Tuxedo Park. She later married R. F. Butler and the
couple settled in California, U.S.A.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1913.. online (accessed 2021); |
Beatrice McNair
World War 1 Nursing Sister
|
Born September 9,
1887, Crawbrook, Ontario. Died ???? In 1911 Beatrice graduated from
the Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) School of Nursing, British Columbia.
She enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC)
in 1917. During an enemy air raid at Etaples, France May 19, 1918, she
carried on her duties throughout the night without interruptions unmindful
of person safety . She was the first of only a few Canadian Nursing Sisters
rewarded with the Military Medal for Bravery. In 1943, during World War ll,
she became the first Matron of Hycroft Hospital 1950. In 2018
the University Women's Club of Vancouver commemorated her at the 75th
anniversary of the opening of Hycroft Hospital, Vancouver. Hycroft Veterans
Hospital is now owned by the University Women's Club and us used for special
gatherings. It is said to be haunted by several forms including a woman in a
nurse's uniform who is thought to be Beatrice. These spirits open and close
doors and cause lights to flicker.
Sources: Great War Project, Nursing Sisters online (accessed 2021); Ghosts
of Vancouver, online, (accessed 2021) |
Elizabeth McPhail-Steele |
SEE - Physicians - Elizabeth Steele |
Harriet
Tremaine Meiklejohn
World War 1 Nursing Sister
0079 |
Born April 1, 1876, Quebec City, Quebec. Died April 9, 1952,
Toronto, Ontario. In 1906 she graduated in nursing from the Presbyterian
Hospital, New York, U.S.A. She worked as superintendent of Nurses in
Montclair, New Jersey, U.S.A. During World War 1, when she was 40 years old,
she traveled to England and on October 16, 1916 she enlisted in the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) as a Nursing Sister. On June 3, 1919, she was
awarded the Royal Red Cross for her distinguished services for showing
special devotion in performing her duties. After the war she returned home
to Canada where she took a course in Public Health at the University of
Toronto. Relocating to St. John, New Brunswick she established the health
centre, public clinics and a branch of the Victorian Order of Nurses. In
1925 she was Superintendent of Nursing at St. Catherines General Hospital in
Ontario. In 1927 she took a position as Superintendent at Women’s College
Hospital in Toronto, a position she retained until retirement in 1943. The
Canadian Nurses Association established an annual scholarship in her memory.
Source: Women’s College Hospital online (Accessed March 2014)
; Canadian Nurses Association Memorial Book, Online (Accessed March 2014)
(2021) |
Helen Bodington
Meiklejohn
World War 1 Nursing Sister |
Helen graduated
from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing, Manitoba, in
1899. The WGH School of nursing Alumnae Honour Role lists Helen as a World
War 1 Nursing Sister but she did not serve with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps. Source: Health Sciences Centre
Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1899. online (accessed 2021) |
Jane Megarry
3562
Medical Missionary |
Born 1881, Ireland. Died 1958, Victoria, British Columbia In
1901 she immigrated to Canada serving as a nurse and missionary to
Aboriginal communities in the Lethbridge region of Alberta. She worked
at first at St. Paul's School on the Blackfoot Reserve Hospital in Gleichen
from 1914 through 1937. The hospital was aligned with the Anglican
residential school program. She worked to learn the Blackfoot language to
best serve the peoples on the reserve. She continued medical learning at the
Sir Alexander Galt Hospital in Lethbridge and at the Royal Jubilee Hospital
in Victoria, British Columbia. During the summer months she taught first aid
at a camp in Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta. She became an
honourary member of the Blackfoot tribe and given the name On-ataki which
means Good Woman. She also received the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. The
Jane Megarry Chapter of the Lethbridge I O D E is named in her honour. The
city of Lethbridge names a street in her honour.
Source: Legacy of Lethbridge Women, Lethbridge Historical Society,
2005; |
Henrietta 'Hetty' Mellett
World War 1 Nursing Sister
|
Born October 21, 1883, Galway, Ireland. Died October 10,
1918, at sea. Henrietta would immigrate to Canada to join her sister in
London, Ontario. She graduated from London's Victoria Hospital Nursing
School in 1912 and worked as an assistant matron in Nanaimo, British
Columbia and Weyburn, Saskatchewan. She served with the Red Cross in
France, Egypt, and England. On November 13, 1917 Henrietta enlisted with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (C A M C) as a Nursing Sister. She served
with the 15th Canadian Field Hospital, Taplow, England. In 1918 she
was granted a two week leave to visit relatives in Ireland. On October 10,
1918 she was drowned when the Royal Mail Steamer Leinster was sunk by the
enemy. 500 passengers were lost on the ship when it was sunk by U Boat 123
in the Irish Sea. She is bur in Mount Jerome Cemetery,
Dublin, Ireland. She is commemorated on Canadian war memorials and on a
commemorative Plaque at Victoria Hospital Nursing School.
Source: Library and Archives Canada (accessed 2021); Nursing Sister
Henrietta Mellett Community Stories. Digital Museums Canada online (accessed
2021) |
Elizabeth Matilda Melvin -Symondson
World War 1 Nursing
Sister 3374 |
née Melvin. Born
November 23, 1890, Teeswater, Ontario. Died August 30, 1967, St. Catherines,
Ontario. In 1916 Elizabeth graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital
(WGH) School of Nursing and joined the staff of No. 10 Manitoba Military
Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg, Manitoba. By June 1917 she had enlisted as
a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas
she was posted to No. 9 Canadian General Hospital, Shorncliffe, Granville
Canadian Special Hospital, Buxton and No. 16 Canadian General Hospital,
Orpington, all in England. After the war she worked as a special duty nurse
in Dauphin, Manitoba before returning to Winnipeg to work in public health
nursing. She later relocated to St. Catherines, Ontario with her
husband Sydney Symondson.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1916.. online (accessed 2021); |
Jessie Annie
Middleton
0080 |
née Lee. Born December 12, 1916, Murrayville, British
Columbia. Died May 22, 2019, British Columbia Jessie studied nursing at the Royal Columbian Hospital in New
Westminster, British Columbia. After three years she graduated in September
1939 at the age of 22. She wanted to join the army to serve in the war but
women could not join until they were 25 years old so she worked at the
Vancouver General Hospital. She enlisted in 1942 as a Lieutenant in the
Royal Canadian Army Nursing Corps. She 1st
served at a military hospital in Prince Rupert, British Columbia and was
sent overseas in March 1943 serving near London, England. In July 1944 she
sailed to serve in Italy in field hospitals. By D-Day June 6, 1944 she was
assigned to Nijmegen, Holland right on the front lines. Back in Canada after
the war she attended nursing courses at McGill University. On December 26,
1947 she married Frederick Turner Middleton of British Columbia. The
couple would have 2 children settling in Abbottsford, British Columbia. In
July 2012 she was presented with the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal
for service to her country. Source: Eleanor Florence.
Nursing Sisters Healed the Wounds of War. June 17, 2015 on Blog:
Wartime Wednesdays (accessed June 2015); Obituary, The Abbotsford News
May 22, 2019. (2020) |
Nonie
Winnifred
Milburn
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3249 |
Born September 7,
1873, Belleville, Ontario. Died February 20, 1963, Belleville, Ontario.
Nonie graduated from the Dr. John Lee Private Hospital School of Nursing,
Rochester, New York, U.S.A. in 1909. After graduation she was on staff at
the Dr. Lee hospital. On February 19, 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she served in England
at Westenhanger, Brighton, Buxton and Shorncliffe. She also served at St.
Claud, France. She was treated for influenza at Kinmel Park Medical
Hospital, England. Discharged in Canada in July 1919 she worked at the
Belleville Hospital. Source: Nurses of
World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Naomi Miller |
SEE - Academics - Historians |
Alice Muriel
Mills
3487
World War 1 Nursing Sister & Influenza Volunteer |
Born April 6, 1888,
Truro, Nova Scotia. Died ???? Alice was a graduated of the Victoria General
Hispital School of Nursing, Halifax, Nova Scotia. She enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) on February 4, 1915. It
is known that she served at a Canadian General Hospital in France. In 1918
Boston, Massauchetts, U.S.A. was one of the hardest hit cities in America
during the influenza pandemic. Boston had helped the ity of Halifax, Nova
Scotia after the December 6, 1917 explosion by sending medical help to the
city. In 1918, when Boston was suffering nurses from Nova Scotia volunteered
to return the favour of help to Boston. Alice was one of the nurses who
volunteered to tend the influenza situation in Boston. Back in Truro she
continued to care for influenza patients. (2021) |
Annie Fisher Mitchell
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3294 |
Born November 19, 1890, Dalhousie, New Brunswick. Died September 8, 1949,
Winnipeg, Manitoba. Annie graduated in 1914 from the Winnipeg General
Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. In June 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Overseas she served at No. 2
Canadian General Hospital, England, No. 4 Canadian Casualty Clearing
Station, France. After the war she returned to Canada working on staff at
the WGH and later with the Psychopathic Hospital. In 1923 she became Lady
Superintendent of the Brandon Mental Hospital. In 1927 she left her position
and took up private duty nursing in Winnipeg. Source: Health Sciences Centre
Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital Class of 1912. online (accessed 2021) |
Katherine
'Kate' Montgomery-McKay
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3330 |
Born August 4,
1889, Prince Albert Saskatchewan. Died March 11, 1955, British Columbia.
Kate graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing,
Manitoba, in 1918. By October that year she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She was posted to the N0. 10
Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg. After the war she married
Sinclair McKay and the couple settled in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1918. online (accessed 2021) |
Marjorie
Beatrice Moberly
World War 1 Nursing Sister
|
Born 1895, Totnes
District, England. Died October 26, 1918 Coquitlam, British Columbia.
Marjorie Beatrice was a graduated of the Royal Jubilee Hospital School of
Nursing, Vernon, British Columbia. She enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She died at the Coquitlam Military
Hospital of Influenza. She was the first military nurse to died from the
influenza epidemic. Sadly even though she was a member of the military as
the time of her death she is not commemorated as a casualty of war on the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission nor the Canadian Book of Remembrance. Her
name can be found in the 23rd Infantry Brigade Canadian Army official
documents. Source: [Canada] A Tribute to
Some Women And Men Who Served in Armed Conflicts. online (accessed 2021)
|
Charlotte Edith
Anderson Monture
0081
Aboriginal Nurse in
World War 1 |
née Anderson. Born April 10, 1890, Six Nations Reserve (near
Brantford), Ontario. Died April 3, 1996, Ohseweken, Ontario. At high school
Edith was described as a 'gifted student' After she graduated high school
Edith want to pursue studies in nursing but at that time in Canada the
Indian Act did not allow aboriginals to attend post high school education.
Edith went on to graduate 1st in her class from the New Rochelle Nursing
School in New York State, U.S.A. In 1914 she became the 1st Indigenous
Canadian woman to be a registered nurse. She worked in New York State until
the United states entered World War l and then she volunteered for the
United States Army Nursing Corps and served in France often working
grueling
14 hour shifts. She was one of fourteen Native Canadian women to serve as a
nurse during World War l. With the Canadian Military Service Act of 1917
Edith became the 1st status Indian and registered Band member to earn the
right to vote in Canadian Federal elections. Returning to Canada after the
war she married Clayban Monture in 1919 and the couple had four surviving
children. In 1939 she was elected honourary President of the Ohseweken Red
Cross. She worked as a nurse and midwife on her reserve until retirement in
1955. Edith Monture Avenue in Brantford, Ontario in named in her honour.
(2020) |
Edith Lena Moore
4005
World War 1 Nursing Sister
|
Born 1891, Tosoronito, Ontario. Died Toronto, Ontario? Edna
trained as a nurse at the Toronto General Hospital School of Nursing. In
October 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Medical Army
Corps (C A M C) She was assigned to No. 1 Canadian General Hospital in
France and then No. 4 Canadian General Hospital, Salonika, Greece. In 1919
as the war efforts wound down due to the peace she was in hospital herself
with the flu. She was hame by July 1919. She went to New York to earn a
certificate in Public Health Nursing. By 1931 she was working with the
Ontario Department of Health. By 1944 she was the Director of Public Health
Nursing in Ontario. She retired in 1957. (2022) |
Lillias
Adelaide
Morden -Cavanah
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3325 |
née Morden. Born September 20, 1890, West
Flamborough, Ontario. Died February 11, 1976, Flamborough, Ontario. Lillias
trained at the Hamilton General Hospital School of Nursing, Ontario. Prior
to enlisting as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC)
in July 1916 she had worked fro two years at the Toronto Base Hospital. She
served overseas in Europe until the end of the War. She returned home at the
end of the war and on January 20, 1927 she married Brigadier Ormond O.
V. Cavanah in Peterborough, Ontario. After the death of her husband in 1933
she returned to Flamborough. Source: Flamborough
Archives and Heritage Society. Flamborough Nursing Sisters. online (accessed
2021) |
Martha Morkin
World War 1 Nursing Sister
0082 |
Born January 7, 1886, Middlesex County, Ontario. Died 1975,
California, U.S.A. Martha studies at the Saint Boniface Training school for
Nurses in 1906. In 1915. With World War l raging on the European front she
joined the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) as a Nursing Sister and was posted to a Canadian
Casualty Station No. 3 near the front lines in Boulogne. The Station had 800
beds and was extremely busy. She watched her first patient die a
horrible death from the effects of gas and she never forgot it. Another time,
serving in the operating room, the surgeon was shot dead as he operated and
she had to finish the operation. After the War she worked with refugees and
Canadian soldiers. At home in Canada once again she became restless and
relocated north to Dawson City to set up the first hospital in the
Yukon Territory. She later worked at various executive positions for several
tuberculosis societies in Canada and in the United States. She did not
retire until she was 79 years old when she entered a retirement home in
California. Susan Taylor Meehan penned an novel based on Martha’s life
entitled Maggie’s Choice.
Sources: Canada’s Great War Album. Canada’s
History. Online (accessed July 2015); Library and Archives Canada LAC R G 150
Accession 1992-3/166 Box 6376-75. (2021) |
Jessie Anne Morrice
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3250 |
Born September 24,
1870, Belleville, Ontario. Died June 18, 1949, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Jessie studied nursing at the Toledo Ohio General Hospital, U.S.A. in
1905.She worked as head nurse in Bernie, British Columbia and by 1911 was
Lady Superintendent in Melville, Saskatchewan. June 3, 1915 she enlisted as
a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corp (CAMC). Overseas she
was posted at No. 2 Canadian General Hospital, Le Treport, France and later
at the Canadian Military hospitals in Bearwood, Taplow, Shorncliffe and
Brighton, England. In March 1917 she was in hospital herself with influenza.
After the war she was a specialist in treatment of Tuberculosis and served
as Matron at the British Columbia Sanatorium, Tranquille in 1920. By 1923
she was Superintendent of Nurses at Chilliwack General Hospital. She retired
to Vancouver, British Columbia. Source: Nurses of
World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Isabel Mortimer - Green
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3375 |
née Mortimer.
Born June 9, 1888, Toronto, Ontario. Died 1974, California,
U.S.A. In 1916 Isabel graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH)
School of Nursing. By March 1917 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with
the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted to NO. 9
Canadian Stationary Hospital and No. 12 Canadian General Hospital,
Bramshott, England. In France she was posted to France but became hill and
had to be admitted to No. 3 Canadian General Hospital, Le Treport. Returning
home to Canada she worked at Dr. Galloway's private hospital, Winnipeg and
then in 1921 joined the staff of King George Hospital, Winnipeg. By 1929 she
was on staff at Cowdray Sanatorium, Mexico. In 1930 she became Lady
Superintendent of the Fort Qu'Appelle Sanatorium in Saskatchewan. She
married George Green and the couple settled in California, U.S.A. Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1916.. online (accessed 2021); |
Emma Murton
World War 1 Nursing Sister
0083 |
Born April 15,
1878, Guelph, Ontario. Died December 13, 1960, Manitoba. Emma graduated from
the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing, Manitoba, in 1899.
June 3, 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corp (CAMC) in Montreal, Quebec. Overseas she served on the war front at NO.
1 Canadian General Hospital, Le Treport, France. In April 1916 she had to be
admitted to a Paris convalescent home recovering from exhaustion and a
nervous breakdown. Having recovered by April 1916 she was posted to the
Moore Barracks, Shorncliffe , and Granville Canadian Special Hospital in
England. Emma returned to Canada in the spring of 1919. After the war
she settled in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1899. online (accessed 2021) |
Helen Kathleen Mussallem
0084
|
Born Januar y 7, 1915, Prince Rupert,
British Columbia. Died November 9, 2012, Ottawa, Ontario. Helen graduated
from the School of Nursing, Vancouver General Hospital in 1937. She served
as a Lieutenant nursing officer with the Royal Canadian
Army Medical Corps during World War ll. Her post war career began at the
Vancouver Hospital and would take her on some 30 international assignments
with the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations and the
International Council of Nurses. She was also executive Director of
the Canadian Nurse's Association and president of the Victoria Order of
Nurses. She is author of numerous major publications relating to nursing and
health and the library at the Canadian Nurse's Association is named in her
honour. In 1969 she received the Order of Canada and in 1981 she received
one of the highest awards of the International Red Cross, the Florence
Nightingale Award. At that time she was referred to a "Canada's most
distinguished nurse in her time and generation."
(2019)
Canadian Encyclopedia online; Dr. Helen K. Mussallem Biography Project
online. (2020) |
Olga Myers - Finlay
3834
World War 1 Nursing Sister |
Born January 1, 1889, Victoria, Prince Edward Island. Died
???? Olga graduated from the Prince Edward Island Hospital of Nursing.
During the first World war she went to England and served with the Queen
Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service at t Queen Mary's Hospital in
London. On October 11, 1917 she enlisted in England as a Nursing Sister with
the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CMAC). Not much is known about Olga's life
after 1918 but it is known that she married a man named Finlay. |
Janet Hamilton
Neilson
4125 |
Born 1873, Toronto, Ontario. Died 1953, Toronto, Ontario.
Trained as a nurse, probably in Toronto, Janet was a trailblazer who took
care of tuberculosis patients. She also was a visiting home nurse in her
homme area in Toronto called Cabbagetown. The Neilson family home, build by
her father Hugh Neilson has a Cabbagetown Historic designation.
Source: Cabbagetown People. online (accessed 2022) . |
Louise Newcombe
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3126
|
Born February 5,
1882, Deloraine, Manitoba. Died March 17, 1972, Vacaville, California,
U.S.A. Louise graduated in 1911 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH)
School of Nursing, She became involved with anti-tuberculosis work in
Winnipeg after her graduation. By 1914 she was on staff at the WGH. In
1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC). Overseas she served at No. 10 Canadian General Hospital known as
the Kitchener Military Hospital, Brighton, England. From England she was
posted to No. 2 Canadian Stationary Hospital, Le Touquet, France. Returning
to Canada she worked at the Dauphin Hospital, Manitoba for the summer of
1919. In 1920 she took a post-graduate course in the Supervision of
Hospitals and Training Schools at Columbia University, New York City,
U.S.A. after which she worked as an instructor of nurses at the Vancouver
General Hospital, British Columbia. By 1922 she was working on staff at
Miller Memorial Hospital, St. Paul. Minnesota, U.S.A. where she became Lady
Superintendent. Later she was hired as Director of Nursing at St. Luke's
Hospital, Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.A. where she worked until her retirement in
1941. In retirement she lived in Vacaville, California, U.S.A.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1911. online (accessed 2021) |
Mary Newton
0085 |
Born 1860, England. Died Alberta. Mary arrived from England
in 1886 to live with her Anglican Missionary Brother William. Mary had her
nursing training through St John’s House which was affiliated with the
Anglican Church of England. Her training predated the formal education that
was established by Florence Nightingale. In fact St John’s House provided 6
nursing sisters for Nightingale when she left to serve in the Crimean War.
Mary had been a professor at Queen Charlotte’s Maternity Hospital in London,
prior to immigrating. She arrived at Hermitage, near Edmonton in the summer
of
1886, is considered the 1st
lay nurse in Edmonton. She had
suffered ill health in England and she came to Hermitage to recuperate at
her brother's mission. There was already a small log hospital there and Mary
recovered her health and went quickly to work. In 1891, she put an
advertisement in the paper saying that she would do nursing and midwifery in
private homes--for ten dollars a week. She is also credited with introducing
lilacs to Alberta.
Source; Kay Saunderson, 200 Remarkable Alberta Women,
(Famous Five Foundation, 1999); (2020) |
Margaret Neylan
3437 |
née Prowse. Born 1924, Brandon Hills, Manitoba.
Died 2005. Margaret began her caree in Brandon, Manitoba and included work
in Montreal, Quebec, White Plains, New York, U.S.A. and Vancouver, British
Columbia. She married Craig Neylan and the couple had three children
together. She pioneered the development of numerous nursing programs. She
served as president of the Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia
in 1971-73 and again in 1989-91. She served as Vice president of the
Canadian Nurses Association from 1992-94. When she retired she worked to
improve care for seniors. Source: B C Nursing History
Group, Nursing Dolls online (accessed 2021) |
Elizabeth W. Odell
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3356 |
Born June 29, 1888,
Sherbrooke, Quebec. Died August 3, 1971, Quebec. In 1909 Elizabeth
earned a Bachelor's degree from University of Bishop's College, Lennoxville,
Quebec. She went on to teach at Westbourne School, Toronto. By
1915 she had graduated top of her class from the Montreal General Hospital
(MGH) School of Nursing, Québec. In 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She served a year in Canada prior to
going overseas to serve for three years. She continued her
studies at the School for Graduate Nurses completing her studies in
1923. Elizabeth retired in December 1951 as Director of School of Nursing,
Evanston, Alberta. Sources: Canada Great War Project,
Nursing Sisters, online (accessed 2021); Montreal General Hospital School of
Nursing World War 1, online (accessed 2021; Bishop's University , Bishop's
Fighting Women, Nursing in the First World War, online (accessed 2021`)
|
Alice Theodora
'Dora' Oliver
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3295 |
Born June 22, 1888,
Manitoba. Died November 14, 1986, Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1914 she
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. In May
1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC). Overseas she served at Granville Canadian Special Hospital, the
Canadian Military Hospital Basingstoke and Kirkdale, No. 11 Canadian General
Hospital, Moore Barracks, England and No. 14 Canadian General Hospital,
France. After the war she worked as a private nurse in Victoria, British
Columbia and then on staff at Shaughnessy Hospital and later as Matron at
Hycroft Veterans Hospital in British Columbia. She retired in 1953.
source:
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital Class of 1912. online (accessed 2021) |
Jessie Oliver |
See - Religeous leaders |
Katherine May
Oliver
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3390 |
Born October 5, 1895, Carberry, Manitoba. Died ???? Katherine graduated in
1917 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. By February
1918 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted to No. 11 Canadian General Hospital,
Moore Barracks and No. 14 Canadian General, Eastbourne, England. After the
war she relocated to Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. where she worked as a public
health nurse. Later she moved to California, U.S.A.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1917. online (accessed 2021); |
Dorothea Palmer
0086 |
née Fergusson. Born 1908, England. Died 1992. Dorothea
trained as a nurse in a British hospital. In Canada she was employed by the
Parents’ Information Bureau, Organized by A. R. Kaufman in Kitchener,
Ontario. On September 14, 1936 she was arrested and charged with
distributing birth control literature in Eastview, (now Vanier), Ontario.
The Kaufman Rubber Co. paid $25,000.00 for her year long defense in the
trial Rex vs Palmer, commonly known as The Eastview Birth Control Trial.
Dorothea was acquitted on March 17, 1937 on the grounds that her actions
were entirely in the interest of the public good. The Crown launched an
appeal with the Court of Appeal for Ontario heard on June 1-2, 1937 but the
appeal was dismissed. The six-month trial, the longest in Canadian history
to that date, was extremely hard on Palmer. She was vilified by
members of the public, accosted, and her marriage suffered. After the trial,
Dorothea Palmer severed her ties to Kaufman and Parent’s Information Bureau
and faded into obscurity having been a reluctant heroine for women’s
autonomy.
Source:
Canadian Encyclopedia Online (accessed September 2015) (2020) |
Kathleen Panton 4004
World War 1 Nursing Sister |
Born June 1, 1884, Milton, Ontario. Kathleen resigned her
position as Supervisor of Probationers at the Hospital for Sick Children,
Toronto, at the Beginning of World War l (1914-1918) She enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps) as one of three nurses
who sailed in March 1915 for the Queen's Canadian Military Hospital at
Shorncliffe, Kent, England. She served at No. 2 Canadian General Hospital ,
France for two years and then was assigned to the Canadian Casualty Clearing
Station behind the Canadian Front lines in France. Kathleen was Mentioned in
Dispatches for her devotion on duty and received the Royal Red Cross second
class. She was welcomed home in 1919 by an evening reception of the local
Red Cross. Source: Great War Project online (accessed
2022; Milton Historical Society, Milton's Nursing Sisters online
(accessed 2022) |
Christina Parker
World War 1 Nursing Sister 3391 |
Born August 3,
1888, Lanchow, China. Died October 25, 1964, Cornwall, England. Christina
graduated in 1917 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing
in Manitoba. She worked as a private nurse for a short few months prior to
enlisting as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC).
Overseas she was posted to NO. 15 Canadian General Hospital, Taplow,
England. After the war she worked with the Manitoba Provincial Board
of Health. In 1921 she moved to Salmon Arm, British Columbia and later to
California, U.S.A. before finally settling in Cornwall, England.
Source: Health Science: Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1917. online
(accessed 2021); |
Ellanore Jane Parker
World War 1 Nursing
Sister & inventor
3122 |
Born October 21,
1883, Dublin, Ireland. Died October 10, 1965, Victoria, British Columbia.
After immigrating to Canada she graduated in 1910 from the Winnipeg General
Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. She enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) and by January 1915 she was serving at
no. 1 then No. 2 Canadian Stationary Hospitals near Dieppe, France. During
her stay near the frontl lines she suffered from exposure to gas and would
suffer with health problems the rest of her life. An inventor, she did
extensive work in the electronics field and designed a water cannon and a
magnetic detector, a forerunner to radar both used by the British. For her
war service she receive the British General Service Medal, the Victory Medal
and the Mons Star. After the war she lived in California, U.S.A. until
1948. She worked as an editorial writer for the Los Angeles Times and wrote
two novels based on her nursing experiences: The Land Lay Waiting and
The Flower or the land; a Tapestry of the Great War. In 1948 she
settled in Victoria, British Columbia.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1910. online
(accessed 2021) |
Emily Abalinda
Parker
World War 1 Nursing
Sister
3276 |
Born November 2,
1889, Morden, Manitoba. Died September 22, 1970, Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1913
she graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing.
She worked as a school nurse with the Winnipeg School Division. She joined
the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Service in 1916. After a year she
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) and
by October 1917 was posted to No. 10 Canadian General Hospital, Brighton,
England. Returning home to Winnipeg after the war she worked again as a
school nurse. In 1937 she was on staff at the WGH School of Nursing. She
worked with the Public Health Department as District Supervisor a position
she held until her retirement in 1959.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1913. online
(accessed 2021) |
Mona Parsons
|
SEE - Heroines
|
Emily
Susan
Patterson
3428 |
née Branscombe.
Born 1835, U.S.A.
Died 1909. Emily and her husband John Peabody Patterson lived in Port
Alberni, British Columbia where were parents of the first white child in the
area. Emily moved with her husband, and their four children to
Hastings Sawmill, Burrard Inlet, British Columbia in April 1873 and the next
year settled in Moodyville Sawmill. Although not a trained nurse she gained
a reputation as a healer. She was midwife for many and provided first aid to
white and Aboriginals alike. She is the first
known 'nurse' in the Vancouver area. Nora M. Duncan (1881-
) wrote a poem, The Heroine of Moodyville in 1936, to commemorate this
extraordinary woman. In 2004 a miniature costumed doll was
displayed by the B.C. History of Nursing, B.C. Registered Nurses
Association. Source: Nursing Dolls, B.C. History of
Nursing Group. online (accessed 2021); Emily Susan Patterson, Vancouver's
First Nurse in B.C. Historical News Summer 1993. online (accessed 2021)
|
Ethel Theodora Paynter -McKay
World War 1 Nursing
Sister
3125 |
Born October 10,
1884, Beulah, Manitoba. Died March 3,1981, Calgary Alberta. Ethel
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in
1911. She worked on staff at WGH. In 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted to No.
1 Canadian General Hospital, France. In 1917 she served at No. 4 Canadian
Casualty Clearing Station, Ramsgate, England. She returned to Winnipeg in
June 1919 and worked on staff at No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo
Park, Winnipeg. She was discharged in the early fall of 1920. She married
William Abbott McKay (1892-1957) whom she had nursed when he had been
wounded. the couple settled at first in Cessford area of Alberta and raised
a family of three children. In 1973 she moved to Calgary, Alberta.
Sources: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1911. online (accessed 2021); Find a grave Canada.
online. (accessed 2021) |
Isabel Wallace
Peeples
World War 1 Nursing
Sister
3226 |
Born December 16,
1892, West Flamborough, Ontario. Died ???? Isabel trained as a nurse
in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She joined the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military
Reserves and travelled to serve in England. On October 15, 1917 she enlisted
as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) in London,
England. She was posted to Europe until the end of the war. After the war
her family relocated to Oakland, California, U.S.A. where she worked at
first as a private nurse and then at a Sanatorium. Source: Flamborough
Archives and Heritage Society. Flamborough Nursing Sisters. online (accessed
2021) |
Evelyn
Agnes Pepper
*
0088 |
Born March 3, 1905, Ottawa, Ontario. Died April
2, 1998, Ottawa, Ontario. Evelyn studied nursing graduating from the Ottawa
Civic Hospital in 1928. She continued her studies at McGill University.
During World War ll she was a Nursing Sister with the Royal Canadian Army
Medical Corps serving in England, Italy, The Netherlands and France. She was
made a Commander of the Order of St John and she received the Florence
Nightingale Medal from the International Committee of the Red Cross. In 1996
she was made a Member of the Order of Canada.
(2020) |
Lillian Margaret Perry
|
SEE - Politicians |
Gertrude Petty -Donaldson
World War 1 Nursing
Sister 3410 |
Born August 14,
1892, Sarnia, Ontario. Died July 29, 1919. Gertrude enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps on February 2, 1916 in
Toronto. Overseas she was first posted with the Ontario Military
Hospital, England. She also served with the No. 1 Canadian General Hospital
and No. 16 Canadian General Hospital. She was permitted to resign in
December 1917, perhaps to be married to John Donaldson.
Source: [Canada] A Tribute
to Some Woman and Men who Served in Armed Conflict: online. (accessed 2021);
Canada Great War Project online (accessed 2021). |
Kathleen
Shields
Perrin -Helliwell
World War 1 Nursing
Sister
3376
|
née Perrin. Born January 21, 1894, Medicine Hat,
Alberta. Died May 17, 1980, Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1916 Kathleen
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. In the
late fall of 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps. (CAMC). In Canada she was in charge of the Military
Wards of the WGH. In April 1917 she was posted overseas at Granville
Canadian Special Hospital, Ramsgate, Canadian Officers Hospital,
Broadstairs, West Cliff Canadian Eye and Ear Hospital , Folkestone, England.
Transferred to France she served at No. 2 Canadian General Hospital, Le
Treport. After the war she returned home and married T. F. Helliwell and
worked as a private nurse in British Columbia.
Sources: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1916. online
(accessed 2021) |
Lillian Margaret Perry
3722 |
Born March 10,1900, Wales, United Kingdom. Died November
10,1990, Lethbridge, Alberta. In 1902 cmae to Lethbridge, Alberta with her
family when she was two years old. Lillian earned a nursing degree. During
World War ll she served as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical
Corps. She served on the hospital ship Letitia and at the end of the war she
accompanied prisoners of war from Canada back to England. Back in Lethbridge
she would work at the Campbell Clinic ( later Magrath Hospital) for 32
years. In 1952 she became the firs woman to be an alderman in Lethbridge.
She would served three elected terms from 1952 through 1957. She would sit
on the boards of the Galt and Lethbridge Auxiliary Hospitals and was a
founding member of the Lethbridge Branch of the Victorian Order of Nurses (V
O N). The City of Lethbridge has named a street in her honour.
Source Lethbridge Historical Society facebook page. (accessed
2022); Find a grave Canada (accessed 2022) |
Bernice Anna
Petch -Beatty
World War 1 Nursing
Sister 3377 |
Born November 30,
1894, South Dakota, U.S.A. Died June 14, 1983, St. Catharines, Ontario. In
1916 Bernice graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital WGH) School of
Nursing. By March 1917 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC), Overseas she served at No. 16 Canadian
General Hospital, known also as Ontario Military Hospital, Orpington,
England. Transferred to France she was posted to No. 8 Canadian Stationary
Hospital, No. 1 Canadian General Hospital, Etaples and No. 3 Canadian
General Hospital. She returned to Canada at the end of the war and married
war veteran Dr. James** Campbell Beatty (1891-1980) in November 1919. The
couple settled in Regina, Saskatchewan and later with their son in St
Catherines, Ontario. *sometime reported as 1893.
** sometimes reported as John. Sources: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of
Nursing Class of 1916. online (accessed 2021); Find a grave Canada. online
(accessed 2021) |
Ruby
Gordon Peterkin -McKay
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3102 |
Born September 1,
1887, Toronto, Ontario. Died August 31, 1961, Georgetown, Ontario. Ruby was
a graduate nurse who trained at the Toronto General Hospital in 1911. April
7, 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps (CAMC). She served first with the o. 5 Canadian General Hospital,
England prior to being posted with No. 4 Canadian General Hospital,
Salonika, Greece, which had been organized by the University of Toronto. War
letters and photographs sent back to her family have been preserved by the
Library and Archives Canada. Ottawa. Back home after the war she married in
1920, Dr. Hugh Alexander McKay (died 1935).
Source: Library and Archives Canada, Nursing
Sisters. online (accessed 2021); University of Ottawa, Ruby Gordon Peterkin
fonds, online. (accessed 2021) |
Phyllis Pinnock
r37
Black Nurse |
Born 1904, St. Anne,
Jamaica. Died 2002, Ottawa, Ontario. Phyllis left school in Jamaica
when she was 18 and worked as a weaver in Clermont, Jamaica. She learned in
1955 about the West Indian Domestic Workers scheme which encouraged young
Black women between the age of 18-35 to work in Canada. After a year of
working as a domestic in Canada the women were granted landed immigrant
status. Phyllis arrived in Canada in December when there was lots of snow
and it was cold. She worked for a family in Ottawa that treated her like
part of the family. They often had entertainment events to which the Prime
Minister would be invited. She met and married John Pinnock (died 1994) and
the couple had five children. After two years she left domestic service and
returned to school to earn her Registered Nursing degree.
Source; Find a Grave Canada (accessed 2023) |
Stella Johnstone Pollexfen
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3392 |
Born June 8, 1892,
Limerick, Ireland. Died February 17, 1976, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Stella
lived in London, England and then immigrated to Canada. In 1917 she
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing.
By March 1918 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC). She served in England at No. 10 Canadian General
Hospital, Brighton, No. 14 Canadian General Hospital, Eastbourne and No. 10
Canadian General Hospital, Taplow. After the war she joined the staff
of the Social Service Department at the WGH until 1947 when she joined the
staff of the MacDonald Aircraft Company. From 1947 through 1970 she
operated the Pollexfen Nursing Home in Winnipeg.
Source:: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1916. online
(accessed 2021); |
Cecily Jane
Georgina Fane
Pope
0089
Nursing Matron Boer War & World War 1 |
Born January 1, 1862,
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Died June 6, 1938, Charlottetown, Prince
Edward Island. The daughter of William Henry Pope, one of the Fathers of
Confederation, Georgina graduated from the Bellevue Hospital School of
Nursing, in New York in 1885
and served in various administrative positions at hospitals in the U.S.A. She
was superintendent of the Columbia Hospital for Women in Washington D C where
founded a new school of nursing. With the Canadian involvement in the South
African War, she volunteered for nursing services with the British forces in
October 1899. In fact, she headed the first group of herself and three other
Canadian nursing sisters. In 1901 she received the Queen Victoria's South
Africa Medal. In 1902 she returned to South Africa, leading a small nursing
force, the third such group, but this time they were officially the Canadian
Army Nursing Service, a part of the Canadian Army Medical Corp.
In 1903 she
was the 1st Canadian to receive the Royal Red Cross for conspicuous service
in the field of battle and earned the Royal Red Cross Class 1 Medal. By 1906 she was the 1st working Nursing Sister with the
permanent military forces at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and in 1908 she became the
1st Matron of the
Canadian Army Medical Corp. She served in World War I in in Taplow,
England, and then with No 2 Canadian Stationary Hospital in France 1917
-1918. She was 55 years old in France when she suffered 'shell shock' or
'neurasthenis' (now called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD) and
returned home to Canada where she retired in March 1919. She earned the
British World War l Metal and the Victory Medal. In 1983 Canada’s
National Historical Sites and Monument Board declared her a National
Historic Person of Canada. Georgina is one of 14 heroes honoured with a bronze
bust at the Valiants Memorias at Confederation Square, Ottawa. The Canadian
Mint issued a $5.00 coin bearing her image.
(2020) |
Georgea Powell - Bates**
0090 |
Born 1857, Bouctouche, New Brunswick. Died 1925. Georgea took
her nursing training at the Waltham Training School for nurses in
Massachusetts, graduating in 1895
In 1898 she headed a group of four nurses headed for
Dawson, Yukon. Georgea was officially the Lady Superintendent of the
Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) for the territory of the Yukon.
The women arrived in the midst of a severe outbreak of typhoid fever. Their
work garnered national attention and the support of the Victorian Order of
Nurses (VON). Georgea remained in nursing in Dawson until 1904 when she
married North West Mounted Police Staff Sergeant, George Bates (1858-1908). She remained in western Canada after the death of her husband and worked as
Matron of the Children’s Shelter, Edmonton, Alberta from 1912-1918.
Source:
New Brunswick women’s History online accessed November 2012; The Canadian
Association for the History of Nursing Newsletter Vol. 17 No. 2 Fall 2004) Online
(accessed November 2012). (2020) |
Aileen Powers - Peel
0091 |
Born 1894, Toronto, Ontario. Died December 31, 1918, Surry,
United Kingdom. A trained nurse she worked with the Canadian Imperial
Detachment during World War l. She not only worked at secretarial duties but
as a trained chauffeuse she was a driver to help transfer wounded soldiers.
In 1918 she took a brief break from the war to return to Canada and visit
family in Ottawa. She returned to service in England where she died.
Source: Finding the Forty Seven: Canadian Nurses of the 1st
World War. Online (accessed August 2015). (2020)
|
Helen Preston - Glass
3843 |
née Preston. Born October 24, 1917, Regina,
Saskatchewan. Died February 14, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1939 Helen
earned her Diploma in Nursing from the Royal Victoria Hospital School of
Nursing, Montreal, Quebec. By 1953 she had begun a career in nursing
education at the Holy Family School of Nursing, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
Two years later she was in Winnipeg, Manitoba where she earned a certificate
in teaching and supervision at the University of Manitoba. In 1960 she
earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Columbia University, New York
City, U.S.A. and went on to earn a Master of Arts in 1961. In 1970 she
had earned a Master of Education and a Doctor of Education in 1971 from
Columbia University. She had started teaching in 1962 at the University of
Manitoba and went on to serve as Director of the School of Nursing at the
University from 1971-1979. She was paramount in establishing the
graduate program in nursing and creating the Manitoba Nursing Research
Institute. She would also serve as president of the Canadian Nurses
Association and the Manitoba Association of Registered Nurses. In 1977 she
was the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth ll Silver Jubilee Medal. In 1987
she was inducted into the Manitoba Order of the Buffalo Hunt, and the
following years into the Order of Canada. In 2002 she received the Queen
Elizabeth ll Golden Jubilee Medal and in 2012 the Diamond Jubilee Medal.
In 2008 she received the Order of Manitoba. She is also a member of the
Teacher's College Nursing Hall of Fame at Columbia University. The Helen
Glass Centre for Nursing at the University of Manitoba is named in her
honour.
Source: Memorable Manitobans (accessed
2022) |
Vera Harrison
Prindle -Chappell
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3251 |
née Prindle. Born February 16, 1891, Tweed,
Ontario. Died February 24, 1967, Belleville, Ontario. In 1916 she graduated
from the Nursing School at the Belleville General Hospital, Ontario. May 5,
1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC). Overseas she was posted to Canadian military hospitals in Taplow,
Buxton, Westenhanger, Orpington and Granville, England. In the beginning of
1919 she herself was in hospital with influenza. Discharged back in Canada
she married on December 17, 1919 to war veteran Joseph Edward Chappell. She
worked as a private nurse in Thomasburg, Ontario. Source: Nurses of
World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Eden Lyal
Pringle
3885
World War 1 Nursing Sister |
Born September 4, 1893, Glasgow, Scotland. Died May 30,1918,
Douillens, France. Eden was a trained nurse living in Vancouver,
British Columbia when World War l (1914-1918) broke out. On May 7, 1917 she
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps.
While serving at No. 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital, Etaples, Frances she
was killed in the operating room when the camp was bombed by enemy aircraft.
Two other Nursing sisters Dorothy Mary Yardwood Baldwin (1891-1918) and
Agnes MacPherson (1891-1918) were also killed during the bombing. Her name
appears on the plaque at Queen's Park, Toronto dedicated to the Nursing
Sisters who died in the First World War as well as in the Book of
Remembrance, Ottawa and the War Memorial, Halifax, Nova Scotia. |
Dorothy
'Dot' Pringle
0092 |
Born Hamilton, Ontario. This inspirational nursing leader has
followed a career that took her through nursing research, teaching nursing,
being a senior nursing administrator, locally, provincially, and nationally.
She earned, at various schools, her RN, BScN, MS, and finally her PhD in
Nursing at the University of Illinois, U.S.A. Her honours include an
outstanding teacher award form the Ontario Association of University
Teachers, Honorary doctoral degrees, and the Jeanne Mance Award from the
Canadian Nursing Association. As Dean of Nursing at the University of
Toronto, she instrumental in launching the 1st doctoral program in Nursing
in Ontario. She was appointed as an officer of the Order of Canada in 2008.
(2020) |
Elizabeth Rankin -Bemrose
|
née Rankin. Born 1911. Died 1990. In 1927 when
she was 16 she won the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal fro a high school
essay. She went on to become a teacher for several years. In 1942 she began
to study nursing at the Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) School of Nursing.
Graduating in 1944 she soon met and married a soldier. At this time married
nurses were not accepted in the workforce so Elizabeth returned to teaching
primary school She retired in 1976. In 2004 her niece Sheila J. Rankin
donated a miniature costumed doll to the B. C. history of Nursing Group.
Source: Nursing Dolls B.C. History of Nursing Group, 2004.
online (accessed 2021) |
Edith
Catherine Rayside
3467
World War 1 Nursing
Matron |
Born January 26, 1872 South
Lancaster, Ontario. Died December 20, 1950, South Lancaster, Ontario. In
1896 Edith graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Queen's University,
Kingston, Ontario. By 1901 she completed nurse training at St. Luke's
Hospital, Ottawa. She began her career doing private nursing duty and then
this adventuresome woman nursed in a modern fully equipped hospital in a
central Mexican mining town where she became a superintendent. She enlisted
as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps when World War 1
broke out. Overseas in England she was designated matron of a hospital
unit and headed for northern France. She was responsible for overall
administration as well as nursing moral. In the fall of 1916 she was
transferred to Moore Barracks, England. By mid 1917 she was back in Ottawa
serving as Matron-in-Chief of military nurses on the home front. She served
in this position until 1920. After being decommissioned she worked as an
instructor at the Montreal General Hospital School of Nursing. From 1924
through 1934 she was Superintendent of Nurses as the Hamilton General
Hospital. In 1927 she represented Canadian nurses at the dedication of the
Memorial Chamber in the Peace Tower of the Canadian Parliament buildings
where she was one of four service representatives who stood at the corners
of the altar which held the Book of Remembrance. Edith had been
involved in establishing networks of World War 1 veteran nurses from her
time in Montreal and in 1932 she became the national president of the
Overseas Nursing Sisters' Association of Canada. She has also been and
active member in the Canadian Nurses Association. In 1931 she left her work for an operation on a brain tumour in Boston, Massauchetts, U.S.A. She
resigned form her position at the end of 1933. That year she was named as a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Source: Edith Rayside by David Rayside, Health
Sciences Library, McMaster University. online (accessed 2021) |
Bernice Carnegie Redmon
Black Nurse |
Born Toronto, Ontario. As a young student wanting to study
nursing Bernice was refused entry to Canadian nursing institutions because
she was Black. At this time it was felt that Canadian patients would not
like being cared for by Black nurses. Determined, Bernice attended St Philip
Hospital School in Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A. graduating in
1945.
Bernice returned to work in Canada finding a position with the Department of
Public Health in Nova Scotia. She became the 1st Black woman to become a
nurse in Canada. She went on to become the 1st
Black nurse to be hired by the Victorian Order of Nurses (V O N) in Canada.
(2020) |
Frances 'Fanny' Dalrymple Redmond
3429
Sister Frances |
née Byron. Born 1850, Newry, Northern Ireland.
Died April 14, 1932, Vancouver, British Columbia. On December 26, 1868
Frances married Dr. William Charles Redmond (died 1930). The couple had a
daughter who died in infancy and a son who died in World War 1. The
couple immigrated to Canada initially settling in Winnipeg, Manitoba. When
their son returned to England for his education the couple separated. It is
claimed that Frances trained as a nurse and midwife at Laval University in
Quebec, but the no women were admitted to L8val un the 19th century. . She
was also said to be a Deaconess with the Anglican Church, but this has not
been confirmed. In 1887 she became the first district nurse in Vancouver and
she assumed the title Sister as was common for nurses in England. She
was the driving force behind the establishment of St. Luke's Home which
would become St. Luke's Hospital, being built in 1888 and that same year she
opened the first training school for nurses in Vancouver which opened with
one student. In 1893 she was matron of a church sponsored hospital for
Aboriginals in Vernon, British Columbia. In the early 1900's she managed the
infectious disease section of the Vancouver City Hospital. In 1898 she and
nurses Margaret Clendenning helped establish the Vancouver branch of the
Victorian Order of Nurses (VON). She began a soup kitchen in the basement of
Market Hall to serve the needy. She offered hospital beds free to those in
need and provided space at St. Luke's for meetings, teas, charity events and
even wedding receptions for nurses. Orphans who came to the hospital for
care were kept simply because they had no home. Sister Frances legally
adopted a girl. From 1897 through 1906 she published a column in the
Church Record. Source: D C B |
Edith Rice - McKenney
4168
Nurse, Librarian, Businesswoman |
Born 1877, Wyoming, Ontario. Died December 24, 1965, Wyoming,
Ontario. At 18 Edith left home and went to work at the Penman Woolen Mills,
Paris, Ontario. Shortly after she studied at the Clifton Springs Sanitorium
and School of Nursing in New York, U.S.A. graduating in 1904. She worked as
head nurse of the Christian Service Workers Home, Albany, New York providing
services for the underprivileged. In 1920 she returned home to Wyoming to
care for her father and managed the family bookstore. In 1922 she married
William E. 'Mac' Mckenny. She was soon the librarian at the Wyoming
Association Library and took summer courses in librarianship at the
University of Western Ontario, London. She was also a member of the local
Red Cross, the Bible Society and the Wyoming United Church. During the
Second World War (1939-1945) she helped the Red Cross Society with practical
nursing courses in her home. She served was secretary of the Local Red Cross
until 1963. She was also a correspondent for the Advertiser-Topic
newspaper. After the death of her husband in 1946 she relocated to London,
Ontario to live with her sister but missing her home town she soon returned
home and was once ore town librarian until retirement in 1962. Source:
The Story of Edith Rice McKenney by Colleen M, The Young
Canuckstorian; Canadian History for Kids by Kids! online (accessed 2022)
|
Mary L. Richmond 0093 |
Born 1920, Vancouver, British Columbia. Died November 29,
2002. She studied the Vancouver General Hospital School of Nursing in
1943 and began her career as a teacher at the school upon graduation.
Beginning in the 1950's she was the Director of Nursing at the Royal
Jubilee Hospital and the Vancouver General hospital. During her tenure as
Director she helped initiate programs in public health, tuberculosis nursing
and psychiatric nursing. She served on committees of the Canadian Nurses
Association and with a budding interest in nursing history she was a
founding member of the History of Nursing Professional Practice Group. She
retired from nursing in 1992 having provided several generations of
professional nurses with a solid definition of what it was to be a nursing
citizen. (2020) |
Rosemarie Riddell
0094 |
née Marshall. Born November 14, 1946, Lindsay, Ontario. Died
July 12, 2013, Vancouver British Columbia. Rosemarie studied at St Joseph’s School
of nursing, Peterborough, Ontario. After graduating in 1967 she continued
her nursing studies at the University of Alberta. One of her early work
postings was in Kingston, Ontario where she met a military Cadet. In 1968
she and Craig Riddell were married. The couple had one son. Eventually the
family moved for Craig’s work to British Columbia. In 1983 she began
working at St Paul’s Hospital. Although she knew little of the gay lifestyle
she soon became a hardworking advocate for people suffering with HIV/Aids.
She worked from the early days of the advent of the virus for 30 years
devoted to helping those who suffered. In 1993 her dedication was honoured
by the British Columbia Persons with HIV/Aids with the AccolAids Award. In
1996 she was written up in the Globe and Mail highlighting her pragmatic
approach with chaos of addicts. It was this same year that she completed her
Master’s degree at the University of British Columbia having written her
this on HIV/Aids patients. In 1997 she organized a special addiction team at
St Paul’s Hospital caring for 30 patients a day. In 2008 she was named one
of British Columbia’s outstanding nurses. In 2011 she was honoured with an
advocacy award from the College of registered Nurses of British
Columbia.
Source: “Seeing beyond the stigma…” by Rod
Mecklenburg in Globe and Mail, September 11, 2013.
Suggestion submitted by June Coxon.
(2020) |
Margaret Jane Riddle-3327
Corrigan
World War 1 Nursing Sister
|
née Riddle. Born August 19, 1879, Beverly
Township, Ontario. Died 1973, Beverly Township, Ontario. Margaret She
served, probably for military training, at the Canadian Military Hospital,
Kingston, Ontario for three months prior to enlisting as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical (CAMC) on June 1, 1916. Margaret served
overseas until the end of the war. After returning home she married
Dr. Mathew Poole Corrigan. Source: Flamborough
Archives and Heritage Society. Flamborough Nursing Sisters. online (accessed
2021) |
Ethel
Blanche
Ridley
3252
World War 1 Nursing
Matron |
Born March 31,
1874, Belleville, Ontario. Died July 18, 1949, Belleville, Ontario. Ethel
graduated from St. Hilda's College, University of
Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts in 1895. She followed this in 1899 by
graduating from the New York Training School for Nurses in the U.S.A. She
served in the Philippines during the Spanish American War with the United
States Army. Later she served as a Medical Missionary in China.
Returning to the United States she worked at the Hospital for Ruptured and
Crippled in New York. September 16, 1914 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She served as Matron for the
No. 2 Canadian General Hospital, and was posted to Le Touquet, France.
Returning to England she served in Granville, Ramsgate and Buxton. In 1918
she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire C B E.
After the war she worked as Directress of Nursing at the Vancouver General
Hospital, British Columbia but soon left the position due to ill health.
Relocating to the United States she worked at the New York Orthopaedic
Hospital as Director of Nurses until she retired in 1942 when she settled in
Belleville, Ontario. Source: Nurses of
World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Margaret Rinn
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3275 |
In 1912 Margaret
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. She
served with The Queen Alexandra's Imperial Nursing Service overseas in 1917.
After the War she returned to Winnipeg.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1912. online
(accessed 2021) |
Mary
Ester Slee
Ritchie -Mclean
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3393 |
née Ritchie. Born October 24, 1894, Falkirk,
Scotland. Died ???? Mary graduated in 1917 from the Winnipeg General
Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing, Manitoba. Right after graduation she
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC).
She was first posted to No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park,
Winnipeg. By April 1918 she was overseas posted to No. 10 Canadian General
Hospital, Brighton, England and later to NO. 4 Canadian General Hospital,
Basingstoke, England. After the war Mary returned to Canada and married D.
Mclean. The couple settled in British Columbia and later returned to
Winnipeg.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital
School of Nursing Class of 1917 online
(accessed 2021) |
Eleanor Rivington -Downs
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3312 |
Born January 15,
1884, Ottawa, Ontario. Died July 30, 1970, Ontario. In 1915 she
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. After
graduation she relocated to Saskatchewan where she worked at Canora
Hospital. In the fall of 1915 she retuned to Winnipeg to work on staff at
the Children's Hospital. IN October 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted
to Canadian General Hospital, Orpington, No. 12 Canadian Special Hospital,
Bramshott, and No. 7 Canadian General Hospital in England. She returned t
Canada in July1919. She went to New York City, U.S.A. to take courses in
Public Health Nursing at the Henry Street Settlement, a housing complex that
offere nursing services for immigrants in 1920. Returning to Ontario she
married George Downs. Source: Health Sciences
Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1915. online (accessed 2021) |
Simone Eileen
Roach
0095 |
Born July 20, 1922, New Waterford, Nova Scotia. Died July 2,
2016, Antigonish, Nova Scotia. After studying nursing at the St Joseph’s
Hospital School of Nursing, Glace Bay, Nova Scotia in 1945 Eileen entered
the Sisters of St Martha and took the name Sister Marie Simone. She took her
final vows in 1950. Simone then went on to obtain a degree in nursing from
St Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia.. She also studied administration
and clinical supervision at the University of Toronto and earned a Master’s
in Nursing from Boston University, Massachusetts, U.S.A. In 1970 she earned
her doctorate in education from the Catholic University of America,
Washington D.C., U.S.A. She would also spend time as a post-doctoral scholar
in ethics at Harvard Divinity School, U.S.A. She acted as a community leader
and liaison between the Congregation of St Martha’s Corporation and the
Corporation of St John’s Hospital in Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
From 1971 through 1979 she spent time building the nursing department at St
Francis Xavier University. It was in 1971 that she established the 1st code
of ethics for nurses in Canada. The code is composed of six c ’s:
compassion, competence, conscience, confidence and commitment. Simone. Over
the years she was a welcome lecturer internationally. In 1993 she returned
to Bethany, the Sisters’ of Martha’s House in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
Source: Allison Lauton, Obituary, Globe and Mail, July
15, 2016. Suggestion submitted by June Coxon Ottawa, Ontario.
(2020) |
Margaret Robertson
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3296 |
Born May 25, 1887,
Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Died January 9, 1958, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Margaret graduated in 1914 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School
of Nursing. She worked at Ninette Sanatorium for 18 months before returning
to Scotland for a visit. Back in Winnipeg she worked at the Children's
Hospital. In May 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she served at Moore Barracks
Hospital and at the Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross hospital known as No.
15, Canadian General Hospital, England. Returning to Canada after the war
she relocated for a short time to work in California, U.S.A. prior to
settling in Vancouver, British Columbia. source:
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital Class of 1912. online (accessed 2021) |
Emeline Robertson
3337
World War 1 Nursing Sister
|
On April 17, 1916
Emeline joined the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Sister
Reserve (Q A) in response to the British Government's call for nurses to
serve in World War 1.At least 314 Canadian nurses joined the QA Reserves to
serve overseas for 40.00 pounds plus board and laundry per year. .
Within a year she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps. |
Shirley M. Robinson
0096 |
Born Lucknow, Ontario. In 1953 she graduated in nursing
having trained at Owen Sound General and Marine Hospital. In 1954 she
enrolled in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) as a Pilot Officer. Her
career in the military would span 30 years. She graduated from the Canadian
Forces Command and Staff College course. With the rank of Lieutenant Colonel
she retired in 1984 as Deputy Director of Women Personnel at National
Defense Headquarters in Ottawa. She spent much of her time assuring equality
for women serving in the armed services. In 1985 she was a founding member
of the Association for Women’s Equality in the Canadian Armed Forces
(AWECF). She was also active outside of her military duties serving a
President of the Nursing Sisters Association of Canada and serving as a
member of the Council for Canadians, The Human Rights Institute and the
Ontario College of Nurses. In October 1992 she was presented with the
Governor General Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case which honours
work that improves the equality of life for Canadian Women.
Source: Lt. Col. Shirley M. Robinson, CD (Retired) – Nurse.
By Carolyn Gossage, November 6, 2000 Section15.ca Online (Accessed March
2014)
(2020) |
Marguerite Eliza Robinson
3792 |
née Armitage, Born
1902? Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A. Died April 17, 1975, Regina,
Saskatchewan. Marguerite relocated to Regina, Saskatchewan when she
was a teenager. At first she worked as a clerk at Simpson's Department Store
mail order facility. This may have been a chance to earn enough money to
study as a nurse. In 1925 she graduated from the Nursing School of the
Regina General Hospital. She worked mainly as a private duty nurse. In 1937
she married Louis McKenna. Robinson, a widower with five children.
Marguerite became active in the local Council of Women and the League of
Women Voters. She also sat on the board of the Victoria Order of Nurses (V O
N) and served on the executive board of the Regina Natural History Society.
She enjoyed writing and contributed works on various topics such as local
history as well as history of public health and health care in the province.
She published The First Fifty Years, an account of the
Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Association in 1967.
Source: Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan online (accessed 2022;
Saskatchewan Cemeteries project; Regina Cemetery...(accessed 2022) |
Nellie Grace
Rogers
World War 1 Nursing
Sister 3400 |
Born December 18, 1889, London, Ontario. Died October 19, 1918, Toronto,
Ontario. Nellie enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps (CAMC) November 11, 1917. Nellie served at the Central Military
Convalescent Hospital College St., Toronto. She died from Influenza before
she could be posted overseas. [Canada] A Tribute
to Some Woman and Men who Served in Armed Conflict: online. (accessed 2021). |
Ada Janet Ross
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3411 |
Born August 11,
1878, Toronto, Ontario. Died July 12, 1918, Buxton, England. According to
her obituary she was a graduate of the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH)
School of Nursing. Ada graduated Ada enlisted as a Nursing Sister with
the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) signing her final papers in May 1915
in London, England. She was posted to the No. 1 Canadian General
Hospital and to the Ontario Military Hospital, No. 16 Canadian General
Hospital, Orpington, England. By January 1918 she was a patient at the
Canadian Red Cross Special Hospital, Buxton. She died from peritonitis,
tuberculosis and bronchitis. Source:
[Canada] A Tribute to Some Women And Men Who Served in Armed Conflicts.
online (accessed 2021) |
Anne E. Ross
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3099 |
Born 1890,
Kingston, Ontario. Anne graduated from the Lady Stanley Institute, (later
Ottawa Civic Hospital Nursing School in 1913. She enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) and was posted to No. 3
Stationary Hospital and No. 15 Canadian Stationary Hospital, also known as
the Duchess of Connaught's Canadian Red Cross Hospital, Clivedon, England.
She went on to serve in Lemnos in the Greek Islands. She suffered a severe
bout of dysentery and for convalescence in England before being posted to
France. Some of her written accounts and photographs of her service has been
preserved in the Library and Archives, Ottawa.
Source: Library and Archives Canada, Nursing
Sisters, online (accessed 2021); Nicholson, G. W. L. Seventy Years of
Service: A history of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, Ottawa,
Borealis Press, 1977 |
Elizabeth Bell Ross
World war 1 Nursing
Sister & Matron
3409 |
Born October 30,
1878, Demerara, British Guiana, South Africa. Died March 13, 1953, Ottawa?.
Ontario. At some point the family immigrated to Canada and settled in Nova
Scotia. Elizabeth served with a voluntary unit of the French Red Cross in
Belgium. She enlisted as Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC) on February 30, 1916, London, England. She was posted to the
Duchess of Connaught Canadian Red Cross Hospital in 1916. By spring of 1917
she was Acting Matron. She served at No. 10 Canadian General hospital . By
January 1918 she was Matron. After the war she returned to Canada and was
demobilized in October 1920. She worked at the Woman's Hospital, New York
City, New York, U.S.A. Source: [Canada] A
Tribute to Some Women And Men Who Served in Armed Conflicts. online
(accessed 2021) |
Flora
Amelia
Ross
3499
Métis Nurse and
administrator |
Born 1842, San Juan Island. Died November 2, 1897, Victoria,
British Columbia. A Métis her father was chief trader with the Hudson's Bay
Company and her mother Isabella Mainville Ross was Ojibwe Métis. She was
raised in Fort McLoughlin, fort Nisqually and finally Fort Victoria in
British Columbia. Flora married in 1859 to Paul Kinsey Hubbs Jr. collector
of Revenue on San Juan Island. The Island itself was disputed between the
U.S.A. and Britain. Flora was a nurse to the community. Flora and her
husband settled to a farm on San Juan Island. Shortly after the birth of
their son Flora divorced the unfaithful husband in the Washington Territory
since Vancouver are did not have a civil divorce law. She may be the first
divorced single-mother career woman in British Columbia. She returned to
Victoria supporting her son working as a nurse under her maiden name. From
1870 through 1897 she served as Matron for the women's wing of the Victoria
Insane Asylum. She was the firs woman to be an administrator of a
governmental medical institution in western Canada and one of the first of
indigenous background. The book In Her Own Footsteps; Flora Ross and Her
Struggle for Identity and Independence in the Colonial West by D. J.
Richardson, tells Flora's story. Source: Flora Ross
web site (accessed 2021) Also First |
Kathryn / Katherine Dorothy
Ross
3384
World War l and ll Nursing Sister
|
Born May 23, 1894, Bridgeville Nova Scotia.
Died February 9, 1967 Camp Hill Military
Hospital, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Kathryn graduated from the Winnipeg General
Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in 1917. By March 1918 she had enlisted as
a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She was posted
to No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg. After the war
she sailed for China to assist a Dr. Williams open and hospital and training
school for nurses. She became a Superintendent of a large hospital in
Chingtu, China for fie years. In 1943 she was a Sister in Charge at the
Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps' Fort Osbourne Barracks, Winnipeg. She
later served with the United Nation Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
in Europe. After the Second World War she worked in charge of a new hospital
in Lahore, Pakistan. Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1917. online (accessed 2021);
Canadian Great War project, Nursing Sisters. online (accessed 2021). |
Margaret Morrison Ross
0097
World War 1 Nursing
Sister |
Born May 17, 1869,
Solina, Ontario. Died February 2, 1944, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Margaret
Graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing,
Manitoba, in 1899. On January 18, 1917 Margaret enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corp (CAMC). She was posted to the No
10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, , Winnipeg and would become
nurse in charge of the Military Wards at the WGH in 1918. After the war she
worked as a private nurse in Winnipeg.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg, Class of 1899. online
(accessed 2021); Find a grave Canada. online accessed 2021) |
Elizabeth Russell
0098 |
Born July 12,
1879. Hamilton, Ontario. Died ????. Elizabeth studied nursing at the
Presbyterian Hospital, New York, U.S.A. In the fall of 1899 she was one of
four nurses who where the 1st contingent of Canadian military Nursing
Sisters to to be sent overseas. The four women, Matron Georgina Fane Pope
(1862-1938), Minnie Affleck (1874-1956), and Sara Forbes (????-1902) served
during the Boer War in South Africa. As Nursing Sisters the women were given
a rank and pay equal to that of an army Lieutenant. The women would receive
the Queen's South African War Medal for their services. June 18, 1915
Elizabeth enlisted once again as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army
Medical Corps. (2020) |
Ethel
Gertrude
Ryckman
World War 1 Nursing
Sister
3328 |
Born June 3, 1890,
Flamborough Township, Ontario. Died ???? Ethel travelled to the U.S.A.
to take her training as a nurse at the Roosevelt Hospital, New York City.
She went home after graduation but in 1914 was back in New York City while
her step-sister Agnes Annie Forbes (1887-????) trained at Roosevelt
Hospital. Ethel joined the American Red Cross to serve as a nurse. Source: Flamborough
Archives and Heritage Society. Flamborough Nursing Sisters. online (accessed
2021) |
Sadie Saint-Germain / St-Germain
World War 1 Nursing Sister
0099 |
Born July 21,
1884, Hull, Quebec. May 3, 1923, Hull Quebec. Sadie enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canada Army Medical Corps in August of 1916 in answer to the
call to serve in World War 1. She was in hospital herself in January 1917
with bronchitis. Recovered, by the spring of 1917 she was serving at the
Kitchener Military Hospital Brighton, England before proceeding to serve in
France that fall at the No. 2 Canadian Stationary Hospital and then the No.
10 Canadian General Hospital. She retuned home to Canada in the spring of
1919. Her death was related to her war service but she was never issued a
Memorial Plaque nor a Memorial Cross that were usually issued to those who
served and whose death was related to the war. Source:
A Tribute to some women and men who served in armed conflicts. Online (2020);
[Canada] A Tribute to Some Woman and Men who Served in Armed Conflict:
online. (accessed 2021). |
Mary / Mae Belle Sampson
World war 1 Nursing Sister Died at Sea
3347 |
Born June 5, 1890,
Nottawasaga Bay, Ontario. Mae Belle graduated from the Hamilton City
Hospital School of Nursing, Ontario. She enlisted as a Nursing Sister with
the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) Overseas she was posted to No.
2 Canadian Stationary Hospital, Le Touquet, France and later at Canadian
Convalescent Hospital, Uxbridge, England. and Canadian Hospital Salonika,
Greece and No. 16 Canadian General Hospital, Orpington, England. In October
1917 she was herself in hospital for diphtheria. After her recovery she was
assigned relatively "easy' duty on the Llandovery Castle. On June 27, 1918
she was aboard the Canadian Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle sailing from
Halifax to Liverpool, England. The hospital ship was torpedoed an enemy
U-boat (submarine) 46 and only 24 people of the 234 souls on board survived. 14
Canadian Nursing Sisters lost their lives. The U-Boat captain felt that even
though the ship was well marked as a hospital ship that it carried munitions
for the British. When there was no great explosion of munitions from the
ship the captain of the U-Boat ordered he crew to fire on people in life
boats in order to kill survivors in an attempt to cover his sinking of the
ship. It was against wartime convention to fire on an hospital ship.
It was the deadliest Canadian naval disaster of the First World War.
In 2018 composer Stephanie Martin and playwright Paul Ciufo commemorated the
nurses in an opera. Source: Finding the
forty-seven: Canadian nurses of the first world war. by Debbie Marshall.
online (accessed 2021) |
Bertha Samson - Beck
World war 1 Nursing Sister
3394 |
née Samson. Born November 19, Liberty County,
North Dakota. Died October 21, 1958, North Dakota, U.S.A. Bertha graduated
in 1917 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing.
After graduation she joined the Provincial Nursing Staff and worked in
Winnipeg. In February 1918 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She served overseas in England at No. 4
Canadian General Hospital, Basingstoke until July 1919. After the war she
returned to Winnipeg and worked as a private nurse. In 1923 she was
employed at Sea View Hospital in Staten Island, New York, U.S.A. She married
Dr. R. Beck and the couple settled in North Dakota, U.S.A.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital
School of Nursing Class of 1917 online
(accessed 2021) |
Gladys
Irene
Sare
World War 1 Nursing Sister Died at Sea
3348 |
Born June 6, 1889,
Bath, England. Died June 27, 1918, at sea. Gladys Irene graduated from the
Montreal General Hospital School of Nursing in 1913. Gladys Irene enlisted
as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) on January
26, 1916 in Montreal. On June 27, 1918 she was aboard the Canadian Hospital
Ship Llandovery Castle sailing from Halifax to Liverpool, England. The
hospital ship was torpedoed an enemy U-boat (submarine) 46 and only 24
people of the 234 souls on board survived. 14
Canadian Nursing Sisters lost their lives. The U-Boat captain felt that even
though the ship was well marked as a hospital ship that it carried munitions
for the British. When there was no great explosion of munitions from the
ship the captain of the U-Boat ordered he crew to fire on people in life
boats in order to kill survivors in an attempt to cover his sinking of the
ship. It was against wartime convention to fire on an hospital ship.
It was the deadliest Canadian naval disaster of the First World War.
In 2018 composer Stephanie Martin and playwright Paul Ciufo commemorated the
nurses in an opera. Source: Montreal
General Hospital School of Nursing. World War 1 online (accessed 2021)
|
Winifred Dobson Schurman
World War 1 Nursing Sister
|
Born October 8, 1890, Summerside, Prince Edward Island. Died
1977, Summerside, Prince Edward Island. Winifred was a twin and graduated
from the Prince Edward Island Hospital School of Nursing, Charlottetown, in
1911. February 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Medical Army Corps (CMAC). She served No. 6 Canadian General Hospital
overseas serving in England, France and Belgium. As well as receiving the
military medals of service she received from France the Médaille des
epidemies en argent which was presented to her in 1923. Returning home after
the war she went to the U.S.A where by 1921 she was nursing in Cleveland,
New York and then Boston, Massauchetts. She retired from nursing in 1960 and
settled in Summerside. Source: Walker - Palmer
Genealogy Web site Person page 725 (accessed 2022) |
Marisse Scott - Louisy
0100
Black Nurse |
Born 1926?,Owen Sound, Ontario. Mariss was an honour
student in high school and she had a desire to care for people. She applied
to attend nursing school at her home town Owen Sound General Hospital and Marine
Hospital but she was refused because she was Black. This racist event would
haunt her the rest of her life, but with the support of Mayor Eddie Sergeant
of Owen Sound and Rev. Allan Ferry, her plight to find a nursing school to
attend made national headlines. The Rev. J. A. O'Reilly of the Church of Our
Lady in Guelph, Ontario, asked the nursing sisters at the St Joseph Hospital
School of Nursing
in Guelph if they would accept Mariss as a student. She became one of their
top notch and most caring students. Mariss graduated in 1950 as one of the
first Black graduates in nursing in Ontario, paving the way for other
Black nursing students in Canada. While ain Guelph she met a veterinary
student attending the Ontario Veterinary College, Greaham Louisy and the
couple were later married. The family later relocated to St. Lucia in the
Caribbean where Marisse worked as Head of the Nutrition Department at the
St Lucia Health Ministry and
brought up a daughter. In 2001 she was invited back to Owen Sound as a guest
heroine of the Emancipation Festival. Sadly this visit was not a happy one
as her brother, who had lived in Owen Sound, had died just a few days
previously.
(updated 2023) |
Mary Elizabeth
Scott -Williams
3284
World War 1 Nursing
Sister |
née Scott. Born September 17, 1882, Eden,
Manitoba. Died October 26, 1968, Ontario. Mary graduated in 1913 from
the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing and worked on staff at
the WGH. In 1915 she joined the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing
Service. She served overseas until 1918. She returned home and enlisted in
the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She was posted to the 22nd Calvary
Field Ambulance Unit and the Regina Military Hospital, Saskatchewan. After
the war she married William H. Williams and the couple settled first in
Quebec and then in Ontario.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1913.. online (accessed 2021); |
Gladys Hope Sewell - Ross
World War 1 Nursing
Sister
3253 |
née Sewell. Born September 24, 1892, Belleville,
Ontario. Died February 3, 1933, Toronto, Ontario. Gladys graduated from the
Nursing School at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, Quebec. On April
22, 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted to No. 3 Canadian General Hospital,
Camiers, France and then to Orpington, England. August 25, 1915 she married
Canadian veteran, Dr. James Wells Ross O B E (Order of the British Empire).
As a married woman she resigned her commission September 4, 1915. After the
war the couple settled in Toronto.
Source: Nurses of World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed
2021) |
Bonnie E. Shad - Emerson
4300
Early Black Canadian Nurse |
Born 1943?, Chatham,
Ontario. Died August 1991, North Carolina, U.S.A. Bonnie was a descendant of
the Black pioneer family which included newspaper pioneer Mary Ann Shadd
(1823-1893). In 1960 she entered the Windsor Metropolitan School of
Nursing, Windsor, Ontario and graduated as one of the first four Black
Registered Nurse's in Canada. While at school she served as the Chair
of the House Committee which was the residence 'police force' guarding
regulations. She also served as Vice President of Lampadian and student
governing body. Continuing her education she attended Rolling Hills School
of Anesthesiology in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. and went on to work at
Southwestern General Hospital. She married Alvin Emerson of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, U.S.A. She was killed in an automobile Accident.
Source: Obituary, online (accessed 2023) |
Judith Shamian
0087 |
Born May 1, 1950, Hungary. The family relocated to Jerusalem
and then to Montreal, Quebec. While in Jerusalem, after caring for her ill mother,
she took three years of training as a nurse. In Montreal, she found a back
injury prohibited her from doing bedside nursing care and found a way to
stay in the profession as an administrator. Judith earned her Bachelor of
Nursing from Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec and went on to earn her
Master’s in Public Health from New York University. She earned her PhD
from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. She has served
as President of the Canadian Nurse’s Association and has helped set
up the office of Nursing Policy in 1999 to
advise Health Canada and served for five years as Executive Director
1999-2004. She has also served as president and C E O of the Victorian Order
of Nurses (VON).
On October 4, 2012, an episode of
Undercover Boss,
the Canadian reality TV series, aired in which Dr. Shamian worked in
disguise to witness the pressures faced by nurses employed by the VON. In
2013 she became the second Canadian woman to be President of the
International Council of Nurses, a federation of over 130 national nurses’
associations representing more than 16 million nurses worldwide. Her
international work had caused her to travel to numerous countries including
to Hungary and Botswana for research and teaching. She has also helped
Poland set up their national nursing association. She is also a professor at
the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto.
In 1995 she received the Ross Award for Nursing Leadership followed by the
2000 Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medial. In 2004 she received the Award of Merit
from the Canadian Nurse’s Association and the Canadian Federation of Nurses
Unions. She has also received the Centennial Award from the Canadian Nurse’s
Association which recognizes nursing leadership of the past 100 years. She
has received Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top Ten Award from the Women’s
Executive Network (2020) |
Irene Louise
Sharpe
World War 1 Nursing
Sister
3299 |
Born June 14, 1890,
Orono, Ontario. Died May 25, 1952, Irene graduated in 1915 from the Winnipeg
General (WGH) Hospital School of Nursing. After graduating she worked in the
WGH on staff as an operation room nurse. In 1916 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She was posted
to Camp Hughes at the Sewell Military Hospital, Carberry, Manitoba. Joining
the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Service she served in Malt for a
year prior to re-enlisting with the CAMC. She was posted to No. 10 Canadian
General Hospital, Brighton, England, No. 7 Canadian General Hospital and No.
6 Canadian General Hospital in France. Returning to Winnipeg after the War
she worked at the Children's Hospital becoming Charge Nurse of the Operating
Room. In 1924 she was working as Assistant Superintendent at St. Luke's
Hospital, Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.A. source:
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital Class of 1915. online (accessed 2021) |
Flora Madeline
Shaw
3770
Nursing Educator |
Born January 15, 1864, Perth, Canada West (now Ontario). Died
August 27, 1927, Liverpool, England. Flora attended Mrs. Mercer's Boarding
School for Young Ladies, Montreal, Quebec. In 1894 she studied at the
Training School of Nurses at the Montreal General Hospital. which was the
first such school in the province of Quebec. Graduating in 1896 she worked
for three years as the Second assistant of the school's founder Nora
Livingston (1848-1927). Flora then headed to the Boston area of
Massachusetts, U.S.A. shere she worked as Head of Nursing at a small
women's hospital. Returning to Montreal in 1900 she became First Assistant
to Nora Livingston. From 1904 through 1906 she was at Columbia University's
Teachers' College, New York City, U.S.A. where she also worked at the
Florence Nightengale Hall of Presbyterian Hospital. Back again in Montreal
she worked at the General Hospital's Training School for Nurses and
established a preliminary training instruction for probationary nursing
students at the Hospital for Sick Children. In 1908 she represented the
Montreal General Hospital's Alumnae Association and the founding meeting of
the Canadian Association for Trained Nurses (now Canadian Nurses
Association) where she was elected as secretary-treasurer. In 1909 she
was diagnosed with tuberculosis (T B) and retired. She spent five years
resting and was 'cured' of T B. Too old to volunteer for either the Canadian
Army Medical Corp or the Red Cross during World War l, she worked with the
Canadian Patriotic Fund in Montreal. After the war she served on the
executive of the Victorian Order of Nurses (V O N). In 1920 she became the
first director of the McGill University School for Graduate Nurses, the
first such school in Canada. She also served as the president of the
Association of Registered Nurses of the Province of Quebec from 1922-1926,
the president of the Association of Nursing Education from 1922-1924 and as
president of the Canadian Nursing Association in 1926. A stained glass
window at St. James Anglican Church , Montreal is dedicated to her.
Source: A Life Well Spent; A Work Well Done online
(accessed 2022) |
Mary Shaw
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3332 |
Born December 8,
1887, Motherwell, Scotland. Died May 8, 1965, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Mary
immigrated to Canada in 1910. She graduated in 1915 from the Winnipeg
General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. After graduation she worked
at the Kenora General Hospital, Ontario. She then joined Queen Alexandra's
Imperial Military Nursing Service. She served for a year at the Royal
Victoria Hospital Netley, England prior to enlisting as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She was posted to No. 16
Canadian General Hospital, Orpington, England and No. 1 Canadian General
Hospital, France. She returned to Canada in March 1919.
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital Class of 1915.
online (accessed 2021) |
Margaret
Alexandra Shea
0101 |
née Rendell Born 1893, St John's, Newfoundland. Died May
18, 1949. As a young woman of a family of means and an accomplished pianist,
Margaret was in no doubt welcome in the social activities of the day in St
John's. However, she wanted more. Her music teacher had attended the Johns
Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A., and this may have
influenced Miss Rendell to do the same in 1895. After her studies and a
short apprenticeship in the United States she returned home to an
appointment as matron of the General Hospital. She was the first
Newfoundland-born woman to become a professional nurse. In 1901 she resigned
her position to marry George Shea. Her husband was a prominent politician in
the province and she was busy providing her support for his position. She
was also one of the first women (maybe even the first) woman in Newfoundland
to receive her drivers license and she was notorious for the speed at which
she conducted her automobile through the streets of the city sending all in
her path for safety. (2020) |
Anne 'Annie'
Beatrice Sheppard
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3333 |
Born November 23,
1892, Regina Saskatchewan. Died ???? In 1915 she graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. By 1917 she was Assistant Matron
of the Soldier's Convalescent Home, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. In 1918 she
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) and
was posted to No. 15 Canadian General Hospital, Taplow and No. 12 Canadian
General Hospital, Bramshott, England. She returned after the war to
continue nursing in Regina, Saskatchewan. Sciences
Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital Class of 1915. online
(accessed 2021) |
Ella Dora 'Sheri' Sherritt -Burley
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3439 |
Born February 27,,
1889, Blake, Ontario. Died January 22, 1984, Allenton, Michigan, U.S.A. In
1914 Ella graduated from the Victoria Hospital Training School for Nurses,
London, Ontario. She enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC) on April 15, 1918 in London, Ontario. Ella married Dr.
David Henry Burley (1863-1959)in 1933and the couple settled in Huron,
Ontario then to Almont, Ontario and on to Lapeer, Michigan, U.S.A. in 1940.Source:
Victoria Hospital Training School for Nurses, London Public Library online
(accessed 2021); Family Search, online (accessed 2021).Find a Grave Canada
online (accessed 2021) |
Odessa 'Dolly' P. Shore
3432 |
Born
Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Died Calgary, Alberta. Dolly graduated from
Jackson City hospital in Michigan, U.S.A. She married Dr. A. E.
Shore and settled Bowden, Alberta. Dolly nursed in rural Alberta from
1910-1915 and helped with her husbands medical practice and a small drug
store. Evidently the both served during world war 1 but records have not
been found for her. after the war the couple lived in Calgary. they had one
daughter who became a nurse.
Source: B C History of
Nursing Society, Nursing Dolls online (accessed 2021) |
Agnes
Christina Short
3558 |
Born April 20, 1916, Lethbridge, Alberta. Died October 20,
1994, Lethbridge. Alberta. Agnes studied nursing at the Calgary General
Hospital, Alberta. After graduation in 1939 she returned to Lethbridge and
worked as supervisor of the Galt Hospital. By 1945 she was working as head
of nursing at the Lethbridge School District no. 51 before moving on to work
as Director of Nursing with the Lethbridge Health Unit. Here she saw the
first use of penicillin and became one of the firs to give the Salk vaccine
for polio. After 42 years of nursing she retied in 1980. During her lifetime
she was involved with the Order of the Eastern Star, the Horticultural
Society, the Quota Club, the Lethbridge Housing Authority, the Keep-in-Touch
Society and the the Lethbridge Family Services . She als served as an elder
for her United Church. She was named as a Woman of Distinction by the Young
Women's Christian Association (Y M C A) and received a gold award from the
Canadian Red Cross. The city of Lethbridge has names a street in her honour.
Source: Legacy of Lethbridge Women, Lethbridge
Historical Society, 2005; Find a Grave Canada. online (accessed 2021) |
Winnifred Marion Simpson -Lewis
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3334 |
Born July 9, 1891,
Selkirk, Manitoba. Died October 1, 1976, California, U.S.A. Winnifred
graduated in 1915 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing. By November 1916 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She served at the Moore Barracks
Hospital, Shorncliffe, England, No. 4 Canadian Stationary Hospital and No2.
2 Canadian General Hospital in France. She returned to Canada in 1919 and
worked as a private nurse in Selkirk. She married Ben Lewis and the couple
settled in California, U.S.A. Sciences
Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital Class of 1915. online
(accessed 2021) |
Isabella Sinclair - Trotter
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3378 |
née Sinclair. Born February 2, 18899, Millwood,
Manitoba. Died March 5, 1987, British Columbia. In 1916 Isabella graduated
from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH)( School of Nursing. In
February 1918 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she served at the Granville Canadian Special
Hospital, Buxton and No. 16 Canadian General Hospital, Orpington, England.
After the war she returned to Manitoba. She relocated to British
Columbia where she married Robert Trotter.
Sources: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1916. online
(accessed 2021); |
Marian Lucile
Skillen -Stoneham
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3379 |
née Skillen. Born June 20, 1890, Martins, New
Brunswick. Died 1987, New Brunswick. Marian graduated in 1916 from the
Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. In March 1917 she
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC).
Overseas she was posted to the Duchess of Connaught's Canadian Red Cross
Hospital, England and then she served to France but became sick with
appendicitis and was admitted to No. # Canadian General Hospital Le Treport.
Once recovered she was posted to No. 2 Canadian General Hospital, Le Treport
but hear again she suffered and attack of appendicitis and was admitted to
Queen Alexandra Military Hospital. She convalesced at Canadian Convalescent
Hospital, Bear Wood Park, England. After the war she worked as a private
nurse in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. During the late 1930's she lived in
England with her husband Norman Stoneham.
Sources: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1916. online
(accessed 2021); |
Harriet 'Hallie' Jennie Todd Sloan
0102
World War 11 Nursing Sister
& Matron Canadian Medical Services |
Born January 21, 1917, Winnipeg,
Manitoba. Died January 21, 2016, on her 99th
birthday, Ottawa, Ontario. In 1940 she graduated from the Vancouver General
Hospital nursing programme. Joining the military she worked with the
No. 8 Canadian General Hospital, Saskatchewan Unit. She was
soon posted overseas to Normandy, France, Belgium, and The
Netherlands. For her services she received the 1939-1945 Star , the
France and Germany Star, the NATO Medal as well as the 25th
and 50th Anniversary Medals. After World War ll she was
one of 30 nurses invited to remain in the military where she was put
in charge of basic training for medical assistance and later she was
in charge of new nursing personnel. In 1964 she earned the rank of
Lieutenant-Colonel and was appointed Matron in Chief of Canadian
Medical Services, a position she maintained until she retired in
1968. Hallie also served with the Canadian Nursing Association as
director of Nursing Abroad Program and the National Nursing
Administration which in 1969 organized the International Council of
Nursing congress in Montreal, Quebec. She was also an advocate and
fund raiser for the Canadian Nurses Foundation. In 2004 Hallie was
inducted into the Order of Canada for 50 years of outstanding
leadership, advancing military nursing and patient care. She was a
tireless volunteer at the Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre
in Ottawa. She was a Dame in the Order of Saint John and in 2015 as
a D-Day veteran she received the Legion of Honour from France.
(2021) |
Alice Smith
0103 |
Born 1910,
Cartwright, Alberta. Died 1998, White Rock, British Columbia. Source: B C
History of Nursing Society. Alice was a graduated of the Winnipeg
General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in Manitoba. She continued her
education earning a bachelor degree from Columbia University, New York City,
U.S.A. and then a Masters degree from Yale University, New Haven,
Connecticut, U.S.A. in 1957. For 25 years she worked with the Canadian
government to improve nursing and medical services to the Indian and Inuit
peoples. In 1948 she was asked by the Canadian Nurses Association to work in
Great Britain to study effects on nursing of the country's new national
health insurance plan. Source: B C History of Nursing
Society, Nursing Dolls online (accessed 2021) |
Jessie Isobel
Smith
World
War 1 Nursing Sister
3118 |
Born October 17,
1885, Arthur, Ontario .Died August 20, 1958, Winnipeg, Manitoba. In
1910 she graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing. Her first position was on staff al Lashburn Hospital, Saskatchewan.
In 1911 she was working as a private nurse in Edmonton, Alberta. In
September 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC). Over seas she served with the Duchess of Connaught's
Red Cross Hospital, Taplow, England and then No. 3 Canadian Stationary
Hospital, France where she an some fellow WGH nursing graduated survived
enemy air raids. She was hospitalized for a time with tonsillitis and
exhaustion .After she recovered she was posted to the Canadian Red Cross
Special Hospital, Buxton, England. After the war she worked at a sanatorium
in La Jolla, California, U.S.A. She would spend the remained of her nursing
career in California. She returned to Winnipeg in 1957.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Online. (accessed 2021) |
Jessie Sara Smith - Cooper
World War 1 Nursing
Sister 0104 |
née Smith. Born
December 4, 1884, Bathurst, New Brunswick. Died ???? Jessie graduated from
the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing, Manitoba, in 1909. She
joined the Victoria Order of Nurses (V O N ) for a year before working as a
private duty nurse in Winnipeg. During World War 1 she served with the
Harvard Unit in France. July 6, 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with
the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted to No. 1
Canadian Stationary Hospital, Salonika, Greece and then to No. 4 Canadian
General Hospital, Basingstoke, England. Jessie married Lieutenant Gordon
Cooper in France in 1918. She returned to New Brunswick in April 1919.
Settling in Saskatoon she worked for Monarch Life and then relocated to
Minneapolis Minnesota, U.S.A..
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1909. online (accessed 2021) |
Margaret
Heggie
Smith
Boer War Nursing Sister, World War 1
Nursing Matron
0105 |
Born May 24, 1872,
Ottawa, Ontario. Died May 12, 1920, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Margaret studied nursing at the Blockley Hospital, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, U.S.A. She enlisted in the Canadian Army Medical Corps and
served with the 19th Canadian Stationary Hospital in Harrismith, South
Africa during the Boer War. Returning hop in 1902 she enlisted once again in
1914 to serve in World War 1. By 1917 she was serving as Matron for
two years in France and then four years of the Ontario Military Hospital
Orpington, England at a Canadian Field Hospital. In 1919 she earned a bar to
her Royal Red Cross. She returned to Canada with 'impaired health'
from her war efforts. A memorial tablet was placed at St Andrew's
Presbyterian Church, Ottawa, in her honour by the Overseas C A N C Nursing
Service. Source: A tribute to some women and men
who served in armed conflicts. Online (2021) |
Wilhelmina Smith
World War 1 Nursing
Sister 3254 |
Born August 26,
1890, Lakehurst, Ontario. Died December 28, 1967, Peterborough, Ontario.
Wilhelmina was a graduated of the Nursing School, Bellville General Hospital,
Ontario,
in 1914. After attending the Divisional School of Military Instruction she
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) on
January 8, 1916. Overseas she was posted to the Canadian Military Hospital ,
Le Treport, France. She contracted Rubella and was in the hospital in
Etaples France. Transferred to England she was posted to Ramsgate, England.
She reported that she often slept in the woods curled in her blanket when
the hospital was bombed. After the war back in Canada she worked as
operation room Supervisor at a private doctor's hospital in New York, U.S.A.
She retired in 1958. Source: Nurses of
World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Mary Agnes Snively
0106 |
Born November 12, 1847, St Catherines,
Canada West (now Ontario).
Died September 26, 1933, Toronto, Ontario. After graduating from high school
Mary Agnes taught public
school in her hometown for over two decades. Her friends convinced her to
study nursing at the Bellevue Training School in New York State, U.S.A. In
1884 she was appointed as Superintendent of the Training Schools for Nurses
at the Toronto General Hospital, a position she retained until her
retirement in 1910. The hospital had 400 beds with only seven nurses in
charge of wards and 27 nurses in training living in unfavourable conditions
when she arrived. She reorganized the curriculum, introducing regular
lectures by physicians and courses on subjects such as nursing ethics, and
implemented a written examination at the end of the two-year training
period. she convinced the hospital board to erect a nurses’ residence. By
1894 the Toronto General Hospital Training School for Nurses was the largest
in the country, and graduates were employed across Ontario and abroad. That
year she helped establish the hospital’s Nurses’ Alumnae Association, the
1st of its kind in Canada, and was elected chair. In 1897 she was named
president of the Society of Superintendents of Training Schools for Nurses
of the United States and Canada. Mary would also be the main driving force
behind the formation of the Canadian National Association of Trained Nurses
(CNATN) in 1908 which would become the Canadian Nurses’ Association in 1924.
She was elected 1st President of the association in 1911. She also served on
the executive of the International Council of Nurses founded in 1899. After
her retirement in 1909 she travelled abroad for 14 months, during which time
she attended the 1911 International Council of Nurses meeting in Cologne,
Germany. Maintaining ties with the CNATN, she served as archivist and
honorary president, and she was made a life member in 1921. She financially
supported aspiring medical students and missionaries in Formosa (Taiwan),
India, and China, and also funded a children’s school in China. Upon her
death the Canadian Nurse magazine called her the 'Mother of Nurses in
Canada'. In 2011 Mary Agnes Snively was designated and National Historic
Person Source: D C B (2020) |
Verna
Marie Huffman Splane
0107 |
Born November 23, 1914,
Peterborough, Ontario. Died January 10, 2015, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Verna took a School of Nursing Diploma from the University of Toronto in
1939 as one of several educational steps she would take throughout her
career. She also attended Teachers College in British Columbia and the
University of Michigan in the U.S.A. Between 1947-1958 she was a Senior
Nursing counselor for the Department of National Health and Welfare. She
worked internationally with the World Health Organization (WHO) which took
her to the Caribbean, South America and Africa. In 1973 she was the Vice
President of the International Council of Nurses. Among her many awards was
the the University of Michigan recognition as an Outstanding Public Health
Nurse, the Queen's Jubilee Medal, the Canadian Red Cross Distinguished
Service Award and in 1982 the National Award from the Canadian Nurses
Association. In 1995 she was awarded the Order of Canada.
(2020) |
Harriet 'Hattie' Olive Stacey
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3255 |
Born March 10,
1888, Northumberland County, Ontario. Died 1971, Trenton, Ontario. Like many
young women of her era she attended model school, Teacher's College),
Picton, Ontario and taught school first in rural Ontario and then in ruddel,
Saskatchewan. By 1914 she had graduated from nursing school in Belleville,
Ontario in fall of that year she enlisted as a Nursing Ssister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted to Etaples,
France and became night supervisor for two years. In 1917 she was posted to
a Casualty Clearing Station in Belgium Diagnosed with pulmonary Tuberculosis
she was invalided to Canada early in 1918. Working in Trenton, Ontario
she was in charge of a temporary hospital. She worked for a short time
in Hamilton, Montana, U.S.A. returning to work at the Belleville General
Hospital. In 1931 she became Superintendent of the Marcus Daly Memorial
Hospital in Montana. By 1941 she was back in Canada as caregiver for her
mother. Source: Nurses of World War 1 by
Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Anna
Irene Stamers
World War l Nursing Sister Died at Sea
3349 |
Born January 15,
1888, Saint John, New Brunswick. Anna Irene enlisted as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted to No.
1 Canadian General Hospital, Etaples, France. She suffered from an infection
as was herself in N0. 24 Hospital , Etaples and later was at a convalescent
home in Paris Plage. She returned to service in July. 1916. In May 1917 she
was posted to the Ontario Military Hospital, Orpington, England. In March of
1918 she was posted to the Llandovery Castle. On June 27, 1918 she was
aboard the Canadian Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle sailing from Halifax to
Liverpool, England. The hospital ship was torpedoed an enemy U-boat
(submarine) 46 and only 24 people of the 234 souls on board survived. 14
Canadian Nursing Sisters lost their lives. The U-Boat captain felt that even
though the ship was well marked as a hospital ship that it carried munitions
for the British. When there was no great explosion of munitions from the
ship the captain of the U-Boat ordered he crew to fire on people in life
boats in order to kill survivors in an attempt to cover his sinking of the
ship. It was against wartime convention to fire on an hospital ship.
It was the deadliest Canadian naval disaster of the First World War.
In 2018 composer Stephanie Martin and playwright Paul Ciufo commemorated the
nurses in an opera. Sources: Finding the
Forty-Seven: Canadian nurses of the first world war. by Debbie Marshall.
online (accessed 2021) Canada Great War Project, Nursing Sisters online
(accessed 2021) |
Freida Parker Steele 4301
Early Black Canadian Nurse |
née Parker. Born August 19,
1929, Windsor, Ontario. Died September 22, 2019, Windsor, Ontario. Freida
was the daughter of the First Black police officer in Windsor, Alton Parker
(1907-1989). In 1950 Freida graduated as president of her graduating
class at St. Joseph's School of Nursing in Windsor. She was one of the
first four women of African descent to become a nurse in Windsor.
After graduation the 42 new Registered Nurses decided to celebrate at a
local restaurant, but the restaurant owner did not want Black people in the
restaurant! The daughter of the Mayor of Windsor, Art Reaume, was part of
the group of nurses at the restaurant. The Mayor appealed through local
media for restaurants to open up their door to Black citizens. The Black
nurses had left the restaurant quietly but determined to do something about
the show of discrimination. Frieda helped found an organization called the
Guardian Club which would become the Windsor and District Black Coalition
fighting discrimination by exposing and taking action against employers,
landlords and restaurateurs who discriminated against non-white job seekers,
tenants, and customers. She was also
a founding member Windsor Victims Services and served on the Board of the
Amhuerst Freedom Museum.. She would also become the first woman to serve as
a deacon at her home church of First Baptist and also at the Amherstburg
Regular Baptist Missionary group. Frieda worked
for 42 years at the Hotel Dieu Hospital in the city of Windsor. She was
involved with Hospice of Windsor and Essex and a full-time volunteer with
Windsor Goodfellows. She married Eugene Steele (1929-2001) who was Windsor's
first Black firefighter. The couple raised six children.
Source: Obituary On line (accessed 2023); Doug Schmidt,
Freida Parker Steel - gracious, optimistic Windsor champion against
discrimination. Windsor Star September 23, 2019; Find a Grave Canada
(accessed 2023) |
Mary Elizabeth Steinhauser
|
See - Heroines |
Alice Francis
Stevenson
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3331 |
Born October 26,
1893, Parry Sound, Ontario. Died ???? Alice graduated in 1918 from the
Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. That October she enlisted
as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She was
posted to the No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg.
After the war she worked in Winnipeg with Dr. McMillan. She later relocated
to New York, U.S.A. where she worked at Miss Shillingers's private hospital
until 1927 when she worked as a private nurse.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1918. online (accessed 2021) |
Christina 'Tena' May Stewart
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3362 |
Born May 25, 1881, Almonte, Ontario. Died
November 7, 1927, Gravenhurst, Ontario. Tena graduated in 1916 from the
Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. By November 1916 she had
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC).
Overseas she served at the Duchess of Connaught's Canadian Red Cross
Hospital, Taplow and Granville Canadian Special Hospital, Buxton. In
November she contracted bronchitis and pneumonia and was in hospital for
several months. In March 1919 she returned to Canada and worked at the
Gravenhurst Sanatorium, in Ontario. She was buried November 11, 1927,
Memorial Day.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1916. online (accessed 2021)
|
Christine Stewart |
SEE - Politicians |
Ethel Isobel
Stewart -Morley
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3335 |
née Stewart. Born
March 15, 1890, Almonte, Ontario. Died ???? In 1915 she graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing and worked a year at the WGH before
working at Camp Sewell Military Hospital, Carberry, Manitoba. She joined the
Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service for a year before
enlisting as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) in
November 1917. She was posted overseas at No. 15 Canadian General Hospital,
Taplow and Granville Canadian Special Hospital, England. She retuned to
Canada in November 1918. After the war she married Dr. W. Morley and the
couple relocated to British Columbia and later to Washington State, U.S.A.
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital Class of 1915.
online (accessed 2021) |
Olive Stewart
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3297 |
née Ray. Born January 24, 1890, Norwood,
Ontario. Died April 2, 1940, California, U.S.A. Olive graduated from the
Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of of Nursing in 1914. She enlisted,
using her married name, as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC) on April 3, 1914. Serving in Canada she supervised the
Military Wards at the WGH until March 1918. She moved to New York, U.S.A.
but returned to Winnipeg in 1922 where she engaged in private nursing.
source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital Class of 1912. online (accessed 2021) |
Emily Alexander Stewart - Buckley
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3256 |
Born April 12,
1886, Belleville, Ontario. Died December 19, 1971, Belleville, Ontario.
Emily immigrated to New York City in 1909 where she graduated from the
Manhattan New York Hospital School of Nursing in 1912. She returned to
Canada and in 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps (CAMC) while in London, England. She was posted to the
Westcliffe, Eye and Ear Hospital in Folkstone, and at Shorncliffe. She was
also posted to Boulogne, France. She herself was hospitalized during her
service suffering from appendicitis, influenza , and bronchitis.
Working after the war in New York she married Frederick Wilson but was soon
a widow. She married a second time to Rev. Louis Albert Buckley and the
couple Kitchener, Ontario. After the death of her second husband she
returned to Belleville. Source: Nurses
of World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Eliza May Stewart
0108
World War 1 Nursing Sister |
Born
April 21,1887, Bathurst, New Brunswick. Died 1989.
In May 1917 with World War l in full swing she enlisted as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) with the rank of Lieutenant. Her war service would take her
just behind the front lines in France where she worked at clearing stations
just a few kilometers from the fighting. By March 1919 she was in England
waiting to sail home. She returned to the west coast of Canada where she
would continue her nursing career at the Shaughnessy Veteran’s Hospital,
Vancouver, British Columbia. According to her family she never talked about
her work in the European war front.
Source: Saskatoon Women’s Calendar Collective. Herstory
2007: the Canadian Women’s Calendar (Regina: Couteau Books, 2006)
pg. 38 (2020) |
Ruby
Elizabeth Stewart
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3132 |
Born September 2,
1885, Selkirk, Manitoba. Died 1982, British Columbia. Ruby graduated from
the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in 1911. September
1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC) going overseas with the British Columbia Unit. She was posted to No.
5, Canadian General Hospital, Salonika, Greece and was then transferred to
Malta. She also served at No. 11 Canadian General Hospital which was
formerly known as Moore Barracks Hospital, Shorncliffe, England. After the
war she returned to Canada and married Dr. H. Burns. The couple settled in
British Columbia. Source: Health Sciences
Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1911. online (accessed 2021) |
Winnifred
Mary
Stewart
0109 |
Born June 26, 1908, Fernie, British Columbia. Died October 26,
1990, Kelona, British Columbia. Her family moved to Edmonton Alberta in 1911
and it was here that she attended school. She studied nursing at Edmonton
General Hospital and became a Registered Nurse (RN) in 1929. Winnifred
married Duncan Stewart in 1932 and in 1934 they welcomed their son Parker.
Parker was diagnosed with Down Syndrome and Winnifred refused to accept that
the limits that were supposed to happen with developmentally disadvantaged
children during this era. This led her on a journey to experimental research
into new teaching methods. In 1953, along with other parents she formed the
Winnifred Stewart Association for the Mentally Handicapped and established
the 1st school of its kind to serve handicapped children. In 1954 she was
the 1st woman to address the Alberta Legislature from the floor
of the provincial House of Commons, The Alberta government in turn provide
the 1st financial support for schools for mentally handicapped
children. Between 1954 and 1970 Winnifred organized and funded 19 schools
across western Canada. In 1956 her work was recognized when she became the
Most Outstanding Person of the Year sponsored by the Canadian Mental Health
Association. In 1966 she was named Edmonton’s Citizen of the Year. She als0
inspired the opening of the unique Western Industrial Research Training
Centre in 1968. In 1972 she was presented with the Order of Canada. She was
tireless in her continuing efforts and in 1979 Crewood Industries was opened
as a vocational training sheltered workshop. In 1985 she was posthumously
inducted into the Alberta Order of Excellence. Winnifred also is known as
the Edmontonian of the Century.
Source: Winnifred Mary Stewart (1908-1990) Naming Committee, Honouring
People and Places in Our City. (Accessed May 2015)
Submitted by Dr Kathleen L. Linaker, Centre for Life and Health Services,
Mohawk Valley Community College, Utica, New York, U.S.A.
(2020) |
Shirley M Stinson
0110 |
Born 1929, Arelee, Saskatchewan. Shirley trained as a
Registered Nurse, studied for a degree in education and has earned a
Doctored in Science. She has been involved in nursing, research,
administration and teaching. A faculty member at the University of Alberta,
now Professor Emeritus, she had served as the President of the Canadian
Nurses Association, 1st woman senior National Health Scientist, founding
Chair of the Alberta Foundation for Nursing Research, chair of the 1986
International Nursing Research Conference and co-Chair of the 1993 First
International Conference on Community Health Nursing Research. The list of
the awards she has earned in long and impressive. The awards list includes;
The Alberta Order of Excellence in 1999, the Order of Canada, The Jeanne
Mance Award form the Canadian Nurse's Association, the Sir Frederick Haultain Prize in the Humanities, the Nursing Hall of Fame and the Ethel
Johns Award for distinguished Services to Nursing Education in Canada. She
is the author of over 100 publications and reports. She is an
internationally sought after lecturer and consultant. She is busy in her
support to raise funds for the Nursing Collection at the Museum of
Civilization, promoting utilization of chronobiological research findings to
prevent strokes and heart attacks in high risk populations, expanding dental
services for needy adults and continuing her work on nursing history.
(2020) |
Winnifred
Isabelle Stinson - Kedward
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3385 |
Born May 25, 1891,
Carroll, Manitoba. Died April 17, 1937, Brighton, England. In 1917 she
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing.
In January 1918 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she served at No. 15 Canadian General
Hospital, Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross Hospital, Taplow, and No. 5
Canadian General Hospital, Liverpool, England. Returning home after the war
she worked on staff at Dr. Galloway's private hospital, Winnipeg until 1922.
She then worked at Deer lodge Convalescent Hospital until she married A. E.
Kedward in 1924. The couple moved to England to live.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1917. online (accessed 2021); |
Madeleine
Dion
Stoat
0111
Aboriginal Nurse |
Born March 25, 1946, Keheiwin First Nation, Alberta. She was
given the Cree name Kéréshwew, meaning “Ancient Woman” or “Child with
ancient spirit”. She decided at a young age to become a nurse. She liked
nurses from the first time she met one when she was rushed to the hospital
after her appendix broke when she was seven. In 1968 she had become a
registered Nurse, with a Bachelor of Science in nursing from the University of Lethbridge
in Alberta. She married Bob Stout and the couple had two daughters. In 1993
she had earned a masters degree in International Affairs from Carleton
University in Ottawa and began working in public health. She also taught at
university. She aligned herself with leadership and advisory roles on
research and policy regarding health of First Nations, Inuit and Métis women
and children. In 2008 she was listed as one of the top 100 nurses in Canada
and was recipient of the Centennial Award from the Canadian Nurses
Association. In 2012 she was honoured with the prestigious Aboriginal
Achievement Foundation Award for Health.
Source:
Herstory 2012: The Canadian Women’s Calendar. Saskatoon Women’s
Calendar Collective, 2011. (2021) |
Freda Swedlove -Lithwick
Nursing Sister World War ll |
née
Swedlove.
Born July 28, 1919, Stouffville, Ontario. Died March 4, 2013, Ottawa,
Ontario. Freda earned her nursing credentials at the Beth Israel Hospital,
Boston, Massauchetts, U.S.A. She returned to Canada to follow additional
studies in Public Health Nursing at the University of Toronto. She began her
nursing career in 1943 with the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) in Kingston,
Ontario. In March 1944 she enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Like many she had hoped to
serve overseas but instead was posted to work at the Ottawa Rideau Military
Hospital in Ontario where she served as an operating room nurse. Two days
after she was discharged on June 6, 1945 she married Hyman Lithwick. The
couple settled in Ottawa and raised three children. Freda as an active
volunteer in many local Jewish organizations and would also serve as
president of the Ottawa Hospital's Civic Campus Auxiliary. (2022) |
Mary Margaret Street
0112 |
Born May 30, 1907, Toronto, Ontario. Died December 7,
1993. Mary took her original Bachelor of Arts and teaching certificate in Manitoba but
soon decided to enter nursing and studied at the Royal Victoria in Montreal,
Quebec.
She also obtained a Certificate in Teaching and Supervision for Graduate
Nurses at McGill. During her long teaching career she would support her
profession by being elected to posts in registered nurses association in
several provinces where she lived and worked. She was interested in the
history of nursing and published a book on pioneer nursing in western Canada
called Watch Fires on the Mountain: Life of Ethel Johns. (Toronto,
1973) She received the Order of Canada for her contributions to her country
through her profession in 1982.
(2020) |
Margaret Tait
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3257 |
Born August 9,
1882, Thurso, Scotland. Died March 14, 1932, Toronto, Ontario. Margaret
immigrated to Canada about 1909. By 1914 she had graduated from the
Brantford General Hospital School of Nursing in Ontario. January 31, 1916
she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC). She served as Matron at the Canadian Military Hospital, Orpington,
and was night supervisor at the Canadian Military Hospital, Shorncliffe,
England. In France she was posted to the No. 2 Canadian General Hospital at
Le Treport. Back home in 1920 she became Superintendent of the Spadina
Military Hospital, Toronto. In 1921 she was Superintendent of Nurses at the
Belleville General Hospital. She was als a member of the local Committee of
the Victorian Order of Nurses (V O N).
Source: Nurses of World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed
2021) |
Mabel Helen Taylor - Lucas
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3258 |
Born August 28, 1880, Corbyville, Ontario. Died February 25,
1951, Belleville, Ontario. Mabel Helen graduated from the Hamilton City
Hospital School of Nursing in Ontario in 1914. She worked on staff of
the Hamilton Military Hospital. August 7, 1916, she enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Overseas she was posted
to Canadian Military hospitals in Shorncliffe and London, England. In 1919
she was herself hospitalized with influenza. Back in Canada after the
war she worked as a private nurse in Toronto. June 28, 1922 she married
veteran Francis Oliver Lucas (Died 1973) and the couple steeled in
Belleville. Source: Nurses of World War 1
by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Margaret Frances Taylor -Aikens
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3380 |
née Taylor. Born December
24, 1891, Boissevain, Manitoba. Died 1983, Boissevain, Manitoba. Margaret
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in
1916. After graduation she joined Queen
Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service and served for a year and a
half at the 2nd Birmingham War Hospital, England. In March 1918 she enlisted
as a Nursing Sister withe the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). After the
war she returned to Winnipeg and worked as a private nurse. She
married George Aikens and the couple settled in Boissevain, Manitoba.
Sources: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1916. online
(accessed 2021); |
Jean Templeman
World War l Nursing Sister Died at Sea
3350 |
Born June 16, 1885,
Ottawa, Ontario. Died June 27, 1918, at sea. Jean enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) on June 3, 1915 in
Montreal, Quebec. Overseas she was posted to No. 1 Canadian General Hospital
and then to France at. She served at N0. 21 Casualty Clearing Station and
then to the Ontario Military Hospital, Orpington, England. In June 1918 she
was serving on the Llandrovry Castle. On June 27, 1918 she was aboard the
Canadian Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle sailing from Halifax to Liverpool,
England. The hospital ship was torpedoed an enemy U-boat (submarine) 46 and
only 24 people of the 234 souls on board survived. 14
Canadian Nursing Sisters lost their lives. The U-Boat captain felt that even
though the ship was well marked as a hospital ship that it carried munitions
for the British. When there was no great explosion of munitions from the
ship the captain of the U-Boat ordered he crew to fire on people in life
boats in order to kill survivors in an attempt to cover his sinking of the
ship. It was against wartime convention to fire on an hospital ship.
It was the deadliest Canadian naval disaster of the First World War.
In 2018 composer Stephanie Martin and playwright Paul Ciufo commemorated the
nurses in an opera. Source: Great War
Project, Nursing Sisters. online (accessed 2021); Sources: Finding the
Forty-Seven: Canadian nurses of the first world war. by Debbie Marshall.
online (accessed 2021) |
Eleanor Jean Thompson
3883
World War 1 Nursing Sister
|
Born December 2, 1888, Valleyfield, Quebec. December
29, 1915. Eleanor was
a trained nurse who during World War l (1914-1918) enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (C A M C). She served at first
at No. 6 Canadian General Hospital. While serving at No 3 Canadian
Stationary Hospital near Douillens, France the camp was attacked by enemy
air bombing. Eleanor was buried beneath the rubble of an explosion but
even though wounded managed to free herself. She immediately sought to help
evacuate the wounded patients to safety. She worked until she herself
collapsed. She and Nursing Sister Meta Hodge with the first of nine
women who would received the Military Medal for Bravery. She also received
the Medaille des epidemies en bronze from France. Their story is covered in
the video by the C B C, Canada the Story of Us. and in the
Historica Heritage Minute Nursing Sisters.
|
Roberta Lee Thompson -Bell
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3259 |
née Thompson. Born
June 24, 1889, Strathroy, Ontario. Died January 19, 1963, London, Ontario.
December 3, 1912 Robertina graduated from the Belleville General Hospital
School of Nursing. After attending the Divisional School of Military
Instruction, Quebec City, she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps (CAMC) on May 5, 1915. Overseas she was posted to No. 1
Canadian General Hospital, Etaples, France. On April 11, 1916 she
married veteran Captain George Alexander James Bell in London, England. As a
married woman she resigned her commission with the CAMC and returned to
Canada. The couple settled and raised their family in London, Ontario.
Source: Nurses of World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed
2021) |
Ethel L. M. Thorp
World War ll Nursing Sister |
Ethel served as a nursing sister in World
War ll and has served internationally in England, France, Iraq, India and
China. While in Jamaica in the West Indies she established a training
program for psychiatric nurses. Back home in Canada she is a founding member
of the Canadian Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Association. During her
career she has become a member of the Order of the British Empire and in
1981 she received the Florence Nightingale Award, one of the highest awards
from the International Red Cross. |
Bertha Thorsteinson
World War ll Nursing Sister
3298 |
Born April 30,
1888, Isafjordur, Iceland. Died ???? Bertha graduated in 1914 from the
Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. In 1916she joined Queen
Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service. After a year of serving in
England she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps (CAMC). After the war she returned to Winnipeg and worked on staff at
WGH. In 1922 she was working at Deer Lodge Convalescent Hospital.
source:
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital Class of 1912. online (accessed 2021) |
Martha Timlick
World War 1 Nursing
Sister 3386 |
Born January 8,
1889, Union Point, Manitoba. Died August 2, 1961, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Martha graduated in 1917 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing. By March 1918 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She served overseas in England. After
the war she worked at Dauphin General Hospital Manitoba and by 1921 she was
in charge of the Operating Room at the Children's Hospital, Winnipeg until
1923. She also was on staff at WGH working in Admitting.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1917. online (accessed 2021); |
Alice Torr
World War ll Nursing Sister
3381 |
Born November 30,
1881, Grantham, England. Died September 13, 1970, Orillia, Ontario. Alice
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in
1916. After graduation she joined Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military
Service. She served a year in England and then enlisted as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She served in England and
France. After the war she nursed at Christie Street Hospital, Toronto,
Ontario for 24 years. She joined the staff at the Gravenhurst Sanatorium and
retired to Orillia, Ontario when she was 70. source:
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital Class of 1916. online (accessed 2021) |
Vivian Tremaine
World War 1 Nursing Sister & Matron
|
Born April 28,1880,
Montmorency, Quebec. Died January 27, 1948, Quebec City, Quebec. Vivian
graduated from the Montreal General Hospital School of Nursing in 1907. She
worked after graduation as a private nurse. When World Wa1 broke out in 1914
she was one of the first volunteers to serve. She enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) with the 1st Canadian
contingent. Overseas she served in England and France. While in France at
Fort Garrison near Aire Sur Lys, France in 1915 at No. 1 Canadian
Casualty Clearing Station she was summoned to nurse the King who had fallen
from his horse and she served on night duty at the palace for several weeks.
She was promoted to Matron in 1916. In 1917 she worked on Transport Duty and
returned to England where she had multiple postings. In 1919 she was posted
with Medical Services District No. 5, Quebec. She was discharged in 1920. In
1922 she was appointed Supervisor of the Canadian Red Cross Seaboard
Nurseries caring for nineteen thousand children and fifteen thousand women.
She was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal of the International Red
Cross, one of only three Canadian to receive this award at the time. In 1935
she was also presented with the King's Jubilee Medal.
Source: Montreal School of Nursing World War 1, Vivian Tremaine. online
(accessed 2021); Canada Great War Project, Nursing Sisters. online (accessed
2021) |
Jessie Turnbull - Robinson
3563 |
née Turnbull. Born Guelph?, Ontario. A trained
nurse Jessie arrived in 1899 to work at the Sir Alexander Galt Hospital in
Lethbridge, Alberta. She worked her way to the position of superintendent before
leaving in 1914 to be married. In 1907 she founded and served as president
of the Women's Relief Society. helping provision new settlers. In 1913
the Society was renamed to b the Nursing Mission to assist the ill ,
ensure health of school children and distribute Christmas cheer to the less
fortunate. The group also provided a home for unwed mothers and administered
pensions for mothers and the aged. The Nursing Mission was replaced with
government aid from local, provincial and national levels of government.
Jessie was also a member of the I O D E and sat on the Civic Club's Board of
Directors. From 1920 she helped co-ordinate all services, including mental
health and tuberculosis clinics through the local Health Unit. In the 1940's
she relocated to Proctor, British Columbia.
Source: Legacy of Lethbridge Women, Lethbridge Historical Society
2005. |
Adruenna
'Addie'
Allen Tupper
World War 1 Nursing
Sister
3404 |
née Allen.
Born October 13,
1859. Died December 9, 1916, Hillingdon, England. Addie enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) in September
1914. She was a widow at the time of her enlistment. It seems she lied about
her birth date in order to be accepted as she enlisted 1870 as her birth
year. Overseas in the spring of 1915 she was in hospital herself with severe
leg pains. That summer she was ill again and given a month convalescence.
She was posted to the Canadian Convalescent Home, Hillingdon and by December
9 1916 she was once again a patient described as dangerously ill.
Source: [Canada] A Tribute to Some Women And Men
Who Served in Armed Conflicts. online (accessed 2021) |
Emma Mary Turner
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3106 |
Born March 13,
1885, England. Died ???? Emma was a graduate of the Winnipeg General
Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in 1908. Her first job was as a surgical
ward nurse with the WGH. In 1911 she worked as Night Superintendent at the
Regina General Hospital, Saskatchewan. In 1913 she became Lady
Superintendent at Regina General. In 1916 she joined the Queen Alexandra's
Imperial Military Nursing Service. The following year she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). Emma was posted
to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley, Hants, England. She returned to
Saskatchewan after the war and served as Matron of the Saskatoon General
Hospital. In 1923 she became Nurse Superintendent of the new Hollywood
Hospital, Los Angeles, California.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1908. online
(accessed 2021) |
Ethel Frances Upton
World War 1 Nursing
Sister 3355 |
Born March
28, 1884, Montreal Quebec. Died June 29, 1949, Montreal, Quebec. Frances
graduated from the Montreal General Hospital (MGH) School of Nursing in
1908. She worked as Superintendent of a private hospital and then was acting
Superintendent of the Montreal Maternity Hospital until the outbreak of
World War 1 in 1914. She enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps. In 1915 overseas she was on loan to a British Hospital and
then was posted to No. 1 Canadian Stationary Hospital, Wimereux. She also
served on the Island of Lemnos in the Mediterranean caring for wounded
during the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign. She served in Salonika, Greece for
a year and a half then was recalled to England. After a six week leave to
Canada she returned to to England and was summoned to meet Queen Mother
Alexandra at Buckingham Palace. She worked at Hastings until the Armistice
and was posted to Bramshott Camp, England. When she returned home in 1919
she suffered from a recurring bout of malaria. By 1921 she was again fit for
duty and became Superintendent of Nurses at Sherbrooke Hospital, Quebec. She
did post graduated studies at the School for Graduate Nurses, McGill
University, Montreal receiving a certificate in administration in schools of
nursing. She returned to MGH as assistant in the training school office. She
went on to create a tuberculosis sanatorium in Ste. Agathe, Quebec. After
the sanitarium opened she established the first tuberculosis course in
Canada for graduate nurses. In 1929 she organized the International Congress
of Nurses, Montreal. After the congress she worked as executive secretary
for the Association of Registered Nurses of the Province of Quebec. She
continued to work to raise standards of nursing and more effective
educational programs. In 1949 she was in Prince Edward Island to make
a survey of nursing. Source: Montreal General Hospital
School of Nursing World War 1. online (accessed 2021); Canada Great War
Project, Nursing Sisters. online (accessed 2021) |
Florence
Helena Upton -Corlett
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3260 |
Born June 20, 1884,
Trenton*, Ontario. Died November 5, 1973 Pasadena, California, U.S.A.
Florence and her family relocated to Saskatchewan at the turn of the
century. In 1907 she graduated from the Lady Stanley Institute for
Trained Nurses, Ottawa, Ontario. She worked as nurse in charge of the
operating room at the Saskatoon Hospital. On July 1, 1915 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She was
originally posted to the No. 1 Field Ambulance Depot, Sewell Camp, Winnipeg,
Manitoba. Going overseas she served at the Canadian Military Hospital,
Shorncliffe, England and the Canadian Medical Hospital, Etaples, France. She
spent 9 weeks in hospital in Etaples suffering from bronchitis. She was then
invalided to the Canadian Red Cross Special Hospital, Buxton, England prior
to being sent home. After the war she was one of nine Military Nurses
employed at the Soldiers Civil Re-Establishment, Winnipeg. She
relocated to California, U.S.A. where she worked for the Metropolitan Life
Insurance Company as a nurse. She married Charles Corlett on January 11,
1945 and the couple settled in California. * Her
attestation documents state place of birth as Belleville.
Source: Nurses of World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed
2021) |
Jean Urquhart - Laing
World War 1 Nursing Matron
3123 |
née Urquhart. Born
March 5, 1885, Dingwall, Scotland. Died ???? Jean graduated form the
Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing with the class of 1910.
She worked as assistant head nurse of the operating room at WGH. The
following year she was head nurse of the operating Room at Galt Hospital,
Lethbridge, Alberta. In 1912 she moved to Kamloops, British Columbia to work
at the Royal Island Hospital shere shee was again in charge of the operating
Room. By 1914 she was back at Regina General Hospital. She became
Matron of the Saskatchewan Unit of nurses serving overseas when she enlisted
in the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) in April 1916. She served as
Matron at Shorncliffe Military Hospital, Hastings Military Hospital and No.
2 Canadian Stationary Hospital. Treport, France. Returning to Canada after
the war she worked on staff of the School of Hygiene of the Province of
Saskatchewan and also taught hygiene at the Provincial Normal School
(Teacher's College), Regina. She married Dr. W. W. Laing and the couple
settled in New York and then in California in the U.S.A.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1910. online (accessed 2021) |
Marie Elizabeth Van Haarlem
3559 |
Born 1867, Alberta. Died 1945, Lethbridge, Alberta. Marie
married Jacobus Roelof Van Haarlem (1864-1945) and the couple had one son.
In 1909 she moved to Lethbridge to open a private nursing home. She started
out with having only one patient. She soon moved to larger quarters and by
1929 she was running her hospital with 29 patients. She also began a
maternity facility and soon her establishment was known as a general
hospital. The Alberta Nursing Association awarded her the status of Honorary
Registered Nurse. In 1929 the Sisters of St. Martha bought the hospital and
renamed it St. Michael's Hospital. After selling her hospital Marie worked
as a nurse with the Lethbridge Public Schools until 1944.
The city of Lethbridge has names a street in her honour .Source:
Legacy of Lethbridge Women, Lethbridge Historical Society, 2005; Find
a Grave Canada. online (accessed 2021) |
Tina VanNorman 4292
Personal
Support Worker |
née
Green. Born 1970, Ontario. Died April 27, 2023,
Sudbury, Ontario. Tina was a survivor of sexual abuse who managed to
overcome her trauma and help others Tina married Mike Van Norman and the
couple had three children. She trained as a Personal Support Worker. She is
best remembered for her charity work as a child and family advocate. She
founded Secrets 'Protect our Children. STOP Sexual Abuse' in 2002 which
served the North Shore and Manitoulin Island area of Northern Ontario. She
did not give up even during her fight with cancer.
Source: Obituary online (accessed 2023) |
Marie Beatrice Herminie Vidal
World War 1 Nursing Sister |
née Taschereau.
Born August 6, 1868, (some times recorded as 1874) Quebec City. Died
September 15, 1923, Ottawa, Ontario. Beatrice married as the third
wife of General Beaufort
Henry Vidal (1843-1908). She enlisted With the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC) as a Nursing Sister in 1916 in England and was serving in France by
the spring of 1917 with No. 6 Canadian General Hospital. She became ill and soon returned to
England in May. Back home in Canada she was discharged the beginning of 1918
as medically unfit. She earned a British War medal, a Victory Medal,
and a Memorial Plaque. Source: A
tribute to some women and men who served in armed conflicts. Online; Find a
Grave, Canada. ((2021) |
Maria 'Schwester Maria' Vogt
r20
World War l Nursing Sister in Russia |
Born August 25, 1881,
Schoewiese, Ukraine. Died January 4, 1961, Steinbach, Manitoba. Her
Mennonite parents allowed her to attend Baptist Bible School in Berlin where
amongst many subjects she learned English. In 1911 she began training as a
nurse in Wiesbaden, Germany graduating in 1914. After graduation she made
her way back to Russia during the throws of World War l (1914-1918).She
continued her nursing studies at the Mennonite Bethania Mental Hospital to
gain her Russian certification. She was then conscripted to care for wounded
Russian soldiers at Lehrerseminar a former teacher's college serving as a
hospital. She continued to care for the wounded during the Russian
revolution. In 1923 she and her widowed mother were on their way to
Canada via England. The family landed in Quebec City on August 17, 1923 and
continued their trip to Winnipeg to meet the Hanover Mennonite Welcoming
Committee and they settled in Steinbach, Manitoba. Maria soo had earned her
Canadian certification as a Registered Nurse and served the Mennonite
populations. She and her brother Abram established the first Steinbach
Hospital which they ran without government support. The private hospital
soon became a community hospital licensed by the province. Maria opened an
Invalid home with herself as Home Matron. She helped the mentally
challenged, the physically disable and aged invalids all of which need
specialized care. Soon brother and sister approached the Mennonite Churches
to help with expansion and in in February 1946 the home was sold to the
Kleine Gemeinde Conference. Maria continued working as Matron and Director
at the Home for the Aged, called Bethania. January 4, 1961 she suffered a
heart attack. Source: Memorable Manitobans.
Online (accessed 2023) |
Gladys 'Glady' Maude Mary Wake
World War 1 Nursing
Sister Died on Duty
3408 |
Born December 13,
1883, Esquimalt, British Columbia. Died May 21, 1918, Etaples, France. Glady
graduated from the Royal Jubilee Hospital School of Nursing, British
Columbia in 1912. By January 2, 1916 she was in England posted to the
Duchess of Connaught Hospital, Taplow. She may have gone overseas with the
Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Reserve. On January 10, 1916 she
enlisted in London, England as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC). She was posted to No. 1 Canadian Stationary Hospital
and served in Salonika, Greece. By the fall of 1917 she was serving at No.
11 Canadian General Hospital and the following spring was once again working
at the No. 1 Canadian General Hospital. While serving at the No. 1 Canadian
General Hospital, Etaples she was wounded on May 19, 1918 during an
air attack. 66 patients and staff died as a result of this air raid. In 1998
a mountain in British Columbia, Mount Wade, was named in her honour.
Source: [Canada] A Tribute to Some Women
And Men Who Served in Armed Conflicts. online (accessed 2021); Canada Great
War Project, Nursing Sisters. online (accessed 2021) |
Gertrude Walker
World War 1 Nursing Sister |
Born December 19,
1891, Flamborough Township, Ontario. Died February 29, 1972, Burlington,
Ontario. Gertrude trained as a nurse at the Roosevelt Hospital, New York
City, U.S.A. She joined the American Red Cross in 1917 prior to
completing her nurse traing. Since she had not completed her courses she
could not joint the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She was posted to the No.
15 American Base Hospital in France until the end of the war. After the war
she returned to Canada and worked as a private nurse in Hamilton, Ontario.
She was a charter member of the Canadian Nursing Sisters Association of
Canada. Source: Flamborough
Archives and Heritage Society. Flamborough Nursing Sisters. online (accessed
2021) |
Norma Turina
Walker -Elsey
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3107
|
née
Walker. Born February 1, 1879*, Angus, Ontario**. November 18, 1968,
Victoria, British Columbia. Norma moved with her family to Pilot Mound,
Manitoba. In 1908 she graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH)
School of Nursing. She worked as Superintendent of Nursing as Selkirk
Hospital but was forced to resign short after having contracted typhoid
fever. In 1910 she relocated to British Columbia and worked at first as a
private nurse. In 1916 she was working as a staff nurse at Nanaimo Hospital.
Norma enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps in
1916. She was posted to the Military Annex, Vancouver General Hospital prior
to going overseas at the end of 1917. After the war she worked in social
services in New York, U.S.A. After marrying John Howard Elsey (1876-1966).
The couple relocated to Victoria, British Columbia.
*Tombstone date reads 1877 but CMAC registration
reports 1879. ** her place of birth was wrongly reported in her published
obituary. Source: Heath Sciences Centre Archives., Winnipeg. Online
(accessed 2021); Find a grave Canada, online (accessed 2021) |
Dora
Asta
Walters -Truemner
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3394 |
Born February 22,
1894, Cavalier, North Dakota, U.S.A. Died January 29, 1928, Melfort,
Saskatchewan. Dora attended the University of North Dakota for two years
before relocating to Winnipeg, Manitoba. She graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in 1917. By January 1918 she had
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC).
Overseas she was posted to England. She returned to Canada after the war and
settled in Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan working at the Saskatchewan
Sanatorium. She married Eldon Truemner and settled in Melfort, Saskatchewan.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital
School of Nursing Class of 1917 online
(accessed 2021) |
Adruenna 'Addie' Allen Tupper
World War 1 Nursing
Sister 3404 |
Born October 13,
1859, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Died December 9, 1916, Hillingdon, England.
Addie enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
(CAMC) in September 1914.She was a widow at the time of her enlistment. It
seems she lied about her age when she completed her enlistment forms when
she marked her birth year as 1870. She suffered from pain in her legs and
ended up in hospital herself for six weeks in spring 1915. She became ill
again and was granted a one month convalescence. By November 1915 she was
serving overseas at the Canadian Convalescent Home, Hillingdon, England. By
December 1916 she was admitted to the Hillingdon hospital listed as
dangerously ill. Source: [Canada} A Tribute to Some of
the Women and Men who Served in Armed Conflict. online (accessed 2021) |
Grace Brown Waters
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3261 |
Born June 15, 1881,
Campbellford, Ontario. Died March 4, 1972, Belleville, Ontario. Around
the turn of the century the family resettled in Belleville, Ontario.
Travelling to the U.S.A. In 1905 was a member of the first graduating class
of the Nursing School at St. Luke's Hospital, Utica, New York. She enlisted
as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) Overseas she
was posted to the Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross Hospital, England and
then at the No. 7 Canadian General Hospital, Le Treport, France. In 1917 she
was in hospital herself with influenza. After the war she returned to Red
Cross Nursing Service in Utica, New York State, U.S.A. By 1921 she was
working as a Tuberculosis Nurse with the Utica Health Department. In 1924
she travelled by horse-back to Washington D.C., U.S.A. In 1936 she and two
friends attended the unveiling of the Canadian Vimy Ridge War Memorial in
France. Source: Nurses of World War 1 by
Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Dorothy Webb -Cummings
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3285 |
Born April 29,
1887, St. Boniface, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died May 1963, Sioux Lookout,
Ontario. In 1913 she graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH)
School of Nursing. In November 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with
the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). She was posted to Camp Hughes
at the Sewell Military Hospital, Manitoba. Overseas she served at the No. 4
Canadian Casualty Clearing Station and the No. 2 General Hospital, Le
Touquet, France. Returning to Canada after the war she worked as a
provincial school nurse in Neepawa, Manitoba. She married William Cummings
in June 1927 and the couple settled in Sioux Lookout, Ontario.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1913.. online (accessed 2021); |
Renee Millard White
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3382
|
Born August 12,
1892, Huntsville, Ontario. Died ???? Huntsville, Ontario Renee
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in
1916. After graduation she worked in the Military Wards of the WGH and then
at No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg. In March 1917
she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC)
and was posted overseas. After the war she returned to Huntsville, Ontario.
source:
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital Class of 1916. online (accessed 2021) |
Mary White - Murdock
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3124 |
née White. Born
September 22, 1883, Camphill, Scotland. Mary graduated in 1910 from the
Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. She relocated to North
Dakota, U.S.A. after graduation accepting a position at Westhope Hospital.
By 1912 she had relocated to Fernie, British Columbia to be in charge of
nurses. In 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps (CAMC) and was posted to No. 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital,
Egypt. She also served at No. 11 Canadian General Hospital, Moerr Barracks,
Shorncliffe, England. After the war she returned to Canada, married Alex
Murdock and settled in Saskatchewan.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1910. online
(accessed 2021: Record of Service - Overseas Military Forces of Canada
Medical Units, Department of National Defense, online (accessed 2021) |
Margaret Ann Whitfield -Lough
3262
World War 1 Nursing Sister
|
Born April 13,
1893, Fraserville, Ontario. Died August 3, 1986. Margaret Ann graduated from
the Belleville General Hospital School, Ontario in 1916. May 7, 1917 she
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC).
Overseas she was posted to the Duchess of Connaught Canadian Red Cross
Hospital, Taplow as well as Canadian Military Hospitals in Buxton,
Granville, and Orpington, England. In the late fall of 1918 she contracted
influenza and was hospitalized. Returning to Canada after the war she worked
as a nurse in Windsor, Ontario. August 16, 1921 she married pharmacist
Howard Lough and the couple settled in Brantford, Ontario. In 1960 they
relocated to Calgary Alberta. Source:
Nurses of World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Florence Katherine Whittick - McKeen
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3120
|
Born February
14, 1885, Niverville, Manitoba. Died December 15, 1966, Winnipeg Manitoba.
Florence graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing in 1910. In June 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC). By December 1915 she was overseas posted
to No. 15 Canadian General Hospital also called the Duchess of Connaught's
Red Cross Hospital, Taplow. While it is known that she also served in France
the particular hospital is not known. Returning to Winnipeg after the war in
1919 she worked as a nurse with the City Child Welfare in 1920. In 1922 she
married Allan McKean and the couple settled in Winnipeg.
Source: Health Sciences Centre, Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1910. online (accessed 2021) |
Agnes Wightmen
Wilkie
4071
World War ll Nursing
Sister killed in Action |
Born September 5, 1904, Carman, Manitoba. Died October 14,
1942, at sea. Agnes graduated as a nurse at Misericordia Hospital in
Winnipeg in 1927 receiving an honorary medal for the highest standing in
theory. She worked in Misericordia's operating room and as a private duty
nurse prior to enlisting in February 1942 with the Royal Canadian Navy for
service during the war. Agnes is the only Canadian Nursing Sister to die
from enemy action during World War ll (1939-1945). She was the Assistant
Matron at the Avalon Hospital, Newfoundland. On the night of October 13,
1942, the S. S. Caribou was headed to Port aux Basque, a ferry
crossing from Canada to Newfoundland. It is a nine hour crossing. The
Caribou was torpedoed by the German U-boat U69 and sank within minutes. 192
passengers with 118 members of the services were onboard. Agnes was
with her friend Sub-Lieutenant Margaret Brooke. The women were returning to
St. John's navel hospital after having been on leave. Only two lifeboats and
12 rafts made into the icy ocean waters. The two women were thrown into the
ocean and grabbed a piece of wreckage and then clung to an overturned
lifeboat. After two hours Agnes gave way to hypothermia but Margaret clung
to her friend with one hand and gripped the overturned lifeboat with her
other hand as long as she could before having to release her friends body to
rough the ocean. Only 106 passengers and 31 crew members died at sea.
The Canadian Navy immediately suspended night crossings to Newfoundland. A
nursing residence was named in Agnes' honour. Manitoba's Wilkie Lake was
named in her honour and a monument was erected in the Carman cemetery.
Sub-Lieutenant Brooke received the Order of the British Empire (O B E) for
her bravery that night. Margaret Brooke is the only naval Nursing Sister to
have received the O B E. The book, Night of the Caribou by
David Walker describes this tragic event. (2022) |
Ann
Maria
Williams - Rawson
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3263
|
Born February 18,
1888, Manchester, England. Died December 13, 1967, Belleville, Ontario.
Anne Marie graduated from the Nursing School at Salford, England in 1912.
She enlisted with the British Territorial Nursing Service in 1915. She was
posted to the Western Front at the British Army Base Hospital in France. She
was mentioned in dispatches for her gallant service and in 1919 she was
awarded the Order of the British Empire (O B E). After the war in 1920 she
immigrated to Canada and worked at the St. Andrew's Hospital in New
Brunswick. Later she worked at the Tuberculosis Mountain Sanatorium ,
Hamilton, Ontario. April 21, 1923, she married veteran Author Rawson
and the couple settled in St. Catherines, Ontario. At the end of the
1920's they relocated to Belleville and raised their family. She was the
first woman member of the Army, Navy, and Air Force Veteran's Association.
Source: Nurses of World War 1 by Donald
Brearley, 2018 online (accessed 2021) |
Elsie
Jean
Wilson
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3336 |
Born August 10,
????, Toronto, Ontario. Died ???/ Elsie graduated from the Winnipeg General
Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in 1915 and worked at the WGH after
graduation. In 1916 she was at Camp Hughes at Camp Sewell Military Hospital
at Carberry, Manitoba for military training. She enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) in November 1916. Elsie
served in England and in France before returning to Winnipeg at the end of
the war. She worked as a Public Health Nurse with the Manitoba Provincial
Board of Health. In 1935 she became president of the Manitoba Association of
Registered Nurses and that same year became Supervisor of the tuberculosis
section of the Public Health Nursing Division with the Manitoba Government.
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Winnipeg General Hospital Class of 1915.
online (accessed 2021) |
Frederica Wilson
World War 1 Nursing Superintendent |
Born February 11,
1896, Goderich, Ontario. Died February 18, 1935, Whonnock, British Columbia.
Frederica Graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing , Manitoba in 1899. She worked as Superintendent of Nurses at the
WGH from 1905 until 1914 when she relocated To British Columbia. In 1915
she enlisted with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) and served as
Matron of the fifth Overseas British Columbia Hospital Unit. She was posted
to the NO. 5 Canadian General Hospital, Salonika, Greece. From there she
served at the N0. 2 Canadian General Hospital, Le Treport, France, on the
front lines. Returning to British Columbia in 1919 she became a fruit farmer
at Wilmont Farm. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg, Class of 1899, online (accessed 2021) |
Mary
Olevia Wilson
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3264 |
Born January 15, 1892, Hastings County, Ontario. Died
December 16, 1981, Kingston, Ontario. Mary Olevia graduated from the
Kingston 9Ontario) General Hospital (KGH) School of Nursing, in 1916. She became Head
Operating Nurse at the hospital. On November 1, 1916 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) and originally
was posted to the Ongwanda Military Hospital, Kingston, Ontario. Overseas
she served in Canadian Medical Hospital in Westenhanger, Shorncliffe and
Orpington, England. She also served at the No. 7 Canadian General Hospital,
Etaples, France. near the end of the conflict she was admitted to hospital
in Le Touquet, France with influenza. Returning to Canada after the
war she worked as a nurse in Vancouver, British Columbia and in San
Francisco, California, U.S.A. In 1924 she returned to work at the Kingston
General Hospital where she was in charge of wards and administrative staff.
She was Acting Director of Nursing at KGH and was Assistant to the
Superintendent of the Hospital until her retirement in 1961.
Source: Nurses of World War 1 by Donald Brearley, 2018 online (accessed
2021) |
Mona Gordon
Wilson
|
Born 1894, Toronto, Ontario. Died 1981. Mona attended
Havergal Ladies College followed by St. Johns Hopkins University, School of
Nursing, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. In 1918 she joined the Red Cross and served in Serbia and the
Balkans. Back in Canada in 1922, she trained as a Public Health at the
University of Toronto. That same year she began working as Chief Public
Health Officer for the Red Cross in Prince Edward Island. In her second year
she visited 110 schools and addressed 148 meetings! In 1931 when Public
Health was taken over by the provincial government she became a
superintendent. In 1940 she served in St. John’s , Newfoundland on loan to
work with Canadian soldiers and merchant marines. She became known as the
Florence Nightingale of St John’s. In 1946, back in PEI, she worked in
Public Health until 1960. An outdoor enthusiast, she helped established Girl
Guides in the province. She was also a founding member of the Zonta Club.
There is a monument dedicated to her in PEI recognizing her as a person of
National Historical Significance.
Source:
Herstory: The Canadian Women’s Calendar, 2008. Saskatoon Women’s
Calendar Collective (Coteau Books, 2007) ; 100 more Canadian Heroines
by Merna Forester. : Book; She answered every call: the life of Public
Health Nurse Mona Gordon Wilson by Douglas Baldwin. (2020) |
Helen Woolson
World War 1 Nursing Sister
3314 |
Born March 2, 1888,
Ingersoll, Ontario. Died January 10, 1973, London, Ontario. Helen
graduated from the St. Joseph's Hospital School of Nursing, London, Ontario
in 1908. In ay 1916 she enlisted as Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Amy Medical Corps (CAMC). Over seas she was posted to No. 10 Canadian
Stationary Hospital which had been established by University of Western
Ontario, London, Ontario. She also served with No. 1 Canadian General
Hospital. Returning to Canada after the war she nursed at Byron Sanatorium
and at Speedwell Hospital, Guelph, Ontario. She worked as an investigator
with the Canadian Pension Commission for Military District No. 1, London,
Ontario and was night supervisor at St. Joseph's Hospital School of Nursing
from the 1940's until 1957. Some of her papers and personal records are
maintained by the Archives, Western University, London Ontario.
Source: University of Western Ontario Archives , Helen
Woolson Fonds. online (accessed 2021) |
Alice
Lillian
Wright
3433 |
Born 1894,
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Died March 15, 2000, British Columbia.
As a child she moved with ther family to British Columbia. She graduated in
1918 from the Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) School of Nursing. She went
on to earh a Bachelor of Nursing from Columbia University, Newy York City,
U.S.A. in 1941. She returned to British Columbia and became Registrar and
Executive Director of the Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia
from 1943 through 1960. She presented a Charter of Rights for nurses in 1946
to the Association at the Annual General Meeting and after approval she
proceeded to put the words into action. She helped the nurses of St. Paul's
Hospital form the first bargaining unit in the province and went on to set
up bargaining units to seek improved working conditions. |
Helen Griffith
Wylie -Watson |
née McArthur Born July 11, 1911, Stettler, Alberta. Died December 15,
1974, Guelph, Ontario. Helen married Dr. William Watson in 1931.
She attended the University of
Alberta graduating in 1934 with a Bachelor of Science in public health
nursing. She went on to earn a Master's degree from Columbia University, New
York, U.S.A. She became Director of the School of Nursing at the University
of Alberta. Helen also served as the head of public health nursing for
the province of Alberta for three years. She joined the Red Cross
Society and worked her way to later became national director of nursing
services. She would also serve as
president of the Canadian Nurses Association from 1950 through 1954. In
1957 she earned the Florence Nightingale Award for her work in Korea where
she served to rebuild the infrastructure of public health. . It is the
highest international nursing aware that the Red Cross bestows. She
chaired a nursing advisory committee in Geneva, Switzerland and
serving on an International Council of Nurses. Back in Canada, she was
president of the Canadian Nurses' Association and the Ontario College of
Nurses She was and
officer of the Order of Canada in 1971. She married Dr. William Watson. (2020) |
Dorothy Muriel Wylie |
Born August 15, 1929, Toronto, Ontario. Died August 13, 2016.
At 18 when she was considered too young by most schools she enrolled in St
Michael’s Hospital School of Nursing graduating in 1950. As a working nurse
she was known for being blunt and practical, always to the point. She
studied for her Bachelor of Nursing at New York University in the U.S.A. in
1964 and earned her Master’s degree at Cornell University in New York State,
U.S.A. in 1969. She was an early proponent of patient-centered care. She
favoured hand on training and projects. In the 1970’s she worked at various
leadership roles at Scarborough Centenary Hospital, Sunnybrook and at the
Registered Nurses Association of Ontario. In 1978 she served as
Vice-president of Nursing at Toronto General, the largest Hospital in the
country at that time. Hel helped to launch the Ontario Provincial Nurse
Administrators Interest Group and also the Journal of Nursing
Administration which eventually was renamed the Canadian Journal of
Nursing. She was elected as the president of the College of Nurses of
Ontario. In 1982 she became a Fellow at Ryerson University, Toronto and
taught at the University of and in 1989 she was associate professor at the
University of Toronto. She retired from teaching in 1994. In 1885 she earned
a second master’s degree in human resources development at American
University in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. In 2001 3 women she mentored founded
the Dorothy Wylie Health Leaders Institute that offers leadership education
for nurses.
Source; Obituary Globe and Mail September 9, 2016.
Suggestion submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa Ontario.
(2020) |
Clotilda Adessa Coward
Douglas - Yakimchuk
Black Nurse
|
née Coward. Born 1932, Whitney Pier,
Nova Scotia. Died April 15, 2021, Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1954 Clotilda was the 1st Black woman to graduate from the
Nova Scotia Hospital School of Nursing, Dartmouth. She went on to earn
a post graduate diploma in midwifery, Colony Hospital, Grenada, West Indies,
where she lived for more than a decade. She also earned a post graduate
certificate in psychiatric nursing from the Nova Scotia Hospital and a
diploma in adult education from St Frances Xavier University, Nova Scotia.
Clotilda began her career as Head Nurse of the
Admission/Discharge Unit of the Nova Scotia and would spend 50 years of
service in her profession. After the death of her 1st husband she moved back
from the West Indies with her five children. In 1988 she became the
first Black person elected president of the Registered Nursing Association of
Nova Scotia. She also served on numerous national, provincial, and local
committees and working groups. She was the founding president of the
Black Community Development Organization, leading the movement to provide
affordable housing in low-income communities. She is also committed to
education for Black youth and is a determined fundraiser and mentor. In 1991
she received the National Harry Jerome Award acknowledging her cultural and
community service. Clotilda retired as Director of Education Services,
Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Sydney, Nova Scotia in 1994. She was a
recipient of the College of Registered Nurses Association of Nova Scotia
Centennial Award of Distinction. In 2003, in recognition of the significant
role she played in getting a nursing program up and running at the Cape
Breton University and her being a role model for youth she was inducted into
the Order of Canada. November 6, 2018 she was invested with the Order of
Nova Scotia.(2020) |
Nursing Administrators and Founders
Return
to categories
|
Lady Elsie Elizabeth Allardyce |
Born London, England June 7, 1878. Died
1962. Lady Allardyce was the wife of the Governor of Newfoundland, who
served in office from 1922-1928. She was however not satisfied to serve
simply as chatelaine for the province. She is the founder of the Girl Guide
movement in the province and was a moving force in provincial nursing. She
expanded the Outport Nursing Scheme and organized Home Industrial Centres to
teach Newfoundland women patterns of knitting and weaving. The crafts were
sold to raise funds to pay nurses' salaries. Because of the self-supporting
nature of the program rural Newfoundland was able to retain nurses during
difficult economic times. In 1924 the ONS became the Newfoundland Outport
Nursing and Industrial Association. |
Dorothy Macham
Nursing Sister in World War ll |
Born 1910. Died July 12, 2002.
Dorothy highly respected the nurse who often visited their country home to
tend to herself and her brothers and sisters. In 1932 she graduated from
Women’s College School of Nursing in Toronto. At the outbreak of WW ll she
enlisted with the Royal Canadian Medical Corp, where by the end of the war
in 1945 she had achieved the rank of Major. King George Vl presented her
with the Royal Red Cross Medal for her war services. A skilled nurse, she
also had proven herself to have exceptional administrative skills. In 1946
she began a 29 year appointment as Superintendent of Woman’s College
Hospital. She would oversee the new construction of the school buildings and
introduce a 2 year educator program. An ardent activist, she led the school
to become fully accredited and part of the University of Toronto graduating
program. She came out of retirement to serve as Executive Director at West
Park Hospital for five years. In 1980 she was appointed to the Order of
Canada. In 2001 Sunnybrook Hospital opened the Dorothy Macham Home, a 10 bed
care and research Centre for veterans suffering from dementia.
Source:
Dorothy Macham: Nurse and war veteran by Eilis Quinn. Toronto Star July 31,
2002. |
Medical Researchers
Return
to categories
|
Judi Barbara
Alimonti
4042 |
Born March 13, 1960, Kelowna, British Columbia. Died December
26,2017, Ottawa, Ontario. Judie was the daughter of a truck driver and a
store clerk and in high school she became a top athlete and keen jazz
musician. Her first career was as a massage therapist graduating from the
Canadian College of Massage and Hydrotherapy, Sutton, Ontario in 1981. She
opened a clinic in Kelowna with her husband Alan Giesbrecht. While working
she took a few science courses and became interested enough to attend
university as a full time mature student. In 1991 Judie received a Bachelor
of Science-Microbiology degree from the University of British Columbia. She
went on to earn a doctorate in immunology from the University of Manitoba in
Winnipeg. She worked at the Public Health Agency of Canada in 2005 where she
took on the role of project leader for the Ebola Vaccine. in 2020. She
worked managing the Canadian testing of a human-grade Ebola Vaccine at the
National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg. An immunologist, she was known
for her research on the RVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccine. After working on the
ZIKA virus. working contract to contract she left the Laboratory in 2015 and
began working at the National Research Council of Canada. Her experimental
vaccine was used during the deadly West Africa Ebola outbreak in 2015-2016.
Judie herself did not care about any recognition but rather knowing her work
was saving lives was reward enough. Source Obituary,
Ottawa Citizen July 14, 2018, Canadian
Encyclopedia. |
Nancy N. Berg |
During her career she has been part of a research team
investigating the machinery in cells that defends the body against foreign
agents such as viruses and tumors. She has, through her studies at the
University of Alberta and the University of Toronto, published and lectured
extensively on her area of expertise. Her goal is to aid in the development
of immunotherapy for medical application. Among the awards she has received
is the Alice Wilson Award from the Royal Society of Canada.
(2020) |
Susan M. Bradley |
At the beginning of her scientific career she
was the 1992 recipient of the Alice Wilson Award presented by the Royal
Society of Canada. Her doctoral research was on the synthesis and
characterization of new types of porous, inorganic crystalline polymers. At
he University of Calgary she synthesized several new materials at high
temperatures and pressures in aqueous solutions and characterized them using
a variety of sophisticated techniques including X-ray photoelectron
spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance. She continued her post doctoral
studies at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
(2020) |
Barbara Kathleen Buchner |
Born June 1, 1927, Galt (now Cambridge),
Ontario.
Died
October 17, 2011, Cambridge, Ontario. Barbara earned her bachelor’s degree in
Sciences from McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario in 1948. There were 8
women in her graduating class. She continued her studies for her Master’s
degree in Virology, 1954. In the early years of her career she was often the
only woman at a conference table. She had a successful career as a
virologist and epidemiologist in Toronto and Ottawa retiring from the Red
Cross in 1992. She authored numerous scientific papers in virology,
hepatitis and radioimmunoassay. Her achievements were recognized when she
received the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award in Science, 1998. She was an
active volunteer in the Canadian Hearing Society of Cambridge and also
served as an elder in her church for many years.
Source: Lives lived: Barbara Kathleen Buchner by Ruth Manchee
Kenins. The Globe and Mail December 20, 2011.
Suggestion submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa.
(2020) |
Donna Arlene
Choe |
Born March 9, 1940, Toronto, Ontario. Donna carried out
her studies for a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Toronto
and then moved to the University of Manitoba where she earned her PhD. Her
professional pursuits are in the field of immunology. She is a professor in
this subject at the University of Manitoba. A published expert on immunology
she was the YMCA Woman of Distinction in 1992 and was also awarded the
Canada 125 Medal in recognition of her accomplishments.
(2020) |
Sylvia Olga Fedoruk |
Born May 5, 1927, Canora, Saskatchewan. Died September 26, 2012, Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan. An excellent academic achiever Sylvia established her reputation
for achievement in nuclear medical research early in her career. She was
instrumental in the development of the 1st cobalt radiation unit which is
now in side use as a chemotherapy treatment for cancer.
She was the 1st woman named to the position of Chancellor at the University
of Saskatchewan. She was also the
1st woman trustee of the Society of Nuclear
Medicine and in 1973 she was the 1st woman appointed to the Atomic Energy
Control Board of Canada. She was Lieutenant Governor of
Saskatchewan from 1988 to 1994. A balanced achiever she enjoys sports and is
a member of Canada’s Curling Hall of Fame. She was
appointed to the Order of Canada in 1986.
The City of Saskatoon
named a road, Fedoruk Drive in her honour. On October 3, 2012 the name of the Canadian Centre for
Nuclear Innovation (C C N I) was changed to the
Sylvia Fedoruk
Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation
in honor of the pioneering work she did.
In 2009 she was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
(2020) |
Norma Ford - Walker |
née Ford. Born September 3, 1893,
St Thomas, Ontario.
Died August 9, 1968, Toronto, Ontario. In 1914 Norma entered the University of Toronto and by 1923 she had earned her PhD. She was an instructor at the University of
Toronto and became a full professor of Human Genetics. After her marriage in
1943 to Dr. Edmond Merton Walker she she remained dedicated to her career.
In 1947 she was the founder and Director of the Department of Genetics a the
Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. She forged a research tradition that
served as the basis for further developments in medical genetics in Toronto
and educated a generation of students, many of whom were women, who
went on to populate and then institutionalize the growing science and
practice of medical genetics in Canada. She was a charter member of both the
Genetics Society of Canada and the American Society of Human Genetics.
She was trustee of the Queen Elizabeth Fund for Research in Children's
Diseases. In 1958 she was elected Fellow, Royal Society of Canada. online has a
biography of this great Canadian. Source:
Canadian encyclopedia online.
(2020) |
Elaine Gottschall |
née Reichbaum.
Born Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Died September 5, 2005, Cobourg,
Ontario. A determined
mother who “had” to ease her daughter’s pain she went back to school at 47
earning a bachelor’s and a masters degree in biology biochemistry,
nutritional biochemistry and cellular biology. She became a hero to hundreds
of thousands of people as she wrote Breaking the Vicious Cycle
(1987). This book was the first to connect intestinal health with died. As a
Mom, she could not allow her youngest child to suffer and through her work
with diets, she healed her daughter’s intestinal problems. She then shared
her findings to help others. The book ran for 10 editions and was translated
into 7 different languages.
(2020) |
Annette Herscovics |
SEE - Scientists |
Julia Levy |
née
Coppens. Born May 15, 1934, Singapore. Julia's father sent the family to
Vancouver, British Columbia in 1940 where he joined them after being
released from a Japanese prisoner of war camp at the end of World War ll.
Julia enjoyed mathematics in high schools and was inspired by her grade 11
biology teacher. Julia studied immunology and bacteriology earning a
Bachelor Degree in 1955 at the University of British Columbia. By 1958 she
had earned her doctorate (PhD) in experimental pathology from the University
of London in England. Returning to British Columbia she took a position as
an assistant professor and worked her way to become a full professor at the
University of British Columbia. In 1980 she was elected a Fellow in the
Royal Society of Canada. Together with some university colleagues, she
founded her own drug company, Quadra Logic Technologies (QLT), dealing with
photodynamic therapy (P T D) which was used for treating cancer. It was also
the 1st medical treatment of one of the leading causes of blindness,
age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In 1993 the P T D drug Photofrin
became a recognized treatment for bladder cancer. Julia served as Chief
Scientific Officer for Q L T and from 1995 through 2001 she served as Chief
Executive Officer and President. Recognized for her contributions to cancer
treatments she is also investigating treatment of diseases such as
arthritis, psoriasis (a skin disease) and multiple sclerosis. In 2000 she
was named Pacific Canada Entrepreneur of the Year and the following year she
became an Officer in the Order of Canada. She has also received the Future
of Vision Award from the Foundation Fighting Blindness, the Helen Keller
Award for Contributions to Vision and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the
British Columbia Biotechnology Association. The Chemical Institute of Canada
presents the Julia Levy Award for successful commercialization of innovation
in the field of biomedical science and engineering. Julia is married
to Edwin Levy and is proud of her two children and she is also very proud to
have two grandchildren. (2021) |
Phyllis Jean
McAlpine |
Born August 29, 1941**, southern Ontario. Died October 1,
1998. She graduated with a B.Sc. from the University of Western Ontario,
receiving the Gold Medal in Zoology, an M.A. in Human Genetics , University
of Toronto and a Ph.D. Galton Laboratory, University College, London,
England. Phyllis was appointed as Research Associate in the Section of
Genetics, Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba
in 1972. In 1993 she was appointed head of the Department of Genetics.
She carried out strong independent research in the mapping of human genes
before the Human Genome Project existed. A successful and highly productive
researcher she published 100 papers during her career. She was one of the
founding members and co-chaired the Human Gene Nomenclature Committee from
1977-1991. 1992 to 1996, she chaired the committee on nomenclature for the
Annual Human Gene Mapping Chromosome Coordinating Meetings. It was under her
that human gene nomenclature became a single language and not a series of
dialects. When she retired from the Nomenclature Committee in 1996 she was
replaced with the equivalent of three full-time staff. She was particularly
committed to helping women in science, where she felt it was often difficult
to get recognition as a female. She served as President of the Canadian
Association of Women in Science, Manitoba Chapter, 1993-94. She was
presented with the Founders Award in 1998, given by the Canadian College of
Medical Geneticists.
Source: Government of Manitoba. Status of Women. Women working
for Healthy Communities by Ada Ducas et all October 2001. Online (accessed
December 2011) **Birthrate is recorded as 1942 in some
resources. (2021) |
Frances Gertrude
McGill |
Born 1877, Minnedosa, Manitoba. Died January 21, 1959,
Winnipeg, Manitoba. Frances taught school to finance her education. She started
to study law but eventually decided to study medicine. She won the Isbister
First Year Scholarship, and when she graduated in 1915, at the age of
thirty-seven, she won the Dean's Prize, the Hutchison Gold Medal, and the
Surgical Case Report Prize. After graduation, she began her career in the
Manitoba Provincial Laboratory and then accepted the position of Provincial
Bacteriologist in the Saskatchewan Department of Health, later becoming
Provincial Pathologist for Saskatchewan and Laboratory Director. She was
appointed Honorary Surgeon at the RCMP Laboratory in Regina and was a
lecturer in forensic medicine at the RCMP Training Academy. She became one
of Canada's best known criminologists helping to solve hundreds of murder
investigations. She was respected and admired by the male members of the
RCMP who thought she was a "real lady" but also considered her "one of the
boys" for the way she was able to endure the hardships and fatigue of her
job. In some cases they traveled thousands of miles by dog team, snowmobile,
and rickety floatplane in order to reach the most remote parts of the
province. The Province of Saskatchewan decided to honour her memory by
officially naming McGill Lake, north of Lake Arthabaska, in her memory. She
was inducted into the Science and Technology Hall of Fame. Government of Manitoba.
Sources: Status of Women. Women working for
Healthy Communities by Ada Ducas et all October 2001. Online (accessed
December 2011); Canada Science and Technology Museum. Hall of Fame. Online
(accessed December 2011) (2021) |
Maud Leonora
Menten |
Born March 20, 1879, Port Lambton, Ontario.
Died July 17, 1960, Leamington, Ontario. Maud earned her Bachelor Degree
in 1904, then her Master's in 1907. She then attended Medical School
graduating with her medical degree in 1911. A dedicated and outstanding
medical scientist she was
the 1st Canadian woman to receive a medical
doctorate in 1916 having
completed her thesis work at the University of Chicago in the U.S.A.
In this era women were not
allowed to do medical research in Canada so in 1912 Maud relocated to
Berlin, Germany. While working in Germany, she and a colleague Leonora
Michaelis, developed the Michaelis-Menten equation which is a basic
biochemical concept. She continued researching and publishing and made
discoveries relating to blood sugar, hemoglobin and kidney functions. Unable
to find a Canadian academic position from 1923 through 1950 Maud worked
first as an assistant Professor, then an Associate Professor and finally a
full professor at the School of Medicine at the University of
Pittsburgh. She was also Head of Pathology at the Children's Hospital of
Pittsburgh. During her tenure at the University of Pittsburg she managed
time to play the clarinet, enjoy painting, climb mountains and even went on
an Arctic expedition. She also studied several languages including Russian,
French, German, Italian and at lease on Native-American Language. From
1951-1954 she was a research fellow conducting cancer research at the
British Columbia Medical Research Institute. In 1998 she was posthumously
inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. The University of
Pittsburgh named a chair and memorial lectures in her honour. In 2015 Port
Lambton, Ontario installed a commemorative bronze plaque The Ontario
Heritage Trust erected an historical plaque about Maud Menten in from of the
University of Toronto's Medical Sciences Building
(2020) |
Mona Nemer |
Born 1957, Beirut, Lebanon. Mona immigrated to Kansas, U.S.A.
during the Lebanese Civil War which began in 1975. In 1977 she graduated
with her Bachelor Degree from Wichita State University in Kansas. Vile
visiting friends in the summer after graduation she was convinced to study
in Montreal. She completed her PhD in Bio-organic chemistry in 1982 from
McGill University. She has published well over scientific research articles
in medical journals. Her work has contributed to the development
of
diagnostic tests
for heart failure and the genetics of cardiac
birth defects.
In 1994 she received the Marcel-Piche Prize in recognition of the
contribution to the growth and outreach of the Institute de recherches
cliniques de Montréal where she worked as Director of the Cardiac
Development Research Unit. In 2001 she became a fellow in the Royal
Society of Canada. In 2003 she earned the Leo-Pariseau Prize for her
research. From 2006 through 2017 she served as Vice President of
Research at the University of Ottawa. In 2009 she was named a Knight of the
National Order of Merit in France. She In 2014 she became a Member of the
order of Canada. September 26, 2017 she was appointed as Canada's Chief
Science Advisor providing impartial scientific advice to the Prime Minister
and ensures scientists can special freely. She also promotes Canadian
science nationally and internationally.
(2020) |
Elizabeth Stern |
Born September 19, 1915, Cobalt,
Ontario. Died August 18, 1980, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.. She studied medicine at the University of
Toronto and graduated in 1939. She moved to the United States where her
research gained international attention. While working at UCLA she published
the first case report linking a specific virus to a specific cancer. In her
study of birth control pills and cervical cancer she later showed that
a normal cell goes through 250 distinct stages before reaching advanced
cervical cancer. One of the first specialists in cytopathology, the study of
diseased cell she helped lead to earlier detection techniques to help save
women’s lives. The Encyclopedia Britannica, included her in their
list of “300 women who changed the world” that was released in 2006.
(2020) |
Ayako "Irene" Uchida
Asian Canadian |
Born April 4, 1917, Vancouver, British Columbia. Died July
30, 2013, Toronto, Ontario. Her childhood piano teacher could not pronounce
her given name and called her Irene. The name stuck. She began her studies
at the University of British Columbia. With the onslaught of World War ll
and the war against Japan, Irene was swept up with 20,000 Japanese Canadians
and placed in internment camps. Here she would become the principal of a
grade school with 500 students. After the release from the camp and with the
help of the United Church of Canada she studied at the University of
Toronto. She had to work at such jobs as dishwasher to live. She
graduated in 1946 and pursued further studies of the human chromosomes. She
graduated with a PhD in Zoology in 1951. She worked at the Toronto Hospital
for Sick Children until 1959. After a short fellowship in Wisconsin, U.S.A.
she started the 1st
National Cytogenetics Lab in Canada at the Winnipeg Children’s Hospital.
Here in the 1960’s she was the first person to link radiation exposure in
women throughout their lives to Downs Syndrome births of the women’s
children. The practice of medicine was forever changed. By 1970 she was in
the international spotlight. She was awarded the Woman of the Century from
the Manitoba National Council of Jewish Women and the Founder Award from the
Canadian College of Medical Geneticists. She worked briefly as a visiting
scientist at the University of London, England and returned to Canada in
1969 to work at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario for the next twenty
years. She was awarded the Order of Canada in 1993. She retired in 1995 from
Oshawa General Hospital.
Sources: Canadian Encyclopedia online; Obituary by Olesia
Plokhii, The Globe and Mail, September 14, 2013: Book,
Seeing the invisible: the story of Dr. Uchida by Terry Watada.
Suggestion submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa Ontario. |
Margaret
'Peggy' Ann
Wilson Thompson |
née Wilson. Born January 7, 1920, Isle of Man, United
Kingdom, Died November 3, 2014, Toronto, Ontario. When Peggy was six her family
immigrated to Saskatchewan. She completed Normal School (Teacher’s College)
and taught in rural prairie schools prior to earning her biology degree at
the University of Saskatchewan in 1943. By 1948 she had earned her PhD from
the University of Toronto in zoology specializing in metabolic genetics. She
Married James Jimmy’ Thompson and taught 1st at the University of
Western Ontario before moving to the University of Alberta. While in Alberta
she served on the Alberta Eugenics Board 1960 to 1962, a fact little known
even by closest colleagues. The family with two sons relocated to Toronto in 1963
where Peggy worked at the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick
Children. She and James wrote the 1st textbook on human genetics
which would become a standard throughout North America. She was a founding
member of the Genetics Society of Canada and the Canadian College of Medical
Genetics where she served as President in 1983 through 1985. This society
and the Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences offer annual trainee
awards in Peggy’s hour. In 1988 she was presented with the Order of Canada.
She was also a member of the American Society of Human Genetics where she
served on the Board of Directors in 1977-78. In 1995 the ASHG presented her
with the 1st award for excellence in Human Genetics Education.
Peggy had a passion for research in Muscular Dystrophy and inspired many
students and researchers in this field. Sources: Ron
Csillag, “Gifted Scientist Margaret Thompson had a lasting impact on Health
Care’, Globe and Mail, December 14, 2014; Lou Siminovitch and Ron
Worton, ‘A tribute to Margaret W. Thompson …1920-2014’,
Globe and Mail November 26, 2014; The Canadian Encyclopedia Online
(Accessed December 2014) (2020) |
Occupational Therapist
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|
Mary
Ellouise Black
|
SEE - Artists - Tapestry and Textile Art |
Stella W. Tate |
Born December 14, 1922, London, England. Died
October 17,1999, Port Hope, Ontario. Stella was born in England while her
parents were on leave from their Quaker Mission in Chunking, Chine.
She arrived in Canada with her mother and sister as they fled from Japanese
threats in Shanghai, China. Stella studied at the local University of
British Columbia for a year before switching to the University or Toronto
and graduated from the University of
Toronto with a diploma in occupational therapy in 1943. Hired as a typist in
the Canadian Navy she was shortly promoted and commissioned as a lieutenant
and became the Canadian Navy’s 1st Occupational Therapist.
She served in hospitals in Halifax and St John's, Newfoundland. After the
war she followed her career in the Department of Veterans Affairs In
Edmonton. In 1944 she had
met a navy man, C. Ian P. Tate, whom she would marry in 1950. The
couple would have three children. In the
1960’s she established the Occupational Therapy Program at Toronto’s Hugh
MacMillan Rehabilitation Center. In the 1970’s she helped develop the
province of Ontario’s 1st
home care programme which allowed patients to be at home while having
therapy. She held the position of President of the Canadian Association of
Occupational Therapists. She retired as a Special Projects Officer from the
Ontario Ministry of Health in 1986. Moving to Port Hope, Ontario she became
active in her new community helping with the creation of the Lakeshore
Hospice.
Source: “Builders and Pioneers :
Individuals who helped ideas prosper” by Steve Brearton, University of
Toronto Magazine. Spring 2000; Obituary, Globe and Mail October
7, 1999. (2020) |
Pharmacists
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to categories
|
Elizabeth Adamson |
Elizabeth moved to
Oil springs, Ontario in the 1860's when the town was a boom town. She worked
for the village Dr, Samuel Macklem. Elizabeth became interested in drugs and
began to study drugs working as an assistant in the local drug store
studying pharmacy under Dr Macklem. In 1866 she perched the doctor's medical
stock of herbs, chemicals, and opened her own store.
She became Ontario's
1st licensed woman pharmacist. That year the town of Oil Springs went bust
with only a small group of residents remaining. Elizabeth retained her store
by expanding the business to include groceries. When Elizabeth was in her
late 50's her daughter, Annie Gale Adamson, took over the business.
Source: Lambton Heritage Museum, online. (2020)
|
Bertha Ogilivie Archibald
3265 |
Born 1889, Bedford,
Nova Scotia. Died 1984, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Bertha first studied as a
nurse at Calgary General Hospital, Alberta. It was during this time that she
became interested in pharmacy. She was a graduated of the Halifax
Academy, Maritime College of Pharmacy at Dalhousie University. Bertha was
the first registered pharmacist in Nova Scotia. In 1917 she began working at
the Victoria General Hospital, Halifax, as Assistant Pharmacist. When the
Chief pharmacist, Dr. Puttner resigned Bertha became Director of Pharmacy at
the hospital. During the recovery of the Halifax explosion on December 6,
1917 she was responsible for mixing drugs and keeping supplies available.
Since the lab windows had been blown out during the explosion she worked in
her winter coat. In 1948 she developed a plan for the new hospital's
pharmacy ordering such modern equipment as a gas oven, sterilizer. She
colour coded the different drugs and solutions She met with the
Director of John and Johnson Company to order gauze and adhesive in
different lengths so she would not have to do this for different
departments. J&J liked this idea and distributed throughout the world on her
advice. She retired after 29 years at the Victoria General.
(2022) |
Louise Beaulac - Baillargeon |
Born February 21, 1944, Shawinigan, Quebec.
Louise studied for her Bachelor of Arts at Laval University and continued on to earn her Bachelor
of Pharmacy, and her PhD. She began teaching as an assistant professor at Laval in
1974. She would go on to study and research in the estimation of milk to
plasma ratios by an in vitro methodological approach and then the use of
pharmacokinetics during pregnancy and post-partum and also looked at
caffeine, cigarettes and drugs interaction on post natal development. She
became Director m Master Degree Program in Hospital Pharmacy form 1980-1988
and in continued to be a professor and chair of the Pharmacology, School of
Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University. She has written numerous
papers and reports in her area of expertise as well as having co-authored
several books and chapters in various specific textbooks. She is author and
editor of Medicaments pendant la grossesse et la lactation.
(2020) |
Susan Violet Groves
|
SEE - Military |
Marie McIntyre |
née Negricz. Born 1900, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died 1938. Marie’s family believed all their children should have a
strong education at a time when women did not always have a chance for
education. After high school she worked for three years as a pharmacist’s
apprentice before att4ending the University of Manitoba. When she acquired
her degree she was
the 1st Ukrainian-Canadian woman to become a
pharmacist. She became a true role model for young immigrants. Her proud father built
the Ideal Drug Store for his daughter in 1926. Shortly after the store
opened Marie married Donald Matheson. Marie was busy at work but she also
found time to be active in the Women’s Auxiliary in the Druggists of
Manitoba organized in 1931 and served as the organizations secretary from
1935-1936. Source:
Saskatoon Women’s Calendar Collective. Herstory 2007: the Canadian Women’s
Calendar (Regina: Couteau Books, 2006) pg. 72..(2020) |
Isabel
Elisabeth
Stauffer
4193 |
née Kippen. Born May 4, 1908, Souris, North
Dakota, U.S.A. Died June 17, 2002, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Isabel earned
her a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Alberta. After
graduation she worked in retail and hospital pharmacy in Edmonton, Alberta
fr a short while. She then attended Western Reserve University in Cleveland,
Ohio, U.S.A. graduating as the first
Canadian to earn a Masters Degree in Hospital Pharmacy.
She moved to Toronto and married engineer Charles Stauffer. She worked in
retail and industrial pharmacy and the Hospital for Sick Children in
Toronto. In 1951 she was asked to develop and teach hospital pharmacy
administration, a first, at the University of Toronto where she was known as
the 'First Lady of Hospital Pharmacy' and was also know for her publication
in the field. In 1967 she was presented with a Canadian Centennial Medal and
became a member of the Order of Ontario. In 1968 she earned the Ortho
Distinguished Service Award. The Isabel E. Stauffer Meritorious Service
Award was established in 1986 by the Canadian Society of Hospital
Pharmacists to recognize prolonged services and involvement in the
profession. After her initial retirement she served as 'librarian' for the
Canadian Medical Association.
Source: Herstory 2004; Obituary, online (accessed 2023) |
Jane Christina Willey
3694 |
née Cooper. Born May 15, 1866, Lambeth, England.
Died November 16, 1943, Yorkton, Saskatchewan. Christina was raised and
educated in London England. On March 29, 1889 she married Thomas Burness
Willey (1867-1943). Thomas had returned from Canada to be married and the
couple returned to Canada to join other family member in the Assiniboine
District of what was then the Northwest Territories. After being discouraged
with being farmers the couple moved to Saltcoats, Saskatchewan where they
purchased the drug stock of a doctor.
In 1899 Christina became the first woman in
Saskatchewan to qualify as a pharmacist and worked in the family drugstore. The couple enjoyed life in the area canoeing and swimming and
skating and snowshoeing in the winter. Christina was supposedly the first
woman to own a bicycle in the area. The family drug store burned down and
the couple moved to Bredenbury, Saskatchewan to open a new drugstore.
In the 1918 flu epidemic Christina was front and centre helping in the
community. Christina also took time tow write and many of her historical
articles were published in various newspapers and periodicals including the
Canadian Bookman, the Canadian Magazine and the Manitoba
Free Press and Saskatoon Star Phoenix newspapers. In 1922 a
volume of poetry entitled simply as The Poems of Christina Willey was
published. Christina was a member of the Canadian Authors Association.
Source: E C W W (2022) |
Physiotherapist
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to categories |
Constance 'Connie' Marie Beattie
3452 |
Born August 24,
1924, Brockville, Ontario. Died August 21, 1949, Manitoba. Connie graduated
from the University of Toronto's physiotherapy program in 1945. She served
with the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps after graduation. In 1948 she
joined the Toronto East General's physiotherapy department and was soon head
of the department. She served as president of the Toronto Branch of the
Canadian Physiotherapy Association. With an outbreak of poliomyelitis that
struck during the winter of 1948-49 a physiotherapist was urgently needed to
help treat Inuit victims in the Arctic settlement of Chesterfield Inlet on
the west coast of Hudson Bay and Connie did not hesitate to volunteer. One
sixth of the Inuit population in the immediate area were affected including
many adults, leaving them with varying degrees of paralysis. A quarantine
order covered more than one hundred thousand square kilometres surrounding
the outpost. Connie committed to spending four months in Chesterfield Inlet
working at St.Teresa Hospital. World newspapers picked up on the story
reporting Connie would not live in an igloo but would live at the hospital.
She spent time at first working at King George Hospital with Inuit who had
been flown to Winnipeg for treatment. Her time in Winnipeg was also spent
preparing to leave for the Arctic. There were no appropriate winter clothes
at the Fort Osborne Barracks in Winnipeg so she shopped for her own
clothing. Her luggage was somehow misplaced and she was forced to leave
without it. According to colleagues she did remarkable therapeutic work
among 40 polio patients working in the hospital in in igloos. When it came
time to leave she was looking forward to reuniting with family and her
fiancé, Dr. Guthrie Grant. The plane, carrying Connie and eight patients,
left Churchill at 6:00pm August 21 and the story of the missing 'mercy
flight' being missing soon hit the North American Press. By August 23, the
grim headlines reported that all 21 people on board the plane were killed in
the crash. The Canadian Physiotherapy Association created the annual bursary
program in her honour with preference to post graduate training and work in
the treatment of Polio. In Brockville, Ontario, an arts and crafts building
at Merrywood of the Rideau camp for children affected by polio was named for
Connie. Source: Mercy Mission by Christopher. Rutty in
Canada's History, May 2021. FIRST |
Enid Finley Gordon |
Born December 17, 1896, Montreal, Quebec. Died January 24,
1974, Toronto, Ontario. Enid studied, for the beginning of her medical
training, Medical Gymnastics in Heidelberg, Germany. She followed this with
studies in physiotherapy at the Pennsylvania Orthopedic Institute and
School of Mechanotherapy. She returned to Montreal to work at the Belmont
Convalescent Home for war veterans and taught massage at McGill University.
When it opened in 1918 Enid worked at the Military School of Orthopedic
Surgery at Hart House, University of Toronto. Shortly after it opened, the
government, which saw no need for such a centre, closed it down. By February
1, 1919 Enid was working at the Dominion Orthopedic Hospital for Veterans as
supervisor. In January 1918, Dr. Lawrence Bruce Robertson (1885-1924) was
sent home from the European front to rest and recuperate. He began working
at the same hospital as Enid. On April 17, 1940 the couple were married.
They would have two children. After her marriage Enid returned to
efforts towards the formation of what would become the Canadian
Physiotherapy Association. As a widow by 1924, Enid took the children to
Europe, returning only when they were old enough for school. She worked to
establish a two year diploma program in physiotherapy at the University of
Toronto which opened in 1920. In 1930 she married Dr. Duncan Graham. At the
beginning of World War ll she convinced the Canadian Military to formerly
acknowledge the need for physiotherapists. 138 physiotherapists volunteered
for overseas service with pay and privileges equal to male volunteers of the
same rank.
(2021) |
Ann Collins
Whitmore 3453 |
During the second
world war Ann served with the Canadian military and continued to
practice as a physiotherapist even though she was legally blind. The Ann
Collins Whitmore Memorial Scholarship is granted to a physiotherapist
enrolled in either a PhD or Masters program who must also be involved in a
research project as part of the academic requirements for completion of
their program. Special consideration is made for blind physiotherapists.
This annual Scholarship is presented annually from the Physiotherapy
Foundation of Canada. (2021) |
Psychiatrist
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to categories
|
Eliza Perley Brison
3731 |
Born November 15, 1881, West Gore, Nova Scotia.
Died January 1, 1974, West Gore, Nova Scotia. After Eliza completed high
school she began a career as a teacher in Rawdon
Gold Mines, from there to Belnan and finally two years in MacKay Section.
She went on to attend Dalhousie Medical College in Halifax but was required
to take a year off from her studies to teach and help finance her own
studies. She graduated in medicine in 1911. While in her early 20's she had
hip problems and was forced to use crutches for the rest of her life ending
her dreams of being a medical missionary. Instead she specialized in
psychiatry studying at Northampton State Hospital, Massachusetts, U.S.A. but
her hip trouble prevented her from completing her studies. She returned to
her home town where she cared for mentally retarded children in her own home
for three years. She returned to her psychiatry studies and then registered
at the Walter E. Fernald State School for the Mentally Deficient. In
the summer of 1918 she was once again at home in Nova Scotia now as
superintendent of the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (I O D
E) Home for Feeble Minded Girls in Halifax. She demonstrated that seriously
retarded young people could be taught to work and live useful lives. Lack of
funds cause closure of the institution in 1925. Dr. Brison kept in touch
over time of the girls left behind due to the closure. From 1925 through
1929 she was bothered by illness but still worked as an anaesthetist at the
Victoria General Hospital, Halifax where she was the first woman doctor to
be on hospital staff. By 1931 she was working with the Department of Public
Health as psychiatrist for the province of Nova Scotia. Traveling throughout
the province testing children, counseling parents and helping welfare
agencies. She would spend many of her summer vacation days in Boston,
Massauchetts, and other American cities to gain more knowledge to help with
her work on behalf of the province. In 1931 she was given a life membership
in the Nova Scotia Society for Mental Hygiene (now the Canadian Mental
Health Association). Dr. Brison retired in August 1951 when she was a
consultant to the Nova Scotia Training School. Even after retirement she
continued to serve when needed. In 1952 the Association presented Dr. Brison
with an award for outstanding service. In 1952 she was presented with a
Queen Elizabeth ll Coronation Medal. April 20, 1963 she became the first
honorary life member of the Canadian Association for the Help of Retarded
Children (now the Canadian Association for Mentally Retarded) In 1966 she
became an honorary life member of the Canadian Psychiatric Association. She
was also a honorary life member of the Federation of Medical Women of Canada. Source:
Petticoat Doctors, Enid Johnson MacLeod. Lawrencetown Beach N. S.,
Pottersfield Press, 1990; |
Ella Pearl Hopgood
3734 |
Born February 2, 1890,
Malpeque, Prince Edward Island. Died March 8, 1957, Halifax
Nova Scotia. Ella graduated from the Dalhousie Medical College in 1920.
Immediately after graduation she was on staff at the Nova Scotia Hospital
where in 1928 she became the assistant superintendent. Dr. Hopgood combined
the newly advanced application of psychiatry when working with patients.
Leading up to the Second World War (1939-1945) she lectured and was an
examiner in first aid and home nursing. She was appointed divisional surgeon
with the St. John Ambulance Brigade. By March 1948 she was provincial
superintendent of nursing divisions in Nova Scotia. She became a Commander
of the Order of St. John, the oldest order of chivalry in the British
Commonwealth. She was also made an honorary life member in the St. John
Ambulance Association. She was also an active member in the Imperial Order
of the Daughters of the Empire (I O D E) serving six years as secretary to
her local chapter. She served a president of the Halifax branch of the
Business and Professional Women's Club and was a member of the Nova Scotia
branch of the Federation of Medical Women of Canada serving as president in
1928. She also held memberships in the Medical Society of Nova Scotia and
the American Psychiatric Association. She retired in 1953 but returned
to work in 1956 as temporary administrator of the Cape Breton County
Hospital. May 1, 1956 she received a shield from the Canadian Mental Health
association for her outstanding service.
Source:
Petticoat Doctors, Enid Johnson MacLeod. Lawrencetown Beach N. S.,
Pottersfield Press, 1990; Find a Grave Canada (accessed 2023) |
Elizabeth Kilpatrick 3733 |
Born February 27, 1892, Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia. Died
November 11, 1969, Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1915 she graduated from the
Dalhousie Medical College, Halifax. By 1925 she had received an MD from Long
Island College of Medicine, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A. Her 20 month
internship was at the Women's Hospital, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. and the
New England Hospital for Women and Children, Roxbury, Massachusetts, U.S.A..
During the time she was working on her MD she served at vaarious hospitals
including the Boston Psychiatric Hospital in Massauchetts, U.S.A. She
was child psychiatrist at Vanderbilt Clinic at the New York Hospital and at
Payne Whitney Clinic. She wa a graduate of the American Institute for
Psychoanalysis, a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and
Neurology, and a lecturer in mental hygiene at Teachers' College, Columbia
University, New York City, U.S.A. In 1932 she was a faculty member of the
American Institute for Psychoanalysis, where she served as a member of the
faculty council, lecturer, tarining and supervising analyst and by 1952 she
was Dean. She was a life member of the American Psychiatric Association, a
charter fellow of the Academy of Psychoanalysis and of the American
Association of Existential Psychology and Psychiatry, an honorary member of
the Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis and a life member of
the Dalhousie Medical Association. In 1960 she returned to Halifax to join
the faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University. She retired July 1968. IN
her will she bequeathed almost $500,00.00 to Dalhousie Medical School for
training of young psychiatrists and for cancer research. Source:
Petticoat Doctors, Enid Johnson MacLeod. Lawrencetown Beach N. S.,
Pottersfield Press, 1990; (2022) |
Arlette
Marie-Laure Lefebvre
Dr Froggie |
Born July 26, 1947, Montreal, Quebec. Arlette earned her Bachelor
of Arts
from Université de Caen, France in 1964. In 1970 Arlette graduated in
medicine from the University of Toronto. In 1974 she earned a diploma in
Child Psychology and the following year she joined the staff of the Hospital
for Sick Children where is is known as 'Dr. Froggie'. In 1983 she became an
Associate Professor in Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. She is the
founding President of Ability OnLine. which she founded in 1991. She serves
on the Board of Directors of the Easter Seal Society of Ontario, Star Tracks
Talent Agency for Disabled Children, and the AIDS Committee of Toronto
Collection with York University. She is a member of the Joint Centre for
Bioethics at the University of Toronto and the Advisory Panel of
Hasbro International. In 1993 the Toronto Sun newspaper names
her as a "Woman on the Move.' and that same year she was listed as a "woman
Who Make a Difference' In 1996 she was inducted into the Terry Fox Hall of
Fame, received the Variety Club Diamond Award and was inducted into the
Order of Ontario. She is the author or co-author of numerous articles, book
chapters, reviews and manuals. Arlette is a Member of the Order of Canada.
(2021) |
Mary V. Seeman |
In 1960 she attended McGill medical school in Montreal
specializing in schizophrenia. She has written over 200 scientific articles
and in 1995 she published Gender and Psychopathology. She served as
Psychiatrist in Chief at Mount Sinai Hospital and Vice Chair of the
University of Toronto Department of Psychiatry. She was the inaugural
Tapscott Professor and was chair of Schizophrenia Studies. In 2001 she
received the Gold Award for Advancement of Psychiatric Research from the
Canadian Psychiatric Society. In 2002 she received the Queen Elizabeth
Golden Jubilee Medal. She is Professor Emerita at the University of
Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. In 2006 she was awarded
the Order of Canada.
Source: Order of Canada. Online. 9accessed 2007) |
Cornelia 'Nel' Wieman
Indigenous Psychiatrist |
Born Fort William, (now Thunder Bay) Ontario, 1964. She was
raised on the Little Grand Rapids Reserve in Northern Manitoba. She studied
for her Bachelor in Science and Masters in Science at the University of
Waterloo, Ontario. She earned her Medical Degree at McMaster University in
1993 becoming Canada’s 1st female Aboriginal
psychiatrist.
May 25, 2006 she married Timothy Joseph. She was previously a Co-Director of
the Indigenous Health Research Development Program and Assistant Professor
in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. She
provides psychiatric and consulting services to various mental health and
social service agencies in downtown Toronto, including the new YWCA Elm
Centre, a supportive housing complex for women living with mental health and
addictions issues. She also serves on an advisory group to the Chief Public
Health Officer of the Public Health Agency of Canada. Dr. Wieman received a
National Aboriginal Achievement Award in 1998 for her work in improving the
physical and mental health of Indigenous peoples.
Source: Canadian Who’s Who, Toronto, University of
Toronto Press, 2003) (2020) |
Psychologists
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|
Mary Ainsworth |
née Salter. Born December 1, 1913, Glendale, Ohio, U.S.A. Died
March 21, 1999, Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.A.. Mary
and her family settled in Toronto in 1918 and became Canadian citizens. In
1935 she earned her BA from the University of Toronto and continued her
studies there earning both a MA and then her PhD in 1939. Originally she
worked on staff at the University but from 1943-1946 she was in the Canadian
Women’s Army Corps. After the war Queen’s University in Kingston Ontario
wanted her to work in the Psychology Department but the university’s Senate
would not ratify the position since they had a policy of not hiring women
for such positions. In 1950 Mary married Leonard Ainsworth and the couple
sailed to England where she worked at the Tavistock Clinic. In 1953 she was
working for the East African Institute of Social Research in Kampala,
Uganda. By 1955 she was back in North America working at Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore Maryland, U.S.A. She also established her own private
practice devoted to working with children. Her salary at John Hopkins was
not equal to male lecturers and this was not rectified for many years. She
became a full professor at Hopkins in 1963. Her specialty was childhood
relationships with family and care givers. At one point she recommended that
babies would be healthier if they were fed when they were hungry and not
according to a rigorous schedule. This recommendation would radically change
advice to young families. In 1975 she moved to the University of Virginia
until retirement in 1984. The American Psychological Foundation presented
her with the Gold Medal for Life Achievement in the Science of Psychology.
Source: Lise Held.(2010) Mary Ainsworth .
In A. Rutherford (Ed.), Psychology's Feminist Voices
Multimedia Internet Archive.
Online (accessed August 2014) (2020) |
Magda Arnold |
Born December 22, 1903. Died October 2, 2002, Tucson,
Arizona, U.S.A. Magda's parents were travelling performers and Magda was brought
up in the home of family friend. She took commercial courses to help with
her spoken English and became a bank clerk. In 1939 she earned her B.A. at
the University of Toronto followed in 1940 by her M.A. She married Robert
Arnold, a student of Slavic Languages. The couple would have 3 daughters.
While Magda was working on her post graduate studies her husband left with
the children. Magda had no legal recourse to get her children back so she
continued her studies while suffering the loss of her family. Once she had
earned her PhD she became a lecturer at the University of Toronto, an
affiliation that lasted until the soldiers returning from the war took over
the job market. In 1946 through 1947 she worked with Psychological Services
at the Canadian Veterans Affairs. Here she developed scoring for thematic
appreciation test (TAT. Her work became the basis for a book on the subject
published in 1962. In 1947 she moved to the U.S.A. working at
Wellesley College and then Bryn Mawr College. By the 1950’s she was working
at Barat College at Lake Forest, Illinois, U.S.A. In 1952 she earned the
Helen Putnam Advances Research Fellowship and worked towards publishing her
work: Emotion and Personality in 1960. in1970 she lectured at Loyola
College and then on to Spring Hill College in Chicago. From 1972 through
1975 she was in Mobile Alabama. A few years after her retirement she moved
to Tucson, Arizona to be closer to one of her daughters.
Source: Lisa Held. Magda Arnold (2010) in Psychology’s
Feminist Voices. Online (Accessed August 2014) (2020) |
Emma Sophia
Baker |
Born 1856, Milton, Canada West (now Ontario). Died October
26, 1943.
She graduated Albert College, Belleville Ontario and worked there for three
years. Moving to Williamsport Pennsylvania she worked four years at what is now
Lycoming College. Returning to Canada she worked at the Presbyterian Ladies
College in Toronto for 6 years. She also spent time learning the French
language at the Sorbonne in Paris and then she took courses at Nottingham
College at Cambridge, England. Just at the turn of the century in
1899 she was an early female student to graduate
with a B.A. from the University of Toronto.
By 1903 she had earned her PhD from the university where she was the
1st woman to receive a PhD in Philosophy (Psychology was covered
by Philosophy at this time.) From 1901, while still working on her PhD
through to 1914 she served at Lady Principal at Mount Allison Ladies College
in Sackville, New Brunswick. She did take a year off from Mount Allison in
1911 to visit the Holy lands and came back to share her knowledge with her
students. In 1914 she moved to the Maryland College for Women in
Lutherville, Maryland, U.S.A.. Retiring in 1928 she moved back to Toronto.
Source: Connie Smirle, Emma Sophia Baker In A.
Rutherford (Ed.), Psychology's Feminist Voices Multimedia Internet
Archive. Online (accessed August 2014)
(2020) |
Katherine Banham |
Born 1897, Sheffield, England. Died 1995. Katherine earned
her Bachelor of Sciences at the University of Manchester, England. She was
the 1st
student to register for the honours programme in psychology. She attended
Cambridge University in England but did not receive a degree as women were
not granted degrees at Cambridge at this time. Moving to Canada she lectured
at the University of Toronto in 1921. In 1924 she married J. W. Bridges and
the couple settled in Montreal where she worked at McGill University. Her
specialty was researching juvenile delinquency. In 1930 she moved over to
the University of Montreal.
In 1934 she became the 1st woman to earn a PhD from
the University of Montreal.
She became well
published in her field including two books one of which was titled:
Pre-school Child Emotional Development in Early Infancy. In 1946 she
relocated to North Carolina working at Duke University. She developed
several rating scales still used today to measure social and motor skills in
children and adults.
Source: Amanda Jenkins: Katherine Banham. Online
(accessed August 2014)
(2021) |
Thérèse Gouin - Décarie |
née Gouin. Born September 30, 1923, Montréal Québec. In 1945
she earned her B.A. from the Université d Montréal from private instruction.
She continued at the Université to earn her M.A., 1947 and her PhD, 1960.
She moved to Paris in 1949 and married Vianney Décarie. In 1956 the couple
moved back to Montréal where they had and raised 4 children. In the 1960’s
Thérèse worked on a project that concluded children of mother’s who had
taken the drug, Thalidomide, during pregnancy often experienced cognitive
deficits. She continued to excel in her work on early childhood education.
In 1969 she became a member of the Royal Society. In 1977 she was inducted
into the Order of Canada and in 1994 the Order of Québec. She was the 1st
woman to earn the Léon-Gérin Prize from Quebec for outstanding research in
the Social Sciences. She is a professor Emerita at the Université de
Montréal.
Source: Jacy L. Young & Zahra Nakhjiri: Thérèse
Gouin-Décarie.
In A. Rutherford (Ed.), Psychology's Feminist Voices Multimedia Internet
Archive. Retrieved from
Online (accessed August 2014) (2021) |
Rayleen V. De Luca |
Born April 29,1942, Shawinigan, Quebec. Died March 22. 2022,
Winnipeg, Manitoba. In the mid 1960's she married Vincent De Luca and the
couple had two children. She graduated from the University of Winnipeg
sinning a Gold Medal in 1979. Rayleen was a professor of Psychology at the
University of Manitoba (U of M), Winnipeg where she specialized in the
mental heal of children. She was the first woman who held the position of
Director of Clinical Training at the U of M. She became one of the foremost
researches in the area of Child sex abuse in the country. She also served as
president of the Folks Arts Council and vice chair of the Board of Governors
for St. Paul's College. She was a Canadian representative to the United
Nations status of Women Committee. in 1995 the City of Winnipeg conferred on
her an Appreciation Award. In 2006 she was presented with the
Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Winnipeg. In 2008 she was
recognized by the U of M with the outreach Award, one of several
awards from her university. That same years she was the Y W C A's Woman of
Distinction for Health. In 2011 she was inducted into the Order of
Manitoba followed in 2016 with the Order of Canada. She also received the
Clifford Robson Award given by the Manitoba Psychological Society. In 2012
she received the Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2021 the
Nellie McClung Foundation recognized her as a Woman Trailblazer.
Source: Obituary (accessed 2022); Memorable Manitobans
(accessed 2022) |
F. Marguerite ' Peggy' Hill |
See - Physicians |
Doreen Kimura |
née Goebel. Born 1933, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Died February 27, 2013, Vancouver, British Columbia. Doreen holds a
Doctorate (PhD) in
psychology from McGill University, Montreal. Her interests were in the relationship
between sex and cognition and promoting academic freedom. In the early 1960s
Doreen was a Fellow at the Neurochirurgische Klinik, Kantonsspital, in
Zurich, Switzerland, where she set up the Human Brain Function Laboratory and
a postdoctoral researcher in brain and behaviour at the UCLA Medical Center
in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.. Returning to Canada she worked at McMaster University,
Hamilton Ontario before being offered a position as professor at the
University of Western Ontario, (UWO) London, Ontario. She was one of the
founders and main pillars of the field of neurophysiology in Canada. In 1993
she published Neuromotor Mechanisms in Human Communication. She retired from
UWO in 1998 and held a professorship at Simon Fraser University in British
Columbia. She published Sex and Cognition in 1999. She was internationally
known for her research into the biological bases of human cognitive
abilities such as language, complex motor function, and spatial abilities.
(2020) |
Brenda Milner |
née
Langford. Born July 15, 1918, Manchester, England. Brenda studied at Newham
College but World War ll changed the focus of her work to helping select
aircrews and later in the War she worked with radar operators. In 1941 she
met her husband, Peter Milner, who worked on radar research. The married in
1944 and immigrated to Canada and she began teaching at the University of
Montreal from 1944 through 1951. In 1949 she earned her Master’s degree in
experimental psychology and went on to McGill University to earn her PhD
by1952. In 1984 she was inducted into the Order of Canada. In 2009 she was
promoted to Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec. In 2014 she was
presented with the Kavli Prize in neuroscience and the Dan David Prize. In
2016 she earned the Norman A. Aderson Lifetime Achievement Award and became
a Fellow in the Royal Society of London (England) as well as the Royal
Society of Canada. She has received recognition from more than 20
universities in Canada, U.S.A. and Europe.
(2020) |
Leola Ellen Neal |
Born 1911, Merlin, Ontario. Died 1995. She completed her B.A.
at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario in 1933 and went on to
earn her M.A. in 1935 and a PhD in 1942. During the time she worked on her
post graduate studies she worked at the University. She interned at the
London Mental Hospital. In 1946 she was appointed Dean of Women at the
University of Western Ontario as well as holding a position of professor
with the Psychology Department. In 1949 she served as the 1st
female President of the Ontario Psychological Association and in 1951 she
was the second woman to serve on the Board of the Canadian Psychological
Association.
Source: Perlin Gull & Jacy L. Young: Leola Ellen Neal.
In A. Rutherford (Ed.), Psychology's Feminist Voices Multimedia Internet
Archive
Online (Accessed August 2014) (2020) |
Mary Louise
Northway |
Born May 28, 1909, Toronto, Ontario. Died 1987. After
starting at the University of Toronto in Ontario in 1927 she was forced to
take 1 ½ years from her studies due to poor health. She returned to the
University of Toronto and earned her B.A. in 1933 and her M.A. the following
year. From Toronto she studied at Cambridge University in England where were
allowed to study but not allowed to receive degrees at this time. She
returned once again to the University of Toronto earning her PhD in 1938.
From 1934 through to 1968 she worked her way up to the position of Assistant
Professor and from 1951 to 1968 she was supervisor of research at the
Department of Psychology. She also worked as a counselor and programme
director at Glen Bernard Camp from 1931-1939 and served as Director of
Research and Education for the Ontario Camping association in the 1930’s and
1940’s. She served as Directory of Northway Co., the family business founded
by her father, from 1948-1960, and president from 1960-1963 when the company
was dissolved. Finances from the company were used to create the Neathem
Trust which financed welfare related initiatives. In 1969 she co-founded
Brora Centre, a nonprofit organization for child development research. Upon
her death she left the largest private contribution ever received, in her
father’s name, to Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario.
Source: Jacy L. Young. Mary Northway In Psychology’s Feminist Voices.
2011. Online (accessed August 2014) (2020) |
Reva Potashin |
Born September 13, 1921, Toronto, Ontario. Died
September 15, 2013, Vancouver, British Columbia. Reva excelled at school recalling receiving
two jellybeans for
her reading in grade 1. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto
in 1943 followed by her Master's degree in 1944 and a PhD in 1951. In 1951
she taught for a year at the University of Saskatchewan and published a book Personality and Sociometric Status
while working on her PhD. From 1952
through to retirement in 1986 she taught at the University of British
Columbia (UBC). She was a pioneer in the area of children’s group dynamics.
She found that children with friends were more readily accepted at school
than those without friends. She was outspoken on the inequality between women
and men who were professors and waited many years to see the pay become
equal. Upon retirement in 1986 she became Professor Emerita at UBC. Source:
Laurin Joly , Obituary Vancouver Sun,
September 18, 2013.
(2020) |
Beatrice Enid Wickett -Nesbitt
|
Born 1917, Alberta. Died September 10,
2010,
Calgary, Alberta. She studied at Acadia University with
graduate studies at Brown University and a PhD at McGill University,
Montreal. She married John Cameron Wickett and the couple had three
children. During his service in World War ll John was thought to have been
killed but was actually at a German prisoner of war camp. During the War Bea
raised her family as a single mother only to have her husband home in 1945.
She became executive director of the Canadian Mental Association in 1961 and
1962-63 she was chief psychologist at the Ottawa Public School Board. A
pioneer woman in psychology she forged a mentoring career path for women.
She developed innovative programs for emotionally disturbed and autistic
children. The models of care she established while working for the Ottawa
Board of Education were emulated across Canada. She was awarded the
outstanding professional achievement and the Canadian Rehabilitation
Council’s most innovative program Award. A widow in 1976, she would marry a
second time to H. H. J. Cameron. In 1986 she was inducted into the Order of
Canada. After her retirement she helped establish the Ottawa Carleton
Regional Palliative Care Association. In 2007 the Canadian Psychological
Association awarder her a distinguished lifetime achievement award.
Source: “A legend in her own time” by Mohammed Adam.
Ottawa Citizen September 29, 2012 ; Obituary. Calgary Herald
September 13, 2012. (2020) |
Blossom Temkin Wigdor |
née Temkin. Born June 13, 1924. In 1945 she earned her Bachelor
of Arts (B.A.).
and on May 30 that same year she married Leon Wigdor. She had applied to
medical school at McGill University, Montreal, but was refused entry as she was engaged to be
married and there were returning soldiers needing classroom space over a
women who would marry. She studied for her Master's. at the University of Toronto
and then back to McGill for her PhD in 1952. From 1946 through 1979 she
worked with the Canadian Department of Veterans Affairs. From 1952 through
1979 she was a professor at McGill University. From 1979 to 2010 she taught
at the University of Toronto where she is now a professor Emerita. 1973-1979
she worked with the Science Council of Canada. In 1989 she became a
member of the Order of Canada. She was a founding director of the Programme
in Gerontology from 1979 through 1989. In 1990 through 1993 she was Chair of
the National Advisory Council on Aging and also the Chair of the Canadian
Coalition on Medication use in the Elderly. She is the author of numerous
article, book chapters and books on aging and gerontology.
Source:
A. Rutherford (Ed.),
Psychology's Feminist Voices Multimedia Internet Archive.
Retrieved from Online (Accessed August 2014) ; International Who’s Who of Women 2002.
Online (Accessed August 2014) (2020) |
Mary Jane Wright |
Born 1915, Strathroy, Ontario. Died April 23, 2014. In 1939
Mary earned her Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from the University of Western Ontario, London,
Ontario. By 1949 she had receiver her PhD in Child Psychology from the
University of Toronto. During World War ll she served in the United
Kingdom developing care for evacuated British children. In 1946 she was a
professor of Child Psychology at the University of Western Ontario,
(UWO) London.
In 1959 she was the 1st woman director with the Canadian
Psychological Association and in 1960 at UWO she became the 1st
woman in Canada to chair a major psychology Department. In 1968 she served
as president of the Canadian Psychological Association and would earn the
Gold Medal for Lifetime contributions to the profession. She also served as
president of the Ontario Psychological Society where she earned the Award
for distinguished contributions to her profession. She was one of the few
distinguished international persons to be elected a fellow of the American
Psychological Association. She is well published in academic psychology. The
UWO named the University laboratory I her honour. She has also been
presented with the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal. Locally she was on the
Board of the London Meals on Wheels, and the United Way. In 2007 she was the
London YMCA Woman of Excellence. The Town of Strathroy has named a public
School in her honour when she was 98 years of age. Source: Obituaries.
Globe and Mail April 26, 2014; Laura Bell,(2010) Mary Jean Wright In A.
Rutherford (Ed.), Psychology's Feminist Voices Multimedia Internet
Archive. Online (Accessed
August 2014) Suggestion submitted by June Coxon,
Ottawa. (2020) |
Physicians Return
to categories
|
Maude Elizabeth Seymour Abbott |
née Babin. Born March 18, 1869, St. André East, Quebec. Died
September 2, 1940, Montreal, Quebec. Her father abandoned Maude after the
death of her mother and the child was legally adopted and raised by her
maternal grandmother, Mrs. William Abbott. Maude was one of the 1st women to
receive a BA from McGill University, Montreal, Quebec in 1890.Four years
later she earned Medical Degree with honours from Bishop's University,
Lennoxville, Quebec as the only woman in her class. She opened her own
medical practice in Montreal where she also worked with the Royal Victoria
Hospital and was elected as the 1st woman to be a member of the Montreal
Medico-Chirugical Society. She went on to post graduate medical studies in
Vienna, Austria. In 1906 she co-founded the International Association of
Medical Museums with fellow Canadian, Dr. William Osler. In 1907 she served
as the secretary and spent years editing the institution's articles. This doctor wrote a successful medical paper on heart murmurs, but a male
friend had to present her paper since women were not admitted to the hall
where the paper was presented! In 1910 she became a lecturer in pathology at
McGill University even though the university did not accept female students.
Leaving McGill she worked at the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania,
U.S.A. in 1923. In 1924 she founded the Federation of Medical Women of
Canada. By 1925 she was once again at McGill working as an Assistant
professor. Later she would specialize on heart disease and eventually
published the “Atlas of Congenital Cardiac Disease" in 1936 for which
she gained a good deal of respect. She also wrote a history of nursing, a
basic text for Canadian nursing schools. She was even made an honorary
member of the all-male Osler Society. In 1958 the International Academy of
Pathology created the Maude Abbott Lecture. In 1993 she was declared a f
National Historic Person of Canada and the following year she was inducted
into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
In 2000, a bronze plaque was erected in her honour on the
McIntyre Medical Building at McGill University. In the same year,
Canada Post issued a forty-six cent postage
stamp entitled The Heart of the Matter in her honour.
(2020) |
Mary Louise Agar |
Born November 9,
1856, Port Hope area, Canada West (now Ontario). Died March 6, 1931,
Chatham, Ontario. The family relocated to Toronto to allow the children to
achieve a better education. Mary graduated from the Toronto Normal School
(teacher's College) in 1885. She then studied at the Ontario Medical College
for Women, Toronto, where in 1890 she and her brother Samuel both graduated.
The siblings opened a joint practice as Dover Centre, Kent County, Ontario.
Later they transferred their joint practice to Chatham, Ontario.
Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Annie Belle Alguire
3161 |
née McCallum. Born
May 1868, Caintown, Ontario. Died October 8, 1950, Belvidere, Illinois,
U.S.A. Like many young ladies of her era she taught school as a first
profession. In1895 she graduated from the Ontario Medical College for Women,
Toronto. She opened her practice in Gananoque, Ontario. In September 1895
she married Dr. Alden Alguire and the couple opened their medical practice
in Belvidere, Illinois, U.S.A. She also had a good reputation as a
songwriter, poet, and inventor. She would practice medicine for 46 years in
Belvidere. In 1916 she invented and patented a thimble-holder when she
served as a physician for the National Sewing Machine Company. She also
penned music and lyrics to war-time songs.
Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Jessie Matilda
Allyn
3162
Medical Missionary |
Born November
30, 1880, Delta, Ontario. Died August 26, 1944, Bombay, India. Jessie graduated
in 1904 from the Ontario Medical College for Women, Toronto. She interned in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. She went as a medical missionary to
Viryyuru, India with the Canadian Baptist Foreign Mission in 1906. In 1910
she was appointed to Pithapuram, India. She aided the Maharajah of the
Godavarie with the birth of his children and he donated generous gifts
for the work of the Women's Hospital in 1911. In 1942 she was appointed as
secretary of the Christian Medical Association of India, Burma, and Ceylon.
Dr. Allyn received the Kaiser-i-Hind Medal for her devotion and dedication
to her work in India.
Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Annie Almira Anderson -Dickson
3734 |
née Gilchrist. Born October 8, 1889, Moser River, Nova Scotia. Died
1989, Nova Scotia? When Annie was just a child the family relocated to
western Canada to live on a ranch, In 1911 Annie married W. Anderson the
couple settled in Fort Walsh, Saskatchewan. Within a year Annie was a widow
and she returned to Nova Scotia. She attended the Dalhousie Medical College
graduating in 1920. After graduation she married Major Hugh A. Dickson and
the couple settled Halifax, Dr. Annie went on to work as provincial
convener for health with the Women's Institute, and the Home and school
Federation of Nova Scotia. She also took active role in the Victorian Order
of Nurses (V O N), Truro Hospital Auxiliary and the Imperial Order of the
Daughters of the Empire (I O D E). In July 1949 she became Dean of Women at
Mount Allison University. She retired after ten years having counseled 100's
of students. Source:
Petticoat Doctors, Enid Johnson MacLeod. Lawrencetown Beach N. S.,
Pottersfield Press, 1990 |
Maria Louisa Angwin |
Born Sept 21, 1849, Blackhead, Conception Bay, Newfoundland.
Died April 25, 1898, Ashland Massachusetts. Maria's family resettled in Nova
Scotia in the 1850’s finally settling in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia in 1865. She
attended the Mount Allison Wesleyan Academy in Sackville, New Brunswick
graduating in 1866. She knew that her family could not afford to send
her to study medicine like she wanted so she earned her teacher’s
certificate at Normal School in Truro, Nova
Scotia. She taught in Dartmouth
for five years saving to attend medical studies in the U.S.A. In June 1882 she
graduated from the Women’s Medical College of the New York Infirmary for
Women and Children. She did one year of internship at the New England
Hospital, Boston Massachusetts. She also did some post graduate courses at
the Royal Free Hospital in London, England. On September 20, 1884 she became
the 1st woman licensed medical doctor in Nova Scotia. She was
ahead of her times in many ways not only in medical studies but in her
appearance. She wore her hair cut short. She was an avid member of the
Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and lectured on the problems of
alcohol and tobacco consumption. She also advocated for advanced education
for women and no doubt votes for women. During a trip to the U.S.A. for ill
health, she died unexpectedly from surgery.
Sources:
The Indomitable Women Doctors by Carlotta Hacker (Toronto: Clarke &
Irwin, 1974) ; The Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online (Accessed
April 2014) (2020) |
Margaret Smith -Arkinstall |
née Smith. Born February 2, 1906, Glasgow Lanarkshire, Scotland. Died
2001, Newmarket, Ontario. Margaret studied medicine at the University
of Toronto while her boyfriend and later husband William Campbell Arkinstall
(1899-1978) studied medicine at Queen's University, Kingston Ontario. They
both graduated in 1930 with Margaret doing her internship in Moose Jaw
Saskatchewan and he in and Bill took up a practice in Hurst, Ontario
and on September 24, 1931 he and Margaret were married. The couple would
have four children. Margaret became one of the 1st women doctors in
Northeastern Ontario. They practiced at the mission hospital called St
Paul's which was maintained by the Women's Missionary Society of St Paul's
United Church, Hurst. In 1936 the couple went to England to further their
medical studies and she took courses in obstetrics and anesthesia. In 1945
the couple resettled in the company town of Kapuskasing in Northern Ontario
in 1945. After some years in the couple became unsettled with the company
run town and they moved south to settle in Newmarket, Ontario. In 1983,
along with with nurse Elizabeth, Margaret co-wrote the book;
Pioneer Partners of St. Paul's.
(2020) |
Ida Manning Armstrong |
Born 1905, Gladstone, Manitoba. Died 1982. Ida
moved with her family to Winnipeg in 1915. She earned her Bachelor in
Sciences from the University of Manitoba in 1926. She completed her medical
degree at the University of Manitoba in 1936, studied in England in 1937-38,
and entered private practice in Winnipeg as an obstetrician and
gynecologist. She gave radio lectures for women on medical emergencies
during World War ll. She was active in golf, curling, and bowling.
Sources: Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by J.M.
Bumsted (University of Manitoba, 1999. :
Memorable Manitobans by Gordon Goldsborough. Manitoba Historical Society
Online (Accessed December 2011) (2020) |
Elaine Joy Arpin |
Born 1949, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Joy received B Sc and Medical
degrees from
the University of Manitoba in 1969 and 1972, She did her internship in
1972-1973
and trained in Neurosurgery at the University of Manitoba from 1973-1975 and
at McGill University from 1975 -1978. Joy become a Fellow of the Royal
College of Surgeons in Neurosurgery in 1978 and is the 1st woman
neurosurgeon in
Canada. She completed a post Fellowship year in Boston, Massachusetts,
U.S.A. and returned to the Montreal Neurological Institute as assistant
professor in Neurosurgery in 1979. Joy remained on clinical staff there till
1983. She then relocated to Dallas, Texas, U.S.A. for a neurosurgical
position and continued to practice in the USA till retirement in 2001.
(2020) |
Mira Ashby |
Born 1922, Zagreb, Croatia. Died July 16, 2005, Toronto,
Ontario. Mira studied medicine at the University of Zagreb. She left her
home in January 1945 finally settling in Canada in 1959. She became a
doctor and during World War ll she served with the Red Cross. After the War
she worked with her husband, Lord Ashby, in the United Nations to establish
hospitals for refugees. She spoke 8 languages fluently. Mira was the founder
of
Ashby House,
which opened in 1978. Ashby House was the 1st transitional living program
for adults with brain injuries in North America. This served as a model for
Europe, Australia and Japan. She was the 1st to organize an international
symposium for head injuries, under the name, “New Beginnings” which were
held each year in Canada. She developed the Ashby Memory Method (AMM)
focusing upon those who suffered traumatic brain injury where a portion of
the brain is instantly affected and no longer functions properly. In 1978
she received the Distress Center Award. She received the
Order of Canada
in1984 for her work on brain injury rehabilitation. She also found time to
volunteer working with young people as a counsellor and group leader at the
YMCA and the Toronto General Hospital Social Services Department. At the
International Institute of Metropolitan Toronto, she was busy teaching
English to new immigrants, and participating in various festivals
celebrating cultural diversity such as the 'Old World Bazaar', the Garden
Party, Folk Festivals and concerts with exhibits of Croatian art, paintings
and handworks. In 2003 she received the Queen’s Jubilee Medal.
(2020) |
Ella Blaylock - Atherton
3133 |
née Blaylock. Born January 4, 1860, Ulverston,
Lancashire, England. Died September 4, 1933, Nashua, New Hampshire, U.S.A.
In 1861 Ella immigrated to Canada with her family. She attended McGill
College, Montreal prior to graduating from the Women's Medical College,
Kingston, Ontario in 1887. She was the first
woman in the province of Quebec to obtain a Canadian diploma in medicine.
Leaving for the U.S.A. she practiced in Newport, Vermont for two years and
then to Nashua, New Hampshire as their first woman doctor. September 8, 1898
she married Henry Bridge Atherton. A suffragist she joined the New Hampshire
Woman Suffrage Society, the Fortnightly Club and was active with the Young
Women's Christian Association (Y M C A ).
Source: Female Physicians ...Women's
Medical College, Queen's University by Dr. Donald
Brearley. 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Margaret Rigsby Becklake
4340 |
Born May 27, 1922, London,
England. Did October 17, 2018, Montreal, Quebec. Margaret grew up in
Pretoria, South Africa and received her education at the University of
Witwatersrand in South Africa. Her post graduate studies were completed at
the British Postgraduate Medical School, London, England. In 1948 she
married Dr. Maurice McGregor (1920- ), a south African born
cardiologist and academic. In 1950 she was a junior lecturer at the
University of Witwatersrand where she studied the effects of dust inhalation
on workers in the local gold mines. In 1957 she immigrated to Canada and
settled in Montreal working in the Royal Victoria Hospital and an academic
position in the Department of Epidemiology and Health at McGill University.
Upon her retirement she became an professor emeritus. In 2007 she was
inducted as a Member of the Order of Canada in recognition for having made
outstanding contributions to fighting lung disease for 60 years. In 2011 she
became a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec. The Montreal Chest
institute Foundation offers the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship which pays
a salary to trainees in respiratory research who come from low or middle
income countries or a Canadian Indigenous Community.
(2023) |
Minna May Austen
3734
Medical Missionary |
Born Halifax, Nova Scotia. Died May 24, 1923, Halifax, Nova
Scotia. Minna was one of two women who graduated in 1903 from the
Dalhousie Medical College, Halifax. This year was the first year of
examination of the Provincial Medical Board and Minna became the first
registered physician by the Board. Like many of her female medical
colleagues of the era, Minna became a medical missionary sponsored by the
Women's Missionary Society of the the Canadian Methodist Church. She served
in Chengtu Hospital, China for a year and was then appointed to the Women's
Hospital in Kiating, China. She returned to Chengtu in 1909. Becoming
ill in 1917 she was forced to return home to Halifax just in time for the
call for help to help in the disastrous Halifax Explosion December 6, 1917.
She joined the Halifax Dispensary staff working long hours in hospital tents
and damaged hospital buildings in the dead of winter. Her efforts both in
China and during the Halifax explosion left her broken down and she lived
much of the remainder of her life as an invalid. Source:
Petticoat Doctors, Enid Johnson MacLeod. Lawrencetown Beach N. S.,
Pottersfield Press, 1990; |
Elizabeth Catherine
Bagshaw |
Born October 18/19, 1881, Cannington, Ontario. Died January 5, 1982,
Hamilton, Ontario. One of Canada's 1st women
doctors, she had a successful 60-year practice. She attended Women’s Medical
College in Toronto and graduated in 1905. She interned in Detroit, Michigan,
U.S.A. but gave it up for an unpaid preceptorship with a female doctor near
her home and closer to her widowed mother. She settled in Hamilton Ontario
in the 1920’s.For 30 years she was the medical director of the Hamilton
Ontario Birth Control Clinic. Keep in mind that it was illegal to provide
birth control until 1969 in Canada! She signed more birth certificates than
any other doctor in the area. She became a single parent raising an adopted
son, John. In 1954 mother and son had medical practices in the same
building. You can just imagine the forces that this courageous woman had to
face while attempting to present women of her era with information on Birth
control. She reluctantly retired at the age of 95. In 1978 the National Film
Board of Canada released a movie on her life: Doctor Women; The life and
times of Dr. Elizabeth Bagshaw. She earned the Order of Canada and the
Governor’s General Persons Award. In 1970 she Citizen of the year in
Hamilton. An elementary School was named in her honour and in 2007 she
was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
Sources: Canadian Medical Hall of Fame: 100 more Canadian Heroines by Merna
Forster Dundurn Press, 2011. (2020) |
Euphemia Bessie Balcom - Davis
|
Born Aylesford, Nova Scotia. After graduating from the Acadia
Ladies Seminary in 1907, Bessie went on to attend the Dalhousie Medical
College in 1911. No doubt she was encouraged by the fact that her father and
her brother were both doctors. She practiced for awhile in Petite
Rivière and in 1919 she married Dr. Frank Davis and the couple settled in
Bridgewater. In practice with her husband she attended female patients and
helped giving anesthetic for surgeries. She became a widow in September
1948. Source:
Petticoat Doctors, Enid Johnson MacLeod. Lawrencetown Beach N. S.,
Pottersfield Press, 1990; |
Henrietta Elizabeth Banting
4100
Lady Banting |
née Ball. Born March 4, 1912, Stanstead, Quebec.
Died July 26, 1976, Toronto, Ontario. In 1932 Henrietta graduated with
a Bachelor of Arts from Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick
in 1932. After graduation her first job in New Brunswick was conducting
clinical laboratory work in various hospitals. Relocating to Toronto she
studied at the Banting Institute at the University of Toronto (U of T) earning her
master's degree in Medical Research in 1937. Two years later she married Sir
Frederick Banting (1895-1941). In 1941 she began her medical studies at the
U of T and graduated in 1945. It was during this time that she was also
enlisted in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps. She went on to
complete post graduate training in obstetrics and gynaecology in London
becoming a member of the Royal College of Obstriticians and Gynacologists.
Completing her studies she lectured at the University of Hong Kong before
returning to Canada in 1951. She opened her own private practice in Toronto
and was hired as a staff member of the Woman's College Hospital (W C H) in
1957. A year after she was hired she became Director of the W C H Cancer
Detection Clinic. She worked with Elizabeth Forbes, Chief of the W C H's
Radiology, investigating the effectiveness of mammography as a tool for
early detection of breast cancer. The study, published in 1967 in the
Journal of the Canadian Association of Radiologists became recognized as one
of the first Canadian papers on mammography and W C H embraced mammography
as a routine tool. She was a member of the Medical Women's International
Association where she served as vice president. She would also serve
as the first Chair of the National Service to Patients Committee of the
Canadian Cancer Society. Dr. Henrietta retired from the Cancer
Detection Clinic in 1971. The Henrietta Banting Breast Centre was created
from the Henrietta Banting Memorial Fund.
Source: Celebrating Women's Impact - Dr.
Henrietta Banting , Women's College Hospital Foundation, Find a Grave Canada
(accessed 2022) |
James
Miranda
Stuart/Steuart
Barry |
née Margaret Ann Bulkley. Born November 9,1795,
Cork, Ireland. Died July 25, 1865, London, England.
In the day when medicine only accepted men as students one woman disguised
herself as a men and entered the Edinburgh University, Scotland in 1809. As a doctor
in the British army she served in the far corners of the British Empire and
gained a reputation as an outstanding surgeon. In 1857 Dr. Barry was posted
to Canada where s/he was well respected for his fight to provide cleaner
hospital facilities and better food for the working soldiers. An odd small
“man” with little or no facial hair Dr. Barry was considered an eccentric.
It would not be until death, when the body was being prepared for burial
that it would be discovered that the renowned doctor was indeed a woman! It
must have cause a stir in the Victorian society to have had the first
“woman” doctor in the British Army!!!
(2020) |
Sheela Bassur |
Died June 2, 2008, Toronto, Ontario. In 1982 she earned her medical degree
from the University of Toronto and the following year she took time off to
travel the world. In
1998 she was the 1st Canadian woman of colour to be named
Toronto’s Chief Medical Office of Health.
In 2001 she led the campaign called ‘DineSafe’ which was the 1st
program of its kind in Canada that required restaurants to display health
inspection reports in their windows. By 2004 she was Ontario’s Chief Medical
Officer of Health. At 5 foot tall she was described as a ‘diminutive
dynamo’. She was calm by nature and that lead Toronto to survive the SARS
epidemic calmly in 2003.
Source; Tanya Talaga & Prithi Yelaya. Obituary. The Toronto Star,
June 3, 2008. (2020) |
Elizabeth Robb Beatty |
née
Brown. Born January 4, 1856, Ballycanoe, Canada West (now Ontario). Died March
4, 1939, Utica, New York, U.S.A. Although she married at 18 this did not deter her from
seeking an education. In 1800 she was one of the women taking summer medical
courses for women at Queen’s University. In the fall 1881 these courageous
women joined in the men’s courses at Queen’s. Both men and women in the same
classes proved to be too much for the students and the Women’s Medical
College was formed. Elizabeth graduated in 1884 and sailed to India as a
medical missionary for the Presbyterian Church of Canada as the 1st
woman medical missionary in what would turn out to be a long list of
dedicated individual women. In Indore, India she lived in a mud house that
also served as a dispensary and hospital. She learned Hindi, the local
language to help tend the people and even trained Indian women in nursing.
She went on to build the 1st
Woman’s Hospital in Central India. Ill health forced her to return to Canada
by the end of the decade. She left behind the strong foundations of medical
missions in India.
Source: The Indomitable Women Doctors, by Carlotta Hacker. (Toronto:
Clarke & Irwin, 1974);
Source: Female Physicians ...Women's
Medical College, Queen's University by Dr. Donald
Brearley. 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Jane Bell
4041 |
Died 1963, Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1893 Jane graduated the
Women's Medical College of the New York Infirmary for Women and Children.
She went on to do some post graduate work at Johns Hopkins University in
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. She returned to Nova Scotia and took over the
practice of a Dr. Angwin in Halifax. She would hold positions on the Welfare
Council, the Young Women's Christian Association (Y W C A), the Community
Chest , the Children's Aid Society, the Protestant Orphanage, and the
Maritime School of Social Work. Source: Carlotta
Hacker, The Indomitable Lady Doctors. |
Florence Eleanor Bennett
3163 |
née
Lucas. Born December4, 1880, Churchill, Ontario. Died October 22, 1959,
Toronto, Ontario. Eleanor graduated from the Ontario Medical College for
Women, Toronto, in 1903. She did some post graduate work in Boston,
Massacheutts, U.S.A. and then opened a practice in Toronto. On July 7, 1915
she married Dr. Alpha Clayton Bennett. Eleanor was a member of the
University Women's Club in Toronto. Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Anna
Bhatjakin |
née Afanaiyevna. Born Korsunka, Russia.
Died September 4, 1999. The daughter of a once upper class Russian family
she found herself in Stalin's Russian rule of the 1930's working on
collective farms and in coal mines. She earned scholarships to the State
University in the Ukraine where she led her graduating class at the
Institute of Medicine. Caught up in the German invasions of World War
ll the family retreated across eastern Europe while Dr Bratjakin continued
to provide care in refugee camps. By 1950, she opted to bring her
young family, including her wounded husband to Montreal. She worked as a
domestic servant supporting her family and learning the working languages of
Canada. She became a specialist in internal medicine and would earn a
reputation as a cardiologist. She had a practice at Ste-Anne's de Bellevue
open late afternoons and evenings and worked at the hospital during the day.
A widow, in 1988 she moved to Ottawa, working with National Defense Medical
Centre and a family clinic in Gastineau. She had bee a physician of the
western world. Although a disinherited Cossack heiress, she did not want to
remain a coal mine worker in Communist Russia. She had determination to
provide a service to humanity. |
Jessie
Amelia Birnie
3164 |
Born August 1,
1857, Collingwood, Canada West (now Ontario). Died June 17, 1935, San
Rafael, California, U.S.A. Like so many young ladies of her generation she
was a school teacher in her home town. In 1898 she graduated from the
Ontario Medical College for Women, Toronto. She practiced in
Peterborough where she was a pioneer in baby health work. She retired in
1931 and relocated to San Rafael, California, U.S.A.
Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Agnes 'Aggie' J. Bishop
3535 |
Born 1938, Chipman, New Brunswick. Died May 19, 2014. Agnes
took her undergraduate studies as Acadia University, Wolfeville, Nova Scotia
and earned her medical degree from Dalhousie University, and completed her
residency in Halifax, Nova Scotia. To help pay for her education she became
a cadet with the Royal Canadian Air Force. In 1966 she relocated to
Winnipeg, Manitoba to do a fellowship in hematology. She became a renowned
pediatrician specializing in pediatric hematology and oncology. She served
as the first woman physician-in-chief at the Children's Hospital of
Winnipeg, Manitoba, the head of Pediatrics at St. Boniface General Hospital
and the chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Manitoba.
Recognizing that caring for children with cancer and their families required
more than medical attention, a mew concept at the time, she created a
collaborative team comprising of doctors, social workers, nurses,
occupational therapists, physiotherapists, spiritual care advisers and
others. She was a great storyteller and loved to tell obscure medical jokes
and had an ability to connect with her young patients and employed often
simple magic tricks to put the children at ease. A soul of generosity she
often paid for patients funerals. . From 1994 through 2001 she was
president of the Atomic Energy Control Board (A E F B) /Canadian Nuclear
Safety Commission (C N S C). She was the first woman selected by the Royal
College of physicians and Surgeons of Canada to be president which she
turned down to work with the A E C B. Source:
Obituary. Globe and Mail June 19, 2014. online (accessed 2021) |
Elinor Francis Elizabeth Black |
Born 1905, Nelson, British Columbia. Died
January 30, 1982, Winnipeg, Manitoba
January 30, 1982. At 12 years old she moved to Winnipeg with her family.
She was educated at the University of Manitoba Medical School, graduating
Cum Laude in 1930. After a year in Britain she set up practice in Winnipeg
in 1931. In 1937 she received a six-month appointment as house surgeon at
the South London Hospital for Women, following which she took the
examination to become, in
1938, the 1st Canadian woman member of the British Royal College of
Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. In 1950, she opened
the Women’s Pavilion at the Winnipeg General Hospital and in 1951 she was
appointed professor of obstetrics and Gynecology and chair of the Department
of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Manitoba. That same year
she was declared Winnipeg’s Woman of the Year. In 1961, she was elected the
first woman president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of
Canada. She retired from the University in 1964, although she continued to
teach for many years thereafter. Her research papers are at the
University of
Manitoba Archives and Special Collections.
Sources:
Dictionary of
Manitoba Biography by
J. M. Bumsted
University of Manitoba Press, 1999: Memorable Manitobans Profile by
Gordon Goldsborough. Online (accessed December 2011) :; Government of
Manitoba. Status of Women. Women working for Healthy Communities by Ada
Ducas et all October 2001. Online (accessed December 2011) Further Reading:
Tell the Driver: A Biography of Elinor F. E. Black, M.D. by Julie
Vandervoort (1992). Her birthrate is recorded as 1907 in some sources.
|
Jane 'Jennie'
Stewart Bloomfield
3165 |
née
Shirra. Born May 10, 1861, Caledonia Mills, Canada West (now Ontario). Died
November 2, 1950, Cambridge, Ohio, U.S.A. Jennie graduated in 1894 from the
Ontario Medical College for Women in Toronto. She relocated to Michigan to
establish her practice. On February 7, 1899 she married Edwin Bloomfield and
following their marriage she practiced medicine in Michigan, U.S.A. Here she
also too up the study of dentistry. Moving to Cincinnati, Ohio she suffered
a mental breakdown and was diagnosed with paranoid psychosis and was
institutionalized to the Longview State Asylum and then to the Cambridge
State Hospital in Ohio. Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. online (accessed 2021)
|
Joan M. Boggs |
Born August 18, 1946. When she relaxes she goes hiking and canoeing or can
be found gardening. When she goes to work she is a Senior Scientist at the
hospital for Sick Children, Toronto and a professor at the University of
Toronto. Dr. Boggs is the author/co-author of more than 85 papers which have
appeared in various scientific journals. You will find her listed in the
Canadian Who's Who at your local library. |
Roberta Bond - Nichols |
née Bond.
Born November 3, 1901, Newfoundland. Died October 29, 1966,
Halifax, Nova Scotia. Roberta attended the Halifax Ladies College and then
the Mount Allison Academy prior to graduating in 1925 from the Dalhousie
Medical College, Halifax, Nova Scotia. After graduation she retuned to
her home province working at Newfoundland outports. On August 13, 1926 she
married a Dalhousie University Professor, E. W. Nichols. The couple had four
children. She became a widow in 1939 and sole support for her family. She
worked as an anesthesiologist at several Halifax hospitals including being
Chied anaesthetist at the Children's Hospital. She became a member of the
faculty of Dalhousie Medical School, the first
woman to be a lecturer in anatomy in Canada. During World War
ll (1939-1945) she often was called upon to serve when navel ships came
Halifax with wounded service men on board. She was known to invite first
year women medical students to her summer home in Jeddore. Roberta was
paramount in organizing the Nova Scotia Branch of the Federation of Medical
Women of Canada (F M C C) in 1943 and was president of the branch several
times. She wrote a history of all women doctors in Nova Scotia up to the
year 1924 which was published in the Nova Scotia Medical Bulletin in 1950.
After several heart attacks she retire. The Roberta Bond-Nichols Memorial
Collection is maintained in the library of the Sir Charles Tupper Medical
Building. The Roberta Bond Nichols Memorial Prize in Anatomy is sponsored
annually by the Nova Scotia Branch of the F M W C. Source:
Petticoat Doctors, Enid Johnson MacLeod. Lawrencetown Beach N. S.,
Pottersfield Press, 1990. |
Gladys Lillian Boyd
4097 |
Born 1873. Died October 24, 1970, Toronto, Ontario. In 1918
Gladys graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto
(U of T) as one of four women graduates. In 1920 she earned a
fellowship in pediatrics at the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children (H S C)
and the next year became head of the Endocrine Services which worked on
disorders that disrupt the network of glands producing and releasing
hormones which help control important body functions including the ability
to change calories into energy that powers cells and organs. Gladys was one
of the doctors who began use of insulin injections to help diabetic
children. It was at this time that she began her research in the area of
childhood diabetes, nephritis (inflammation of the kidneys) and
tuberculosis. It was Gladys who contacted Dr. Frederick Banting (1895-1941)
in the fall of 1922 to help 11 year old Elsie Needham who was in a diabetic
coma. Elsie recovered consciousness within a short time of receiving
insulin. Gladys would work alongside of Dr. Banting and their collaboration
saw an 50% decrease in childhood mortality from diabetes over the next ten
years. Dr. Gladys Boyd is credited with having begun endocrinology at the H
S C and she served as head of Endovrine Services from 1921 through 1950. In
1922 Gladys joined the staff at Women's College Hospital (W C H) as chief of
paediatrics. She served as W C H's only pediatrician seeing an average of
200 children each years in the outpatient department. In June 1923 she was a
speaker at the firs annual scientific meeting of the Society for the Study
of Diseases of Children (now Canadian Paediatric Society). In 1924 she was
awarded her Doctor of Medicine and earned a Starr medal from the Canadian
Medical Association. In 1925 she published Manual for Diabetics. Over the
next three decades she published numerous academic papers on childhood
diseases such as diabetes and nephritis. In 1931 she became a Fellow of the
Royal College of Canada and a Fellow of the American College of Chest
Physicians the next year. Dr. Glady Boyd broke social barriers by following
her medical career. In 1932 she adopted a baby girl, Nancy and was a devoted
single mother. During World War ll she housed an evacuee girl from England
and this girl and Nancy became friends for life.
Source: Dr. Gladys Boyd: a Pioneer in Childhood Diabetics
Care. Woman's College Hospital Foundation November 2018 by Heather Gardiner.
online. (accessed 2022); Dr. Gladys Boyd - Use Your Voice Online (accessed
2022) |
Winnifred Brenda Braine - Reynolds |
née Braine, Born Grand
Pré, Nova Scotia. Died October 5, 1942, Stephenville, Montana, U.S.A.
Both Winnifred and her brother W. B. Braine attended
Dalhousie Medical College and graduated in 1900. In 1901 Winnifred married a
classmate, Dr. William P. Reynolds and the couple settled in Butte, Montana,
U.S.A. where they opened a joint practice. Source:
Petticoat Doctors, Enid Johnson MacLeod. Lawrencetown Beach N. S.,
Pottersfield Press, 1990; |
Caroline Sophia
Brown
3166 |
Born January 30,
1862, Derry West, Canada West (now Ontario). Died January 11, 1936, Toronto,
Ontario. Like so many of her generation she at first worked as a teacher in
Halton County and then Toronto. In 1900 she graduated from the Ontario
Medical College for Women, Toronto. She went on to do post graduate work in
Dublin, Ireland and London, England. Returning home she set up her medical
practice in Toronto. She was on staff at the Women's College Hospital and
served as a school trustee for ten year becoming the first woman to be chair
in that group. She was a founder and regent of the Imperial Order of
Daughters of the Empire (I O D E) and a member of the local Council of
Women. She supported the St. John Ambulance Corps, the Big Sisters movement,
and the Girl Guides. Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Martha
Wyman Brown -Shaw
3727 |
née Brown. Born 1874,
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Died April 6, 1948, Ashland, Oregon, U.S.A. Martha
graduated from the Dalhousie Medical College in Halifax, Nova Scotia in
1897. She married fellow doctor Howard Shaw and the couple had one son. The
young couple studies together in Vienna Austria and in London England. After
completing their studies she settled in Ashland, Oregon, U.S.A. where they
opened a medical practice together. Source:
Petticoat Doctors, Enid Johnson MacLeod. Lawrencetown Beach N. S.,
Pottersfield Press, 1990; |
Sarah Amelia 'Minnie'
Brown
3134
|
Born September 3,
1863, Consecon, Canada West (now Ontario). Died August 19, 1937, Greenwich, Connecticut U.S.A.
Minnie graduated from the Women's Medical College, Kingston, Ontario, and
was licensed in the province in 1890. She practiced in Manhattan, New
York, U.S.A. and then she moved to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. and
finally settled in Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S.A. where she worked as a
live-in private doctor to the Holmes family for 32 years.
Source: Female Physicians ...Women's
Medical College, Queen's University by Dr. Donald
Brearley. 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Mary Gamble
Bryson
3167 |
Born January 14,
1874, Ottawa, Ontario. Died September 4, 1940, La Jolla, California, U.S.A.
Mary graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Queen's University, Kingston
Ontario. By 1903 she had completed studies at the Ontario Medical College
for Women in Toronto. She returned to Ottawa and opened her medical
practice. In 1919 she was forced to retire due to ill health. In the fall of
1919 she retired to La Jolla, California, U.S.A. accompanied by her sister
and her private nurse Elizabeth Emerson. Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Mary Christina Bein Buchanan
3168
Medical Missionary
|
née
MacKay. Born June 1863, Riverton, Nova Scotia. Died May 15, 1935, Amkhut,
India. Mary graduated with Mistress of Liberal Arts from Mount Allison
College, New Brunswick in 1883. By 1888 she had completed studies at the
Ontario Medical College for Women, Toronto. while sailing to India as
a Medical Missionary with the Bhil people of Amkhut she met Dr. John
Buchanan and the couple were married in India on January 25, 1889. In 1913
her husband received the Kaiser-i-Hind Medal for his devotion and dedication
to his work in India. In all she served the people of India for 47
years.
Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Kathleen Buck |
née Loretto. Born March 1875,
Lindsay, Ontario. Died March 21, 1951, Rochester, New York, U.S.A. In
1897 she graduated from the Ontario Medical College for Women, Toronto. She
relocated to Rochester, New York, U.S.A. where she was head of the
obstetrics department at St. Mary's Hospital for 25 years. She served as
president of the Women's Medical Society of New York and was one of the
first to use radiology in Rochester. She served the city for five
decades. Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Mary May 'Minnie' Campbell |
née Brander. Born March 1,
1873, Markham, Ontario. Died November 6, 1948, Priceville, Ontario. In
1893 Minnie graduated from the Ontario Medical College for Women, Toronto
with honours. She established her medical practice in Priceville, Ontario.
She retired in July 1896 to be married that fall to Re. Donald Campbell. Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Eliza Cox Carter
Unlicensed Physician |
Born 1821, England. Died February 26, 1899, New Brunswick.
Eliza had evidently studied medicine in Edinburgh, Scotland. Since women
were allowed to study but not allowed to write their medical exams she was
unlicensed when she practiced medicine. She married a Ship Captain, John W.
Carter (d 1883) and the couple had six children. By 1854 the family was
living in New Brunswick, Canada where here medical services were much
appreciated. Her husband became a farmer and lumberman who also operated a
3-storey Inn on the fiver on the Kingston Peninsula. Two of Eliza's diaries
and a book of remedies and recopies have been published. The diaries
document her work as a physician and the originals are preserved in the
Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. Whelpley House at Carter's Point on
the Kingston Peninsula has bee declared an historic building by the province
of New Brunswick. Source: Provincial Archives of New
Brunswick; Find a grave Canada online (accessed 2022) |
Jennie Carson |
Born July 9, 1865,
Amaranth, Canada West (now Ontario). Died February 28, 1933, Vancouver,
British Columbia. Like many young women of her generation she was a teacher.
she served as principal and later as an inspector of schools. By 1889
she had followed her dream and graduated from the Ontario Medical College
for Women, Toronto just a year after her sister Susanna 'Susie' Carson
(1868-1908). The two sister opened a practice and later Jennie was in
practice with Dr. James Henry Duncan in Chatham, Ontario. The family
relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia where she worked with the Vancouver
Young Womens Christian Association (Y W C A). Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Susanna 'Susie' Carson -Moyes
Medical Missionary
|
née Carson. Born February 1868, Amaranth,
Ontario. Died February 7, 1908, Chatham, Ontario. Susie graduated from the
Ontario Medical College for Women, Ontario in 1888. Her sister Jennie Carson
(1865-1933) would graduate from medical college just a year later. The two
sisters opened a practice together in Penceville, Ontario. She married a
former missionary Petrus Rijnhard on September 15, 1894 and the couple left
for Lhasa, Tibet travelling by boat, and mule cart the couple were attacked
by robbers, encountered a Muslim Rebellion, and their guides deserted them.
Petrus disappeared and Susie's baby died returning home within four years.
She wrote of their efforts in Tibet in the book, Tibetans in Tent and
Temple. In 1902 returned to Tibet and founded the Disciples of Christ
Mission, IN 1905 she married a second time to James Moyes and the couple
worked in Chengdu, China. Susie returned home to Canada in 1907 in poor
health and was cared for by her sister. Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Mabel Aileen
Cassidy -Mortimore
3733
Medical Missionary |
née Cassidy. Born September 8, 1880, Toronto, Ontario.
Died December 4, 1966, Toronto, Ontario. Mabel graduated with a
medical degree from Trinity College, University of Toronto in 1902. Upon
Graduation, she and Dr. Martha Agnes Philip, a graduate doctor from
Dalhousie Medical College, Halifax, Nova Scotia, travelled to Chengtu, China
as medical missionaries. The ladies endured a six month voyage of primitive
travel in China to reach the hospital where they were to would serve. The
two were sponsored by the Canadian Women's Missionary Society. When in China
Mabel met Rev. William John Mortimore (1876-1972) and in 1905/1906 the
couple were married. The would have three children during their years of
service together in China.
Source: Petticoat Doctors by by Enid
Johnson MacLeod. Lawrencetown, N. S. Pottersfield Press, 1990 under Martha
Agnes Philip; Find a Grave Canada online (accessed 2022) |
Anne 'Annie' Sutherland Cavers
|
Born 1888, Dutton, Ontario. Died November 1971. When Annie was teenager
she relocated to Calgary, Alberta, to attend high school. By the time she was 18
she had graduated from Calgary Normal School (Teacher's college). After
graduation she joined her family who now lived in the Okanagan in British
Columbia and began teaching in Armstrong from 1910 through 1918 becoming
principal in 1917. The family tells that Annie was heartbroken at this time
with the death of her fiancée. By 1920 she was teaching in Vernon, British
Columbia. At 36 Annie enrolled at the Vancouver General Hospital (VGH)
School of Nursing where she earned the Alison Cummings medal for highest
standing. In 1927 she became Instructress of Nursing at VGH. She retired in
1947. She wrote a book in retirement, Our School of Nursing 1899 to 1949.
Source: Anne Sutherland Cavers (1888-1971) from School Teacher to Nurse
Teacher. Vancouver General Hospital School of Nursing Alumnae Association.
online (accessed 20210) |
Helen Chan
Asian Canadian |
Born June 19, 1947. Helen
graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 1971. Dr. Chan had a general
practice in Hong Kong prior to immigrating to Canada in the mid 1970's.
This physician has been a main stay as pediatric oncologist at the Hospital
for Sick Children in Toronto from 1979. She also serves as a professor of
pediatrics at the University of Toronto. She is renowned internationally for
her treatment of retinoblastoma, a rare eye cancer. Because of her research
more than 90% of diagnosed children can be cured with chemotherapy.
In 2018 she was inducted into the Order of Ontario.
(2018) |
Lillian Alice Chase |
Born 1894, Cornwallis, Nova Scotia. Died August 28, 1987, Ottawa, Ontario.
Lillian
attended Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, where she established herself as a capable
athlete from 1912-1916. She was active in student government and in literary
societies and was editor of the Aftenaeum, the student newsletter.
She attempted to teach at Port William, Nova Scotia but said she would
rather scrub floors than teach! Her mother encouraged her to study medicine
and she graduated the University of Toronto after which she worked at the
Banting Institute for Insulin Research. From 1924 through 1942, Dr. Chase practiced
medicine in Regina, Saskatchewan and was known for her expertise with Diabetics.
During World War ll (1939-1945), she served in the Royal Canadian Medical Corps. After
the war she practiced medicine in Toronto and became affiliated with Women’s
College Hospital. She founded the Canadian Diabetic Association and in 1967
she became a “senior member” of the Canadian Medical Association. After she
retired she moved to Ottawa to be closer to her family.
Sources:
Turn out and Cheer! Sports in Wolfville 1970-1950 Acadia University
website (accessed April 2013):
Herstory: The Canadian Women’s Calendar 2006.
Saskatoon: Coteau Books, 2005. |
Margaret Rebecca Chase - Collins
3737 |
née Chase. Born 1896, Port
Williams, Nova Scotia. Died November 11, 1977. Margaret attended Acadia
University, Wolfville, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1918 and then
entered Dalhousie Medical College. Internships were still difficult for
women to find in Canada so Margaret went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
U.S.A. and later she became a staff member of a medical institute in upper
New York State, U.S.A. In September 1927 she married Dr. Ross Collins and by
1930 the couple had settled in Edmonton, Alberta. The couple had three
children. During the Second World War (1939-1945) she and Dr. Mary
Hunter managed the Red Cross Blood Donor Clinic. She also assisted in the
administration of anaesthesia at the University Hospital in Edmonton.
After the war she conducted a well-baby clinc for the city health department
and worked in a practice with Dr. Mildred Newell. She retired in 1963. The
Canadian Red Cross honored her work with an honorary life membership in the
Edmonton Branch. She served as well as a member of the Red Cross Society's
council and executive. She was also a member of the Federation of Medical
Women of Canada and the Women's University Club. Source:
Petticoat Doctors, Enid Johnson MacLeod. Lawrencetown Beach N. S.,
Pottersfield Press, 1990 |
Nancy Ann Rodger Chenoweth |
née
Rodger. May 31, 1873, Belwood, Ontario. Died February 15, 1954,
Peterborough, Ontario. Nancy earned her medical degree at Trinity College in
Toronto, Ontario in 1892. She moved with her Methodist minister husband to
the Canadian North-West Territory (Now Alberta) and practiced medicine where
ever they settled. She was for awhile in Walsh, near Medicine Hat, then
Pincher Creek and finally they moved further west to Michel, British
Columbia. After she was widowed in 1911 she studies X-ray technology at the
University of Chicago in the U.S.A.. She settled in Michigan, in the U.S.A.
and it is said the patients were sent to her from miles around to have
special benefits of her machine.
Source :The indomitable Lady Doctors by
Carlotta Hacker (Toronto: Clarke Irwin, 1974), Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Phebe Kirsten Christianson - Thompson
3738 |
Born September 5, 1897, Glace Bay, Nova scotia. Died ???? The
family followed their father who had a job in Edmonton and later in the
foothills of the Rockies. She was able to complete her high school in
Alberta. After graduation her family moved back to Nors Scotia settling in
North Sydney. After taking a business course in Sydney she became a
stenographer with the Nova Scotial Steel and Coal Company. Inspired by other
woman doctors, she quickly studied in areas required and enrolled in the
Dalhousie Medical College, Halifax. In 1920 she took some time to be with
family and upon return she lived with the family of Rev. S. S. Thompson. On
June 21, 1923 she married one of the sons of the family, Dr. Williard Own
Thompson. She became a member of the Delta Gamma Club, a society for
Dalhousie women. She was also a member of the Student Christian Movement.
After her medical studies she took her internship with the Children's
Hospital, Halifax. She then attended the Harvard Medical School of Public
Health, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. She and her husband both worked at the
metabolism laboratory in the thyroid clinic at the Massachusetts
General Hospital in Boston. In 1929 they relocated to work at the Rush
Medical College at the University of Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. where they
worked for 16 years. The couple opened a private practice in Chicago from
1947 through 1954 when she became a widow and single parent to four
children. She became editor of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and
Metabolism (J C E M) and the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (J A
J S). She remained editor at J A G S until 1982 when she was 84 years old. Source:
Petticoat Doctors, Enid Johnson MacLeod. Lawrencetown Beach N. S.,
Pottersfield Press, 1990 |
Victoria Chung
Medical Missionary
Asian Canadian |
Born 1897, Victoria, British Columbia. Died May
1966,
South Guangzhou
Province, China, . As a child growing up she taught Sunday School at
her Church , joined girls groups and took music lessons in Chinatown. Her
mother was a working nurse with irregular hours so Victoria boarded at the
school where she proclaimed that she wanted to be a missionary in China. In
1917 the Women’s Missionary Society (W M S) offered Victoria a university
scholarship. Since British Columbia prohibited Chinese people from entering
any profession, Victoria studied medicine at the University or Toronto, the
only Canadian school to accept female medical students in Canada, at that
time. Graduating in
1922, she was the first woman of Chinese descent to
become a doctor in Canada.
The W M S sent her to Marion Barclay Hospital for Women and Children in
China, fulfilling her childhood dream of becoming a missionary. Her family
would also join her in China. Not only was she a doctor making house calls
for the sick but she also taught at the local nursing school She modernized
medical facilities and even bought an ambulance in 1932. In all she would
work 43 years in China. She remained during the Japanese invasion in the
1930 and later when Communism was introduced into China she again remained
to serve the sick. Her funeral was attended by some 2000 people. There is a
three meter high statue of Victoria in the lobby of Jiangnen Central
Hospital in South Guangzhou Province where she served. On December 8, 2012
the City of Victoria, British Columbia declared Victoria Chung Day while in
China, her accomplishments were recognized on the 100th
anniversary of the Jiangnen Central Hospital.
Sources:
From the pages of three ladies: Canadian women missionaries in Republican
China. By Deborah Shulman (MA Thesis, Concordia University, 1996) ;
Victoria Chung: a Legacy of unselfish service by Xiao Kaigang.
Womenofchina.cn accessed January 2012 ; 100 more Canadian Heroines by
Merna Forester (Dundurn, 2011) |
Pearl
Chute
Medical Missionary |
née Smith. Born January 25, 1871*, St. Catherines, Ontario.
Died January 12, 1948, Toronto, Ontario. In 1895 she
graduated in medical studies at the Women’s Hospital, University of Toronto.
She became the 1st
woman doctor to intern in Canada when she was at St. Michael’s Hospital,
Toronto. In 1896 she left to begin a career to join her brother, Everette
Chute, and her finance in India. She married a medical doctor, the Rev. Jesse
Chute (1861-????) in India where they would raise the five children.
Jesse built his wife the Akidu’s Star of Hope Hospital in 1898. It consisted
of three rooms, one room for women, a room for men, and an office and
dispensary in the middle. Pearl sent promising students to Vellore to stud
medicine and she soon had qualified Indian staff working with her. She
served as the 1st
woman doctor in the Baptist Mission, in a career that covered 40 years of
service. Her small hospital was replaced by a sturdy stone building staffed
by qualified Indian staff. She was awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind medal for
outstanding service to India.*
her birth is sometime reported as 1872. Source: The Indomitable Lady Doctors by Carlotta
Hacker, Clarke Irwin, 1974; Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. online (accessed 2021) . |
Harriet Faxton Clarke |
née Faxton. Born
Brockville, Ontario. She began her medical studies at the Ontario Women’s
Medical College, Toronto, but after two years she relocated to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
In 1892 she was the 1st
woman to graduate from the Manitoba Medical College. After
graduation she married Dr Andrew Clarke of Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. In June
1899 she was advertising her medical practice in Billings, Montana, U.S.A.
Sources: The Indomitable Lady Doctors by
Carlotta Hacker, Clark Irwin, 1974. (2021) |
Annie MacKenzie Cleland |
née Chambers. Born December 25, 1859, Port Elgin, Canada West (now Ontario). Died
August 25,1919, Vancouver, British Columbia. Annie graduated medical studies
from Trinity College, Toronto in 1892. She did her post graduate work in
London, England, Edinburgh, Scotland and Vienna, Austria. She settled in
British Columbia in 1898 where in1899 she married a lawyer, Hugh Mackenzie
Cleland (1859-1903). She was one of the 1st women doctors to be licensed in
British Columbia. In 1906 she travelled around the world and took a position
at Lady Kinnaird’s Memorial Hospital, Lucknow, India. Back in Canada she
settled in Victoria. British Columbia where she opened her own practice.
Source: The Indomitable Lady Doctors by Carlotta
Hacker. (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin Co. Ltd, 1974) : Obituary, Medical
Association Journal Vol. 61 December 1919;Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Harriet Macmillan Cockburn
3172 |
Born September 3,
1873, Toronto, Ontario. Died December 16, 1948, Toronto, Ontario. In 1897
Annie graduated from the Ontario Medical College for Women, Toronto.
She worked at the Cobourg Asylum for the Insane, Ontario. In 1906 she
relocated to Regina Saskatchewan. At the outbreak of the first World War she
became a part of the foreign medical and humanitarian aid arriving in
Serbia. She was posted to the Stobart Unit and helped with the 'Great
Escape' with the Serbian people trekking through the mountain is winter
fighting snow, hunger, frostbite, and typhus. 40,000 people perished in this
'Escape'. She adopted a Serbian orphan after the war. She became a medical
inspector for schools in the Toronto, Area. Some of her papers are
maintained in the Cockburn Family Fonds at the Archives of the University of
Toronto. Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. online (accessed 2021); Great Women in the Great War by
Slavica Popovic Filipovic (2020). (2021) |
May Cohen |
Born 1931, Montreal, Quebec. She relocated with her
family to grow up in Toronto. In 1955 May earned her medical degree from the
University of Toronto where she earned a gold medal for academic excellence.
May 1st
practiced family medicine in Toronto and then in 1977 joined McMaster
University's Faculty of Health Sciences, Hamilton, Ontario. May Married Dr.
Gary Cohen and the couple had 3 children. May co-founded the Women's Health
Office at McMaster, the 1st of its kind in Canada and also the Women's
Health InterSchool Curriculum Committee for Ontario's medical schools. From
1991 to 1996 she served the Faculty of Health Sciences as associate dean of
Health Services. Her work has garnered her numerous awards including: the
Federation of Medical Women of Canada Ortho Award for the Promotion of
Women's Health, the Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the
Person's Case, the Leadership Development Award from the American
Association of Medical Colleges, the Hamilton Academy of Medicine
Distinguished Service Award and the Hamilton Woman of the Year award in the
field of health, sports and fitness. She has also had a research chair named
after her at the Faculty of Health Sciences. McMaster University, Hamilton,
Ontario. The May Cohen Award for Women Mentors is presented to a woman
physician who had demonstrated outstanding mentoring. The Federation of
Medical Women of Canada offers the May Cohen Award annually to the full
member who best personifies the legacy of Dr. May Cohen. In 2014 she was
inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. |
Alice Constantineau
3173 |
née McLaughlin. Born May 18, 1859, Mono Mills,
Canada West (now Ontario). Died October 12, 1933, Ottawa, Ontario. In
1887 Alice graduated from the Ontario Medical College for Women, Toronto.
As well as opening her own practice in the city she was a demonstrator of
anatomy at the medical college. June 8, 1891 she married a lawyer, Albert
Constantineau and the couple settled in L'Orignal, Ontario. Alice left the
profession. Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. |
Margaret
Amelia Corlis
3135 |
née Walker. Born Villa Nova, Norfolk, Ontario.
Died January 6, 1925, Grafton, Australia. On September 22, 1862 she married
a future doctor, Josiah Corlis (died 1922). Margaret herself attended the
Women's Medical College, Kingston, Ontario and graduated in 1885. The couple
immigrated to Bellingen, New South Wales, Australia and then to Menzies a
booming gold mine town where Margaret was the first woman doctor in Western
Australian goldfield. She travelled by camel to many of her patients. The
couple returned to New South Wales in 1903.
Source: Female Physicians ...Women's
Medical College, Queen's University by Dr. Donald
Brearley. 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Agnes
Douglas Craine
3136 |
Born
October 9, 1861, Smith's Falls, Canada West (now Ontario). Died February 26,
1937, Smith's Falls, Ontario. After high school Agnes taught school for a
few years. In 188 she graduated from the Women's Medical College, Kingston,
Ontario. She left for England to do some graduate studies and acquired
medial licentiates from Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland. With her studies
complete she returned to Smith's Falls. In 1936 she made a donation of
$350,000.00 as a tribute to George Monroe Grant, Principal of Queen's
University, who had opened courses for women to study medicine. The Money
funded the Crain Biochemistry building and the Crain chair in Biochemistry.
Source: Female Physicians ...Women's
Medical College, Queen's University by Dr. Donald
Brearley. 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Georgina Lillian
Crawford
3174 |
née Urquhart. Born March 28, 1882, Dunvegan,
Ontario. Died February 2, 1959, New York State, U.S.A. In 1890 the
family relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1905 she graduated from
the Ontario Medical College for Women, Toronto, Ontario. She then did post
graduate studies in New York, U.S.A. Returning to Vancouver she was
appointed as the first medical inspector of schools in 1907. August 18, 1909
she married Gustavus Crawford and the couple settled at East Orange, New
Jersey, U.S.A. She worked for 21 years as physician for the Essex County
Vocational and Technical School for Girls and 23 years with the Bell
Telephone Company.
Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. |
Mary Elizabeth Crawford |
Born June 2, 1876, Lancashire, England. Died June 6, 1953,
Invermere, British Columbia. After the death of her father she emigrated to
Ottawa with her mother who at one time was the principal of the Presbyterian
Ladies College. Mary originally followed her mother’s footsteps and the
accepted career path of the day and attended the Ottawa Normal School
(teacher’s college). She attended the University of Toronto and taught
school in Ottawa. After the death of her mother Mary followed her desire to
attend medical school in Toronto. She did her post graduate medical studies
in the West Philadelphia Hospital for Women and Children in Pennsylvania,
U.S.A. She relocated to Winnipeg, Manitoba and practiced medicine for eight
years privately. She was appointed Chief Medical Inspector for the public
schools of Winnipeg in 1909. The position of Medical inspector for
schools was one of the few medical positions deemed acceptable for women at
this time. Mary was the only doctor giving medical examinations to school
children, a job she did until she was 75 years old retiring only in 1941.
Through her interest in mental retardation she introduced metal testing into
the schools and organized special classes for the mentally handicapped. She
was a member of the
Manitoba Medical
Association, Alpine Club of Canada, and Women’s Canadian
Club; a founding member and first president of the
University Women’s Club,
and President of the International Association Women Physicians. In 1930-31
she was President of the Federation of Medical Women of Canada. She took an
active part in the interest of women’s suffrage, and was president of
Women’s Equality League.
Source: The Indomitable Lady Doctors by Carlotta
Hacker. (Toronto: Clark Irwin, 1974) |
Sylvia Cruess 4339 |
née Robinson. Born 1930? Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A.
Died September 8, 2022, Montreal, Quebec. Sylvia graduated from Vassar
College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1951. She went on to attend the
College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University, New York City,
U.S.A. graduating in 1955. While at Columbia she married Dr. Richard Cruess
and the couple had two sons. She did postgraduate studies in endocrinology
at the Royal Victoria Hospital, McGill University, Montreal and at Bellevue
Hospital and New York University. In 1963 the family settled in Montreal
where she worked at the Royal Victoria Hospital and McGill University.
From 1968 through 1978 she was the Director of the Metabolic Day Centre at
the Royal Victoria Hospital which was the first facility in Canada devoted
to the ambulatory care of patients with diabetes and other endocrine
disorders. In 1978 she became Medical Director at the hospital. In
retirement she and her husband studied issues related to professionalism in
medicine. They would be published extensively and were welcomed presenters
around the world. Sylvia was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada and
was Professor Emerita of Medicine and Health Sciences Education at McGill
University. She also earned the Ian Hart Award the highest award in the
medical education community in Canada. In the U.S.A. she earned the Flexner
Award and in the United Kingdom she was presented with the A S M E Gold
Medal. A principal lecture hall at McGill is called the Sylvia and
Richard Cruess Amphitheatre. As well McGill established the Richard and
Sylvia Cruess Chair in Medical Education. She enjoyed classical music,
fly-fishing, bird watching, travel and cooking.
Source: Obituary Montreal Gazette online (accessed 2023) |
Jean Flatt Davey |
SEE - Military |
Isabella
Mary Davidson
3175
Medical Missionary |
née Thomson. Born May 8, 1874, Scarborough,
Ontario .Died January 15, 1970, Scarborough, Ontario. Granddaughter to the
first settlers in Scarborough Isabella graduated in 1902 from the Ontario
Medical College for Women, Toronto. She was the first woman in Scarborough
to become a doctor. October 21, 1903 she married Rev. and Dr. David
Davidson. The couple became missionaries to India where they served for
forty years. They retired home to Scarborough.
Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. |
Mary
Eleanor Davidson
3176 |
née Allen. Born November 13, 1862, Fordwich,
Canada West (now Ontario). Died March 3, 1914, Spokane, Washington, U.S.A.
Mary graduated in 1895 from the Ontario Medical College for Women, Toronto.
March 15, 1899 she married James Davidson, a Winnipeg businessman. later in
life the couple relocated to Spokane, Washington, U.S. A.
Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. |
Annie Davis
3177 |
Born May 4, 1874,
Jarvis, Ontario. Died March 5, 1919, Hamilton, Ontario. Like so many women
of her era she became a teacher and helped put her younger siblings through
high school. In 1902 she graduated from the Ontario Medical College for
Women, Toronto. She practiced for a time in Brigden, Ontario and about 1907
relocated to Hamilton, Ontario where she once again opened her practice. Her
sister ran a pharmacy on the main floor of their building and Annie had her
medical offices on the second floor. The Hamilton Public Library holds some
of her medical equipment. Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. |
Harriet 'Hattie' Amelia Davis
3137 |
née Walker. Born December 25, 1858, Wolfe
Island, Ontario. Died May 12, 1901, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. Hattie married
Adoniram Walker on January 4, 1876. She studied at the Women's Medical
College, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario graduating in 1890. During
her studies she suffered the death of her son. Relocating to Toledo, Ohio
she obtained her Licentiate from the State Medical Society. She had her own
practice and held operating privileges at St. Vincent Hospital. She returned
to Kingston for five years and then went back to Kent, Ohio, U.S.A.
Source: Female Physicians ...Women's
Medical College, Queen's University by Dr. Donald
Brearley. 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Clara
Jane
Demorest
3138 |
Born March 7, 1862,
Empey Hill, Lennox And Addington County, Ontario, Canada West (now Ontario).
Died January 20, 1912, Toronto, Ontario. Like many young ladies of her
era Clara was a teacher. She taught Tyendinaga Mohawk students in the Bay of
Quinte area of Ontario. Leaving teaching she attended the Women's Medical
College at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario graduating in 1890. She
opened her medical practice in Napanee, Ontario. In 1905 she relocated to
Calgary, Alberta. She returned to Ontario as a patient of the Toronto
Asylum where she dies of dementia.
Source: Female Physicians ...Women's
Medical College, Queen's University by Dr. Donald
Brearley. 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Annie
Evelyn Dickson
3139 |
Born April 1851,
Kingston, Canada West (now Ontario). Died August 15, 1896, Kingston,
Ontario. Annie's father, Dr. John Robinson Dickson (1818-1892) was one of
the founders of the Women's Medical College, Queen's University, Kingston.
Annie herself graduated graduated in 1886 and then took post graduate
studies in New York, U.S.A. She set up her practice at first in Brockville,
Ontario but then returned to Kingston. She was a member of the Women's
Foreign Missionary Society where she served as treasurer.
Source: Female Physicians ...Women's
Medical College, Queen's University by Dr. Donald
Brearley. 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Anna Marion Dougall
4167 |
née Brown. Born September 3, 1904, Eddy's Mills,
Ontario. Died August 26, 1987, Petrolia, Ontario. Graduating from school in
Oil Springs, Ontario she went on to study medicine at the University of
Western Ontario, London, Ontario, graduating in 1927. She married Dr.
Roswell Douglas and in 1930 the coup settled in Petrolia. With the onslaught
of World War ll (1939-1945) Roswell served overseas in the Canadian services
and after the war he remained in Europe as director of missing persons until
1953. Marion wh was by then the mother of three children took over the
medical practice in Petrolia. Marion was also a world traveler and as stated
in her memorial she felt she had traveled around the globe twice. She served
the community of Petrolia caring for her clients for over 40 years. Source: :Doc Dougall by MickeyMaple, The young Canuckstorian; Canadian History
for Kids by Kids. online (accessed 2022) |
Margaret Ellen Douglass |
Born January 12, 1878, Stanley, New Brunswick Died July 11,
1950, Winnipeg, Manitoba. She studied medicine at the University of
Toronto, and some postgraduate training in England and the U.S.A. She
practiced medicine in Saint John, N.B. prior to moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba
in 1909. In 1914 she organized the Winnipeg Women's Volunteer Reserve.
During WW l she became an officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps (R A M C) and
served with the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps, holding the rank of major.
She was awarded the Allies Medal and the British War Medal for her service.
In 1927, she travelled around the world visiting medical centers in India
and China to teach better methods for caring for women. During her lifetime,
she held a number of executive positions in women's organizations including
being president of both the Canadian Federation of Business and Professional
Women's Clubs and the Winnipeg Women's Canadian Club. She received a life
membership in the University Women's Club in 1950, and was elected Honorary
President of the Federation of Medical Women in 1946. In 1948, she was given
the title of Commander Sister of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem by the
St. John's Ambulance Brigade in recognition of her services.
Sources :Government of Manitoba. Status of Women. Women
working for Healthy Communities by Ada Ducas et all October 2001. Online
(accessed December 2011) ; Memorable Manitobans. Online (accessed
December 2011). |
Jean/Jean 'Jennie' Isabelle Dow
Medical Missionary |
(Baptized Jane Dow) Born June 25, 1870, Fergus, Ontario. Died
January 16, 1927, Peking, China (now Beijing). By 15 she had earned her
teaching certificate. By 1895 she had graduated in medical studies from
Trinity College, University of Toronto. She became a medical missionary with
the Canadian Presbyterian Mission in chine. She quickly learned the local
Chinese language and in 1897 she opened the 1st women’s hospital
in Honan, China treating 400 patients in her 1st month of
service. In 1900 she was forced to take furlough during the Boxer Rebellion
and used her time away from China to take updating medical courses in New
York City in the U.S.A. She was back in China in April 1902 opening a
women’s hospital in Changte. She was the only woman doctor practicing
medicine in the area for almost 20 years. In 1918 she was joined by Dr.
Isabelle McTavish (1881-1953) and both women worked through the 1920-21
famine. The Chinese government honoured Jean with a medal for her work
during the famine. Jeannie was among the 1st to isolate the
organism which caused a local disease Kola Azar. In 1925 she took another
force furlough during civil unrest but by 1926 she was back in China to open
her hospital. Sources: The Indomitable Lady Doctors
by Carlotta Hacker (Clarke Irwin, 1974) : D C B Vol. XV (1921-1930. Online (Accessed April 2014)
(2020) |
Bertha Dymond
3178 |
Born August 7,
1866, London, England. Died August 1931, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. In
1869 the Dymond family immigrated to Canada settling in Toronto, Ontario.
Bertha graduated from the Ontario Medical School for Women, Toronto, in
1892. She worked as an instructor in physiology and hygiene at St.
Margaret's College and ran a rooming house. She practiced medicine for
several years in Toronto. In the 1910's she moved to Black River First
Nations, Lac du Bonnet Manitoba and then worked at the Public Health
Department , Regina, Saskatchewan. By 1923 she was living in Seattle,
Washington, U.S.A. as a U.S. citizen. Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. |
Ruth Easser 3620 |
Born March 23, 1922, Toronto, Ontario. Died 1975. Ruth
graduated in 1945 as one of the few Jewish women medical students from the
University of Toronto. Many medical students served during World War ll and
the university accelerated their medical training. Shortly after completion
of her officer training in the Canadian Women's Army Corps (C W A C) she
left the military Ruth was a pioneer who specialized in psychoanalysis
contributing to her field as a teacher and researcher at Columbia
University, New York City, U.S.A. developing the Centre of Psychoanalytic
Training and Research and the Toronto Psychoanalytic Society and Institute
where she taught the last five years of her life. Her life story was written
in the book; The Unsung Psychoanalyst; The Quiet Influence of Ruth Easser
by Mary Kay O'Neil in 2004. (2022) |
Elizabeth Cordelia 'Corrie' Eaton |
Born 1910, South Wales, United Kingdom. Died January 31, 2015,
Moncton, New Brunswick. Corrie studied medicine at London University at the
Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine for Women in 1934. In 1938 she
married Dr. Robert Burnell Eaton. Shortly after their marriage the couple
immigrated to Canada opening their medical practice in Amherst, Nova Scotia.
The couple would have six children. After WW ll they relocated to Sackville,
New Brunswick, and then finally settled in Moncton. Corrie served with the
St. John Ambulance and with the St. John Cadets for many years. She was
honoured as a Serving Sister in the Order of St. John in 1963, followed in
1974 with becoming an Officer in the Order and was awarded the Victoria
Medal and Bar. She also served on the Board for the Victoria Order of Nurses
(VON) in Moncton. In 1970 she wrote licensing exams for the Medical Council
of Canada and at the age of 60 she and her husband shut up their practice
once again. She ran the 1st Well Woman Clinic at Moncton City Hospital. The
couple retired in 1978. An active member of the Canadian Federation of
University Women, Elizabeth was made her Club's Honorary President for life.
In 2006 Elizabeth donated funds to the Atlantic Baptist University for a new
entrance scholarship. |
Mary Lee Edward |
Born September 14, 1885, Petrolia, Ontario. Died September
1980 , New York U.S.A. In 1902 Mary entered medical school at the University
of Toronto (U of T). She was the only woman in her class and was pelted with chalk
and assaulted with cat calls. She persevered graduating in 1908. Although
she was offered a study position at U of T she soon found her mentor had no
interest in her work. Mary set out to work at the New York Infirmary for
Women and Children. Here she was granted a $1,000.00 study program in
Vienna, Austria. Unpin her return to New York she became the chief resident
doctor. When the American male doctors signed up for service in World War l
in 1917 Mary became a surgeon at New York’s Hospital for Ruptured and
Crippled. Shortly after she had gain some surgical experience she also
joined an American Medical Unit overseas. She was in the 1st unit
to go overseas. In France many of the unit returned home when offered to
serve with a French unit at the front lines. Mary and an American colleague
Caroline Finley served on the front lines often accepting patients by the
100’s at a time and often working 60 hour stretches. The two women were
awarded the Croix de Guerre by the Government of France right on the front
lines for their services. Back at the University of Toronto her name was
added to the Role of Service, a rare honour for someone enrolled in an
American Unit and serving on front lines with a French Unit. Although Mary
served at the level of a Lieutenant, women doctors in WW1 were not accorded
any rank. Mary returned to New York after the war and continued to practiced
medicine until she was 85 years old! She retired to Sudbury, Ontario to be
close to family. She is buried in Petrolia, Ontario.
Sources: Carlotta Hacker; The Indomitable Lady Doctors (Toronto:
Clark Irwin Co., 1974); Suggestion
submitted by Mary’s great niece Brenda Edington.
|
Elizabeth Embury
3140 |
Born July 25, 1866,
Napanee, Canada West (now Ontario). Died February 4, 1945, Kingston,
Ontario. Like many young ladies of her era she took up teaching as a
profession. Wanting more out of life, she graduated from the Women's Medical
College, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, graduating in 1888. She
established a practice in Belleville, Ontario as a specialist in diseases of
women and children. In 1906 she relocated to Ottawa and practiced medicine
there for 37 years. While attending the 1906 Canadian Medical Association
Convention she became a founder of the the Federation of Medical Women in
Canada.
Source: Female Physicians ...Women's
Medical College, Queen's University by Dr. Donald
Brearley. 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Octavia Grace
England |
née Ritchie. Born January 16, 1868, Montreal, Quebec. Died February 1, 1948,
Montreal, Quebec. Octavia originally attended Kingston Women's
Medical College in Ontario but transferred to Bishop's College in
Sherbrooke, Quebec to complete her studies in 1891. She would be the
1st woman to be
valedictorian at McGill University even though she was originally
refused entry because she was a woman. She was the
1st woman to graduate
from a medical school in Quebec. While a student she an Maude
Abbot formed the Association for the Professional Education of Women to
advocate for other women wishing to attend universities for advanced
degrees. She was appointed as a demonstrator in Anatomy at Bishop's and also
was an assistant gynecologist at Western Hospital. In 1897 Octavia
married Dr. Frank Richardson England. From 1911 through 1917 she was
president of the local Council of Women. In 1914 she represented Canada at
the 1914 International Council of Women in Rome, Italy. By 1921 she was
president of the Montreal Women's Liberal Club and went on to become
vice-president of the National Council of Women of Canada. In 1922 she
represented Canada once more at the Pan-American Conference of Women in
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. She was also active in La Ligue des Droits
de la Femme seeking the vote for women in Quebec. In 1930 she ran for a seat
in the Canadian House of Commons as the Liberal Candidate from Mount Royal.
Some of her personal papers are preserved at the Osler Library of the
History of Medicine, McGill University. In 1979 the Octavia Grace Ritchie
England Scholarship was created by the McGill Alumnae.
(2021) |
Angela Enright |
Born 1887, Saint John, New Brunswick. Died July 21, Saint
John, New Brunswick. It was not common for all girls to graduate from high
school let along a Black girl. After High School, Anna attended Norman
School in Halifax to earn her teaching certificate. She was only allowed to
teach in the Black community. She returned to school to study at business
College. She then tried the Civil Service examinations and placed third over
all those writing the exam. In 1912 she became the 1st Black
Canadian appointed the permanent federal civil Service. She began with
working at the Dominion Lands Branch of the Department of the Interior. In
1938 she was the principal clerk in the Immigration Branch of the Department
of Mines and Resources. She enjoyed writing poetry in her time off work. She
had her verse published in various Canadian magazines and she also had
an occasional column in the Ottawa Journal called Citadel which was
dedicated to poetry. She retired from the federal Civil Service in 1945 and
returned from Ottawa to Saint John, New Brunswick where she worked as a
stenographer in a law firm and for awhile worked in Washington D.C. In 1967
she published a chapbook of her Citadel Columns from the newspaper and this
may indeed be the 1st
collection of poems published by an Afro-Canadian woman. She continued her
formal learning after her retirement by taking creative writing courses at
the University of New Brunswick. Source:
Herstory: The Canadian Women's calendar. 2008 (Saskatoon
Women's Calendar Collective / Coteau Books, 2007) |
Victoria Sarah Ernst
3730 |
Born 1856, Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. Died October 4,
1940, Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. Victoria taught school and tried to safe foe
a medical education. She twice helped her father when he left impoverished
after fires. Delayed in seeking her desired education she was forty when she
entered Dalhousie Medical College in Halifax. Graduating in 1900 her entire
class stood when she received her degree in respect for their class 'Queen'.
She opened her medical practice in Bridgewater. Although not married she was
known to have adopted several boys, often the most unwanted individuals from
the orphanage. Always thrifty she invested in several properties in her home
town and upon her death left many of the properties to her tenants. Source:
Petticoat Doctors, Enid Johnson MacLeod. Lawrencetown Beach N. S.,
Pottersfield Press, 1990; |
Eva Jeannett
Fisher |
née Ryan. Born June 11, 1862, Halton, Canada West (now Ontario).
Died December 24, 1958, Bracebridge, Ontario. Originally Eva taught school but this was just a means to earn funds to
attend and in 1893 graduate from the Toronto Women’s Medical College. She
married Arthur William Fisher. The couple settled in Arthur, Ontario
where Eva maintained a medical practice for 35 years. She was in charge of
the Red Cross Hospital in Tobermory, Ontario for four years.
Source: The Indomitable Lady Doctors by Carlotta Hacker (Toronto:
Clarke, Irwin & Co Ltd, 1974); Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. (2021) |
Margaret
Amanda Flemming
3179 |
Born August 28,
1863, Cheltenham, Canada West (now Ontario). Died May 17, 1941, Sipe
Springs, Texas, U.S.A. Margaret graduated from the Ontario Medical College
for Women, Toronto in 1894. She began her medical practice at the
Massachusetts Lunatic Hospital in Worchester, U.S.A. Later she was employed
by the Detroit Free Dispensary for Women in Michigan, U.S.A. prior to moving
to Belen, New Mexico and Florence City, Colorado, U.S.A. By 1915 she was
serving at the Cherokee State Hospital for the Insane, Iowa, U.S.A. She
retired to Sipe Springs, Texas, U.S.A. with her sister. Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. (2021) |
Margaret Lillian
Foster
3180 |
née MacMillan. Born
July 19, 1867, Tilsonburg, Ontario. Died June 14, 1941, Sarnia, Ontario.
Margaret graduated from the Ontario Medical School for Women, Toronto, in
1895. On February 14, 1896 she married Rev. John Cooper Foster in British
Columbia. The couple moved to various charges where John was posted as
Pastor. In 1907 they were back in Ontario at various postings. The couple
retired to Sarnia, Ontario in 1932. Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. (2021) |
Elizabeth 'Beth' Margaret Forbes
|
Born March 25, 1917, Blenheim, Ontario. Died September 20,
1999, Toronto, Ontario. After completing high school she took courses
at the Canadian Business College in 1934 and then worked as a secretary for
a year prior to deciding to study medicine. In 1942 she graduated from the
University of Western Ontario (now Western University) , London Ontario. She
began her medical career in family medicine and finished her internship at
St. Joseph's Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario where she would work from 1943 to
1951. In 1952 she became a resident in radiology at the Clevland Clinic in
Ohio, U.S.A. and the Strong Memorial Hospital in New York, U.S.A. in 1954.
She became certified in Diagnostic Radiology with the Royal College of
Physicians and Surgeouns in Canada and a diplomate in Diagnostic Radiology
of the American Board of Radiology. Back in Canada she became a staff member
at the Woman's College Hospital (W C H) in Toronto as Chief of Radiology in
1955. Working with Dr. Henrietta Banting (1912-1976) she co-authored a study
on the use of mammography as a diagnostic tool. As a result of their work
the W C H became the first hospital in the country to used mammography to
help detect breast cancer. In 1966 she became an associate Professor
at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Medicine.
In 1974 she became the first Canadian Woman to become
a Fellow of the American College of Radiology. She retired
from W C H in January 1975. (2022) |
Margaret Ethel Victoria Fraser
3181 |
Born October 5,
1871, Quebec City, Quebec. Died March 3, 1962, Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
Margaret earned a Bachelor of Arts from Morrin College in 1894 and went on
to earn a medical degree from the Ontario Medical College for Women,
Toronto, in 1899. She relocated to work at the New England Hospital of
Women, Boston, Massauchetts, U.S.A. and moved to Denver, Colorado,
U.S.A. in 1905 to work at the Denver County Hospital and for the state board
of health. During World War 1 she directed the American Women's
Hospital in La Ferte-Milon, France. In 1919 she was presented with the
Médaille de la Reconnaissance Française for her service. Returning to
Colorado she supported women's rights and environmental protection. She was
a member of the International Federation of University Women and was
co-founder of the Colorado Mountain Club which helped establish Rocky
Mountain National Park. Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. (2021) |
Jean Chamberlain Froese |
Born March 27, 1965, St. Thomas, Ontario. Jean received a BSc
in biochemistry and her Medical degree in 1991 from the University of
Toronto. In 1992 she had a Rotating internship at Toronto East General
Hospital. She completed a Royal College Fellowship in Obstetrics and
Gynecology at the University of Western Ontario, London in 1996. In 2000 she
worked with neglected mothers and children in Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe and
Pakistan for five years. Since 2005, Dr. Jean became the founding director of
Save the Mothers, a Canadian-based charity in Uganda that trains East
African leaders to improve maternal and child health across that region. An
obstetrician and professor at McMaster University, she is also the founder
of McMaster’s International Women’s Health Program. Dr. Jean married
journalist Thomas Froese and they have 3 children of their own and an
adopted an Ugandan daughter. Together, family lives for 8 months a year in
Uganda and from May to August they return to Hamilton, Ontario. In 2009 she
was awarded the Teasdale-Corti Humanitarian Award from the Royal College of
Physicians and Surgeons of Canada for her work in improving maternal health
around the world. In 2012 she was awarded the Prix d’excellence for going
beyond the call of duty again from the Royal College of Physicians and
Surgeons of Canada. In 2012 Dr. Jean also joined Serving in MissionCanada, a
Christian mission, as a medical missionary and that same year she was
presented with the Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Medal. She was
inducted into the Hamilton Gallery of Distinction in 2013 and has received
the Order of Canada in 2014.
She was an invited panellist at the Canadian government’s Summit on Maternal,
Newborn and Child Health in 2014 (Toronto, ON).
Her book Where have All The Mother’s Gone?
was updated in a 4th printing in 2016.
(2020) |
Mary Fulkerson |
née
MacNeill/McNeil. Born 1859? Arran Township, Canada West (now Ontario). Died ???? After
the death of her father in 1884 Mary may have received an inheritance which
allowed her to attend the Chicago Illinois Women's Medical College in the
U.S.A. in 1887/1888. There were no Canadian medical colleges for women at
this time. She did attend the newly available Toronto Women's College for a
time in 1888 but returned to Chicago, graduating in 1891. She was the
1st woman to register with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British
Columbia and was acknowledged to work in Victoria. She became a member of
the Victoria Medico Chirurgical Society. In 1907 she returned to Ontario to
care for her widowed brother and his daughter in South Hampton but she
did not practice medicine About 1908 she married D. E. Fulkerson never
to practice medicine again. Source: D C B |
Ada Alfaretta
Funnell
3141 |
Born December 4,
1864 Portsmouth, Canada West (now Ontario). Died December 21, 1904, Trenton,
Ontario. Ada attended Queen's University, Kingston in 1882 with her Bachelor
of Arts degree. By 1887 she had graduated from the Women's Medical
College at Queen's. She followed this last degree with a year of post
graduate studies in New York. U.S.A. Returning To Canada she set up a
practice in Hamilton, Ontario. Two years later she was a physician at the
Woodlawn Home, Trenton, Ontario where she cared for her parents.
Source: Female Physicians ...Women's
Medical College, Queen's University by Dr. Donald
Brearley. 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Rozelle Victoria Myers Funnell |
née Myers. Born September
4, 1852, Martville, New York, U.S.A. Died December 13, 1913, Fall River,
Massachusetts, U.S.A. Like many women of her generation Rozelle worked
as a teacher She taught in Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. on on June 2, 1877 she
married Robert Funnell, a brother to Dr. Ada Funnell (1864-1904) in
Harrowsmith, Ontario. She graduated from the Women's Medical College,
Queen's University, Kingston, in 1890. For two years she taught
electro-therapeutics at Queen's. She became resident physician with the Deer
Park Sanatorium, Ottawa, making scientific application of electric
treatments. She published a booklet of verses, A Jubilee Offering in
1897 and wrote words to a song about Sir John A. Macdonald (1815-1891), the
first Prime Minister of Canada.
Source: Female Physicians ...Women's
Medical College, Queen's University by Dr. Donald
Brearley. 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Ruth Galbraith |
née Witrofsky. Born January 15, 1932, Lethbridge, Alberta.
Died October 23, 2013, Kingston, Ontario. As a young child she went with her
mother to live in Austria. The returned to Canada after a few years and
eventually the family settled in Ottawa after Worlds War ll. Ruth attended
Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, on scholarship to study medicine. She
was one of 6 women in her class which would graduate in 1957. In 1954 she
married medical student Peter Galbraith and the couple had 3 children.
During her internship she gave birth but unlike most women of her era who
would stay home to care for her family, Ruth was asked to return to work.
The baby would sleep in the linen closet while she did her medical rounds.
In the 1960’s she and other medical women set up their own rotational
babysitting system so that each would spend one day a week babysitting
children and therefore be able to work 4 days a week. Since the women were
married they were paid less than the men doing the same medical research. It
was felt that they were married, after all, and their husbands were bringing
money into the home. The women worked for less and the university saved on
its budget. When her children where in school Ruth started a special infant
clinic at Hotel Dieu Hospital in Kingston and as well she worked at various
medical jobs in research and teaching. She was mentor to many women when she
pioneered the possibility of working with a family. She never considered
herself a pioneer, rather Ruth felt privileged to be able to work within her
profession even though she had a family. After retirement Ruth continued to
use her energies for her growing family, loving grandchildren, golfing and
gardening. At one point, upon a dare, she wrote a murder mystery which
became published. Source: “Fumbling toward
equity” by Sarah Leonard, Queen’s Medical Review. 1/17/2 Online
(Accessed April 2014) ; Obituary Online (Accessed April 2014)
(2020) |
Marion Gillen
3143 |
née Livingston. Born March 1861, Kingston,
Canada West (now
Ontario). Died July 11, 1900, Belleville, Ontario. Marion graduated from the
Women's Medical College, (WMC) Queen's University, Kingston in 1887. After
graduation for a short time she worked at the WMC as a demonstrator of
Anatomy. She became an assistant physician at the Blackwell Island Asylum,
New York City, U.S.A. in 1889. She relocated to Mt. Morris, New York in
1895.
Source: Female Physicians ...Women's
Medical College, Queen's University by Dr. Donald
Brearley. 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Margaret Blair Gordon |
née Young. Born January 14, 1861, London, Canada West (now Ontario) Died
September 22, 1928, London, Ontario. Margaret was an active supporter of the suffrage movement and worked with
Dr. Emily Howard Stowe (1831-1903) and her daughter Dr. Ann Augusta
Stowe-Gullen (1857-1943) to further the movement. She served as vice
president of the Canadian Suffrage Association and President of the Toronto
Suffrage Association. She was also a member of the Women’s Christian
Temperance Union (WCTU). On September 30, 1885 she married George A. Gordon.
In 1889 she became a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons and
finished her medical training at Trinity College, Toronto in 1898. She was
an executive member of the Peace and Arbitration Society and in 1912 served
as Treasurer of the Local Council of Women.
Source: Men and Women of the Time: A handbook of Canadian
Biography…by Henry James Morgan. (Toronto: Briggs, 1912.) ; The
Indomitable Lady Doctors by Carlotta Hacker (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin & Co
Ltd, 1974); Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Margaret Ann Gould
3182 |
Born July 25, 1869,
Coleraine, Ontario. Died October 30, 1947, Youngstown, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
The family relocated to Hanover, Ontario where after high school Margaret
Ann taught public school. She left teaching and graduated from the Ontario
Medical College for Women, Toronto, in 1898. She interned at the Women's
College Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. after which she
remained on staff for two years. Relocating to Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania she practiced medicine for over 30 years. Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. (2021) |
Lucinda Graham
Medical Missionary
3183 |
Born December 16,
1862, Dundalk, Canada West (now Ontario). Died October 13, 1894 Tientsin,
China. After attending Normal School (teacher's college) she taught for only
one year. By 1891 she had graduated from the Ontario Medical School for
Women, Toronto. She became in charge of a public dispensary in Toronto. In
the fall of 1892 she sailed as a medical missionary to Honan, China.
Learning the language she served at mission stations in Shanghai, Arima,
Japan. In the fall of 1894 she was helping with a cholera breakout when she
contracted the disease and died within one day. Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. (2021) |
Susannah
'Susan' Grant
3184
Medical Missionary
|
née McCalla. Born March 14, 1871, St.
Catharines, Ontario. Died November 30, 1970, China. In 1900 she graduated
from the Ontario Medical College for Women, Toronto. August 5, 1902 she
married Dr. William Harvey Grant while the missionary couple were in India.
They continued their journey to a mission in North Chin and spent over
50 years in missionary service. Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. (2021) |
Elizabeth Rebecca Gray
3185 |
Born February 4,
1857, Dundas, Canada West (now Ontario) Died March 16, 1925, Toronto,
Ontario. Elizabeth graduated from the Ontario Medical College for Women,
Toronto along with her two siblings. She graduated in 1890. She worked at
the Women's College Hospital, Toronto. She was an active member in the
Medical Alumnae Association at the University of Toronto.
Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. (2021) |
Jessie Catherine Gray |
Born August 26, 1910, Augusta, Georgia, U.S.A. Died October 16, 1978. A
distinguished and internationally recognized surgeon, lecturer and
researcher, Dr. Gray has so many “1sts” that “The Canadian Encyclopedia”
calls her Canada’s 1st lady of surgery. From 1941 until retirement in 1965
she worked with the Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, as associate and as
surgeon-in-chief. Here is the list of 1sts: 1934,
1st woman gold medalist in medicine at the University of Toronto; 1939 first
woman to hold a master of surgery degree; 1941 first woman resident surgeon
a the Toronto General Hospital; 1941 first Canadian woman to become a
“fellow” in the Royal College of Surgeons; first woman member of the Central
Surgical Society of North America; 1966
1st woman elected to the Science Council of Canada. |
Minnie Grace Green
|
née Levett. Born October 22, 1866, Harley
Stanstead County, Canada East (now Quebec). Died December 30, 1933, Tampa, Florida. In 1893
Minnie graduated from the Women's Medical College, Queen's University,
Kingston, Ontario. A Methodist she was committed to the temperance
movement and was a well known lecturer and organizer in Canada. Her lectures
referred to the scientific aspects of temperance and had numerous charts
giving effects of alcohol and tobacco on health. January 10, 1898 she
married Dr. Edward Mountain in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, U.S.A. but soon
divorced. She married a second time to Charles Green on September 3, 1915,
Fitchburg, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Source: Female Physicians ...Women's
Medical College, Queen's University by Dr. Donald
Brearley. 2017. online (accessed 2021) |
Minerva Margaret Greenaway |
Born June 23, 1873,
Tottenham, Ontario. Died September 26, 1906, Toronto. Ontario. After she
schooling, Minerva taught school in Tecumseh Township. In her early 20's she
became interested in following a career in medicine as schools of medicine
became opened to accommodate female medical students. She studied at the
Toronto Medical College for Women earning her medical degree on May 31,
1899. She followed up with another year of medical studies at the West
Philadelphia Hospital for Women in the U.S.A.. She opened her medical
practice in Toronto in 1901 and joined at the faculty of the Ontario Medical
College for Women where she lectured until 1906. She lectured to nurses at
the Toronto Orthopedic Hospital for a year and was also a staff member
at an out patient clinic run by women She served as president of the student
association while at the Ontario Women's Medical College and served on the
executive of the school's alumnae association until her death. She was an
active supporter of the idea of more women attending medical school and
women doctors appointed to hospital positions. Frustrated in her endeavors
she saw the founding in 1911 of the Women's College Hospital, the only
hospital in Canada to be staffed entirely by women. After nursing family
members with typhoid she herself died of the disease.
Sources: D C B; Find a Grave Canada. |
Mabel Greene |
Born September 22, 1945, Fogo Island, Newfoundland. The family
relocated to St John's, Newfoundland when Mabel was still a child. In 1970
Mabel completed her medical studies at the Dalhousie School of Medicine in
Nova Scotia. Unable to find any male doctors who
would hire a woman doctor Dr. Greene opened her own general practice
becoming the 1st woman in Newfoundland to do so. Although not an
OB-GYN, Dr. Greene has delivered more than 2,000 babies in Newfoundland .
She married James Thomas Cavanaugh (originally of London, Ontario) on August
15, 1970 and the couple has three children. By 2018 Dr. Greene is no longer
delivering babies but still sees patients, many of whom were babies she
delivered who are now parents, and their parents and grandparents.
Suggestion received with thanks from Dr. Greene’s granddaughter, Tessa
Green. |
Janet Hall |
Born May 20, 1872, Blenheim Township, Ontario. Died June 25,
1950, Woodstock, Ontario. In 1899 she graduated from the Ontario Medical
College for Women, Toronto. She went overseas to do graduated studies in
Dublin, Ireland, Edinburgh, Scotland, London, England, and Paris, France.
Returning to Woodstock, Ontario she received her medical license
December 1900. She set up a practice with Dr. William Tiffany Parke and
later with De. Thomas Richmond. She retired in the mid 1940's. Source: Female Physicians; A Directory of Short Character
Sketches From the Ontario Medical College for Women at Toronto by Donald
Brearley, 2017. (2021) |
| |