Copyright © 1998-2021 Dawn E. Monroe. All rights
reserved
|
ISBN: 0-9736246-0-4 |
Dentists
|
Louise Olive Cole |
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.
(2020) |
R. Hélène L. Shingles |
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 travelling 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 his 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. (2020) |
Caroline Louise
Josephine Wells |
née
Irwin. Born August 5, 1856, Aurora, Upper Canada (now Ontario). Died March
17, 1939, Toronto, Ontario. Josephine married a farmer, John Wells (died
1904), on March 9, 1877. The couple had four children, one of whom died in
infancy. In 1882 John completed dental school in Toronto. John had a
practice at first in in Meaford and Aurora prior to opening an office in
their home in Toronto in 1889. Josephine not only raised their children but
for some years she helped in the dental office and when John became ill she
did most of the work, In 1891 she applied to attend dental school and and
when apprenticed to her husband the children were sent to live with
relatives to allow Josephine to attended dental school.
October 20, 1893 Josephine Wells became the first
woman to graduate from the Royal College of Dental Surgeons to obtain her
dental licence. In 1895 and was the first woman to join the Ontario Dental
Society. She went on to receive
her doctorate in Dental Surgery (DDS) from the University of Toronto in
1899. In 1900 she gave birth to her youngest son. Josephine practiced her
profession for 36 years in Toronto. In 1903 she published a paper on care of
children's teeth that was presented before the Toronto Dental Society and
published in the Dominion Dental Journal. .She was the first woman who
provided dental services at provincial mental hospitals in Toronto, Mimico,
Hamilton, Orillia and at the infamous Ontario Mercer Reformatory for Women,
the first women's prison in Canada. She continued her hospital work after
closing her private practice in her 60's.She retired in 1928 when she was
72.
(2020) |
Educator in
Medicine
Return
to categories |
Meridith Belle Marks |
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.
(2020) |
Nurses
Return
to categories |
World War l Nursing Sisters.
The
listing below of professional Canadian women nurses includes the stories of
a large number of World War l Nursing Sisters. These women, who enlisted to
serve during the "Great War' 1914-1918, were adventuresome, courageous,
and dedicated. 47 of the 3,141 Nursing
Sisters who served would give their lives in line of duty. The Nursing Sisters of the
Canadian Army Medical Corps were given the military rank of Lieutenant. The
women wore a uniform of blue with white veils as headgear and were commonly
called 'Blue Birds.' These nurses work often 24 hours at a stretch. The
living conditions near the front lines were in rudimentary tents with no
amenities. The constant din of artillery meant that what little time was for
sleeping was a fitful rest at most. 25 Canadian Stationary or Canadian
General hospitals were established during the war years in England, France,
Egypt, and Salonika, Greece. The Nursing Sisters who served are commemorated in the
Canadian Book of Remembrance which is located in the Peace Tower of the
Parliament buildings in Ottawa. Their names are listed on national and local
war memorials across the country. I believe their stories deserve to be told
so I have included as many as I have been able to research in this listing.
|
Elvina 'Eva' Adams |
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,
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 also 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 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 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) |
Mary Ellen 'Minnie' Affleck Wolfe
Nursing Sister of the Boer War |
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.
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 190 after having had
time to recuperate from the war she was posted to work in Vanacouver,
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.
(2020) |
Lizzy Ramsay Aikman
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born October 30,
1883, Witsburie, Scotland. Died December 3, 1931, Brandon, Manitoba.
Lizzy trained as a nurse at a private nursing home in Edinborough, Scotland.
In 1909 she immigrated to Canada. In 1912 she graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing. She worked for awhile at Dr. Blanchard's
Hospital in Winnipeg before working as an assistant operating room nurse at
the Winnipeg General hospital in 1914. On April 21, 1915 she became one of
three nurses to represent Manitoba in the British Red Cross and was sent to
England. She was psted to Malta where she served at Hamrun, the private
resident of the Governor. She would also serve at No. 12 Canadian General
Hospital in France and No. 10 Casualty Clearing Station in England. She
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps in June
1918. Posted to Shorncliffe and No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo
Park, Winnipeg and Deer Lodge Hospital she was discharged in 1923. After her
military service she became Matron at Brandon Mental Hospital in Manitoba
and then she worked as a private nurse.
(2020) |
Margaret Allemang |
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 (UofT). 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 UofT to earn a Bachelor of Arts and B.Sc 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 UofT. 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.
(2020) |
M. Jean Anderson |
Born 1918, Ormstown,
Quebec. Died July 2, 2013, Fredericton, New Brunswick. As a young woman Jean
cared for her ailing and dying mother which lead her to pursue a career in
nursing. She graduated from the Montreal General Hospital School of
Nursing and worked in Montreal and Vancouver, British Columbia completing a
diploma in Schools of Nursing Administration from the University of McGill,
Montreal. Taking a study leave from her position of Director of Nursing
Services, Victoria Public Hospital, Fredericton, New Brunswick she earned
her Bachelor of Nursing from Columbia University, New York City, U.S.A. In
1964 she served as president of the New Brunswick Association of Registered
Nurses. In 1968 through 1976 she was executive director of the association.
Taking retirement in 1976 she volunteered with the provincial Mental Health
Association the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Stepping Stones, and the
Canadian Hard of Hearing in Fredericton. In 1977 she was a recipient of
the Queen Elizabeth Silver Jubilee Medal. In 1992 she received the
Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Canadian Confederation. In
2007 she was named Elder Emeritus in her Presbyterian Church.
(2020) |
Isobel Anderson
|
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 (d 1952) and In June 1948 they married
and 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. (2020) |
Maude Irene Anderson
|
née Dolphin. Born 1915.
Died 1995. Maude received her Diploma of Nursing at the Royal Victoria
Hospital, Montreal in 1944 and then Maude earned her Bachelor of nursing
from McGill University, Montreal in 1947. She taught nursing at the
Vancouver General Hospital School of Nursing and then joined the World
Health Organization. She established schools of nursing in Pakistan, Syria,
and Mauritius. Returning to Canada in 1959 she earned her master's degree in
nursing at the University of Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. in 1966. She would
teach nursing the university and was Director of nursing at at Nanaimo
General Hospital, British Columbia and from 1973-1980 she was Director of
Nursing at Maple Ridge Hospital, British Columbia. . She would serve on the
Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia and was president of the
Nurse Administrators' Association of British Columbia. In 1989 she received
an Award of Excellence in Nursing Administration.
(2020) |
Alba Elizabeth Andrew
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born September 23,
1884, Newdale, Manitoba. Died May 26, 1949, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Alba
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1909. By
April 1915 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps. Her first posting was at Moore Barracks Hospital and then to
No. 2 Canadian General Hospital and No. 2 Casualty Clearing Station in
France. She returned to Winnipeg after the war working in Winnipeg.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1909. online (accessed 2021) |
Maude Annie Andrews
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born January 5,
1887, Swindon, England. Died 1960, San Francisco, California, U.S.A. Maude
graduated from the Winnipeg general Hospital School of Nursing in 1913. She
relocated to Saskatchewan and in 1916 enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps as part of the Saskatchewan Nurses war unit. She
was posted overseas at the Granville Canadian Stationary Hospital, Ramsgate
and then at the Shorncliffe Hospital in England. For the next two years she
was posted to No. 8 Canadian Stationary Hospital, France and then to No. 15
Canadian General Hospital also known as the Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross
Hospital. After the war she settled in San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
where she worked as a private nurse.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1913. online (accessed 2021) |
Augusta Edith Ariss
|
Born 1871, Guelph, Ontario (some records indicate 1877). Died
January 9, 1952, Grand Falls, Montana, U.S.A. Augusta
took her nursing 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
Schools for 30 years. The school had strong religious
requirements including nursing students to attend daily
chapel prior to going on duty.
Source: Deaconess History of the United Church of
Canada. Online 2019 (2020) |
Harriet Ann Ash |
Born 1877. Died 1959.
Marion studied nursing graduating from the King's County Hospital Training
School of Nurses in New York City, U.S.A. in 1903. She worked for ten years
as a private nurse prior to relocating to Alberta. Harriet moved from Mt.
Pleasant, Ontario to Calgary Alberta with her brother in the mid 1910's. She
was superintendent of the Victorian Order of Nurses in Calgary from 1916 to
1934. In her last year as superintendent she was awarded a silver platter by
the Association of Alberta Registered Nurses. In 1935 she was a recipient of
the King's Silver Jubilee Medal.
(2020) |
Evelyn Mary Aston-Simister
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born October 13,
1889 Grenfell, Saskatchewan. Died January 14, 1971, Port Burwell, Ontario.
Evelyn graduated from Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1914.
After graduation she worked at the Regina Hospital, Saskatchewan. In 1917
she joined the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service. She
served at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley Haunts, England prior to
enlisting as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps in
February 1918 and serving at No. 14 Canadian General Hospital, Brighton,
England. Discharged in May 1919 she worked as a private nurse in Wi9nnipeg
before marrying Alexander Simister. The Couple settled in Ingersoll,
Ontario. Source: Health Science Centre
Archives, Winnipeg, Class of 1914. online (accessed 2020) |
Alfreda Jeaness Attrill-Taylor
Nursing Sister World War l
Dame of Grace, Order of St. John Ambulance
|
née Potter. Born July 31, 1877,
Minden, Ontario. Died October 1970, Winnipeg Manitoba.
When Alfreda was just a
child her family relocated to Dauphin Manitoba. Her mother took the
children to live in Bismarck, North Dakota and remarried. Originally
christened Isabella Jane but she had her name legally changed taking the the
name of her stepfather in 1904. Her step-father, Alfred Attrill-Taylor, died
in 1890 and by 1894 the mother and younger children were back in Manitoba.
Alfreda completed high school in North Dakota before joining her mother in
Manitoba. She attended Normal School (teacher's college) in Winnipeg in 1896
and taught school for two years. After the death of her
mother in 1899 Alfreda did various jobs to support the family. In 1906 she
began studying to be a nurse at the School of Nursing at the Winnipeg
General Hospital. Graduating in 1906 she worked at the hospital leaving in
1914 to work for a short time in the Winnipeg Public Health
Department. In 1911 when the St John Ambulance Association was
established in Winnipeg Alfreda became involved taking a Military nursing
course in Kingston, Ontario in 1912. In 1914, the day
after the declaration of war, Alfreda became the first Winnipeg Nurse to
enlist as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She was also
the first Winnipeg nurse to go overseas. She would serve with distinction in
England, Touquet, France, and No. 5 Canadian General Hospital, and No. 1
Canadian Stationary Hospital, Salonica, Greece. She also served at sea on the H. M.
C. S. Araguaya. Near the end of the war she was posted to England
serving at the Canadian Military Hospital Basingstoke and No. 10 Granville
Canadian Special Hospital, Buxton. Back in Canada in 1919 she worked at
the Winnipeg Department of Public Heath until 1943. In 1924 she was
appointed Superintendent of the St J John Ambulance Fort Garry Division.
From 1933 through 1936 she was a Serving Sister with the Order of St. John.
From 1933 through 1939 she was on the executive Committee of the Manitoba
Council of St. John Ambulance. In 1961 she became an Officer Sister of St.
John Ambulance. In 1966 with authorization of Queen Elizabeth ll she was
proclaimed Dame of Grace of the Order of St. John which is the equivalent of
a knighthood. The following year she became the only woman in Canada to
hold the highest honour, Dame Justice, St John Ambulance. The Winnipeg
Nursing Division of the order was named the Alfreda Attrill Crusader Nursing
Division. Some of her war letters were published in the Nurses' Alumnae
Journal. Photographs and her war diary are maintained at Health Sciences
Centre Archives in Winnipeg.
Source:
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg, Class of 1906. Online (accessed 2020) |
Ann/Annie Baillie
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born February 22,
1888, Pictou County, Nova Scotia. Died 1942, Kingston, Ontario. Ann
graduated from the Kingston General Hospital School of Nursing in Ontario.
On may 15, 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army
Medical Corps in Kingston. She served in England and in France at No. 7
Canadian General Hospital sponsored by Queen's University. For her war
service she received the Royal Red Cross, 2nd Class in January 1918. After
the war she received the Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
In 1935 she also received the King George Silver Jubilee Medal. From 1924
until her death in 1942 she was Superintendent of Nursing in Kingston. The
nursing residence building was named in her honour. The building now houses
the Museum of Health Care at Kingston. |
Patricia Hill Bailey |
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.
(2020) |
Dorothy Yarwood Baldwin
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born October 10,
1891, Toronto, Ontario. Died May 30, 1918, Doulens, France. Dorothy was a
graduate of the Victoria Hospital School of Nursing, London. Dorothy enlisted
as Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps on May 2, 1917 in
Toronto. By the end of May she had left Halifax for England and was posted
to No. 16 Canadian General Hospital (Ontario Military Hospital, Orpington,
England. Two months later, July 28, 1917, she was posted to No. 3
Canadian Stationary Hospital Doulens, France. The hospital was bombed May
29, 1918 and Dorothy was wounded and would die two days later. She was
buried with two other Nursing Sisters, Eden Lyal Pringle (1893-1918) and NS MacPherson at the
Bagneux British Cemetery in France. The British War Medal and the Victory
Medal were presented to her family.
(2020) |
Elizabeth Jo-Anne 'Jo' Bannatyne-Cugnet
|
SEE - Writers - Authors |
Sibella Annie Barrington |
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, U.S.A. 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 (RN) 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:
DCB vol. 15 1921-1930 (2020) |
Gloria Violet Barwell-Kay |
Born November 30,
1923. Died October 25, 2007, Thornhill, Ontario. Gloria studied nursing at
the Toronto East General and Orthopedic Hospital School of Nursing
graduating as a Registered Nurse in 1951. She would continue her education
earning a Master's Degree in nursing. It was here that she met and married a
young Scottish Doctor, George Davidson Kay (1925-2009). In the mid 1970's
nurse's caps, worn as a symbol of their education and rank were falling out
of vogue. Each school of nursing had a specific designed cap for graduating
nurses. Gloria felt that these symbols of her profession needed to be
preserved and during her retirement from the profession she collected these
important symbols. At times various ranks of nursing were identified by the
bands on the nurse caps, such as a solid black band across the cap for
Registered Nurses, a solid green band across the cap for Registered
Practical Nurses and light blue strips on the right corner of the cap
recognizing a nurse without formal registered training but who had years of
nursing aid service. In 1999 Gloria donated her collection of 170
Nurse caps, from various schools of nursing and dating from 1885 to 1983 to
the Canadian Museum of History. (2020) |
Bertha Baumann |
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) (2020) |
Yvonne Beaudry/Baudry
Nursing Sister & Matron World
War l |
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 and by February 1916 she was serving in England before
proceeding oversees 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 (2020)
|
Hilda Tumaine Beeston -Scott
Nursing Sister World War l |
née Beeston. Hilda graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing in Manitoba in 1915. She joined the Queen
Alexandra's Imperial Nursing Service Reserve as a staff nurse in 1917 and
served for two years. After the war, Hilda married Major Richard Scott of
the British Imperial Indian Army in Monsul, Mesopotamia on February 17, 1920
and the couple lived in India where he was posted.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1915 (accesses 2020) |
Constance Bell
Nursing Sister World War l |
Constance graduated from the Winnipeg General
Hospital School of Nursing in 1915. she went overseas during World War
l and severed as a Nursing Sister perhaps with the British Army. In 1919 she
returned to Canada and served at No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital (Tuxedo
Park).
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1915 (accesses 2020) |
Lola Bell
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born November 5,
1885, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died July 22, 1951, Victoria British Columbia.
Lola graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1908.
After graduation she worked as a school nurse with the Winnipeg School Board
for two years. In 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps. She was posted to No. 1 Canadian Stationary Hospital,
Salonika, Greece and then to No. 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital in France.
In 1917 she received the Royal Red Cross Medal 2nd class at Buckingham
Palace. Returning to Canada in 1919 she worked at No. 10 Manitoba
Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park in Winnipeg. After the war ended she returned
to her work as a School nurse in Winnipeg. She instituted the school nursing
divisions in Moose Jaw and Regina, Saskatchewan. She retired in 1943.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1908 (accesses 2020) |
Elizabeth "Bessie' Bemrose |
née Rankin. Born
1911. Died 1990. In 1927 Bessie won the won the Queen's Diamond Jubilee
Medal in her high school essay contest. After high school she became a
teacher and taught for several years. Bessie then took training as a nurse
in 1942 at the Vancouver General Hospital School of Nursing. During World
War ll she met and married her soldier husband. Married nurses could not
work in this era so Bessie returned to being a teacher and taught until
retirement in 1976. In 2004 her niece honoured Bessie with a portrait and
doll in an exhibit for the B.C. History of Nursing Group of the Registered
Nurses Association of British Columbia.
(2021) |
Ethel Annie Bennett
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born August 18,
1883, Northumberland, England. Died July 19, 1959, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Ethel graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in
1916. For a short period of time she worked on the staff of the King George
Hospital. March 27,1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps. In England she was posted at the Ontario Military
Hospital, Orpington, the Canadian Military Hospital, Basingstoke and the
West Cliff Canadian Eye and Ear Hospital, Folkestone. In November 1917 she
was serving in France at No. 10 Canadian Stationary Hospital. Returning to
Canada after the war she worked at the Winnipeg City Welfare Department.
(2020) |
Myra Bennett |
née Grimsley. Born April 1, 1890, London, England. Died April
26, 1990, Daniel’s Harbour, Newfoundland. As a girl she
studied nursing and continued courses as a midwife.
During World War l She worked in 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, and 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, 2011. ; Heritage
Newfoundland (accessed June 12, 2012. (2020) |
Mary Agnes Best
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born September 24,
1884, McKillop, Ontario. Died July 26, 1968, Walhalla, North Dacota. Mary
Graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1910.By
April 1915 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps. she was posted to NO. 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital, Egypt
and then to No. 4 Canadian General Hospital, Basingstoke, England. In 1918
she was back in Canada served at St. Andrew's Military Hospital, Toronto.
After being discharged from the army In 1933 she worked as Matron of an
American hospital in Mexico City, Mexico. in 1920 she lived in Winnipeg and
then in North Dakota, U.S. A.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1910 (accesses 2020) |
Mary Ellen Birties |
Born 1858, Sheffield, England. Died Alexander, Manitoba
June 22, 1943. 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) (2020) |
Elizabeth Hazeltine "Bonnie"
Bjarnarson |
née
Polson. Born August 22, 1893, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died
November 12, 1979, Gladstone, Manitoba. Bonnie's family
moved to Gimli, 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.
(2020) |
Donna Margaret Louise Blight |
née
Crosland. Born September 30, 1936, Calgary, Alberta. Died February 5, 2008,
Calgary, Alberta. She graduated from the Calgary
General Hospital, and 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 longtime 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)
(2020) |
Florence Bloy
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born May 12, 1884,
East Dereham, England. In 1915 Florence graduated from the Winnipeg General
Hospital School of Nursing in Manitoba. She began working at the Weyburn
Hospital in Saskatchewan. In April 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps and traveled overseas with the
Saskatchewan Nurses Unit. She served in England for two years and was posted
at Moore Barracks Hospital, Shorncliffe Military Hospital, No. 8 Canadian
Stationary Hospital, and No. 2 Canadian General Hospital. She resigned her
position in October 1918. Returning to Canada she settled in Toronto and took
courses in Public Health Nursing at the University of Toronto graduating in
1932. Source: Health Sciences Centre,
Winnipeg Class of 1915. Online (accessed 2020) |
Annie Crisp Bond |
Born 1854, Warwickshire, England. Died June 11, 1943,
Winnipeg, Manitoba. Annie trained at Queen’s Hospital
before joining the nursing sisters in the British army.
She served in 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)
(2020) |
Marie Bonin |
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 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.)
(2020) |
Beulah Vernon Bourns |
Born March 28, 1906, Havelock, New Brunswick. Died March 28,
1990, Morden, Manitoba. She studied nursing graduation
from the Winnipeg General Hospital Nurse Training
program in 1929 and joined 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 babied. 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:
Beula Bourns. Winnipeg General Hospital/Health
Sciences Centre Nursing Alumnae Association Archives.
Online (Accessed April 2014) (2020) |
Constance Eleda Brewster |
Born September 27, 1888, Brantford, Ontario. Died July 4,
1988. After completing her 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. (2020) |
Marjorie Brook |
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.
(2020) |
Maude King Brown
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born April 11, 1876, Chatam, Ontario.
Died ???? Maude graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing in 1898. In 1915 she and her husband, Dr.
John K. Brown relocated to England where John served with the Royal Army
Medical Corps. Maude joined the St. John's Ambulance and served as Matron in
charge of the Auxiliary Hospital at Shorne, Hill, Totton, England. In
1916, even though she was married, she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps. She served at the Granville Special Hospital,
Ramsgate, the Canadian Red Cross Special Hospital, Buxton and No. 16
Canadian General Hospital at Shorncliffe. In the late fall of 1918 she
returned to Winnipeg where she was posted to No. 10 Manitoba Military
Hospital, Tuxedo Park. Reunited with her husband after the war the couple
settled in British Columbia. Source:
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. online (accessed 2021) |
Mary
Elizabeth
Bunting-Pate
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born July 4, 1893
Indian Head, Saskatchewan. Died December 31, 1975, Beaufort, South Carolina,
U.S.A. A trained nurse Mary Elizabeth worked serving in the Active militia.
She enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps on
February 5, 1916. By April 11 she was in England serving at the Ontario
Military Hospital, Orpington. A year later she was posted to the No. 7
Canadian General Hospital, Etaples, France. Six months later she suffered
abdominal pain from an old appendectomy and was admitted to a hospital and
evacuated to England. After a recommended month leave she returned to duty
at the Ontario Military Hospital/No. 16 Canadian General Hospital. In
October 1918 she was working on a hospital ship, H T M
Neuralia returning wounded soldiers to Canada. Upon
arrival in Halifax she was admitted to Camp Hill Military Hospital with
Broncho-pneumonia and pleurisy. Once recovered she was back at No 16,
Canadian General Hospital, Orpington, England. She was discharged back home
in Canada April 9, 1919. In 1921 Mary who had been living in Vancouver,
British Columbia moved to San Diego, California and married a military man,
Randolph McCall Pate, in 1926. He retired in 1956 as a General and commander
of the U S Marine Corps. The couple settled in Beaufort South Carolina,
U.S.A. Source Kenora Great War Project
online (accessed 2020) |
Phyllis Burgess |
Born 1917,
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. (2020) |
Mary Irene Burns-Thomas
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born March 6, 1883,
Woodstock, Ontario. Died December 16, 1966, Winnipeg, Manitoba.Shortly
after her birth her family relocated to Manitoba. As a young woman she
worked at the Transportation offices of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Mary
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1907.After
graduation she worked at the Eye and Ear Department of the Winnipeg General
Hospital. With the breakout of the World War l she enlisted in 1914 with
Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service and was posted a
Valletta Hospital, run by the Red Cross in Malta until the late fall 1915.
She then was posted to Hamrun Officers Hospital in Malta. She also
served at No. 5 British General Hospital and No. 20 Casualty Clearing
Station, France. In June 1918 she joined as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps and was posted to No. 11 Canadian General
Hospital, Shorncliffe and No. 15 Canadian General Hospital, Clivedon,
England. Returning to Canada she served at No. 10 Manitoba Military
Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg until 1922. June 9, 1923 she married Wesley
Thomas. Source: Health Science Centre
Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1907. online (accessed 2021) |
Norma Busby |
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) (2020) |
Christine Elizabeth Byquist
Public Health Nurse |
née Strath. Born
1922?, Shoal Lake area, Manitoba. Died November 5, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Christine was a graduate of the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing
in 1945. She would continue her nursing studies in 1958 receiving a
Certificate in Public Health Nursing. She worked in various places
including Deer Lodge Hospital, Winnipeg, The Children's Nursery at the
Women's Pavilion at Winnipeg General Hospital, The Health Sciences Centre,
Winnipeg, The Ellen Douglass School
catering to the needs of disabled children,
Winnipeg and was the first nurse at the University of Winnipeg. She married
Charles Byquist (died 1953) and the couple had two children. In 1965 she
helped to found the Winnipeg Civic Registered Nurses Association the
predecessor of the Manitoba Organization of Nurses Association and the
Manitoba Nurses Union where she served at the first president.
Sources: Memorable Manitobans. online (accessed
2021); Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press November 2020, (accessed 2021) |
Grace Louise Reynolds Calder |
née Reynolds. Born United Kingdom. Grace trained in Leeds,
England with the teachings of the Florence Nightengale system of nursing. In
1884 she immigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1890 she became the 1st Matron
at the new Medicine Hat General Hospital, Alberta, which opened June 4, 1890. This
hospital was the first
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 G. 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). (2020) |
René M. Caisse |
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 McPerson 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 honor in her
hometown of Bracebridge. Sources: Obituary.
Bracebridge Examiner, 1978 : Lisa Wajna. Great Canadian Women: Nineteen
Portraits of Extraordinary Women. (Folklore publishing, 2005). (2020) |
Ann Thomas Callahan
Aboriginal Nurse |
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 gynecology ward of the Winnipeg General Hospital. 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 1883 she became an instructor and counselor 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 BA and Master
degree. On June 28, 2006 Winnipeg Health Services named a building in her
honour. (2020) |
Mary Lillian Cameron-Chisholm
Nursing Sister World War l |
née Cameron. Born
December 8, 1894, Canso, Nova Scotia. Died August 26, 1956, Montreal,
Quebec. Mary was a graduate of a nursing school in Montreal. For two month
at the end of 1916/1917 she worked with the 8th Field Ambulance of the
Canadian Army Medical Corps. May 22, 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps and spent nine moths working at a
Montreal military hospital. By the spring of 1918 she was off to England
working at the No. 4 Canadian General
Hospital,
a University of Toronto unit, at Bassingstoke, Kent England. By April 23,
just a few days after Mary arrived for duty the hospital increased its
admissions to 1046 patients. It continued to be a busy intake hospital for
wounded soldiers and by June it was also taking in influenza patients as
well as war wounded. The hospital also seems to have been a destination for
visiting dignitaries such as the Prime Minister of Canada, the famous Dr.
William Osler, and the Duke of Connaught to name a few. There was a slight
pause on November 11, 1918 to acknowledge the Armistice being signed. By
June 19, 1919 orders arrived to bring the hospital to Canada. Mary arrived
in Halifax July 11, 1919 and within a few days was discharged from service.
She received the British War Medal for her service and a War Service
gratuity of $366.00. After the war she worked in New York City, U.S.A. and
in Montreal as a Public Health Nurse. On June 7, 1927 she married Colin
Andrew Chisholm (died 1977) and the couple resided briefly in Montreal
before moving to Ottawa and then to Kirkland Lake, Ontario wher3e Colin
worked as an assistant mine manager. They raised five daughters. In 1951 the
family relocated to Stirling, Cape Breton for five years and then in 1956 to
Montreal.
Source: First World War Veterans of Guysborough County by Bruce
Macdonald Online (accessed 2020) |
Christina Campbell
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born August 17, 1877, Beauly, Scotland. Died June 27, 1918,
at sea. Christina graduated from the Royal Jubilee Hospital School of
Nursing, Victoria, British Columbia in 1897. Christina enlisted in the
Canadian Army
Medical Corps as a Nursing Sister on September 16, 1915 in London, Ontario.
She served at the 2nd Canadian General Hospital and then the 5th Canadian
General Hospital in the Mediterranean. In June 1916 she was granted leave
due to illness and disembarked in Malta.
By June 1918 she was assigned to Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle returning
to Liverpool, England after having returned war wounded to Canada. Despite
being well marked as a Hospital Ship, on June 27, 1918, nearing off the
coast of Ireland, the ship was deliberately attacked and sunk by an enemy
Uboat (submarine), U-86. There were 234 casualties among them 14 nursing
sisters.
In 1967 the
Commonwealth War Graves erected the Halifax Memorial commemorating the 3,000
service members who lost their lives including the 14 Nursing Sisters on
board the Llandovery Castle.
The Canadian
Forces Medical Services School at Canadian Forces Base Borden, Ontario,
gives the Llandovery Castle Award each year to the most deserving nursing
officer.
(2020) |
Edith 'Daisy' Campbell
Nursing Sister & Matron World War l |
Born December
12, 1871, Montreal, Quebec. Died 1951, Toronto, Ontario. Died 1951. Daisy
was a trained nurse who enlisted in the Canadian Army Military Corps in
September 1914 in Quebec City, Quebec. Within a month she had arrived in
England and was helping establish the Duchess of Connaught Canadian Red
Cross Hospital at Taplow, In April 1915 she was appointed as Matron but she
was caught up in some scandal at the hospital and was no longer in charge.
By June 1915 she was in the field and received the Military Medal for
gallantry and devotion to duty. May 31, 1918 the Canadian General Hospital,
Etaples, France was bombed and she was noted as having showed bravery in
attending to wounded without care of personal danger. After returning home
at the end of the war she was decommissioned November 26, 1919 she became
superintendent of the Victorian Order of Nurses, Toronto Branch until she
retired in 1934. In 1935 she was presented with the King George Jubilee
Medal. Her military medals including the Royal Red Cross 1st Class,
the 1914 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal and some papers
are maintained in the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa.
(2020) |
Jean Hamilton Kennedy Campbell
|
née Kennedy. Born
March 5, 1930, Scarborough, Ontario. Died February 10, 2021, Scarborough,
Ontario. Jean was descendant of Scarborough's founding Thompson family. Jean
graduated as a nurse from Toronto East General Hospital in 1951. Wanting to
continue her education she attended the University of Toronto graduating in
1954 with a degree in nursing and public health. Jean married Kenneth H. J.
Campbell and the couple had four children. In 1997 she was a Paul Harris
Fellow Rotary International. Dedicated to her profession she was a nursing
educator who established the Centennial College School of Health Sciences,
Scarborough, Ontario. She was elected to the Centennial College board of
directors and became the first woman to chair a
College board in Ontario. In 2012 she received the
Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2018 she was included on the
Scarborough Walk of Fame. The Library at
Agincourt High School is named in her honour. Source: Obituary. Online
(Accessed 2021); Personal information from Glen Kennedy, Halliburton,
Ontario. |
Margaret Amelia Campbell |
Born June 27, 1923, Vancouver, British
Columbia. Died January 29, 1992, Vancouver, British Columbia. She earned her BA 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 Western Reserve University in 1955 and return 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. (2020) |
Anne Canning
Nursing Sister World War l
|
Born August 6,
1885, Helensburg, Scotland. Died ???? Anne graduated in 1909 from the
Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing, Manitoba. By October 1917 she
had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps.
She was sent overseas and worked at No. 4 Canadian General Hospital,
Shorncliffe, England. She returned to Canada in January 1919 and worked for
the Manitoba Agricultural Hospital and Deer Lodge Hospital.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1909. online (accessed 2021) |
Marguerite Carr Harris
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born July 4, 1879, Ottawa, Ontario. Died 1964.
Marguerite was born into a family of means and 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 serving at the 16th Canadian General Hospital. 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 BSc. Her story was written by Meryn Stewart and published in the
Canadian Medical Lives Series.
(2020) |
Ethel Carter
Nursing Sister World War l |
Ethel graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in
1914. After graduation she and a classmate relocated to Vanacouver, British
Columbia and then to Skagway, Alaska, U.S.A. With the breakout of the first
World War Ethel had the desire to serve and in 1917 she enlisted with the
Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service and served overseas.
After the work she nursed at a mission in Romania. Returning home to Canada
she settled in Ontario. |
Annie Amelia Chesley |
Born 1857/1858,
Toronto, 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 superintendant for nurses at the new St Luke's Hospital
(later Ottawa Civic Hospital) which had p patterned on the nursing school of
the Lady Stanley Institute (founded 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 as the 1st president of the Ottawa
Graduate Nurses Association and established the first registry of
professional nurses in the city. Source: DCB
(2020) |
Jane Chisholm |
Born December 29,
1888, Bresaylor, Saskatchewan. Died February 7, 1976, Saskatchewan. Jane
graduated in 1914 from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing. In
March 1917 wanting to serve in the first World War Jan enlisted as a Nursing
Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She served at No. 10 Canadian
Stationary Hospital, Eastbourne (redesignated No. 14 Canadian General
Hospital in 1917). She suffered from poor health and after being admitted to
a Canadian Red Cross Special Hospital in 1918 she returned home to Canada in
November 1918. where she convalesced at No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital
(Tuxedo Park). Later she married and settled in her home province of
Saskatchewan. (2020) |
Kathleen 'Kay' Christie |
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) (2020) |
Eleanor Christopherson-Graham
Nursing Sister World War l |
née Christopherson.
Born June 28, 1883, Yorkton, Saskatchewan. Died 1965, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Eleanor graduated in 1916 from the
Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing. She worked for a time in the
Military wards of the hospital prior to working at No. 10 Manitoba Military
Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg. She enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the
Canadian Army Medical Corps on March 26, 1917. She served overseas at No. 13
Canadian Stationary Hospital, Hastings, England and then in France at No. 3,
No 8 and No. 6 Canadian Stationary hospitals. She returned to Canada in July
1919 and married W. M. Graham and the couple settled in Yorkton,
Saskatchewan. In the 1960's the family relocated to Winnipeg.
Sources: Canada war project online; Archives,
Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg 'remembering our Nursing Sisters Who Served
During World War l." online (accessed 2020) |
Mary Clark-Pyne |
SEE - Social Activist |
Mabel Clint
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born June 21,
1876, Quebec City, Quebec. Died March 17, 1939, Montreal, Quebec. In her
early 20's she wrote two non-fiction books about Quebec using the pen name
Harold Saxon. Deciding to study nursing she graduated from the Royal
Victoria Hospital School of Nursing, Montreal, in 1910. With the outbreak of World War
l she enlisted in the Canadian Army Medical Corps as a
Nursing Sister and was part of the first contingent of nurses to go
overseas. She worked for a short time at St. Thomas Hospital, London ,
England prior to shipping for France. She was stationed at No. 1 Canadian
General Hospital, Boulogne and then was assigned to the Gallipoli Mission
and headed to Turkey and was stationed at No. 3 Canadian Stationary
Hospital. She suffered from severe dysentery and was in Hospital in Cairo,
Egypt. She returned to Canada to convalesce and was invalided out of Service
in November 1916. She received the Royal Red Cross Medal 2nd class for her
service. Once she was feeling better she re-enlisted and was back in England
by December 1917 at no. 16 Canadian General Hospital. In France she served
at No. 4 Casualty Clearing Station. After the war she returned to Canada. In
1934 she published her memoir; Our Bit; Memories of War Service by a
Canadian Nursing Sister. (2020) |
Olive Maud Coad-Varey
Nursing Sister World War l |
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 worked at Camp Sewell
later called Camp Hughes, Manitoba to gain some military experience before
she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps in
November 1916. She was posted overseas working at No. 9 Canadian Stationary
Hospital and No. 12 Canadian General Hospital, Bramshott and No. 4 Canadian
General Hospital, Basingstoke in England. In France she was posted to No. 9
Canadian Stationary Hospital in Etaples where she survived enemy air raids.
Returning home she worked a a private nurse in Canada and in the U.S.A. She
married Harry Varey. Source
Heath Science Centre Archives, Winnipeg, Class of 1910, online (accessed
2020) |
Mary Lisetta 'Mae' Cobbe-Heyer
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born
September 4, 1885, Baldur, Manitoba. Died, Vancouver, British
Columbia. Mae Graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing
in 1906. Relocating to British Columbia she worked as Lady Superintendent at
the hospital in Golden. In 1911 she took up private nursing in Vancouver. By
1012 she had opened a private nursing home in Vancouver with fellow nurse,
Olive Coad (18841974), from the Winnipeg class of 1910. She soon closed the
nursing home and worked once more as a private nurse. With the outbreak of
World War she joined the British Columbia Unit for overseas service . By
September 1915 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army
Medical Corps. She was posted to Nor. 5 Canadian General Hospital and then
the Duchess of Connaught Red Cross Hospital. She resigned and was discharged
in 1916.After the war she married Bradford W. Heyer, Editor and publisher of
the British Columbia Financial Times. The couple settled in
Vancouver. Source
Heath Science Centre Archives, Winnipeg, Class of 1914, online (accessed
2020) |
Jessie Winnifred Cochrane-Coombe
Nursing Sister World War l |
née Cochrane. Born
July 17, 1888, Ranchvale, Manitoba. Died 1961, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Jessie
graduated in 1913 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing. In the spring of 1916 she investigated the option of being a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps and enlisted that fall.
Overseas she was posted to West Cliff Eye and Ear Canadian Hospital,
Folkestone and then at Princess Patricia's Canadian Red Cross Hospital,
Ramsgate, England. In France she served at No. 4 Canadian Casualty Clearing
Station. She resigned her position in 1918. After the war she married C. V.
Coombe and the couple settled in Winnipeg.
Source
Heath Science Centre Archives, Winnipeg, Class of 1913, online (accessed
2020) |
Grace Jean Conner- McKenzie
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born May 21,
1887, Morden, Manitoba. Died February 7, 1974. Grace graduated from the
Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1914. After graduation she
held a position as an operating room nurse at the hospital. May 1915
she as a Nursing Sister with the Canada Army Medical Corps. She served at
No. 1 Canadian General Hospital, Le Treport, France, No. 2 Canadian Casualty
Clearing Station in France and No. 14 Canadian General Hospital, Brighton,
England. Returning home in 1919 she married William McKenzie and the couple
lived in Peace River, Snowflake and Pilot Mound. She retired from nursing in
1952 and settled in Manitou. Source
Heath Science Centre Archives, Winnipeg, Class of 1914, online (accessed
2020) |
Margaret Connolly
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born April 18,
1879, County Antrim, Ireland. Margaret graduated in 1913 from the
Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing. After graduation she was a
staff member with the Winnipeg King George Hospital. By May 1917 she had
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Armp Medical Corps. She
served in England at the NO. 16 Canadian General Hospital/Ontario Military
Hospital, Orpington. In 1919 she was discharged and returned to work at the
King George Hospital. Source
Heath Science Centre Archives, Winnipeg, Class of 1913, online (accessed
2020) |
Hilda Correlli
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born May 30,
1884, Birkenhead, England. Died July 3, 1963, Sussex, England. Hilda
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing, Manitoba in
1909. She worked after graduation at the Winnipeg Children's Hospital for a
year prior to working as a private nurse. She took a position at the
Royal Island Hospital, Kamloops, British Columbia and then at the Regina
General Hospital Saskatchewan. By 1915 she was Acting Superintendent
at Ninette Sanatorium, Saskatchewan. By November 1915 she had enlisted
as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She was posted
to the Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross Hospital, No. 3 Canadian General
Hospital, No. 3 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station and the Canadian
Special (Tubercular) Hospital in England. She also served on the Hospital
Ship H. M. A. T. Araguaya. Remaining in England after the war she took
courses in child welfare worked and was certified by the
Central Midwives Board in London. She returned to
Winnipeg in 1921 where she worked until retirement in 1952 and returned to
England. Source
Heath Science Centre Archives, Winnipeg, Class of 1909, online (accessed
2020) |
Annie Coulter
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born February 6,
1877, Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. Died October 17, 1934, Sault Ste. Marie.
Annie graduated in 1911 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing. In February 1916 Annie enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps. Overseas she was posted to Moore Barrack
Hospital, England, No. 1 and No. 2 Canadian General Hospitals, France. She
then returned to Shorncliffe, England to serve at the Canadian Casualty
Clearing Station. After the war she was back home in Sault Ste Marie working
as a relief officer with the city. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. online (accessed 2021) |
Jean Cowan
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born August 7,
1891, Guelph, Ontario. Died April 1, 1971, Saskatchewan. Jean graduated in
1915 from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing, Manitoba. In
April 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical
Corps. She went overseas with the Saskatchewan Unit of Nurses. Jean served
an England and France at the Moore Barracks Hospital, the Shorncliffe,
Military Hospital, No. 8 Canadian Stationary Hospital, Hastings and No. 6
Canadian General Hospital, France. Suffering from poor health and extreme
fatigue, and the mumps she returned to Canada in March 1919. After the war
she lived in Toronto, Ontario and worked for the Department of Soldier's
Civil Re-Establishment (later Department of Veterans Affairs. In the early
1960's she returned to Saskatchewan. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives , Winnipeg. Class of 1915. online (accessed 2020) |
Jean Cowie-Harry
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born June 9, 1888,
Fort McMurray, Northwest Territories (now Alberta). Died February 11, 1982,
Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. Jean graduated in 1912 from the Winnipeg General
Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing, Manitoba and became Night Supervisor at
the Royal Inland Hospital , Kamloops, British Columbia. After a year she
worked in the operating Room at WGH. In 1916 she was working at the King
George Hospital, Winnipeg when she joined Queen Alexandra's Imperial
Military Nursing Service and served overseas in England until 1918. She had
married Lieutenant W. Earl Harry, and remained in England to be with her
husband. Back in Canada she was a teacher at the WGH from 1928-1932 and also
served as president of the Nurse's Alumnae Association in 1932. From 1932 to
1959 she served as Superintendent at the School of Nursing of Victoria
Hospital, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. In 1935 she received the King George
Jubilee Medal. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives , Winnipeg. Class of 1912. online (accessed 2020) |
Elsie Cressman |
Born April 13, 1923, Wilmot Township, Wellington County,
Ontario. Died September11, 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 Enclcyloedia Online. (Accessed July 2014)
Book: Elsie Cressman: A trailblazing life by Nancy Silcox, 2012
(2020) |
Gladys Elizabeth Matheson Crim
Nursing Sister World War l |
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 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)
(2020) |
Cathy Crowe |
SEE - Social Activists |
Doris Crummy-Harrison
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born February 25,
1892, Nellore, India. ????, California ?, U.S.A. Doris graduated from the
Winnipeg School of Nursing at the Winnipeg General Hospital in 1917. In
April 1918 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical
Corps. In England she served at No. 10 Canadian General Hospital, Brighton
and No. 14 Canadian General Hospital , formerly Canadian Military Hospital,
Eastbourne. After the war Doris married Charles Harrison and the couple
resided in California, U.S.A. where she worked as a private nurse. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives , Winnipeg. Class of 1917. online (accessed 2020) |
Ada Victoria Cuddy-Morgan
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born June 28, 1887, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died 1954, Toronto, Ontario. Ada
graduated from the Winnipeg School of Nursing at
the Winnipeg General Hospital in 1917. March 10, 1917 Ada enlisted as a
Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. In England she served at
the Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross Hospital, Taplow, West Cliff Canadian
Eye and Ear Hospital, Folkestone and No. 16 Canadian General Hospital,
formerly Ontario Military Hospital, Orpington. In November 1918 she herself
was in hospital with appendicitis. She was discharged in March 1919 and
while in England married Dr. A. E. Morgan. Returning to Canada after the war
the couple settled in Toronto, Ontario. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives , Winnipeg. Class of 1917. online (accessed 2020).
|
Ainslie St. Clair Dagg
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born February
5, 1892, Selkirk, Manitoba. Died November 29, 1918, Taplow, United Kingdom.
Ainslie attended Havergal College, Toronto and graduated in 1909. By 1916
she had graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in
Manitoba. In 1917 she joined Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing
Service (QAIMMNS) and was sent to England. A year later she enlisted in the
Canadian Army Medical Corps as a Nursing Sister. She was posted to the
Duchess of Connaught's Canadian Red Cross Hospital, Taplow, England. It was
there that she contracted influenza which soon turned to Pneumonia causing
her death. She is buried at Clivendon Cemetery, England. She is remembered
on the Winnipeg War Memorial.
Source: Class of 1916: Remembering our Nursing Sisters Who Served During
World War l. Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg. online (accessed 2020) |
Sarah Persis Johnson Darrach
Nursing Sister &
Matron World War l |
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
and
graduated as gold medalist in 1911. She did her postgraduate work at
Chicago, Illinois 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. 1 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 196 . 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) (2020) |
Agnes Balfour Davis
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born February
9, 1875, Milton, Ontario. Died 194?. Agnes was a trained nurse as
worked as Acting Matron at the Whitby Military Hospital in Ontario. On
September 24, 1914 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps. She sailed to England with the first contingent of nurses
working at first in Buford, Salisbury Plain, England. By February 1915 she
was one of five Nursing Sisters who helped establish the Duchess of
Connaught Canadian Red Cross Hospital at Taplow, England. By May she was
serving in La Traporte, France, No. 2 Canadian General Hospital where
wounded were brought from the front lines of fighting. In December 1915
Agnes suffered a complete mental breakdown and was sent to England to
recover. In 1917 she resigned her commission and returned to Canada. A
scrapbook collected by Edwin Seaborn covering 1915 through 1943 on Agnes is
maintained in the Archives at Western University, London, Ontario.
(2020) |
Winnifred Dawson
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born February 26,
1890, Ontario. Died June 1972. Winnifred graduated in 1914 from the Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing. After graduation she worked in Canora ,
Saskatchewan. Two years later she was serving as an operating room nurse at
the Winnipeg General Hospital for a year prior becoming in charge of the
operating room at No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital also known as Tuxedo
Park. In September 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps Sent overseas she was posted in England at No. 10
Canadian General Hospital, Brighton. After the War she worked for the Child
Welfare Department, Toronto for three years. Relocating to Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil she worked with the American Rockefeller Foundation as a Public
Health Nurse. Back in Canada by 1937 she worked as the Eastern Supervisor of
the Victoria Order of Nurses (VON) in Moncton, New Brunswick.
Source: Health Science Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1914 online (accessed 2020) |
Edith Deason
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born November 28,
1889, Lancashire, England. Died February 12, 1967, Brandon, Manitoba. Edith
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing in 1913
and then worked on staff at WGH. In April 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She was posted overseas to no.
2 Canadian Stationary Hospital, France and then to No. 3 Canadian Stationary
Hospital Lemmos Island and Alexandria, Egypt. By 1917 she was posted to
Moore Barracks Hospital, Shorncliffe, England. The following year she was
back to France working at NO. 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital and then NO. 11
Canadian General Hospital. She returned home to Canada in 1919 posted to No.
10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg. In the early 1920's
she relocated to San Francisco doing private nursing. By 1927 she was in
Illinois, U.S.A. completing a course in anesthetics. Returning to Manitoba
she worked at the Brandon Mental Hospital. Source: Health Science Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1913 online (accessed 2020) |
Agnes Dennis |
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
also 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.
(2020) |
Ruby Belle Dickie
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born July 29, 1890,
Carlyle, Saskatchewan. Died March 20, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba. At an early
age Ruby and her family moved to Winnipeg. She graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing in 1916. Upon graduation Ruby joined the
Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve (QMIMNSR) and
served in Mesopotamia, Egypt and England. Some of her story was published in
the Nurses' Alumnae Journal in December 1919. After the war she worked with
the Manitoba Provincial Board of Health and in 1925 she was transferred to
Brandon. In 1936 she was presented with the King George V Jubilee medal.
She later joined the Out Patients Department of St Boniface Hospital and
retired in 1956. She was an active member of the Winnipeg General Hospital
Alumnae Association and worked with the Alumnae Journal. She was also a
member of the Manitoba Association of Graduate Nurses and the Canadian
Association of Nurses. Her papers are maintained in the collections of the
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg.
(2020) |
Carola Josephine Douglas
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born April 7, 1887, Toronto, Ontario. Died June 27, 1918, at
sea. Carola enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian n Medical Corps on
March 4, 1915 in Netheravon, United Kingdom.
By June 1918 she was assigned to Hospital Ship
Llandovery Castle returning
to Liverpool, England after having returned war wounded to Canada. Despite
being well marked as a Hospital Ship, on June 27, 1918, nearing off the
coast of Ireland, the ship was deliberately attacked and sunk by an enemy
Uboat (submarine), U-86. There were 234 casualties among them 14 nursing
sisters.
In 1967 the
Commonwealth War Graves erected the Halifax Memorial commemorating the 3,000
service members who lost their lives including the 14 Nursing Sisters on
board the Llandovery Castle.
The Canadian
Forces Medical Services School at Canadian Forces Base Borden, Ontario,
gives the Llandovery Castle Award each year to the most deserving nursing
officer.
(2020) |
Beverly Witter Du Gas |
Born June 29,1923, Vancouver, British Columbia. Died November
20, 2012, Vancouver, British Columbia. She studied nursing earning a BA in
Nursing in 1945 and earned 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. (2020) |
Wendy Duggleby |
née Rennie. Born November 1953, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Wendy earned her BSc (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 2001to 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) (2020) |
Sybil Johnson Dunfield
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
Volunteer Aid Detachments. She was a Nursing Sister 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.
(2020) |
Nancy Eleanor Dunn
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born London
England. Nancy graduated from nurses' training from Hamilton City Hospital
in 1909. That same year she worked during the typhoid epidemic in Ottawa. In
1916 she was in Toronto and enlisted in the Queen Alexandra Nursing Service
and went overseas. On October 22, 1917 she enlisted in the Canadian Army
Medical Corps as a Nursing Sister in London, England. She served in England
and France. In 1918 she suffered from being badly gassed and was in a
sanitarium for 15 months to recuperate. She suffered poor health until 1926
when she made the decision to return to her profession. To bring herself up
to date she took Public Health Nursing at the University of British Columbia
in 1936. She worked for a time in Vancouver prior to taking a position as a
public Health Nurse in the 200 square mile Peace River country. She
travelled by horse back in the summer and by horse drawn sleighs in the
winter to reach her clients. She also worked at Fort Nelson and Telegraph
Creek where dog sled was a mode of transportation to clients. In 1934 she
was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her contribution to
nursing. (2020) |
Alexina Dussault
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born March 25, 1882, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. Died June 27,
1918, at sea. Alexina enlisted in the Canadian Army Medical Corps
as a
Nursing Sister on September 25, 1914 at Quebec City, Quebec.
Alexina served at No. 1 Casualty Clearing Station. By June 1918 she was
assigned to Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle returning to Liverpool, England
after having returned war wounded to Canada. Despite being well marked as a
Hospital Ship, on June 27, 1918, nearing off the coast of Ireland, the ship
was deliberately attacked and sunk by an enemy Uboat (submarine), U-86.
There were 234 casualties among them 14 nursing sisters.
In 1967 the
Commonwealth War Graves erected the Halifax Memorial commemorating the 3,000
service members who lost their lives including the 14 Nursing Sisters on
board the Llandovery Castle.
The Canadian
Forces Medical Services School at Canadian Forces Base Borden, Ontario,
gives the Llandovery Castle Award each year to the most deserving nursing
officer.
(2020) |
Dorothy Dworkin
National Historic Person |
née Goldstick. Born
1889, Windau, Russian Empire. Died August 13, 1976, Toronto?, Ontario. In
1904 she and her family immigrated to Canada. In 1907 she worked as a nurse
and specialized as a maternity nurse with a Dr. Kaufman. She helped
establish a free Jewish Dispensary with Ida Siegel and her brother Abe
Lewis. She was encouraged to seek formal training in midwifery at Mount
Sinai Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. In 1909 she earned her diploma from
the
Medical State Board in Ohio, U.S.A. Back in Toronto she helped to
establish a Women's Auxiliary and served as the 1st president. Eventually
the auxiliary became an orphanage. In 1911 she married a Ukrainian Canadian
businessman, Henry Dworkin. The couple had one daughter. The Dworkin family
enabled hundreds of Eastern European Jews prior to World War ll through
their travel agency. After the war the family aided Holocaust survivors.
Dorothy ran the free Jewish Dispensary providing health and social services
for immigrant Jewish families. In 1922 she was an active force in
establishing the Toronto Jewish Convalescent and Maternity Hospital in order
to provide kosher meals and to meet language needs of the Jewish community.
This would evolve into Mount Sinai Hospital were Dorothy would serve on the
hospital Board. . After the death of her husband in 1928 she worked in the
family businesses and became a leader of the Toronto Jewish Community. She
served on the executive of the Jewish Labour Community and was active in the
Canadian Jewish Congress and Pioneer Women. In July 2009 the Canadian
Historic Sites and Monument Board declared Dorothy a Person of National
Historic Significance. |
Eunice Henrietta Dyke
Public Health Pioneer |
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 Superintendant 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. (2020) |
Kathleen Wilhelmina Ellis |
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.
(2020) |
Mary Catherine English
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born May 11,
1877, Keady, Ireland. Died Died September 7, 1925, Dublin, Ireland. In 1912
Mary immigrated to Montréal, Quebec. February 5, 1912 she enlisted with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps as Nursing Sister and enlisted in Montreal May 1 of that year. She was
originally posted to the 2nd Canadian Stationary Hospital Le Touquet, France
and then transferred to England working at the 3rd Canadian Stationary
Hospital in South Hampton, England. By August she was on the Greek Island of
Lemnos. Here she suffered fro 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
8th 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
demobilised July 1, 1919. Source: A tribute to some
women and men who served in armed conflicts. Online (accessed 2020)
|
Victoria Louisa Eraut-Exton
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born May 28, 1878,
Ottawa, Ontario. Died June 15, 1925, Sprout Lake, Vancouver Island, British
Columbia. Victoria graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of
Nursing in 1905. After her graduation she relocated to British Columbia.
With the coming of the war she joined the British Columbia Unit for overseas
service. In 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps in London, England. She was posted to the Duchess of
Connaught's Red Cross Hospital in England, No. 5 Canadian General Hospital
Salonika, Greece and in France. Returning to Canada at the end of the war
she married Edward Exton in April 1920.The couple settled in British
Columbia where she served as Matron of the Port Alberni Hospital. The couple
later moved to Sprout Lake on Vancouver Island.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1905. online
(accessed 2021) |
Sadie Ferguson-Hook
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born December 30,
1888, Belfast, Ireland. Died January 6, 1965. Sadie graduated in 1912
from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. By 1914 she was
on staff at the Regina General Hospital, Saskatchewan. In February enlisted
as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Overseas she was
posted to No. 2 Canadian General Hospital, Le Treport, France, and No.5
Canadian General Hospital, Salonika, Greece. She suffered from poor health
and returned to Manitoba in 1917. Regaining her health she worked at
Keewatin Beach at a convalescent cottage for returned soldiers. She was then
appointed as Assistant Matron at No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo
Park, Winnipeg. Discharged after the war she married John Hook and the
couple settled at first in California, U.S.A. and then in British Columbia.
Some of Sadie's war time notes were published in the Nurse's Alumnae
Journal, July 1915.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1912. online
(accessed 2021) |
Rachel Fogarty
Nursing Sister World War l |
Died 1954,
Winnipeg, Manitoba. Rachael graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital
School of Nursing in Manitoba in 1898. In 1900 she traveled as a missionary
nurse to South Africa where she worked at Cottage Hospital, Bloemfontein. IN
1921 she became Superintendent of Hospital Bloemfontein and was in charge of
both the hospital and training school. She returned to Winnipeg after her
retirement in 1927 and served as the first librarian in the Nurses Residence
Library. Rachel is listed on the bottom of a framed Winnipeg General
Hospital Nurses Alumnae Honour Roll for World War l but it is not known
where she served during World War l.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1898. online
(accessed 2021) |
Minnie Asenath Follette
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born November 11,
1884, Port Grenville, Nova Scotia. Died June 27, 1918, at sea. Minnie
graduated from the Victoria General Hospital School of Nursing, Halifax in
1909. She enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical
Corps on September 25, 1914 in Quebec City. She served at No. 1 Canadian
Casualty Clearing Station prior to being in Halifax on leave. She was killed
along 234 crew and passengers including 14 Nursing Sisters, while on
the Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle which was returning from delivery
wounded home to Halifax. The ship was returning to Liverpool, England and
was well marked as a hospital ship. The enemy captain of U 86 believed that
the hospital ship was hiding munitions for the British military on board and
torpedoed the ship. Once it was shown that there were no munitions on the
ship the captain then had his men fire machine gun rounds at survivors in
Lifeboats. After the war two of the ships officers were charged with war
crimes, as it was forbidden to fire on a hospital ship. The two officers
were sentenced to four years hard labour but escaped on their way to prison
and never found again. The captain who had ordered the Llandovery torpedoed
was not located after the war. The Llandovery Castle became the
rallying cry for Canadian Troops during the Last 100 Days offensive of the
war. Minnie, while not buried here, is memorialized in the Anglican
Cemetery, Fox River, Nova Scotia. (2020) |
Sara Forbes
Nursing Sister of the Boer War |
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 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: DCB (2020) |
Annie Forrest
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born November
16, 1880, Renfrew, Ontario. Died ???? Annie graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing in 1907. After graduation she went
to Lethbridge, Alberta working in charge of the Operating Room at Galt
Hospital. In 1909 she returned to Winnipeg General Hospital to work in the
Operating Room. In 1914 she became Lady Superintendant of Ninette
Sanatorium, Manitoba. By Nay 1915 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister in
the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Overseas she was posted to No. 5 Canadian
General Hospital, Shorncliffe and then to a Casualty Clearing Station,
France. In 1918 she was at Canadian Special Hospital for Tubercular
Patients, Lenham, England. Returning to Canada after the War she worked at
the Queen Alexandra Sanatorium, London, Ontario.
Source: Health Science Centre Archives, Winnipeg.
Class of 1907. online. (accessed 2021) |
Margaret Jane 'Daisy' Fortesuce
Nursing Sister World War l |
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
serving in France at various hospitals. By June 1918 she was assigned to
Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle returning to Liverpool, England after
returning war wounded to Canada. On June 27, 1918, nearing
off the coast of Ireland, the ship was sunk by an enemy Uboat (submarine),
U-86. There
were 234 casualties among them 14 nursing sisters including Daisy. Her name
appears on memorials in
Kingston, Ontario, and Dawlish, England.
In 1967 the Commonwealth War Graves erected the
Halifax Memorial commemorating the 3,000 service members who lost their
lives including the 14 Nursing Sisters on board the Llandovery Castle.
The Canadian
Forces Medical Services School at Canadian Forces Base Borden,
Ontario, gives the Llandovery Castle Award each year to the most deserving
nursing officer. (2020) |
Helen L. Fowlds-Marryat
Nursing Sister World War l
|
Born October 28,
1889, Hastings, Ontario. Died June 16, 1965, Hastings, Ontario. Helen
graduated as a nurse from Grace Hospital, Toronto and immediately enlisted
as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She left to serve in
England in February
1915. After a short posting in London, England she sailed to France March
18, 1915 and was posted to serve at No 1 Canadian Stationary Hospital near
Bologne-sur-Mer and by June in Abbeville, After a short summer leave
in England she was posted to the Mediterranean on the Island of Lemnos,
Greece and then to Salonica, Greece. She suffered from a chronic respiratory
infection and by October 1916 she was back in England. Once
recuperated she was was posted to a Canadian Red Cross Hospital, Bushey
Park, England. She received the Royal Red Cross, 2nd Class for her war
service on March 3, 1917 at B8uckingham Palace. In the fall of 1917 she was
working at the Canadian Convalescent Hospital, Clarence House, London,
England. After the war she travelled in Europe and upon returning to Canada
she was was demobilized October 31, 1920. April 25, 1921 she married Captain
Gerald Marryat and the couple settled at Ashfield House, Hastings, Ontario.
In Hastings Helen became a well-known journalist and historian. Helens
papers are conserved at the Archives of Trent University.
Source: Trent University Archives Online (accessed 2020) |
Catherine DeNully Fraser
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born January 15,
1879, London, England. Died August 23, 1980, Montreal, Quebec. Catherine and
her family immigrated to Canada in 1898 and settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Catherine was a graduated of the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing
in 1906. By 1911 she was working as a special duty nurse at St. Mary's
Hospital, Rochester, Minnesota, U.S.A. While visiting family in England
World War was declared. She served in the St. John's Ambulance for
foreign Service and was sent to France in the fall of 1915.She served at the
Hospital Briston, Parame, St. Milo, Ille-et, Vilaine. Returning to Canada in
June 1919 and took a course in Neurological Institute of New York in the
U.S.A.. Her family relocated to Montreal at the end of the 1920's and after
her studies she joined the staff of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal.
She also did some private nursing.
Certificates and photographs are maintained at Health Sciences Centre
Archives, Winnipeg. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1906. online (accessed 2021) |
Margaret Marjory ' Pearl' Fraser
Matron of Nursing Sisters World War l
|
Born March 20,
1885, Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Died June 27, 1918, at sea. Pearl enlisted in
the Canadian Armed Medical Corps on September 28 1914 in Quebec City, Quebec
as a Nursing Sister ember of the King's
Canadian Red Cross
Convalescent
Hospital.
Within a month of her
enlisting she was serving in England and then in France as part of the No. 2
Canadian Stationary Hospital. Recognized by her piers as a leader, Pearl was
transferred to the King's Red Cross Special Hospital, England in July of
1917 and promoted to the rank of Matron, this being a senior nurse of head
of the nursing staff and equivalent to the rank of Major in the British
military system.
By June 1918 she was assigned to Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle returning
to Liverpool, England after having returned war wounded to Canada. Despite
being well marked as a Hospital Ship, on June 27, 1918, nearing off the
coast of Ireland, the ship was deliberately attacked and sunk by an enemy
Uboat (submarine), U-86. There were 234 casualties among them 14 nursing
sisters.
In 1967 the
Commonwealth War Graves erected the Halifax Memorial commemorating the 3,000
service members who lost their lives including the 14 Nursing Sisters on
board the Llandovery Castle.
The Canadian
Forces Medical Services School at Canadian Forces Base Borden, Ontario,
gives the Llandovery Castle Award each year to the most deserving nursing
officer. .Source: First World War Veterans of Guysborough County by Bruce
Macdonald Online (accessed 2020) |
Edith Alberta Gallagher
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born May 28, 1891, Lanark County, Ontario. Died December 9, 1972, San Pablo,
California, U.S.A. After attending the local high school Edith attended
nursing school at Montreal's Western Hospital graduating in 1914. For a
short time after graduation she would work in Keewatin (now Kenora),
northwestern Ontario. Edith enrolled with the Active Militia Army Nursing
Corps (ANC). With the outbreak of World War l Edith enlisted on December
29, 1915 as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps and was
assigned to No. 6 General Hospital at Laval University and was serving
overseas tin the spring of 1916. She would serve for a total of three years
at six different hospitals in England and France. After the Armistice Edith
continued to serve at No. 3 Canadian General Hospital until returning to
England on March 8, 1919.She would return home in the spring and was
discharged on April 17, 1919 in Ottawa. In August 1919 she was honoured at a
ceremony in Keewatin, Ontario receiving for her service she received the
British War and Victory Medals where her name is on two war memorial plaques
in the town.. She worked at the Western Hospital in Montreal which became
part of the Montreal General Hospital in 1924. She moved across the country
settling at first in Vancouver and then in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. where
she married becoming Mrs. Edith Powers and moved to San Pablo, California,
(2020) |
Minnie Katherine Gallaher
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born January 1, 1880,
Kingston, Ontario. (also reported as January 16, 1876). Died June 27, 1918,
at sea. Minnie enlisted as a nursing sister in the Canadian Army Medical
Corps on September 2, 1915 at Shorncliffe Camp, Kent, England. By June 1918
she was assigned to Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle returning to Liverpool,
England after having returned war wounded to Canada. Despite being well
marked as a Hospital Ship, on June 27, 1918, nearing off the coast of
Ireland, the ship was deliberately attacked and sunk by an enemy Uboat
(submarine), U-86. There were 234 casualties among them 14 nursing sisters.
In 1967 the Commonwealth War Graves erected the Halifax Memorial
commemorating the 3,000 service members who lost their lives including the
14 Nursing Sisters on board the Llandovery Castle.
The Canadian
Forces Medical Services School at Canadian Forces Base Borden, Ontario,
gives the Llandovery Castle Award each year to the most deserving nursing
officer. (2020) |
Ruby Lorena Galloway
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born August 17,
1888, Freelton, Ontario. Ruby enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps in Toronto on May 2, 1917 while working at the Base
Hospital, Toronto. She enlisted the same day as her sister, Evelyn Grace
Galloway (1893- ????). She was posted overseas at Ontario Military Hospital,
Orpington, England and then served at Etaples, France and NO. 14 General
Hospital, Eastbourne, and then back to the Ontario Military Hospital,
Orpington. In 1919 she returned to Canada. As well as being included on
national memorials to Canadian who served in World War l she is listed on an
memorial in Carlisle Cemetery, Ontario.
Source: Milton (Ontario) Historical Society WW1 Milton Nurses online
(accessed 2021) |
Laura Adelaide Gamble
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born September 4, 1887, Wakefield, Quebec. Died March 21,
1939, Toronto, Ontario. Laura attended nursing studies at the University of
Toronto graduating in 1910. On May 4, 1915 Laura enlisted in the Canadian
Army Medical Corps as a Nursing Sister part of No. 4 Canadian General
Hospital organized by the University of Toronto. She would also work wit the
No. 5 Canadian General Hospital prior to being assigned to duty in the
Mediterranean on a hospital ship. In 1920 she was awarded the Victory Medal
at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace for her service. Her war diary and
letters are conserved in the collections of the Library and Archives Canada.
Ottawa.(2020) |
Claire Gass
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born March 18, 1887, Scubenacadie, Nova, Scotia. Died August
5, 1968, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Claire trained as a nurse. On April 13, 1915
she enlisted in the Canadian Army Medical Corps as a nursing sister with the
rank of Lieutenant. In all she would serve in eight different hospitals
darning World War l including Buxton and Tapow in the United Kingdom and in
Boulogne, France. Although it was against military regulations Claire
maintained a daily journal from the time she left Montreal for England in
1915 until she returned home in 1918. Claire's four brothers also served
during World War l. During her time serving at the 3rd Canadian General
Hospital, McGill Unit, she was working under the command of Colonel John
McCrea, M.D. (1872-1918) who is known for his famous poem In Flanders
Field. Claire wrote the words to this poem in her diary October 30,
1915, some six weeks before the poem was printed in Punch Magazine.
Her diary which gives a first hand account of the horrors of was edited by
Susan Mann and published by McGill-Queens Press in 2000.
(2020) |
Jessie Margaret Gent-Newton
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born November 22,
1883, Birmingham, England. Died 1967, Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1909
Jessie graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing,
Manitoba. She worked as Head Nurse on the Maternity Ward at the Hospital
after graduation. After a short time she became a private nurse and in 1913
she was working as Night Supervisor at the Regina General Hospital,
Saskatchewan. In April 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps. She went overseas as part of the Saskatchewan
Nurses Unit. She was posted to Canadian Special Hospital, Granville,
Canadian Military Hospital , Shorncliffe, Canadian Stationary Hospital,
Ramsgate an No 8. Canadian Stationary Hospital, and No. 2 Canadian Casualty
Clearing Station, France. She returned to Saskatchewan after the war and
married Lancelot Newton (1882-1965). and the couple eventually settled
in British Columbia. Sources: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1909. online. (accessed 2021);
Find a grave Canada (accessed 2021) |
Alice M. Gerard |
SEE - Academics |
Clara Sophia Gillies
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born September 22,
1889, Selkirk, Manitoba. Died May 5, 1971, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Clara
graduated in 1912 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing. By 1914 she was working at the King George Hospital, Winnipeg where
she was appointed Lady Superintendent in 1916. The following year she
resigned and enlisted as a nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps. Serving in England shw was posted to No. 10 Canadian General
Hospital, Granville Canadian Special Hospital and No. 15 Canadian General
Hospital. After the war she returned to work again at King George
Hospital, Winnipeg. After a year she was working for the City of Winnipeg
Anti-Tuberculosis Department. In 1926 she relocated to New York City to do
special nursing. Later she worked in Washington and Virginia. Sources: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1912. online. (accessed 2021); |
Jean Cuthand Goodwill
Aboriginal Nurse |
Born 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 co-ordinator 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.
(2020) |
Katherine Ethelwynne 'Ethel' Gray- Borden
Nursing Sister World War l |
née Gray. Born May
19, 1892, Brierwood, Manitoba. Died 1975, British Columbia. In 1916
Katherine graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing.
January 23, 1917 she enlisted with the Canadian Army Medical Corps as a
Nursing Sister in Winnipeg. She served at the Canadian Special Hospital,
Granville, England prior to being posted to No. 3 Canadian General Hospital,
France. She later returned to England and served at No. 11 Canadian General
Hospital, Moore Barracks. Returning to Canada after World War l she joined
the staff at the Winnipeg General Hospital. After marrying L. E. Borden the
couple relocated to British Columbia.
(2020) |
Alice C. Green |
née Gordon. Born 1908 Huntley, Prince Edward Island. Died September 28,
1980, Alberton?, Prince Edward Island. As youth she had helped her
widowed mother, Lucy Ann Gordon (1867-1955) run a nursing home in Alberton. In 1931 she graduated from the Prince
County Hospital School of Nursing. She worked after graduation in the
Canadian Northwest (now Northern Alberta) as a missionary for the United
Church of Canada. She served in communities that did not have doctors where
she also kept house, conducted church services and was often responsible as
undertaker and funeral director. When her blind aging mother required care
Alice returned home to P.E.I. At this time she married a Mr. Green . As a
widow she took over her husband's cola business driving her own truck,
shoveling coal and shouldering bags of coal as well as any man. In 1969 she
returned to nursing. Always active in her church and the Women's Mission
Service she also served in the Red Cross. She was awarded the Red Cross
Service Medal in recognition of her boundless efforts. She also worked with
the United Fund, The Flowers of Hope Campaign and the Canadian Association
for Retarded Children. She enjoyed historical research and writing. She
co-authored Footprints on the Sand of Time: a History of Alberton [P E I].
(2020) |
Sarah Hannah Roberta Grier-Coome
Matron of Nursing Sisters at the 1885 Northwest
Rebellion |
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.
(2020) |
Ivy Griffiths-Randall
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born March 3, 1891,
Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died June 4, 1963, Vernon, British Columbia. Ivy
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing, Manitoba, in
1915. She was hired directly after graduation by the Winnipeg General
Hospital. Within a year she was Lady Superintendent of the Royal
Jubilee Hospital, at Rat Portage (now Kenora0 Ontario. She worked in Kenora
for a year prior to enlisting as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps in April 1918. She worked in England at No. 4 Canadian general
Hospital, Basingstoke for a year before returning to Canada. She
returned to Winnipeg and in may 1920 married Phillip Randall.
Source; Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg, Class of
1915. online (accessed 2020) |
Winnifred Marion Simpson-Lewis
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born July 9, 1891,
Selkirk, Manitoba. In 1915 she graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital
School of Nursing. In November 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with
the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Winnifred served in England and France at
Moore Barracks, Shorncliffe, No. 4 Stationary Hospital, and Nos 1 and 2
Canadian General Hospitals in France. She returned to Canada in 1919. After
the was she worked in private nursing in Selkirk, Manitoba. She married Ben
Lewis and the couple settled in California, U.S.A.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1915. online (accessed 2020). |
Catherine Nichols Gunn
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born December 6,
1886, St Mary's, Nova Scotia. Died May 11, 1979, Calgary, Alberta. Catherine
trained as a nurse in Seattle, Washington. U.S.A. She returned to Canada
about the beginning of World War l and worked at a Temporary Military
Hospital in Lethbridge, Alberta. On January 1, 1917 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She shipped overseas were
she served at several sites including the No. 1 Canadian General Hospital
(originally the Duchess of Connaught Red Cross Hospital), No. 8
Canadian General Hospital, No. 3 Casualty Clearing Station, and No. 2
Stationary Hospital In December 1917 she was admitted to hospital
herself at the No. 24 British General Hospital with an infection in her
index finger which had spread to her hand. She recuperated in England and
was back to serving by March 1918. In December 1918 she was back in hospital
again, with problems with her finger. She returned to service in May 1919 at
No. 12 Canadian General Hospital, Orpington, England prior to returning home
to Canada where she was discharged in August 1919. For her war service
Catherine was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. By 1922
she was back in Calgary, Alberta where she was working as a public Health
Nurse with the Calgary Health Department.. She worked in this position until
she retired in 1952. The City of Calgary has a school named in her honour.
Bruce Macdonald provides a detailed description of Catherine's service and
life on the front lines of World War l on the web at First World War
Veterans of Guysborough Veterans. (2020) |
Irma Elizabeth Hacking |
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
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born August 29,
1888, Indian Head, Saskatchewan. Died January 25, 1977, Indian Head,
Saskatchewan. Evelyn graduated in 1912 from the Winnipeg General Hospital
School of Nursing. She joined the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military
Nursing Service during World War 1 and was sent overseas in late 1916
serving a year in Malta. She then enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps where she was posted to No. 10 Canadian General
Hospital, Brighton, England. She was discharged from the service in
April 1919. By 1922 she was working on the staff of the Social Service
Department of the Winnipeg General Hospital. She married W. R. Patterson and
the couple settled in Indian Head. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg, Class of 1912. online (accessed 2021) |
Annie Bertha Hamilton-Baker
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born August 17,
1888, Saskatchewan. Died February 25, 1977, British Columbia. Annie
graduated in 1912 from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing,
Manitoba. After graduation she work in Revelstoke, British Columbia where
she joined the British Columbia Unit for overseas services. In September
1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps.
Overseas she served in England and Salonika, Greece at the No. 5 Canadian
General Hospital, the Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross Hospital and No. 4
Canadian General Hospital. September 22, 1917 she married a member of the
Canadian Army, Hugh Baker ((1888-1957) In July 1918 she returned home to
British Columbia and settled with her husband to raise three children.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1912. online. (accessed 2021); Find a grave Canada,
(accessed 2021); Baker family genealogy. online (accessed 2021) |
Charlotte Hardcastle-Coltart
Nursing Sister World War l |
Died November 30,
1970, California, U.S.A. Charlotte graduated from the Winnipeg General
Hospital School of Nursing in 1915, In 1916 she was working as an operating
room nurse at the Royal Jubilee Hospital, Victoria, British Columbia. It is
known that she served as a Nursing Sister during world war l but it is
unknown where and with whom she served. After the war she returned to
Winnipeg and worked as a private nurse. She married Ian Coltart and the
couple settled in California, U.S.A.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1915. online
(accessed 2020) |
Amelia 'Aimee' Elizabeth Hare
Nurse in 1885 Northwest
Rebellion |
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
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born October 11,
1888, Selkirk, Manitoba. Died May 12, 1966, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Grace graduated in 1916 from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of
Nursing. November 22,1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian
Army Medical Corps at Kingston, Ontario. In England she was posted at the
Ontario Military Hospital, Orpington prior to being posted at No. 2 Canadian
General Hospital, Le Treport, France. She was forced to take time to
recuperated from appendicitis before working at the West Cliff Canadian Eye
and Ear Hospital and later at the Red Cross Special Hospital, Buxton,
England. It was in England that she married Gordon Tickell. The couple
returned to Canada after World War l and settled in British Columbia.
(2020) |
Lenora Herrington
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born July 3, 1874
*, Almeliasburgh, Ontario. Died November 16, 1960, Kingston, Ontario. Lenora
graduated from her nursing studies as the Winnipeg General Hospital School
of Nursing , Manitoba in 1912. She enlisted in the Canadian Army Medical
Corps on May 5, 1915, Kingston, Ontario. She would serve at No. 1 Canadian
Generals Hospital, Etaples, France. The hospital was bombed in June 1918 and
Lenora worked to safe staff and patients. September 24, 1918 she was one of
the first seven Canadian nurses to receive the Military Medal for gallantry.
She returned to Canada May 23, 1919 and was discharged on December 31, 1919.
She worked at the Sydenham Military Hospital, in Kingston until it burned
down. Lenora took some time in California before returning to the area to
retire in Napanee, Ontario. * The birth
date listed is what appears in the World War l Project information sheet.
Other dates have appeared in other resources, including July 17, 1873 and
July 3, 1875. (2020) |
Eliza Parks Hegan |
Born 1861, Saint John, New Brunswick. Died February 18, 1917,
St John, New Brunswick. In 1888 she was one of ten women chosen to take 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:
DCB (2020) |
Judy Hill |
Born Kingsbridge, Devon, England.
Died November 1972. She studied to be a nurse. Judy 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
Nursing Sister World War l
|
Born January 28,
1882, Clontibret, Ireland. Died June 19, 1954, Victoria, British Columbia.
Meta immigrated to Canada with her family and settled in Winnipeg ,
Manitoba. She graduated in 1916 from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of
Nursing. She worked in the military ward of the hospital prior to enlisting
as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps on March 16, 1917.
Overseas, she worked at first at the Canadian Special Hospital in Ramsgate,
England prior to being assigned to No. 3 Stationary Hospital, Doullens,
France. Although the hospital was appropriately marked with a large red
cross and that it was against the convention of war the hospital was
attracted in an air raid by the enemy on May 30, 1917. Despite being wounded
Meta and Nursing Sister Eleanor Thompson (1888-????) worked to move patients
from the fiery bomb site. Meta worked until she collapsed from her own
wounds. Meta was sent to Queen Alexandra Military Hospital, London, England
to recuperate. For her
service Eleanor Thompson and Meta Hodge where the first Canadian Nursing
Sisters to earn the Military Medal for gallantry and
devotion to duty. Once recovered Meta served at No. 14
Canadian General Hospital in Brighton, England. She returned to Canada in
1919 and worked at the Winnipeg General Hospital before working with the
Manitoba Ministry of Health as a Public Health Nurse. She left for
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA to complete post-graduate studies in
infectious diseases. Returning to Canada she relocated to British Columbia
where she worked for the Department of Education in Victoria.
Sources: Canada war project online; Archives,
Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg 'remembering our Nursing Sisters Who Served
During World War l." online (accessed 2020) |
Annie Julia Hood-Moorehead
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born August 17,
1887, Shadeland, Manitoba. Died February 28, 1979, London, Ontario. Annie
graduated in 1912 from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing. By
May 1917 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps. Overseas she was posted in England at Moore Barracks Hospital, later
known as NO. 11 Canadian General Hospital, No. 10 Canadian Special Hospital,
No. 2. Canadian General Hospital in in France at No. 7. Canadian General
Hospital. Before returning home to Canada she married William J. Moorehead
in Shorncliffe England, May 1919. The couple returned to live in Ontario.
Source:
Health Sciences Centre Archives , Winnipeg
Class of 1912 online (accessed 2021) |
Clara May Hood-Morrison
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born December 14,
1876, Goderich, Ontario. Died April 1948, Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1878 she
moved with her family to Morden, Manitoba. Clara graduated from the
Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1901. By Nay 1915 she
had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She
served at No. 15 Canadian General Hospital/Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross
Hospital, Clivedon, England for two years before being transferred to No.
2Casualty Clearing Station, Le Treport, France. In 1918 she was working at
the Granville Special Hospital, Buxton, England. In 1917 she received the
Royal Red Cross Medal, First Class at Buckingham Palace. Returning home to
Winnipeg after the war she married Dr. J. F. Morrison April 22, 1922. She
worked as a private nurse in Winnipeg. She served twice as president of the
Manitoba Association of Registered Nurses.
Sources: Canada war project online; Archives,
Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg 'remembering our Nursing Sisters Who Served
During World War l." Class of 1901 online (accessed 2020) |
Mary Houston
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born September 4,
1888, Ottawa, Ontario. Died July 10, 1970.In 1900 Mary and her family
relocated to Saskatchewan. Mary graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital
School of Nursing in 1916. Upon graduation she joined the Queen Alexandra's
Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMMNS) and served for a year overseas.
She then enlisted with the Canadian Army Medical Corps as a Nursing Sister
in October 1917.She was posted to No. 10 Canadian General Hospital,
Brighton, England prior to being posted to No. 7 Canadian
Stationary Hospital, France in the Spring of 1918. After the war she
returned home to Canada and took a position at the Saskatchewan Sanatorium,
Fort Qu'Appelle where she worked until her retirement.
(2020) |
Jean Houston
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born December 23,
1884, Glasgow, Scotland. Died March 1959, British Columbia. Jean graduated
from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1915. She took
here first job working in the operating room of the Winnipeg Children's
Hospital. In March 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps and served for two years in England at the Ontario
Military Hospital, Orpington and at No. 16 Canadian General Hospital.
Returning after the war she moved to New York City, U.S.A. where she took a
course in public Health Nursing at the Henry Street Settlement, a housing
complex that offered nursing services for immigrants. She then studied in a
post graduate course at the Teacher's College at Columbia University, New
York City. In 1927 she began working as a staff nurse at Ninette
Sanatorium. She retired from the Sanatorium in 1943 as Superintendent of
Nursing. She retired to British Columbia.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1915. online (accessed 2020) |
Margaret Howe
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born October 9,
1888, Ottawa, Ontario. Died February 19, 1946?. Margaret graduated in 1911
from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing, Manitoba. After
graduation she worked on staff at the WGH. In February 1915 she enlisted as
a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Overseas she was
posted to the NO. 4 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station, France, No. 16.
Canadian General Hospital and at the Canadian Casualty Clearing Station,
Shorncliffe, England. Returning to Winnipeg after the war she was posted to
No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg. In 1922 she
relocated to the U.S.A.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1911. online (accessed 2020) |
Laura May Hubley |
Born Jun2,
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. 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 Number 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. (2020) |
Deborah Hurcomb
Boer War Nursing Sister |
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
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born October 2,
1874, Bray, Ireland. Died (????), Alice trained as a nurse at St Luke's
Hospital, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S.A. and then did graduate studies at
Chicago Living-In Hospital, Illinois, U.S.A. At the beginning of the first
World War she served with the Royal Army Medical Corps. August 29, 1916 she
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps serving at
No. 2 Canadian General Hospital, Le Treport, France. The Library and
Archives Canada maintains two diaries from Alice for 1917 and 1918. The
writing is clear and details her experience both on and off duty. The
Library and Archives Canada also hold a photo album from Alice that contains
647 photographs of her war time live. May of the photographs are well
identified. (2020) |
Marilyn 'Lyn' Turner
Jackson |
née Turner. Born 1933,
Calgary, Alberta. Died January 2, 2000. The family relocated to Alliston,
Ontario when Lyn was young. In 1954 she graduated from the Wellesley
Hospital School of Nursing, Toronto. In 1969 she earned her baccalaureate in
Nursing at the University of Manitoba and went on to earn a Masters in
Education at the University of Toronto in 1977. During her early career she
worked as a staff nurse at Wellesley Hospital and St. John Rehabilitation
Hospital. In 1957 she served as head nurse at the Intensive Care Unit at
Greenacres. Moving to Winnipeg she worked at the Misericorde Hospital and
the Grace General Hospital where in 1969 she began teaching. She returned to
Toronto to teach in 1972 at the North York General Hospital. She was soon
working as Chairperson of the Scarborough Regional Campus of the Centennial
Community College School of Nursing. By 1977 she had joined the faculty of
the University of Victoria School of Nursing, British Columbia. She
published numerous articles in she field of Neurology and Gerontology. , and
was a welcome spokesperson at nursing conferences and nursing organizations.
She was active member of Sclerosis and Gerontological Associations at local,
provincial, national and international levels. She received a World Health
Fellowship and earned an Honourary Life Membership Awards in such
organizations as the Canadian Gerontological Nursing Association. In 1999
the Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia gave her special
recognition. She served as Director-at-Large and as founding secretary, Lyn
was married to John Jackson and the couple had three children.
Source:
British Columbia History of nursing group (accessed 2005) (2020) |
Jessie
Brown Jaggard
Nursing Sister & Matron
World War l |
née Brown. Born May 28, 1873,
Kings, Nova Scotia. Died September 28, 1915, Lemnos, Greece. Jessie married
Herbert A. Jaggard of New York, U.S.A. With the onslaught of the first world
war she enlisted as a Nursing Sister on May 11, 1915 in London, England. Her
papers note she had previous service in Qualifying Course Military Hospital
in Quebec. She was promoted to Matron and Served at No. 3 Canadian
Stationary Hospital in Lemnos, Greece. It took two nurses to attended wound
dressings at the hospital, one to do the dressing and one to wave the flies
away from the wound! She would be overworked and have a breakdown and then
suffered from dysentery from which she never recovered. For her war service
she earned the Star medal, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal all
of which were sent to her family. (2020) |
Mary Jamieson-Pepper
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born February 9,
1886, Dumbarton, Scotland. Died October 17, 1982, Victoria British Columbia.
Mary graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing,
Manitoba, in 1913. In 1916 she went overseas to investigate military nursing
in England and Scotland For awhile she worked at a hospital in Glasgow,
Scotland and thin in 1918 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian
Army Medical Corps. She was posted to No. 12 Canadian General Hospital,
Bramshott, England for 18 months. Returning to Canada in 1919 she settled in
Victoria British Columbia and then at Fort Qu'Appelle Sanatorium,
Saskatchewan. She married T. W. Pepper and by the 1940's the couple were
living in Victoria, British Columbia. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg, Class of 1913. online (accessed 2021)
|
Isabel Jeffares-Gibb
Nursing Sister World War l |
née Jeffares. Born
November 6, 1895, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died June 14,1951, Nanaimo, British
Columbia. Isabel studied at the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing.
Immediately upon graduation she enlisted with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps as a Nursing Sister. After arriving in England she was posted to
No. 9 Canadian Stationary Hospital, Bramshott and then No. 16 Canadian
General Hospital. She was sent to France and served at No. 2 Canadian
General Hospital, Le Treport and then No. 2 Canadian Casualty Clearing
Station. Returning home after World War l she worked with the Manitoba
Provincial Board of Health. In 1923 she was working as a Public Health Nurse
in Vancouver, British Columbia. Isabel married John Gibb and the couple
settled in British Columbia. (2020) |
Lenna Mae Jenner |
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. About 1910 she attended nursing school, perhaps at the
Victoria General Hospital. Lenna joined the VAD – Volunteer Aid Detachment
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 know 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 septicemia.
Source: Debbie Marshall, War Changes Everything.
Online (Accessed July 2015) (2020) |
Susan 'Sue' Johanson
Sex Educator |
SEE - Social Activists |
Ethel Johns
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 2015 the Canadian
Historic Sites and Monuments Board declared Ethel Johns an Person of
National Historic Significance.
(2020) |
Inga Johnson
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born October 17,
1881, Gimli, Manitoba. Died January 1948, Gimli, Manitoba. Inga graduated
from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1907. She worked at
the hospital as a staff nurse for two years. After a short leave of absence
she was appointed in 1910 as Lady Superintendent in charge of the
Social Service Department of the hospital. August 101916 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical corps. She served at No.
1Canadian General Hospital, France. In 1917 she was posted to No. 4
Canadian Casualty Clearing Station, France. After the war she did a
post-graduate course in Boston, Massacheutts, U.S.A. prior to returning to
work at the Winnipeg General Hospital in 1921. Suffering from ill health she
resigned in December 1921. In 1926 she was working at Ninette Sanatorium,
Manitoba. By 1933 she had relocated to Victoria British Columbia but
returned to Manitoba to become Matron of the Icelandic Old Folks'
Home, Gimli. Source: Health Science
Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1907. online. (accessed 2021) |
Lillie Johnson
Black Nurse & Activist |
SEE - Social Activists |
Annie Johnston-Argue
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born March 9, 1879, Glencross, Manitoba. Died January
17, 1965, Toronto, Ontario. After graduating from High school she attended
the Winnipeg Normal School (teacher's college) and taught school for four
years saving funds for further education. In 1907 Annie graduated from the
Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing. After graduation she worked as
a school nurse at the Winnipeg School Board and inspected schools. With the
coming of World War l Annie went overseas with the Red Cross in April 1915
and worked for two years in Malta. She was posted to No. 5 Canadian General
Hospital, France. In 1917 she was working at No. 20 Casualty Clearing
Station, France. In 1918 she married Captain Dr. Robert. Fletcher Argue
(1877-1962). Returning to Canada after the war she resumed her position as
editor of the Winnipeg General Hospital Nurses'
Alumnae Journal while her
husband was a professor at Wesley College, Winnipeg. The couple had two
children. Sources: Canada war project online; Archives,
Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg. Class of 1907 online (accessed 2020) |
Christina Margaret Johnston/Johnson-Berry
Nursing Sister World War l
|
Born July 3, 1888,
Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died February 18, 1973, Kenora, Ontario. Christina's
family had moved from the Guelph area of Ontario to Winnipeg in 1882. After
the death of her mother Ellen, Christina and her father lived with her
sister Helen and husband. Christina worked as a sales clerk in a hardware.
By 1917 Christina was living in Edmonton and was a graduate nurse. On May 7,
1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps.
In England she worked at the Granville Canadian Special Hospital, Ramsgate
and at the Moore Barracks Military Hospital/No. 11 Canadian General
Hospital, Shorncliffe. In France she served at No. 2 Canadian General
Hospital, Le Treport. By February 1919 she was back in England at the
Canadian Army Medical Corps Casualty Company, Shorncliffe and then at the
No. 4 Canadian General Hospital, Basingstoke and then No. 15 Canadian
General Hospital, Taplow. After the war Christina was once again in
Edmonton. She married Robert John William Berry (1883-1964) The couple
settled in Lethbridge, Alberta and were parents to one son. In 1932 the
family was in Kenora where three more children were born.
Source: Kenora Great War Project. online (accessed 2020) |
Alice Mary Jones-Holt
Nursing Sister World War l |
née Jones. Born
December 21, 1886, (Military record states 1888) Shropshire, England. After
the death of her mother her father brought the family to Canada to settle on
a farm in Shackleton, Saskatchewan. In 1916 Alice graduated from the
Winnipeg General Hospital Schools of Nursing. She worked at the hospital for
a while and then in 1917 she worked at Brett Hospital in Banff, Alberta. On
February 21, 1918 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army
Medical Corps. Almost upon arriving in England she contracted influenza and
became a patient at Canadian Special Hospital, Granville. When the flu
became pneumonia she was sent to Canadian Red Cross Special Hospital. Once
recovered she worked at the Canadian Red Cross Convalescent Hospital, Bushey
Park, Hampton Hill, England. Returning to Canada in 1919 she was posted to
the Saskatchewan Military Hospital, No 12 District Depot, Moose Jaw. She was
demobilized in November 1919. By March 1920 she was working at the Balfour
Tuberculosis Sanatorium, West Kootenay, British Columbia. Here she met and
married Charles Holt who ran the general store and Post Office. Sources: Canada war project online; Archives,
Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg 'remembering our Nursing Sisters Who Served
During World War l." online (accessed 2020) |
Anna Bernice Kilbourne-Cowell
Nursing Sister World War l |
née Kilbourne. Born
September 22, 1890*, Chesley, Ontario. Died August 23, 1951, Toronto,
Ontario. Bernice attended high school in Owen Sound and went on to graduate
from the Owen Sound General and Marine Hospital, School of Nursing in 1911.
October 26, 1916, in London, England, Bernice enlisted as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She was wounded in a bombing in 1917,
recovered and served again until the end of the war. Served at No. 5
Canadian General Hospital, Le Treport France April 2, 1919 she married
Lieutenant Norman Morley. Cowell (1888-????) 14th Battalion, in London,
England. Her diary, which portrays her life on the Front lines in France in
1917 is preserved at the City of Vancouver Archives. Bernice received the
British War Medal and the Victory Medal for her services. Both medals are
held at the Grey County Museum and Archives.
* birth date is sometimes reported as
October 20. (2020) |
Susan Emma Kilpatrick
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born September 14,
1880, Kempville, Ontario. Susan graduated in 1911 from the Winnipeg General
Hospital School of Nursing, Manitoba. March 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Serving overseas she was posted
to the No. 16 Canadian General Hospital, Orpington, England. Her service was
interrupted to illness and months of convalescing. By March 1919 she was
back in Winnipeg prior to relocating to Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. in 1923.
She returned to Manitoba to work at the Ninette Sanatorium.
Source:
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1911. online. (accessed
2021) |
Jane Stuart Kines |
SEE - Writers - Journalists and Broadcasters |
Jessie Nelson King
Nursing Sister World War l |
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) |
Lauretta Hughes Kneil
|
Born 1889, Emerald Junction, Prince Edward
Island. Died ???? Lauretta's family believed in educating
their daughters and Lauretta trained as a nurse. In
1890 the family was living in Ottawa. In 1898 this
adventuresome soul served in the Spanish American War.
Back in Ottawa in 1899 she became superintendent of the
School of Nursing at Ottawa General Hospital. Shortly after
she relocated to Westfield, Massachusetts to become nursing
superintendent at a local hospital. She married Robert H.
Kneil, a local Massachusetts businessman, on October 27,
1903. Living in Edmonton, Alberta 1909 through 1923 Lauretta
was an active volunteer with various women's groups.
By 1940 the widowed Lauretta was living with her
sister Cornelia and brother John in New York City.
(2020) |
Clara Kwan-Lim |
Born 1916, Revelstoke, British Columbia. Died
June 29, 2001, British Columbia. Clara graduated from the
Vancouver General Hospital School of Nursing in 1941 at the
head of her class and she came first in the provincial
registered nurse examinations. She began her career becoming
supervisor of the Private Ward Pavilion at Vancouver General
Hospital (VGH) She took a nursing administration course at
the University of Toronto and was invited to sit on the
committee planning the Centennial Pavilion. She became in
charge of Medical-Surgical and Emergency Nursing over 290
registered nurses. She was instrumental in the opening of
the Intensive Care and Coronary Care units, the first of
their kind in the province. She married Ken Lim and the
couple had one daughter. After 30 years at VGH she retired
in 1981. She worked with the Chinese Benevolent Association
and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Richmond
Lions Manor, Governor of the provincial Addiction Research &
Rehabilitation Association and a member of the Board of the
Retired Nurses Association of British Columbia where she
served as president for six years. In 1977 she received the
Queen Elizabeth 25th Anniversary Commemorative Medal and in
1979 she was inducted into the Order of Canada. In 1992 she
received the Governor General's Medal.
Source: The British Columbia History of
Nursing Group. online (2020) |
Louise de Kiriline Lawrence |
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. |
Blanch Olive Lavallée-Trudeau
Nursing Sister World War 1 |
Born September 26,
1891, Quebec. Died January 29, 1969, Quebec City, Quebec. In 1915 Blanche
graduated as a trained nurse from the Hotel-Dieu Hospital, Montreal. Within
two months she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical
Corps. She served overseas at No. 4 Canadian Stationary Hospital, later
known as No. 8 Canadian General Hospital at located at Saint Cloud
Racetrack, Paris, France. Here she worked in charge of the operating room
where she would have seen horrendous effects of war on wounded soldiers.
When Blanche wrote letters home to her mother she never told of her work.
The toll of the work had its effects on Blanche. In April 1917 she suffered
from typhoid fever. In November/December of that year she suffered attacks
of appendicitis. In the Spring of1918 she was hospitalized with pneumonia,
bronchitis, influenza and acute appendicitis. She was sent back to Canada to
recuperate. This could have been the Spanish Flue which was ravaging France
at this time. France later awarded Blanche the Epidémies Silver Cross. Only
58 such medals were given to Canadians who had served in France during the
epidemic. It is estimated that 39 Canadian Nursing Sisters died from
influenza. Blanche survived. On September 15,1924 she married George
Alexandre Henri Trudeau and the couple raised one daughter. Some of
Blanche's letters written to her mother during the war are retained in the
collections at National Defence Headquarters Directorate of History and
Heritage. |
Ada Lizzie Law
Nursing Sister World War 1 |
Born May 10, 1880,
Barrie, Ontario. Died ???? Ada graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital
School of Nursing in 1903. In June 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing
Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. . She served overseas at No.
10Canadian General Hospital, No. 5 Canadian General Hospital and No. 16
Canadian General Hospital in England. She returned to Canada in October 1919
and settled in Calgary, Alberta where she worked as a private duty nurse. In
1923 she joined the Red Cross Hospital, Foremost, Alberta. In 1937 she
was working as a private nurse in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. Source Health Sciences Centre
Archives, Winnipeg, Class of 1903. online, (accessed 2020) |
Flora Lawford-Nesbitt
Nursing Sister World War 1 |
Born August
19,1883, Rossburn, Manitoba. Died July 23, 1961. Flora graduated from the
Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1906. With the coming of
World War l she served with the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing
Service overseas prior to enlisting as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps. in 1917.She was posted to No. 16 Canadian General
Hospital, Orpington, and then to Etaples France at No. 1 Canadian General
Hospital. She also worked at No. 8 Canadian Stationary Hospital. After the
war she returned to Winnipeg and engaged in private nursing. She
married N. L. Nesbitt and the couple settled in Chicago, Illinois, U. S. A.
Source Health Sciences Centre
Archives, Winnipeg, Class of 1905. online, (accessed 2020) |
Gertrude Elizabeth 'Nora' Livingston |
Born May 17, 1848, Sault
Ste Marie Michigan, U.S.A.. Died July 24, 1927, Val-Morin, Quebec. After her
father retired from the British Army the family relocated to Como (Hudson),
Quebec. Nora would train as a nurse at the New York Hospital's Training
School for Nurses in the U.S.A., a school renowned for teaching women not in
religious orders. After graduation she worked at the New York Hospital. On
February 20, 1890 she began working at the Montreal General Hospital with
the condition that she would not do any domestic tasks. She was in charge of
a new school for nurses with new students arriving April 1, 1890 and the
first graduation was celebrated in April 1891. By 1894 the course was
extended to two years. By 1899 the studies were extended over three years.
Nora insisted that candidates had a strong academic background and she was
in charge of recruitment, training, working conditions, strict decorum and
dismissals. She was known for her 'draconian rules of conduct' but her
methods helped define proper functions of a nurse and helped free nursing
staff from duties not directly related to care of their patients. The school
became facilitated with McGill University faculty of Medicine. Nora, during
her 30 years of service to the hospital molded modern nursing education and
the Montreal General Hospital became a guide for smaller hospitals
establishing nursing schools throughout Canada. In 1905 the Livingston Club
was founded and in 1940 the Nora Livingston Scholarship fund was
established. Source;
DCB (2020) |
Isabel Agnes Elizabeth Lloyd
Nursing Sister World War 1 |
Born September 28,
1884, Gladstone, Manitoba. Died December 1938, Manitoba. Isabel graduated
from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1908. Moving to
Fernie, British Columbia after graduation she worked at the Fernie General
Hospital for a year and then took a job as nurse at the T. A. Eaton Company.
In June 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps. In England she served at the Kitchener Military Hospital, Brighton
and at No. 10 Canadian General Hospital. In 1918 she became ill and was sent
back to Canada to No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg.
After being discharged she returned to work at the T. A. Eaton Company and
then worked at the Selkirk Mental Hospital.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1908 (accesses 2020) |
Martha 'Mona' Isabel Loder
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born 1884, Snook's
Harbour, Newfoundland. Died June 25, 1963, Boston, Massacheutts, U.S.A.
Martha would teach at local schools probably to earn financing to study
nursing at the London Hospital in England, graduating in 1914. She was
working as a private nurse in Montreal when she became the first
Newfoundland woman to volunteer as a Nursing Sister in World War l on
November 6, 1914. She worked with the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Nursing
Service and was soon in Boulogne with the British Expeditionary Force. Her
journal from her time working on an ambulance survives to tells her war
story. Her father died while she was away and her fiancé, a soldier, was
killed in action. Demobilized back in Canada she was working at Brandon
General Hospital in Manitoba in 1919. In 1923, after some time in England, she
became the first school nurse in Newfoundland serving at Methodist College.
By 1926 she had relocated to Boston to be with family. By1929 she was back
in Newfoundland as Superintendant of Child Welfare Association in St.
John's. Source Margot I Du Ley, Nurse
Martha Isabel Loder (1884-1963, Newfoundland Historical Society, online
(accessed 2020) |
Ellie Elizabeth Love
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born March 2, 1884,
Seaforth, Ontario. Died May 30, 1963, Ariss, Ontario. Ellie graduated
from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1915. In May 1918
she enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She
served in Canada at No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital (Dee Lodge
Convalescent Hospital. After being discharged from the army in 1919 she
moved to Saskatchewan and worked at the Saskatchewan Sanatorium at Fort
Qu'Appelle. Source Health Sciences Centre
Archives, Winnipeg, Class of 1915. online, (accessed 2020) |
Margaret Lowe
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born January 26,
1886, Morayshire, Scotland. Died May 28, 1918, Etaples, France. After the
death of her mother when she was just five, her father brought the family to
Canada and settled in Manitoba. Margaret graduated in 1916 from
the Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing. She enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the
Canadian Army Medical Corp in March of 1917. Overseas in may she served at
No 16 Canadian General Hospital, No. 10 Canadian Stationary Hospital and No.
4 Canadian General Hospital prior to being assigned in January 1918 to No. 1
Canadian General Hospital, Etaples, France. On may 19, 1918 the hospital was
bombed by the enemy destroying the Nursing Sisters' quarters. Nursing Sister
Katherine Macdonald (1893-1918) was killed instantly and seven others were
wounded including Margaret. She received a chest wound and a fractured skull
and died from her wounds. She is buried in the Etaples Military Cemetery.
For her war service she was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory
Medal.
Sources: Canada war project online; Archives,
Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg 'remembering our Nursing Sisters Who Served
During World War l." online (accessed 2020) |
Edith Effie Lumsden
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born October 2,
1875, Brooklin, Ontario. Died December 23, 1954, British Columbia. Edith
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing, Manitoba in
1900. By September 1915 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps. She served at No. 4 Canadian Casualty Clearing
Station, No. 5 Canadian General Hospital, Salonika, Greece where she was
acting Matron, and Duchess of Connaught's Canadian Red Cross Hospital,
Taplow, England. She returned to Canada in 1918 and served with the
Esquimalt Military Hospital in British Columbia until April 1919.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. class of 1900 online (accessed 2020) |
Jean Dickson Cassidy-Lyall
Nursing Sister World War l |
née Cassidy. Born
December 9, 1880, Chatham, New Brunswick. Died October, 1964, Vancouver,
British Columbia. Jean graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital
School of Nursing in 1904. Jean Married Dr. Lyall. She enlisted as a Nursing
Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps in London, England, March 13,
1916. At the time of her enlistment she may have been a widow as her husband
is not listed as next of kin and usually enlistment was open to single women
only. She was posted to Moore Barracks Hospital and within the years she was
serving at the Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross Hospital and then to the
Buxton Red Cross Special Hospital until July
1918. Becoming ill she was discharged from the
service and returned to Canada. She worked in the Medical Department at the
Canadian National Railway, Winnipeg.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. class of 1904 online (accessed 2020) |
Lillian Lynch
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born June 10, 1889,
Westbourne, Manitoba. Died March 30, 1965. Lillian graduated from the
Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1914. By February 1915 she
had enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She was
posted at No. 2 Canadian General Hospital, Le Treport, France and at No. 4
Canadian Casualty Clearing Station. After the war she worked as a private
nurses in California and Arizona, U.S.A. for several years. Returning to
Canada in 1923 she worked with the Department of Education in
Saskatchewan at the Regional Public School System. Winning a scholarship she
took graduated courses in Public Health Nursing from the University of
Toronto. Source:
Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg 'remembering
our Nursing Sisters Who Served During World War l." online (accessed 2020) |
Ruth Catherine MacAdams |
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 two 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) |
Ruth Catherine MacAdams |
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 two 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) |
Ruth Catherine MacAdams |
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 two 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) |
Bernice Mary MacDonald
World War l nurse U.S. Army |
Born September 27, 1881, North Bedeque, Prince Edward Island.
Died 1968, U.S.A. Beatrice had her primary education on Prince Edward
Island. In 1905 she graduated from the New York City Training School for
Nurses. She became a surgical assistant to Dr. George Emerson Brewer of New
York and was associated with him until his death in 1939. During World War l
she served as a military nurse in France and Germany. Even the loss of sight
in her right eye did not deter her service as Chief Nurse of Evacuation
Hospital No. 2 at Baccarat, France. She was awarded the Purple Heart for
having been wounded and is the first known woman to receive this award. In February 1919 she received the U.S.
Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism. In fact, Bernice
was one of the most decorated women in the U.S. Army during World War l. She
was also recognized with the Distinguished Military Medal from Great Britain
and the Crois de Guerre and the Legion of Honor from France. She
is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Washington. D. C., U.S.A .Her story
is told in the book by Katherine Dewar, Those Splendid Girls.
(2020) |
Jean Alexandrina MacDonald
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born March 11,
1888, Canon Bridge, Scotland. Died November 23, 1969, Roblin, Manitoba. Jean
immigrated to Canada in 1908. By 1912 she had graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing. She worked as a private nurse in
Winnipeg after graduation and then accepted a post as charge nurse of an
operating room in Edmonton, Alberta. In January 1916 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps as part of the Queen's
University Unit in Kingston, Ontario. Overseas she was posted at Granville
Stationary Hospital, Ramsgate, England and then at No. 7 Canadian General
Hospital, France. In March 1919 she received the Medaille des Epidemies , in
silver, an award granted to nursing sisters for attending wounded civilians
under fire. Returning to Canada in June 1919 she was posted to No. 10
Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg. By 1922 she was working
as a member of a City Hospital in Mexico. In 1933 it is known that she was
working as a special duty nurse in New York, U.S.A. She retired to Roblin,
Manitoba.
Source: Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg. Class
of 1912 online
(accessed 2020) |
Josephine 'Josie' Angelique MacDonald
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born October 31,
1878,Brantford, Ontario. Josie and her family relocated to Emerson Manitoba
and then to Portage, Manitoba in 1906. Josie graduated in 1910 from the
Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing. She began her career as Nurse
Superintendent in Lashburn, Saskatchewan. A year later she was working as a
private nurse in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Jessie enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps late July 1916. Overseas
she worked at the Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross Hospital, Taplow, England
and then was transferred to France to No. 3, Canadian Stationary Hospital
and No. 1 Canadian General Hospital, Etaples surviving severs enemy bombing
raids. Returning to North America 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. By 1926 she began working
at Deer Lodge Hospital where she remained until her retirement in 1940.
Source: Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg. Class
of 1910 online
(accessed 2020) |
Katherine Maud 'Christy' Macdonald
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born January 18, 1893, Brantford, Ontario. Died May 19, 1918, Etaples,
France. Katherine attended Brantford
Collegiate Institute and after graduation she studied nursing at Victoria
Hospital School of Nursing, London, Ontario, graduating in May 1915. She
worked in the southwestern Ontario as a private nurse. On March 20,
1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadaian Army Medical Corps in
London, Ontario. On the train trip to Montreal and on to Halifax for
training and departure to England, Christy, as her colleagues came to call
her, was in charge of 19 other enlisted nurses. They left for England on
April 6, 1917. In England she was posted to No. 14 Canadian General
Hospital, Eastbourne, England and then No. 10 Canadian Stationary
Hospital also in England. Christy arrived in France January 28, 1918 and was
assigned to No. 1 Canadian General Hospital, Etaples. Her letters home,
which were saved by her mother, gave details of aspects of nursing life and
talked of her worry about not hearing from her fiancé John Ballentyne. On May
19,1918 the hospital which was near an army training base was attacked by
five
enemy planes that dropped 116 bombs with a direct hit on the nursing
quarters. Christy was wounded with a piece of shrapnel severing her femoral
artery. Death came quickly. Katherine Maude Macdonald was the first Nursing
Sister killed in line of duty during World War l. Katherine's
mother, Mary Maud Macdonald was presented as a Silver Cross Mother to the
King George and Queen Elizabeth when they stopped in Brantford on their 1939
tour of Canada. Katherine's name is commemorated in the Library of
Brantford Collegiate Institute, at the Brant War Memorial, at Victoria
Hospital, London and a Grace Anglican Church Brantford, as well as on
Canadian National memorials. (2020) |
Edith Frances Macey
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born January
15, 1886, Saskatchewan. Died 1951, San Diego, California, U.S.A. Edith
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1908.She
began work in Fernie, British Columbia and then at Maple Creek,
Saskatchewan. She returned to British Columbia to work as Lady
Superintendent at the Kamloops Hospital. In 1916 she was working at Cook
County Hospital, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A for a short period of time before
returning to work as a private nurse in Winnipeg. She joined Queen
Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service in 1016 and was posted to
Malta for a year before she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps in November 1917. She was stationed to No. 10 Canadian
General Hospital, Brighton England and
then was sent to France in the spring of 1918. She had an
appendicitis and was herself in No. 24 Canadian General Hospital, Etaples,
France. After recuperating from her operation she
posted to NO. 12 Canadian General Hospital and then discharged from service
by August 1919. After the war she returned to Winnipeg and worked as a
Public Health Nurse for the Manitoba Board of Health. She relocated to
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan where she worked at the Victoria Hospital.
Moving to the U.S.A. she worked at Iverson Memorial Hospital, Wyoming and
then settled in San Diego, California, U.S.A.
Source: Class of 1908: Remembering our Nursing Sisters Who
Served During World War l. Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg. online
(accessed 2020) |
Jessie Gertrude Macey
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born November
18, 1891, Saskatchewan. Died November 1967, Ontario. Jessie graduated in
1916 from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing. In March 1917 she
enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. In England
she served at Canadian Special Hospital, Granville and No. 16 Canadian
General Hospital (Ontario Military Hospital), Ramsgate. In France she served
at No. 7 and No. 2 Canadian General Hospitals, Le Treport and at No. 11
Canadian General Hospital, Moore Barracks. She returned to Canada in May
1919. For the next five years she worked in St. Mark's Hospital, Cleveland,
Ohio, U.S.A. and then as a private nurse in California and Hawaii , U.S.A.
She then became a Nurse Superintendent at one of the Mayo Clinic Hospitals.
Source: Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg. Class of 1916: online
(accessed 2020) |
Idella 'Dell' Gertrude MacGregor
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born June 30, 1880,
South Gower, Ontario. Died 1947, Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1909 Dell
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing, Manitoba.
After graduation she relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia where she
worked as a private nurse. By August 1916 she was in Kingston, Ontario
where she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps.
In England she served at No. 15 Canadian General Hospital, Taplow and then
in France she served at No. 3 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station, No. 7
Canadian General Hospital and No. 2 General Hospital in Le Treport. Back in
Ontario after the war she worked with the Victorian Order of Nurses (V O N
). In 1921 she was a Public Health Nurse with the City of Toronto. She
returned once more to British Columbia working at the Kamloops Hospital.
Source: Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg. Class of 1909: online
(accessed 2020) |
Elizabeth 'Eliza' Margaret
MacKenzie |
SEE - Physicians |
Isobel MacLeod |
née Black. Born June 24, 1913, Sturgeon Falls, Ontario. She
relocated with her family to Edmonton, Alberta in the 1920’s. After high
school she courageously enrolled in a 5 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 skeptical 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. Alastair 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) |
Agnes MacPherson
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born March 2, 1891,
Brandon, Manitoba. Died May 30, 1918, Etaples, France. November 22, 1916
Agnes enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps in
Kingston, Ontario. She was posted to No. 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital,
Doullens, France. The Hospital was bombed and Agnes was too badly wounded to
be moved and died of her wounds shortly after the bombings. She was buried
at the Bagneux British Cemetery, Somme, France along with Nursing Sisters
Eden Loyal Pringle (1893-1918), and Dorothy Baldwin (1891-1918).
(2020) |
Margaret Wilhelmina
MacRae
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born November 12,
1882, Scotland. Died June 1962. Margaret graduated in 1911 from the Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing, Manitoba. She worked at the Regina
General Hospital, Saskatchewan until 1915. In May 1917 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She was posted overseas
as the Kitchener Military Hospital, Brighton, England. Back home in Canada
after the war she became a member of the city staff of the Winnipeg Bureau
of Child Hygiene. In the 1930's she was working as a a private duty
nurse in Honolulu, Hawaii. She retired to Victoria, British Columbia.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1911. online. (accessed 2021) |
Mary Winnifred MacNutt MacRae
Nursing Sister World War ll |
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) |
Anna Judson Rossborough Mair |
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 |
Baptised November 12, 1606,
Langres, France. Died June 18, 1673, Montreal, Lower Canada (now Quebec. 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) |
Katherine McMillan Martin
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born November
26, 1891, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Katherine graduated from the Winnipeg General
Hospital School of Nursing in 1916. By November of that year she had
enlisted in the Canadian Army Medical Corps as a Nursing Sister. In England
she served at the Canadian Special Hospital, Granville, the Canadian
Convalescent Officers Hospital, Kent, and the Canadian Eye and Ear Hospital
in West Cliff. In France she was posted to No. 2 Canadian General Hospital.
Returning to Canada after World War l she relocated to Whinnock, British
Columbia where she dies in 1955.
Source: Class of 1916: Remembering our Nursing Sisters Who
Served During World War l. Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg. online
(accessed 2020) |
Jean Matheson
Nursing Matron World War l |
Born April
24, 1894, Clinton, Ontario. Died April 22, 1938, Winnipeg, Manitoba. When
she was a child her family relocated to Manitoba. In 1899 she graduated from
the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing. After graduation she worked
as private nurse in Winnipeg. She was hired as Superintendent of Nurses at
the Regina General Hospital in Saskatchewan. By 1901 she was Matron of the
Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, British Columbia where she stayed for
five years. In 1907 she became first Lady Superintendent of the provincial
Tuberculosis Sanatorium,
Tranquille, British Columbia. She would work to establish it as on of the
top tuberculosis hospitals in the country. In 1912 she returned home to
Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan for a shot time prior to becoming Superintendent of
Nurses at Queen Victoria Hospital, Revelstoke, British Columbia she she
opened a School of Nursing in 1914. By September 1915 she had enlisted with
the Canadian Army Medical Corps and became Matron
with No. 5 Canadian General Hospital, Salonika, Greece. While on
board the hospital ship, Egypt in the Salonika when it was bombed.
She and the additional 70 nurses were not injured. There In 1918 she
was in charge of the Canadian Clearing Hospital in Liverpool, England. For
her war services she received the Mons Medal, the Victory Medal, The Royal
Red Cross and the King George Jubilee Medal. Returning home after the war
she was Matron of the Shaughnessy Military Hospital, Vancouver, British
Columbia. She retired in August 1937 and returned to live in Winnipeg.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1899. online (accessed 2021) |
Johanna 'Joan' Matheson
Pioneer
Military Nursing Sister 1885 |
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
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born September 23,
1884, Letellier, Manitoba. Died February 24, 1966, Morris, Manitoba. Ruth
was a graduate of the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1914.
After graduation she and fellow classmate, Ethel Carter, took off to
Skagway, Alaska, U.S.A. Later back in Canada she enlisted as a Nursing
Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps in March 1917. She served in
England at the the No. 10 Canadian Stationary Hospital and No. 14 Canadian
General Hospital, Eastbourne, the Granville Canadian Special Hospital,
Buxton, No. 15 Canadian General Hospital, Taplow and No. 16 Canadian General
Hospital, Orpington. She returned to Canada at the end of the war and
married Robert Moody. The couple settled in Morris Manitoba.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives. online
(accessed 2020) |
Janet McClung
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born July 29, 1885,
Ripley, Ontario. Died March 24, 1962, Vancouver, British Columbia. Janet
graduated in 1912 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing, Manitoba. After graduation she worked as a private nurse
prior to enlisting as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps
in 1915. She was appointed as Assistant Matron at Sewell Camp, also know as
Camp Hughes, a Canadian military training camp near Carberry, Manitoba.
Discharged in 1916 she served with Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military
Nursing Service for a year and then re-enlisted with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps. in the late fall of 1917. She was posted to No. 15 Canadian
General Hospital, Taplow, England. She returned home to Canada in September
1919. By 1922 she was a private nurse in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A..
Returning to Canada shortly after she worked on staff at St. Boniface
Hospital, Winnipeg. In 1923 she relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives. Class
of 1912. online
(accessed 2021) |
Jessie Mabel McDiarmid
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born August 14, 1880, Ashton, Ontario. Died June 27, 1918, at
sea. Jessie worked at the 5th General hospital beginning in July 30, 1915
prior to enlisting in the Canadian Army Medical Corps as a Nursing Sister
September 16, 1915 in London, Ontario.
By September 7, 1915 she was a Matron in Chief and was assigned to the Red
Cross Hospital in Taplow and then within a few moths she was assigned
to Salonica where she served until September 1917. She was posted to
No 4 General Hospital, Basingstoke, England and then the No. 5 General
Hospital, Liverpool, England before being posted to the Hospital Ship
Llandovery Castle on June 5, 1918. The Llandovery Castle was sailing
from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool, England when it was torpedoed by
U-86. Despite regulation of the Hague Convention, the ship which was marked
with Red Cross lights, was deliberately torpedoed off the coast of Ireland
without warning and 14 Nursing Sisters along with many of the crew were
machine gunned. Surviving witnesses stated that the enemy guns also fired on
helpless lifeboats. She was not declared officially dead until March 7,1919.
The Llandovery Castle became a rallying cry for the Canadian troops.
Her name is recorded on the Beckwith Township Memorial.
In 1967 the Commonwealth War Graves erected the Halifax Memorial
commemorating the 3,000 service members who lost their lives including the
14 Nursing Sisters on board the Llandovery Castle.
The Canadian
Forces Medical Services School at Canadian Forces Base Borden,
Ontario, gives the Llandovery Castle Award each year to the most deserving
nursing officer. (2020) |
Margaret Helen McGill
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born March 10,
1895, Minnedosa, Manitoba. Died August 1, 1976, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Margaret graduated in 1913 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School
of Nursing. Margaret enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps while she was overseas in 1915. She was posted to NO. 2
Canadian General Hospital, Le Tourqet, France and in 1917 she was serving at
NO. 4, Canadian Casualty Clearing Station. She returned to Canada in the
spring of 1919 and then settled as a private nurse in Santiago, California,
U.S.A.. Moving to Arizona, U. S. A. she worked as a public health nurse.
Back in Canada she worked for the Saskatchewan Public Health Department and
later she spent 18 years as a Health Nurse with the Saskatchewan Normal
School, Saskatoon. She retired to Vancouver, British Columbia in 1943.
Source: Health Sciences Centre
Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1916. online
(accessed 2020) |
Margaret Campbell McGilvary
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born June 26,
1878, Glasgow, Scotland. May 29, 1947, Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1886 Margaret
and her family immigrated to Canada. In 1910 Margaret graduated from the
Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing, Manitoba. She began her career
as Lady Superintendent at Tranquille Sanatorium, Kamloops, British Columbia.
By 1912 she had returned to Winnipeg where she worked as a private nurse. In
1916 she began working on the staff at the King George Hospital and
she worked as a Public Health Nurse. March 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. . She was posted to No. 8
Canadian Stationary Hospital, Hastings England and then to No. 12 Canadian
General Hospital, Bramshott, England. Returning to Winnipeg after the war she worked at the Winnipeg General Hospital
where she became supervisor of the Military Ward. In 1923 she was appointed
Night Superintendent where she worked until she retired in 1939. In
1936 she received the King's Jubilee Medal.
Source: Health Sciences Centre
Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1913. online
(accessed 2020) |
Lillian McGregor
Aboriginal Nurse & Activist |
SEE - Social Activists |
Ruth Esther McKay
Nursing Sister World War l |
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 School of
Nursing, By March 1917 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian
Army Medical Corps. Within tow months she was serving in England at the
Canadian Convalescent Hospital, Uxbridge and then at the Kitchener Military
Hospital, No. 10 Canadian General Hospital), Brighton. In France she
contracted influenza and was admitted to hospital. She was discharged and
returned to Canada in February 1919. Ruth too a position as a special duty
nurse at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal but within 15 months she died
of septicemias following an appendix operation.
Source: Health Sciences Centre
Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1916. online
(accessed 2020) |
Agnes McKeague
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born November 11,
1886, Ireland. Died August 13, 1964, Santa Monica, California, U.S.A, Agnes
graduated from the Winnipeg Hospital School of Nursing in 1917. April 1918
she enlisted at a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps.
In England she worked at No. 15 Canadian General Hospital, Taplow, No. 5,
Canadian General Hospital, Liverpool and No. 16 Canadian General Hospital,
Orpington. She returned to Canada in September 1919 where she later
relocated to California, U.S.A., where she worked on the staff of the
Angeles Hospital, Los Angeles.
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class
of 1917 online
(accessed 2020) |
Mary Agnes McKenzie
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born April 28,
1880, Toronto, Ontario. In 1903 Mary Agnes graduated from the Rochester
General Hospital School of Nursing, Rochester, New York, U.S.A. Enlisted
January 1, 1916 as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps in
Toronto. She was posted to the Ontario Military Hospital , Orpington,
England. She was killed along with 234 crew and passengers, including 14
Nursing Sisters, while on the Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle which was
returning from delivery wounded home to Halifax. The ship was returning to
Liverpool, England and was well marked as a hospital ship. The enemy captain
of U 86 believed that the hospital ship was hiding munitions for the British
military on board and torpedoed the ship. Once it was shown that there were
no munitions on the ship the captain then had his men fire machine gun
rounds at survivors in Lifeboats. After the war two of the ships officers
were charged with war crimes, as it was forbidden to fire on a hospital
ship. The two officers were sentenced to four years hard labour but escaped
on their way to prison and never found again. The captain who had ordered
the Llandovery torpedoed was not located after the war. The Llandovery
Castle became the rallying cry for Canadian Troops during the Last 100 Days
offensive of the war. NOTE: Birth date is
sometimes listed as 1878. (2020) |
Isabel McKinnon
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born August 24,
1882, Inverness, Quebec. Died 1961, Victoria, British Columbia. Isabel
graduated in 1911 from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing,
Manitoba. After graduation she worked as a private nurse for several years
in Calgary, Alberta. In 1915 she accepted a position on staff at the Firland
Sanatorium, Washington, U.S.A. In July 1917 she returned to Canada and
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Overseas
she was posted to No. 10 Canadian General Hospital, Brighton, and No.
16 Canadian General Hospital, Orpington, England. Returning to Canada in
1919 she relocated to Seattle, Washington U.S.A. where she worked on staff
at the Seattle State County Health Department. She later returned to settle
in Dauphin, Manitoba to be near her family.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg Class of 1911 (accessed 2021) |
Mary Belle McKinnon-Mills
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born June 14, 1891,
Braeside, Ontario. Died ???? Mary trained as a nurse at St. Luke's Hospital
School of Nursing, Ottawa, Ontario in 1915. She enlisted as a Nursing Sister
in the Canadian Army Medical Corp and was at first posted to Petawawa Camp
Hospital, Ontario. In 1916 she was sent overseas and served at No. 1
Canadian General Hospital, Etaples, France. She also served with the Ontario
Military Hospital, Orpington, England and the Kitchener Military Hospital,
Brighton, England. After being discharged at the end of the war she worked
at Christie Street Hospital, Toronto where she met Dr. J. D. Mills. They
married in 1922 and later in life the couple retired to Braeside.
(2020) |
Clara McLeod
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born February 2,
1875, Belfast, Ireland. Died August 20, 1954, Vancouver, British. Columbia.
Clara graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing,
Manitoba, in 1899. By May 1915 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps. She served at No. 5 Canadian Stationary
Hospital, Le Treport, France and the Kitchener Military Hospital, Brighton,
England. Returning to Canada 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) |
Rena Maude McLean
Nursing Sister World War l |
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,
Massacheutts, 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 DCB (2020) |
Elizabeth Jennet
Wyllie- McMaster |
née Wyllie.
Born December 27, 1847, Toronto, 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
superintendant 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 DCB; Sick Kid's Online. (2020) |
Evelyn Verra Mckay
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born
September 24, 1892, Galt, Ontario. Evelyn enlisted in the Canadian Medical
Corps in London, Ontario in the lat fall of 1916 and a month later was in
London England. She was transferred to the 3rd Canadian General Hospital,
Boulogne, France by the summer of 1917. October 30, 1918 she became
dangerously ill, probable with influenza, and entered the 3rd Canadian
General hospital where she died a few days later of broncho-pneumonia.
Source: A Tribute to some women and men who served in armed
conflicts. Online (2020) |
Mary Agnes McKenzie
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born April 28, 1880 (sometimes recorded as 1877), Toronto,
Ontario. Died June 27, 1918, at sea. May 23,1903 Mary graduated from
the Rochester City Hospital Training School for Nurses, Rochester, New York,
U.S.A. in 1903. Mary returned to Toronto to work until she enlisted in
Toronto on January 31, 1916 as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical
Corps. She served at the Canadian Hospital, Orpington, England and the War
Hospital, Kent, England.
She boarded the Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle was sailing from Halifax,
Nova Scotia to Liverpool, England when it was torpedoed by U-86. Despite
regulation, the ship which was marked with Red Cross lights, was
deliberately torpedoed off the coast of Ireland without warning and 14
Nursing Sisters along with many of the crew were machine gunned. Surviving
witnesses stated that the enemy guns also fired on helpless lifeboats. The
Llandovery Castle became a rallying cry for the Canadian troops.
On March 29, 1920 a brass tablet was unveiled at the Ontario
Provincial Parliament Buildings listing the names of nurses of Ontario who
lost their lives during World War l. In 1967 the Commonwealth War Graves
erected the Halifax Memorial commemorating the 3,000 service members who
lost their lives including the 14 Nursing Sisters on board the Llandovery
Castle. The Canadian
Forces Medical Services School at Canadian Forces Base Borden,
Ontario, gives the Llandovery Castle Award each year to the most deserving
nursing officer. (2020) |
Rena
Maude McLean
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born June 14,
1879 Souris, Prince Edward Island. Died June 27, 1918 at sea.
Rena's nickname was 'Bird'. She graduated Halifax Ladies College in 1896 and
then studied nursing at Newport Hospital, Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.A.
where she completed her training in 1908. She was hired as head nurse in
charge of the operating room at the Henry Heywood Memorial Hospital,
Gardner, Massacheutts, U.S.A. She enlisted for service in World War l
and was assigned to the Canadian medical Corps in September 28,1914. A
month later she was serving in France. In 1915 she joined the Duchess of Connaught's Canadian Red Cross Hospital in Taplow, England. After transport
duty to Canada in 1916 she she was posted to Thessaloniki, Greece and the No.1 Canadian Stationary Hospital. By 1917 she was serving in Orpington,
London, England. In March 1918 she was posted to the Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle
which had carried Canadian wounded to Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was on board
for the return voyage to Liverpool, England when she died at sea off
the coast of Ireland. The ship, although clearly marked as a hospital ship, was torpedoed and sunk by the enemy while
heading back to service. 14 nursing sisters died that day, along with many
of the ships crew.
Plaques in memory of Rena McLean are located in St James
United Church in Souris, in Mount Allison’s Memorial Library, and in the
X-ray laboratory at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown.
The FIVE SISTERS window in York Minister England, is dedicated to the 3,000
women of the Empire who sacrificed their lives in WW I. Her name is
included. The
Canadian Forces Medical Services School at Canadian Forces Base Borden,
Ontario, gives the Llandovery Castle Award each year to the most deserving
nursing officer. (2020) |
Olive Ethelwyn McMillan-Butler
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born June 22, 1881,
Minnedosa Manitoba. Olive graduated in 1913 from the Winnipeg General
Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. She continued her education with post
graduate studies as the Neuralgic Institute in New York, U.S.A. in 1917.
Returning home to Winnipeg she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps and was posted to No. 10 Manitoba Military
Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Winnipeg. In July 1918 she was sent overseas and
worked at No. 15 Canadian General Hospital, the Duchess of Connaught's Red
Cross Hospital, England. Returning home she was again posted to Tuxedo Park
hospital. She 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
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born September 9,
1887, Crawbrook, Ontario. Died ????. Beatrice enlisted with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps as a Nursing Sister with the rank of Lieutenant on May
12, 1917 in Montreal. At the time she was actually living in Vancouver,
British Columbia. . Assigned at the No. 7 Canadian General Hospital she was
one of the first seven Canadian Nursing Sisters to be awarded the Military
Cross by the King in February 1919. She had been working at the No 1
Canadian Hospital in Etaples, France on May 19, 1918 when the hospital,
which was located near a military training base, was heavily bombed in an
enemy air raid. While three Nursing sisters were killed, Beatrice spent the
night helping safe her patients disregarding her own personal safety. There
is not much information on her life between the World Wars but after World
War ll she became the first matron of Hycroft Convalescent Hospital run by
Veterans Affairs Canada in Vancouver. . She would retire in 1950. In
August 18, 2018 she was remembered during a celebration of the anniversary
of the opening of Hycroft Hospital. Hycroft Hospital remained opened until
1960. Today it is the home of University Women's Club of Vancouver.
Source: BC History of Nursing Newsletter, Fall 2018
(2020) |
Elizabeth McPhail-Steele
Nursing Sister World War l |
SEE - Physicians |
Harriet Tremaine Meiklejohn
Nursing Sister World War l |
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 travelled to England and on October 16, 1916 and enlisted in the
Canadian Army Medical Corps 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)
(2020) |
Helen Bodington-
Meiklejohn
Nursing Sister World War l
|
née Bodington.
Helen graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in
1899. Helen is listed on the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing
Alumnae Honour Roll as a nursing sister but it seems that she did not serve
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. After the war she married H.
Meiklejohn and the couple settled in Toronto, Ontario.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1899. online
(accessed 2021). |
Henrietta "Hetty' Mellett
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born October 21,
1883, Galway, Ireland. Died October 10, 1918, at sea. Henrietta immigrated to
Canada in August 1908. In 1912 she graduated from Victoria Hospital School
of Nursing. She worked as assistant Matron in Nanaimo, British Columbia and
Weyburn, Saskatchewan. During World War l she worked with the Red Cross in
Egypt and England. Henrietta enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps on November 13, 1917 in London, Ontario. She was posted
to No.15 Canadian General Hospital, Taplow, England. She took leave in
1918 to visit relatives in Ireland and then prepared to return to service.
Died during the sinking of the Royal Mail Ship Leinster. More than 500
passengers perished when the ship was torpedoed by the enemy submarine
UB-123 in the Irish Sea. She is buried at Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin,
Republic of Ireland. She is memorialized on the Canadian War memorials and
also on the Saskatchewan War Memorial. (2020) |
Elizabeth Matilda Melvin-Symondson
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born November
23, 1890, Teeswater, Ontario. Died August 30, 1967. Elizabeth graduated from
the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1916. By June 1917 she
had enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She
served in England at No. 9 Canadian General Hospital, Shorncliffe,
Granville, Canadian Special Hospital, Buxton and No. 16 Canadian General
Hospital, Orpington. After World War l, she worked as a special Duty Nurse
in Dauphin, Manitoba and then returned to Winnipeg to work as a Public
Health Nurse. She married Sydney Symondson and the couple moved to St.
Catharines Ontario.
Source: Class of 1916: Remembering our Nursing Sisters Who
Served During World War l. Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg. online
(accessed 2020) |
Jessie Annie Middleton |
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) |
Annie Fisher Mitchell
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born November 19,
1890, Dalhousie, New Brunswick. Died ???? Annie graduated in 1914 from the
Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing. In June 1915 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Overseas she served at
No. 2 Canadian General Hospital in England and then at No. 4 Canadian
Casualty Clearing Station in France. Returning to Canada after the War Annie
worked at the Winnipeg General Hospital and later with the Psychopathic
Hospital until 1923. Relocating to Brandon, Manitoba she worked as Lady
Superintendent of Nursing at the Brandon Mental Hospital. In 1927 she
retuned to Winnipeg and worked in private nursing.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1914. online. (accessed 2020) |
Kate Clare Montgomery-McKay
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born August 4, 1889, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Died March
11, 1955, British Columbia. Kate graduated from the Winnipeg General
Hospital School of Nursing in 1918. By October 1918 she had enlisted
as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She was posted to
the No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital , Tuxedo Park and served until August
1919. After the war she married Sinclair McKay and the couple settled in
British Columbia. Source: Health Sciences Centre
Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1918. online (accessed 2021) |
Charlotte Edith Anderson Monture
Aboriginal nurse |
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) |
Edna Lena More |
Born January 12, 1891,
Lysle, Ontario. Died 1969. In 1913 Edna graduated from the Toronto General
Hospital School of Nursing. In April 1915 she enlisted as a nursing sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corp. She served at no. 4 Canadian General
Hospital. In 1929 she became Director of the National Organization for
Public Health Nursing in New York City, New York, U.S.A. Back in
Ontario in 1931 she was appointed as the 1st Chief of Public Health Nursing
for the province. In 1944 she
was Ontario Director of Public Health Nursing. Om 1946 she was the 1st
vice-president of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario. In 1957 she
received an honourary doctorate from the University of Western Ontario,
London. The Dr. Edna L. Moore Scholarship is offered annually to first year
nurses at Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario.
(2020) |
Martha Morkin
Nursing Sister World War l
|
Born January 7, 1886, Middlesex County, Ontario. Died 1975,
California, U.S.A. Martha studied at the Saint Boniface Training school for
Nurses in 1906. In 1915 with World War l raging on the European front she
joined the Canadian Army Medical Corps 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 1st 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 1st 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. (2020) |
Mary Ethel Morrison
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born February 27,
1877, Pictou County, Nova Scotia. Died December, 24, 1954, Victoria, British
Columbia. On September 16, 1915 Ethel enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the
Canadian Army Medical Corps in London, Ontario. She served in England,
Salonika, and France. Mary was a bit of an amateur photographer and her
wartime photo album was published by her niece Maureen Duffus in the book
Battlefront Nurses in World War l in 2009. She received for her service the
Royal Red Cross, the British War Medal, the Victory Medal, the Star Medal
and a 1935 King's Silver Jubilee Medal. Sadly in 1938 her medal were stolen
from her home. (2020) |
Isabel Mortimer-Green
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born June 9, 1888,
Toronto, Ontario. Died 1974. In 1916 Isabel graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing. For a few months she worked on staff at
the hospital prior to enlisting as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army
Medical Corps. In England she served at No. 9 Canadian Stationary Hospital
and then No. 12 Canadian General Hospital in Bramshott. By December 1917 she
was in France but was admitted to No. 3 Canadian General Hospital, Le
Treport. By March she wqs back in Canada working at Dr. Galloway's private
hospital, Winnipeg before joining the staff at King George Hospital. In 1929
she worked for a year at Cowdray Sanatorium, Mexico. Back in Canada
she became Lady Superintendent of Fort Qu'Appelle Sanatorium in
Saskatchewan. Isabel married George Green and the couple settled in
California, U.S.A.
Source: Class of 1916: Remembering our Nursing Sisters Who
Served During World War l. Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg. online
(accessed 2020) |
Mary Frances Elizabeth Munro
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born January 1,
1866, Wardsville, Ontario. Died September 7, 1915, Murdos, Greece. Mary
trained as a nurse. She had an illness as a young woman and had a
breast removed. Wanting to serve during World War l she sailed for
England and enlisted in the Canadian Army Medical Corps as a Nursing Sister
May 12, 1915 in London, England. She served at No. 12 British General
Hospital and No. 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital prior to being sent to the
Aegean Sea. August 1915 she served at No. 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital,
Murdos, Greece but was admitted to hospital on September 5, 1915 and died on
dysentery two days later. Mary was the first woman to die while serving in
World War l. Her family received her medals which included The Star, The
British War Medal and The Victory Medal. (2020) |
Emma Elizabeth Murton
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born April 15,
1878, Guelph, Ontario. Died December 13, 1960, Portage La Prairie, Manitoba.
Emma Graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1899.
By 1915 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps. She served at first at No. 1 Canadian General Hospital, Le Treport,
France. In the spring of 2016 she was in hospital herself with a nervous
breakdown. By August 1916 she was serving at Moor Barracks Military
Hospital (Bramshott Military Hospital), Shorncliffe and the Canadian Special
Hospital, Granville, England. After the war she lived in Portage la Prairie,
Manitoba. Source: 1. Health Sciences
Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1899. online (accessed 2021) |
Helen Kathleen Mussallem |
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) |
Louise Newcombe
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born February 5,
1882, Deloraine, Manitoba. Died March 17, 1972 Vacaville, California, U.S.A.
Louise graduated in 1911 from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of
Nursing. After graduation she worked with Anti-tuberculosis concerns before
joining the WGH staff in 1914. In 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with
the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Overseas she was posted to No. 10 Canadian
General Hospital, known as Kitchener Military Hospital, Brighton, England
and then to No. 2 Canadian Stationary Hospital, Le Touquet, France.
Returning Canada she worked at Dauphin Hospital, Manitoba and then enrolled
in Post-graduate studies in Supervision of Hospitals and Training Schools at
Columbia University, New York City, U.S.A. She then worked as an instructor
of nurses at Vancouver General Hospital in British Columbia. By 1922 she was
working on staff at the Miller Memorial Hospitl, St. Paul Minnesota. By 1924
she was serving as Lady Superintendent and later as Director of Nursing at
St. Luke's Hospital, Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.A. She retired from St. Luke's
in 1941 and relocated to Vacaville, California, U.S.A.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1911 online. (accessed 2021) .
|
Mary Newton |
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) |
Alice Theodora 'Dora' Oliver
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born June 22, 1988,
Manitoba. Died November 14, 1986, Vancouver, British Columbia. Dora
graduated in 1914 from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing. In
May 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical
Corps. Overseas she served in England at the Granville Canadian Special
Hospital, the Canadian Military Hospital, Bassingstoke and Kirkbride and No.
11 Canadian General Hospital, Moore Barracks. In France she served at No. 14
Canadian General Hospital. After the war she worked as a private nurse in
Victoria prior to working at Shaughnessy Hospital, Vancouver, British
Columbia and later at Hycroft Veterans Hospital as Matron . She retired from
nursing in 1953. Source: Health Sciences
Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1914. online (accessed 2020) |
Katherine May Oliver
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born October 5,
1895, Carberry, Manitoba. Katherine graduated from the Winnipeg General
Hospital School of Nursing in 1917. In February 1918 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She was sent overseas and
served in England at No. 11 Canadian General Hospital, Moore Barracks and
No. 14 Canadian General Hospital, formerly the Canadian Military Hospital,
Eastbourne. After the war Katherine settled in Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.
where she worked as a public health nurses. For a time she also lived in
California, U.S.A. Source: Health Sciences
Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1917. online (accessed 2020) |
Joan O'Sullivan |
Born 1922, Hamilton,
Ontario. Died April 27, 2013, Hamilton, Ontario. After high school Joan
graduated from the St Joseph's Hospital School of Nursing, Hamilton,
Ontario. She went on to earn her Bachelor of Nursing and a Master of Science
in Nursing Administration from the University of Western Ontario, London.
She began her career as a private duty nurse, worked as a general staff
nurse and as an industrial nurse. In 1946 she entered the Congregation of
the Sisters of St. Joseph in Hamilton. She worked at teaching positions and
executive positions in Kitchener,, Hamilton and Brantford hospitals. In 1979
she was appointed Executive Director of Hamilton's St. Joseph Hospital.
Among many things she oversaw the construction the planning and construction
start-up of the St. Joseph's Community Health Centre. She served on the
Ontario Council of Administrators of Teachning Hospitals, the Joint
McMaster/Mohawk Teaching Hospitals Liaison Committee, the Good Shepherd
Centre and the St. Elizabeth Visiting Nurse's Association. In 1987 she was
the local Irish Canadian Citizen of the Year and in 1990 the Woman of the
Year in Health Care. In 1998 she was inducted into the Hamilton Gallery of
Distinction. She served as the Assistant General Superior of the Sisters of
St. Joseph where she actively was involved with outreach in Dominica,
Jamaica, Haiti, Romania, Russia and Uganda.
(2020) |
Dorothea Palmer |
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
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born May 1,
1884, Milton, Ontario. Kathleen was a Supervisor of Probationers at the
Hospital of Sick Children, Toronto. By March 1916 she had enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps after service overseas
at the Queen's Canadian Military Hospital, Shorncliffe, England. She was
also posted for two years at NO. 2 Canadian General Hospital in France and
then to a Canadian Casualty Cleaning Station. She was mentioned in
Dispatches for her devotion to duty. Source:
Milton (Ontario) Historical Society. WW 1 Milton Nurses online. (accessed
2021) |
Christina
Irene Parker
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born August 13,
1888, Lanchow, China. Christina was a graduate of the Winnipeg General
Hospital School of Nursing in 1917. She enlisted as a Nursing Sister in
November 1917 in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. In England she served at
No. 15 Canadian General Hospital, Taplow. Returning to Canada in July 1919
she worked with the Manitoba Provincial Board of Health. In 1921 she
relocated first to Salmon Arm, British Columbia and later to California,
U.S.A. Source" Health Sciences Centre
Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1917. online (accessed 2020) |
Ellanore Parker
Nursing Sister World War l,
inventor, & Author |
Born October 21,
1883, Dublin, Ireland. Died October 10, 1965, Victoria, British Columbia.
After immigrating to Canada she graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital
School of Nursing, Manitoba, in 1910. In January 1915 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She served in France at
No. 1 and No. 2 Canadian Stationary Hospitals. While caring for soldiers
exposed to mustard and chlorine gas she herself was exposed to gas and
suffered health problems for the rest of her life. She had an enquiring mind
and was an inventor working in electronics and designed a water cannon and a
magnetic detector, a forerunner to radar. Both of these inventions were used
by the British. For her war service she received the British General Service
Medal, the Victory Medal and the Mons Star. She was discharged from
service in poor health in 1919 and settled in California. Living in
California until 1948 she worked as an editor for the Los Angeles Times and
would also author tow works of fiction based on her war time experiences:
The Land Lay Waiting and The Flower of the Land: a Tapestry of the
Great War in 1941. She returned to Canada in 1948 and settled in
Victoria, British Columbia. Source:
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1910. online (accessed
2021) |
Emily Abalinda Parker
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born November 2,
1889, Morden, Manitoba. Died September 22, 1970, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Emily
graduated in 1913 from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of
Nursing. After graduation she worked as a school Nurse with the Winnipeg
School Division. During World War 1 she joined the Queen Alexandra's
Imperial Military Nursing Services. In 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Overseas she was posted to No. 10
Canadian General Hospital, Brighton, England. After the war she returned to
her job as a School Nurse. By 1937 she was a staff member with the Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing. When the School Nursing District
amalgamated with the City of Winnipeg Public Health Department she served as
District Supervisor of the Public Health Nursing Department in 1941. She was
a member of the WGH S of N Alumnae, the University Women's Club and the
Professional and Business Women's Club. She retired from her position 1959. Source:
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1913. online (accessed
2021) |
Mary 'Maysie' Parsons (-Marcy?) |
née Parsons. Born
March 9, 1889, Harbour Grace, Newfoundland. Died December 23, 1949, Ontario?
Maysie trained as a nurse at St. John's General Hospital. She worked at
Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal which was associated with the Queen of
Belgium Hospital in Europe where she may have begun her World War l nursing
service. She enlisted in October 1915 in London, England as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. A letter she wrote to her father on
June 13, 1950 during her service at L'Hôpital de L'Ocean, La Panne, Belgium
has been preserved. It describes in striking detail war service and the
feeling of being overwhelmed, overworked, and exhausted. After the war a
Mary Maysie Parsons married William J. M. Marcy (1889-1972) and the couple
settled in southern Ontario. (2020) |
Mona Parsons
|
Born February 17, 1901, Middleton, Nova Scotia. Died November 28, 1976,
Wolfville, Nova Scotia. She pursued life on stage
until her
mother
became ill. After taking care of her ill mother she turned to nursing
as a profession. In 1938 she married Willem Leonhardt, a Dutch businessman.
During WW ll their home in The Netherlands was used as a refuge by escaping
allied airmen. In 1941 they were arrested and imprisoned in separate
prisons. Reunited after the liberation, Mona nursed Willem returning to
Canada only after his death in 1956. Mona was presented with citations from
General Eisenhower and Air Chief Marshal Tedder of the Royal Air Force for
helping allied airmen evade enemy capture. (2020)
|
Esther Irene Paulson |
Born 1906, Westminster,
British Columbia. Died January 2, 2004, British Columbia. Esther studied and
graduated in 1928 from the Royal Columbian School of Nursing, New
Westminster. After graduation she worked in the Tuberculosis (TB) building
of the Royal Columbian Hospital and became promoted to ward supervisor. In
1930 she returned to school earning a post-graduate certificate in
obstetritical nursing. By 1934 she had also earned a diploma in Public
Health Nursing from the University of British Columbia. Combining public
health nursing and social welfare she was appointed in 1935 to Welfare Field
Service. Joining the Vancouver Metropolitan Health Committee in 1940 she
became Director of Nursing for the Vancouver Hospital and Chest Clinic in
1943. The following year she became Provincial Director of Nursing for the
Division of TB Control. In 1952 she was appointed Director of Nursing at the
Pearson TB Hospital. She was an active member of the Registered Nurses
Association of British Columbia serving on the executive and as president
1951-1957. Esther retired in 1966 and in 1967 she received the Canadian
Centennial Medal and an Honorary Life Membership in the Canadian Lung
Association. Esther is also know for her writing not only for medical
observations but also for writing historical articles such as the History of
the Royal Columbian Hospital School of Nursing and biographies of acclaimed
BC nurses.
Source: BC
History of Nursing Group (accessed 2020) |
Ethel Theodora Paynter-McKay
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born October 10,
1884, Beulah, Manitoba. Died March 31, 1981, Calgary, Alberta. In 1911
she graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing.
After graduation she worked on staff at the WGH. In 1916 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She was posted to No. 1
Canadian General Hospital in France and No. 4, Canadian Casualty Clearing
Station .She returned to Canada in June of 1919 and was posted to No. 10
Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park until she injured her knee in the
fall of 1920 and was discharged. That year she married William Mckay and the
couple settled first in the Cessford area of Alberta. In 1973 they moved to
Calgary. Source: Health Sciences Centre
Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1911. online (accessed 2021) |
Evelyn Agnes Pepper
Nursing Sister World War ll |
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) |
Kathleen Shields Perrin- Helliwell
Nursing Sister World War l |
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. By November that year she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister in
the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She was placed in charge of the
Military Wards at the WGH for the months leading up to her going overseas.
In England she served at the Canadian Special Hospital, Ramsgate, the
Canadian Officers Hospital, Broadstairs, and the West Cliffe Canadian Eye
and Ear Hospital, Folkstone. IN France she served at No. 2 Canadian General
Hospital, Le Treport. Returning to Canada after the war she married T. F.
Helliwell and the couple settled in British Columbia where Kathleen worked
as a private nurse.
Source: Class of 1916: Remembering our Nursing Sisters Who
Served During World War l. Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg. online
(accessed 2020) |
Beatrice Anna Petch-Beatty
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born November 30,
1894, South Dakota, U.S.A. Died ???? In 1916 Beatrice graduated from the
Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing. A few months after graduation
she enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps in March
1917. Overseas she working in England at No. 16 Canadian General Hospital
also called Ontario Military Hospital, Orpington. Posted to France she
served at No. 8. Canadian Stationary Hospital, No. 1 Canadian General
Hospital, Etaples and No. 3 Canadian General Hospital. She was discharged in
June 1919 and returned to Canada. Five months later she married Dr. John
Beatty and the couple settled first in Regina, Saskatchewan and then
relocated to St. Catharines, Ontario. Source: Class of 1916: Remembering our Nursing Sisters Who
Served During World War l. Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg. online
(accessed 2020) |
Ruby Gordon Peterkin-McKay
Nursing Sister World War l |
née Peterkin. Born
September 1, 1887, Toronto, Ontario. Died August 31, 1961, Toronto, Ontario.
Ruby graduated from the
Toronto
General Hospital School of Nursing in 1911. In 1912 she and her sister Irene
toured Great Britain and Europe and then Ruby worked as a private nurse. .
On April 7, 1915 she enlisted in Toronto to serve in the Canadian Army
Medical Corps as a Nursing Sister. She served with the No. 5 Canadian
General Hospital in England and then She served with the No. 4 Canadian
General Hospital which had been organized by the University o Toronto and
was in Salonica, Greece. She returned home to Canada in 1918 after having
been hospitalized with bronchitis, bronchial pneumonia, and pleurisy in
Buxton, England and being declared medically unfit. She recuperated at the
Calydor Sanitarium near Gravenhurst, Ontario for two years. In 1920
she married Dr. Hugh Alexander McKay (1884-1935). In 1953 she and her sister
Irene built neighbouring houses in Bolton, Ontario. The following year Ruby
was injured in a serious motor accident and she spent time in and out of
hospital. In her later years Ruby lived with her sister Irene (Rene)
and brother Ernest in Georgetown, Ontario. Letters that Ruby wrote to her
sister during the war, describe some of the daily life of a Nursing Sister,
are conserved in the Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.
(2020) |
Stella Johnstone Pollexfen
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born June 8, 1892,
Limerick, Ireland. Died February 17, 1976, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Stella was
settled in London, England when she decided in 1913 to immigrate to Canada.
In 1917 she graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing
in 1917.In March 1918 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps. In England she served at No. 10 Canadian General
Hospital, Brighton, No. 14 Canadian General Hospital, Eastbourne and No. 10
Canadian General Hospital, Taplow. Returning to Manitoba after the war she
worked with the Social Service Department of the Winnipeg General Hospital
until 1941. She then worked on staff of the MacDonald Aircraft Company. From
1947 though 1960 she operated the Pollexfen Nursing Home in Winnipeg.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1917 online
(accessed 2020) |
Cecily Jane
Georgina Fane
Pope
Matron in Boer War and World War l |
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 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'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 forces at Halifax 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 Meal. and the Victory Medal. In 1983 Canada’s
National Historical Sites and Monument Board declared her a National
Historic Person of Canada. She is one of 14 heroes honored 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 |
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 Superintendant 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 |
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)
|
Dorothy
'Dot' Pringle |
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 Registered Nurse, Bachelor of Science in
Nursing, Master's, and finally her Doctorate 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) |
Eden Lyal Pringle
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born September 4,
1893, Glasgow, Scotland. Died May 29, 1918, Doullens, France. Eden
immigrated to Canada with her family and they settled in Vancouver, British
Columbia. She studied nursing and enlisted in the Canadian Army Medical
Corps in Montreal May 7, 1917. No. 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital, Doullens,
France while clearly marked as a hospital it still suffered an air raid on
May 29, 1918. Eden was in the operating room when the attack occurred and
was killed along with all in the operating room. At 23 Eden Pringle was the
youngest Canadian Nursing Sister to die during World War l.
She was featured in Historica Canada Historical Minute called Nursing
Sisters released in 2015.(2020) |
Edith Catherine Rayside
Matron-in-Chief, World
War l |
Born January
26, 1872, Lancaster, Ontario. Died December 20, 1950, Lancaster, Ontario.
Edith graduated from Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario with a Bachelor
of Arts in 1894. She would continue her education by studying nursing
graduation form St Luke's Hospital training in 1901. She began her
work career in a hospital in Mexico where she would become appointed
Superintendent of Nurses. With onslaught of World War l she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister in the Canadian
Army
Medical Corps on February 14, 1915. Shortly upon her arrival in England she
was promoted to Matron. She served at No. 2 Canadian General Hospital , Le
Treport, France and No. 11 Canadian General Hospital. In 1917 she was
transferred back to Ottawa where she served as Matron-in-Chief for military
nurses serving in Canada. She was demobilized in 1920. In April 1919 she was
appointed to the Board of Trustees at Queen's University. November 1919 she
was recipient of a Master of Household Science from the University of
Toronto. She was the first woman to receive this honourary degree. Most
service men who received an honourary doctorate degree but Edith was only
granted an honourary masters. She also received a Royal Red Cross Medal 1st
Class for her wartime service. After the was she became an instructor at
Montreal General Hospital School of Nursing. From 1924 through 1934 she was
Superintendent of Nurses at Hamilton General Hospital, Ontario. In 1927 she
represented Canadian Nurses at the dedication of the Memorial Chamber, no
located in the Peace Tower of the Parliament Buildings, Ottawa. In 1931 she
survived an operation for a brain tumour in Boston, Massacheutts, U.S.A. In
1934 she was conferred with Commander in the Order of the British Empire for
her service to the profession of nursing. She resigned from nursing in 1933
and returned to live in her hometown. Source; article
by David Rayside, 2019, online, Health Sciences Library, McMaster
University, Hamilton, Ontario. (2020) |
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 (VON) in Canada.
(2020) |
Mary L. Richmond |
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 |
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) |
Sarah Anne Riddle
Nuring Sister World War l |
Born December 4,
1888, Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England. Died November 29, 1926, Alberta. Sarah
graduated in 1903 from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing,
Manitoba. After graduating she worked as Lady Superintendent at the Cottage
Hospital, Moosomin, Saskatchewan. In January 1917 she left her job in
Saskatchewan and enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical
Corps. Overseas she was posted to No. 10 Canadian General Hospital,
Brighton, England. In March 1919 she returned to Canada and worked in the
Red Cross Hospital, Foremost, Alberta.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1903. online (accessed 2020). |
Mary Ester Slee Ritchie-McLean
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born October 24,
1894, Falkirk, Scotland. Died ???? Winnipeg, Manitoba. She was a graduate of
the School of Nursing at the Winnipeg General Hospital, Manitoba in 1917.
In July 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps. Prior to going overseas she worked at No. 10 Manitoba Military
Hospital, Tuxedo Park. In April 1918 she went overseas and served at No. 10
Canadian General Hospital, Brighton, England and No. 4 Canadian General
Hospital Basingstoke, England. After the war she married D. McLean in
Canada and the couple settled at first in British Columbia but later
returned to Winnipeg.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1917. online (accessed 2020). |
Eleanor Rivington-Downs
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born January 15,
1884, Ottawa, Ontario. Died July 30, 1970, Ontario. Eleanor graduated
from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing, Manitoba, in 1915.
After graduation she moved to Saskatchewan to work at Canora Hospital. She
resigned her position in a few months and returning to Winnipeg she worked
on staff at the Winnipeg Children's Hospital. In October 1917 she enlisted
as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She served in
England and on the front in France at No. 16 Canadian General Hospital,
Orpington, No. 12 Canadian Special Hospital, Bramshott and No. 7 Canadian
General Hospital. She returned to Canada in July 1919. She left for New York
City in 1920 and took a course in public health nursing at the Henry Street
Settlement, a housing complex that offered nursing services to immigrants.
She married George Downs and the couple settled in Ontario.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1915. online (accessed 2020). |
Simone Eileen Roach |
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
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born May 25, 1887,
Aberdeenshire, Scotland. January 9, 1958, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Margaret was a member of the class of 1914 at the Winnipeg General Hospital
School of nursing. By January 1915 she was working at the Ninette Sanatorium
for a year and a half. Returning to Winnipeg after a brief visit to Scotland
she worked at the Children's Hospital prior to enlisting as a Nursing Sister
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps in May 1917. She worked overseas in
England at Moore Barracks Hospital and No. 15 General Hospital also known as
the Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross Hospital. She returned to Canada after
the war and shortly took a position in California, U.S.A. She finally
settled in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1914. (accessed
2020) |
Shirley M. Robinson |
Born Lucknow, Ontario. In 1953 Shirley 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) |
Ada Janet Ross
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born August 11,
1867, Toronto, Ontario. Died July 12, 1918, Buxton, England. By the 1890's
Ada the family was living in Winnipeg, Manitoba and for awhile in the early
1900's she lived in Rat Portage (now Kenora) before returning to Winnipeg.
Ada graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1905.
She would spend 1908-1912 as Women's Superintendent at the hospital in
Selkirk, Manitoba. In 1912 she took a post-graduate nursing course at the
Women's Hospital, New York, U. S. A. Ada enlisted in May 1915 as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Ada was posted to
France serving at No. 1 Canadian General Hospital , Etaples and then served
on a Canadian Hospital ship as it returned wounded to Canada. The Winnipeg
General Hospital Nurse Alumnae Association held a tea on September 1917
where Ada was the guest speaker. Sshe was posted to the Ontario Military
Hospital/No. 16 Canadian General Hospital, Orpington, England. Back in
England she served at Orpington and then the Canadian Special Red Cross
Hospital in Buxton. She became ill with tuberculosis in the spring of 1918
and was admitted to the Canadian Convalescent Hospital for Nursing Sisters,
Buxton. Ada is commemorated in the Next of Kin Monument, Winnipeg.
Source: Kenora Great War Project online (accessed 2020); Class of 1905,
Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing (accessed 2020) |
Kathryn / Katherine Dorothy Ross
Nursing Sister World War l & World War
ll |
Born May 23, 1894,
Bridgeville, Nova Scotia. Died February 9, 1967, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Kathryn graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in
1917. By March 1918 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps. She served at No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo
Park. After the war she left for china to assist in opening a hospital and
training school for nurses where she became Superintendent of a large
hospital in Chingtu, China for five years. During World War ll in 1943 she
once again served as a Nursing Sister posted as Sister-In-Charge at Fort
Osbourne Barracks, Winnipeg. Later she world work with the United Nations
Relief and Rehabilitation Administration in Europe. After World War ll she
worked in charge of a new hospital in Lahore, Pakistan.
Source: Great War Project online; Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1917. online (accessed 2020) |
Margaret Morrison Ross
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born May 17, 1869,
Solina, Ontario. Margaret graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital
School of Nursing , Manitoba in 1899. In January 1917 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She served in Canada at
No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, Manitoba and was later in
charge of the Military Wards at the Winnipeg General Hospital 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) |
Margaret Allison Roy
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born May 14, 1879,
Listowel, Ontario. Death ???? Margaret lived with her parents until their
death around 1914. By 1917 she was living with her brother David and his
family in Kenora, Ontario. She was a trained nurse and during the Great War
she signed up in February 6, 1917 with Queen Alexandra's Imperial Service
and was sent to England for a one year contract. She served in London and
then with the 2nd Birmingham War Hospital, Northfield. The day after the end
of her contract she enlisted in London as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps on February 8, 1918. Her enlistment papers give her birth
year as 1881. She was posted at the Canadian Depot, Shorncliffe for a few
days and then served at No. 16 Canadian General Hospital. By June 1919 she
was serving at the No. 15 Canadian General Hospital. By July 1919 she was
back in Canada. In 1921 she left Toronto for a six month stay in Danville,
Illinois, U.S.A. There are few if any documents on the remainder of
Margaret's life. Source: Kenora Great War Project.
online (accessed 2020) |
Nina Rumen |
Born 1927, Poland (now
part of Belarus). At the age of two, according to Nin, she brought her
mother to Canada to join her father in Fernie, British Columbia. Nina
graduated from the St. Paul's Hospital School of Nursing, Vancouver in 1959.
In 1951 she joined the Canadian Forces Medical Service launching a 23 year
military career. Her first assignment was in Kingston, Ontario and from
there she would serve In Churchill, Manitoba, Isherholm, Germany, Lahr,
Germany and took two tours with NATO fin 1970-1972. Nina was interviewed for
the Memory Project of Historica Canada and her military story is posted
online. After leaving the military Nina studied at the University of
Toronto to earn her Bachelor of Nursing. Returning to the west coast of
Canada she worked with various agencies. In 1999 she was honoured by the
British Columbia History of Nursing Group with a Recognition Award. In 2003
the Nina Rumen Bursary was established to help a nurse who has made a
difference in patient care. In 2013 the Nin Rumen Award offers a financial
boost to a nurse in a doctoral program.
Source: The British Columbia History of Nursing Group (accessed
2005); The Memory Project, Historica Canada online. (2020 |
Elizabeth Russell
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born July 12,
1879. Hamilton, Ontario. Died ????. Elizabeth studied nursing at the
Presbyterian Hospital, New York, U.S.A. A veteran nurse who served in the
Spanish American War, Elizabeth, In the fall of 1899, was one of
four nurses who where in the first contingent of Canadian Army 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 serving in World War l. (2020) |
Sadie Saint-Germain/St-Germain
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born July 21,
1884 Hull, Quebec. May 3, 1923, Hull Quebec. Sadie enlisted with the Canada
Army Medical Corps in August of 1916 in answer to the call to serve in World
War 1. Bay the spring of 1917 she was serving at the Kitchener Military
Hospital Brighton, England before proceeding to serve in France that fall.
In France she served with the 2nd Canadian Stationary Hospital and then the
10th 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)
|
May Belle Sampson
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born June 5, 1890, Simcoe, Ontario. Died June 27, 1918, at
sea. Mae Belle studied nursing at the Hamilton hospital, Hamilton, Ontario.
Mae Belle enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps
September 24, 1914 in Quebec City, Quebec. She served in the Middle East,
France and England. She had been stationed at No. 1 Stationary Hospital, No.
1 Casualty Clearing Station, the Canadian Convalescent Hospital, Uxbridge,
Ontario, and the No. 2 Stationary Hospital. She was also a patient of No. 16
Canadian General Hospital, Orpington with Diphtheria in the late fall 1917.
Mae Belle boarded the Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle was sailing from
Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool, England when it was torpedoed by U-86.
Despite regulation, the ship which was marked with Red Cross lights, was
deliberately torpedoed off the coast of Ireland without warning and 14
Nursing Sisters along with many of the crew were machine gunned. Surviving
witnesses stated that the enemy guns also fired on helpless lifeboats. The
Llandovery Castle became a rallying cry for the Canadian troops.
On March 29, 1920 a brass tablet was unveiled at the Ontario
Provincial Parliament Buildings listing the names of nurses of Ontario who
lost their lives during World War l. In 1967 the Commonwealth War Graves
erected the Halifax Memorial commemorating the 3,000 service members who
lost their lives including the 14 Nursing Sisters on board the Llandovery
Castle. The Canadian
Forces Medical Services School at Canadian Forces Base Borden,
Ontario, gives the Llandovery Castle Award each year to the most deserving
nursing officer. (2020) |
Bertha Samson-Beck
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born November 19,
1893, Liberty County, North Dakota, U.S.A. Died October 21, 1958, North
Dakota, U.S.A. Bertha graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of
Nursing in 1917. After graduation she joined the Provincial Nursing staff in
Winnipeg. In February 1918 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian
Army Medical Corps. She served overseas in England at No. 4 Canadian General
Hospital, Basingstoke. Bertha returned to Winnipeg in July 1919 and worked
as a private nurse. In 1923 she worked at Sea View Hospital, Staten Island,
New York, U.S.A. She married Dr, R. Beck and the couple settled in North
Dakota. Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1917 (accessed 2020) |
Gladys Irene Sare
Nursing Sister World War l
|
Born June 6, 1889, Bath,
United Kingdom. Died June 27, 1918, at Sea. Gladys took nursing at the
Montreal General Hospital Nursing School. She enlisted in the Canadian Army
Medical Corps as a Nursing Sister January 26, 1916 in Montreal. She served
for a while at No. 6 Canadian General Hospital in Laval, Quebec. She and
other Canadian Hospitals in England. She boarded the Hospital Ship
Llandovery Castle was sailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool,
England when it was torpedoed by U-86. Despite regulation, the ship which
was marked with Red Cross lights, was deliberately torpedoed off the coast
of Ireland without warning and 14 Nursing Sisters along with many of the
crew were machine gunned. Surviving witnesses stated that the enemy guns
also fired on helpless lifeboats.
The Llandovery Castle became a rallying cry for the Canadian troops. In 1967
the Commonwealth War Graves erected the Halifax Memorial commemorating
the 3,000 service members who lost their lives including the 14 Nursing
Sisters on board the Llandovery Castle.
The
Canadian Forces Medical Services School at Canadian Forces Base Borden,
Ontario, gives the Llandovery Castle Award each year to the most deserving
nursing officer. (2020) |
Marisse Scott-Louisy
Black Nurse |
Born 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 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
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
1st Black graduates in nursing in Ontario. having paved the way for other
Black nursing students. She work as Head of the Nutrition Department at the
St Lucia Health Ministry in the Caribbean. Here she settled, married and
brought up a daughter.
(2020) |
Mary Elizabeth
Scott-Williams
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born September 17,
1882, Eden, Manitoba. Died October 26, 1968, Ontario. Mary graduated in 1913
from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) School of Nursing. After graduation
she held a position with the WGH. In 1915 she joined the Queen Alexandra's
Imperial Military Nursing Service and worked overseas until 1918. Returning
to Canada she then joined the Canadian Army Medical Corps as a Nursing
Sister in 1918 and was posted to the 22nd Calvary Field Ambulance Unit and
then the Regina Military Hospital in Saskatchewan. After the was she married
H. Williams and the couple settled at first in Quebec and then in Ontario.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1913 (accessed 2020) |
Irene Louise Sharpe
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born June 14, 1890,
Orno, Ontario. Died May 25, 1952. Irene graduated from the Winnipeg General
Hospital School of Nursing in 1915 and worked in the hospital operating room
after graduation. In 1916 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian
Army Medical Corps. She was first posted to Camp Sewell Military Hospital
(Camp Hughes), Carberry, Manitoba. She worked with the Queen Alexandra's
Imperial Military Nursing Service in Malta for a year and then re-enlisted
with the Canadian Army Medical Corps in November 1917. She was posted to No.
10 Canadian General Hospital , Brighton, England and No. 7 Canadian General
Hospital and No. 6. Canadian General Hospital in France. Back in
Winnipeg by 1919 she worked at the Children's Hospital and worked her
way up to Charge Nurse of the Operating Room .In 1924 she became an
Assistant Superintendent at St. Luke's Hospital, Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.A.
(2020) |
Judith Shamian |
Born May 1, 1950, Hungary. Her family relocated to Jerusalem
and then to Montreal. 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 CEO 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) |
Flora Madeleine Shaw |
Born January 15, 1864,
Perth, Upper Canada (now Ontario). Died August 27, 1927, Liverpool, England.
In 1894, following the footsteps of her aunt, Flora began studies in nursing
at the Montreal General Hospital. After graduation in 1896 she was appointed
as an assistant to the School Superintendent, Gertrude Elizabeth Livingston
(1848-1927) for three years. In 1899 she worked in a small women's hospital
in Boston, Massacheutts, U.S.A. before returning one more to be first
assistant at Montreal General Hospital lin 1900. From 1904 through 1906 she
studied methods of teaching nursing at the Teachers' College at Columbia
University, New York City, U.S.A. Flora remained in New York for a short
time returning to Montreal General Hospital and then at the Hospital for
Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario. She was a founding member of the Canadian
National Association of Trained Nurses in 1908 and became
secretary-treasurer. Flora became ill with tuberculosis and was forced to
withdraw from active work and spend time in sanatoriums as a patient. She
also travelled abroad for her health. At the beginning of World War l in
1914 she was a volunteer social worker with the Canadian Patriotic Fund in
Montreal. By 1920 she accepted a position of director of McGill School for
Graduate Nurses to teach administration to nurses so they could work in
Canadian nursing schools. She also served as president of the Canadian
Association of Nurse Education from 1922-1924 and 1922 to 1926 as president
of the Association of Registered Nurses of Quebec where she proposed
improving standards for nursing and nursing education. In 1925 she served as
chair of a round table at the International Council of Nurses in Finland. It
was on her return trip home that she became ill and was admitted to the
Liverpool Royal Infirmary. To honour this pioneer of nursing education the
Flora Madeline Shaw Chair of Nursing was established at McGill University in
1957.
Source: DCB (2020)Born
1879, England. Died September 2, 1968. In 1888 she immigrated to Canada with
her missionary father. She studied nursing at the Winnipeg General Hospital
Training School, Manitoba. After graduation in 1902 she worked as an nurse
in Winnipeg. Wanting more she earned her teaching certificate from Columbia
University, New York City, U.S.A.. Back in Manitoba she was hired as
superintendant at the Winnipeg Children's Hospital. Relocating to British
Columbia she worked as Director of Nursing Services and Education at the
Vancouver General Hospital. She was also the coordinator for the new nursing
program at the University of British Columbia where she established the
1st university degree program in nursing in Canada.
From 1925 through 1929 she was in eastern Europe as an advisor
creating nursing schools. In 1933 for ten years she edited the Canadian
Nurse magazine. Ethel retired from nursing in 1944. In 2015 the Canadian
Historic Sites and Monuments Board declared Ethel an Person of National
Historic Significance. The Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing
presents the Ethel Johns Award annually for distinguished service to nursing
education.
(2020) |
Mary Shaw
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born December 8,
1887, Motherwell, Scotland. Died May 8, 1965, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Source:
Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1915, online (accessed
2020)Mary immigrated to Canada in 1910. She graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing in 1915. Her first job was at the Rat
Portage (now Kenora) General Hospital prior to her joining the Queen
Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service serving at the Royal Victoria
Hospital, Netley, Hampshire, England. In October 1917 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps serving at No. 16
Canadian General Hospital, Orpington, England and No. 1 Canadian General
Hospital in France. She returned to Canada March 1919.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg, Class of 1915, online. (accessed 2020) |
Margaret Alexandra Shea |
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 Shepphard
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born November 23,
1892, Regina, Saskatchewan. Died ???? Annie graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing in 1915. By 1917 she was Assistant Matron
at the Soldier's Convalescent Home, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. In 1918 Annie
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps, She
served in England at No. 15 Canadian General Hospital, Taplow and No. 12
Canadian General Hospital, Bramshott. She returned to Canada in 1919 and was
nursing in Regina. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1915. online (accessed 2020).
|
Winnifred Marion Simpson
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born July 9, 1891,
Selkirk, Manitoba. Died October 1, 1976Winnifred graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing in 1915. In November 1916 she enlisted as
a Nursing Sister with the Canadaian Army Medical Corps. She served in
England at the Moore Barracks Hospital, Shorncliffe and No. 4 Canadian
Stationary Hospital. In France she was posted to Nos. 1 and 2 Canadian
General Hospital. Returning to Canada after the war she worked as a private
duty nurse in Selkirk, Manitoba. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1915. online (accessed 2020).
|
Isabella Sinclair -Trotter
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born February
2, 1889, Millwood, Manitoba. Died March 5, 1987, British Columbia. In 1916
Isabella graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing. In
February 1918 she enlisted with the Canadian Army Medical Corps as a Nursing
Sister, Sent overseas she served in England at the Granville Canadian
Special Hospital, Buxton and then at No. 16 Canadian General Hospital,
Orpington. By August 1919 she had been discharged and was returning to
Manitoba. She relocated to British Columbia where she married Robert
Trotter.
Source: Class of 1916: Remembering our Nursing Sisters Who
Served During World War l. Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg. online
(accessed 2020) |
Ethel Isobel Stewart-Morley
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born March
15, 1890, Almonte, Ontario. Ethel graduated from the Winnipeg General
Hospital School of Nursing in 1815. She was hired after graduation at the
Winnipeg General Hospital. She resigned her position in 1916 and began
working at Camp Sewell Military Hospital (Camp Hughes) near Carberry,
Manitoba. Shortly after taking her new position she joined the Queen
Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service. In November 1917 she enlisted
as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Military Corps. She served in
England as N0. 15 Canadian General Hospital, Taplow and at the Granville
Canadian Special Hospital. She returned to Canada in November 1918. She
married Dr. W. Morley after the war and the couple relocated to British
Columbia before finally settling in Washington state, U.S.A.
Source: Class of 1915: Remembering our Nursing Sisters Who
Served During World War l. Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg. online
(accessed 2020) |
Marian Lucile Skillen-Stoneham
Nursing Sister World War l
|
Born June 20, 1890,
St. Martins, New Brunswick. Died 1987?, New Brunswick. In 1916 she graduated
from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing. By March the following
year she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical
Corps. She served in England at the Duchess of Connaught's Canadian Red
Cross Hospital prior to being transferred to France in June of 1918. Just as
she arrived she suffered from appendicitis and was admitted to No. 3
Canadian General Hospital. Recuperated she was at No. 2 Canadian General
Hospital when she again had an attack of appendicitis and was admitted to
Queen Alexandra Military Hospital and from there to the Canadian
Convalescent Hospital , Bear Wood Park, Workingham, England. After the was
she worked in private nursing in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. She and her
husband, Norman Stoneham, lived in England in the 1930's.
At some time she may have moved back to
New Brunswick.
Source: Class of 1916: Remembering our Nursing Sisters Who
Served During World War l. Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg. online
(accessed 2020) |
Harriet 'Hallie' Jennie Todd Sloan
|
Born January 21, 1917, Winnipeg,
Manitoba. Died January 21, 2016, on her 99th
birthday. In 1940 she graduated from the Vancouver General
Hospital nursing programme. Joining the military she worked with the
8th 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.
(2020) |
Margaret Heggie Smith
Nursing Sister World War l |
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 (2020) |
Jessie Sara Smith-Cooper
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born December 4,
1884, Bathurst, New Brunswick. Died ???? Minnesota? Jessie graduated from
the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing, Manitoba, in 1909. The
following year she joined the Victorian Order of Nurses (V O N) for a year
and then took up private nursing in Winnipeg. She served with the Harvard
Unit in France until July 1916 when she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with
the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She served at No. 1 Canadian
Stationary Hospital, Salonika, Greece and No. 4 Canadian General Hospital,
Basingstoke, England. In July 1918 she married Lieutenant Gordon Cooper in
France. She returned to New Brunswick in 1919 and worked for Monarch Life,
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan prior to settling in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1909. online (accessed 2021) |
Marion Leane Smith-Walls
World War l Nurse & Missionary |
née Smith. Born
1891, Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia. Died 1957, New Brunswick.
Marion came fro Australia to Canada as a child with her parents. Her father
was an Australian Indigenous member of the Dharug Nation. She trained as a
nurse in New England Hospital, Massacheutts, U.S.A. After graduation
she returned home and joined the Victorian Order of Nurses in 1913 in
Montreal. She volunteered with the Queen Alexandria's Imperial Nursing
Service and by March 1917 she was working in France at No. 41 Ambulance
Train which was fitted to transport injured troops. She is the only
identified Indigenous Australian Woman in World War l she was serving for
Canada. She extended her service a was in Italy with the British
Expeditionary Force and then at the University War Hospital, Southampton,
England. She returned to Canada in May 1919. She married a teacher and
missionary Victor B. Walls. The couple was posted as Canadian Presbyterian
Missionaries in Trinidad. Marion would write a school hymn with lyrics that
included some of their life story. She compiled an elementary first-aid and
home nursing text book for the Naparima College. During World War ll she
brought the Red Cross to Trinidad serving as commandant and was in charge of
the Nurses' Council and the Junior Red Cross. When Victor retired the couple
returned to New Brunswick. (2020) |
Mary Agnes Snively |
Born November 12, 1847, St Catherines, Ontario.
Died September 26, 1933, Toronto, Ontario. After graduating from high school she 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: DCB (2020) |
Mary Meager Southcott |
Born September 21,1862, Newfoundland. Died October 30,1943,
St. John's, Newfoundland. As a young woman Mary had an interest in botany
and enjoyed making watercolour drawings of local flora. Mary studied nursing
in London, England learning the Nightengale system. Returning to
Newfoundland after graduation in 1901 she was appointed Superintendant of
Nursing at St. John's General Hospital. By 1903 she had founded the St.
John's General Hospital School of nursing. She resigned her Superintendant
position in 1916 after conflict with the administration about her desire to
raise nursing standards. She went on to establish her own hospital and
developing midwifery. She would also serve on the Newfoundland Midwifery
Board and was president of the Child Welfare Association. She would also
establish a Nurses' Register and found the Graduate Nurses' Association of
Newfoundland. Mary was also an advocate of women's suffrage. In 1998 she was
named by the Canadian government as a Person of National Historic
Significance. A national historic plaque is located in St. John's.
(2020) |
Lillian Gibson Spence
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born November 3, 1885, Lanark Village, Ontario . Died July
17, 1965, Toledo, Ohio, U.S.A. After graduation from her local high school
Lillian trained as a nurse at Greenwich General Hospital and the Women's
Hospital of New York in the U.S.A. May 6, 1917 she was stationed
through the American Red Cross at the Hôpital Militaire VR in France serving
French wounded. This hospital ceased operation in September 1918 and Lillian
transferred to Hôpital Militaire VR 76 near Paris which was set up to help
with an outbreak of influenza. In October the nurses received a gold wrist
watch, engraved with their name as thanks of the men of the 57th Engineers.
Returning to the U. S. A. in January 1919 she became a civilian nurse in New
York City. In 1919 the government of France awarded the Croix de Guerre, to
Lillian for services to France during World War l. She worked in New
York City until 1930 when she relocated to Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S.A.
Lillian returned to France on visits in 1926 and 1934. She retired from
nursing in 1956 and went to live with her sister in Toledo, Ohio, U.S.A. She
was buried in her home Village of Lanark, Ontario.
Source: District of Perth Historical Society online (accessed 2020) |
Verna Marie Huffman Splane |
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) |
Anna Irene Stamers
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born January 15, 1888, Saint John, New Brunswick. Died June
27, 1918, at sea. A trained nurse Anna enl isted
in the Canadian Army Medical Corps as a Nursing Sister June 3, 1915 in
Montreal, Quebec. She boarded the Hospital
Ship Llandovery Castle was sailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool,
England when it was torpedoed by U-86. Despite regulation, the ship which
was marked with Red Cross lights, was deliberately torpedoed off the coast
of Ireland without warning and 14 Nursing Sisters along with many of the
crew were machine gunned. Surviving witnesses stated that the enemy guns
also fired on helpless lifeboats. The Llandovery Castle became a rallying
cry for the Canadian troops. A memorial marker is in the veteran's section
of the Fernhill Cemetery, Saint John, New Brunswick.
In
1967 the Commonwealth War Graves erected the Halifax Memorial
commemorating the 3,000 service members who lost their lives including the
14 Nursing Sisters on board the Llandovery Castle.
The
Canadian Forces Medical Services School at Canadian Forces Base Borden,
Ontario, gives the Llandovery Castle Award each year to the most deserving
nursing officer. (2020) |
Alice Francis Stevenson
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born October 26,
1893, Parry Sound, Ontario. Died ???? Alice graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing in 1918. By October of that year she had
enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Alice was
posted to No. 10 Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo Park, in Manitoba. She
served there until August 1919. After the war she worked in the office of
Dr. McMillan in Winnipeg. Moving to New York in the U.S.A. she worked at a
private hospital until 1927 and then worked as a private nurse.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg Class of
1918. online (accessed 2021) |
Christina 'Tena' May Stewart
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born May 25, 1881,
Almonte, Ontario. Died November 7, 1927, London, Ontario. After high school
Tena taught school for awhile prior to attending and graduating from the
Winnipeg General Hospital Scholl of Nursing in 1916. In November 1916 she
enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She served
at the Duchess of Connaught's Canadian Red Cross Hospital, Taplow, England
and the Canadian Special Hospital, Buxton, England. She went on to serve on
ships in the Mediterranean and Egypt. In 1918 she was hospitalized with
bronchitis and pneumonia. By March 1918 she was in Gravenhurst, Ontario
supposedly to recuperate however, she never really recovered. She spent time
in Arizona and Vancouver hoping to improve her poor health. One of her
funeral wreaths was laid in Ottawa on Armistice Day . November 11, 1927.
Source: Class of 1916 Winnipeg General Hospital Schools of
Nursing Archives online (accessed 2020) |
Eliza May Stewart
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born
April 21,1887, Bathurst, New Brunswick. Died 1989.
In May 1917 with World War l in full swing she enlisted in the Canadian
Army Medical Corps as a Nursing Sister 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) |
Helen Louise Stewart-Balfour
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born January 28,
1883, London, England. Died October 10, 1954, California, U.S.A. Helen
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1906. By
1913 she had relocated to California, U.S.A. where she worked as a private
nurse. She returned to Winnipeg and worked as nurse in charge of the
Military Wards at the Winnipeg General Hospital. In 1916 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister with the Canadian Military Medical Corps. She served at No.
10 Canadian General Hospital , Brighton, and no. 11 Canadian General
Hospital Bramshott, England prior to being posted to No. 2 Canadian General
Hospital, Le Treport, France. Returning to England she was posted to No. 16
Canadian General Hospital, Orpington and the Canadian Red Cross Officers
Hospital. After the war she married G. A. Balfour and the couple settled in
California. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1906. online (accessed 2020) |
Olive Gertrude Stewart
Nursing Sister World War l |
née Ray. Born
January 24, 1890, Norwood, Ontario. Died April 2, 1940, California, U.S.A.
Olive graduated in 1914 from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of
Nursing. April 3, 1914 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army
Medical Corps using her married name. She served in Canada supervising the
Military Wards at the Winnipeg General Hospital for a year. Resigning she
relocated to New York for several years and returned to Winnipeg in 1922 to
work as a private nurse. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1914. online (accessed 2020) |
Robina 'Ruby' Elizabeth Stewart-Burris
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born
September 2, 1885, Selkirk, Manitoba. Died October 23,1982, Kamloops,
British Columbia. In 1911 Ruby graduated from the Winnipeg General
Hospital School of Nursing. With the coming of World War 1 she joined the
British Columbia Unit for overseas service/ She enlisted in the
Canadian Army Medical Corp as a Nursing Sister in September 1916. She was
posted overseas at No. 5 Canadian General Hospital, Salonika, Greece and
then was transferred to Malta. She also served at No. 11 Canadian General
Hospital. Formerly Moore Barracks, England. In May 1919 she returned home to
Canada. She married Dr. Howard Lester Burris (1879-1972) and the couple
settled in British Columbia and raised five children.
Sources: Health Sciences Centre Archives. Winnipeg. online (accessed 2021);
Find a grave online (accessed 2021); Donald Stewart Burris (1920-2018)
Obituary. Online (accessed 2021) |
Winnifred Mary Stewart |
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 |
Born 1929, Arelee, Saskatchewan. She 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
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born May 25, 1891,
Carroll, Manitoba. Died April 17, 1937, Brighton, England. Winnifred
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1917.
January 1918 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical
Corps. Serving overseas in England she worked at No, 15 Canadian General
Hospital, Duchess of Connaught's Red Cross Hospital , Taplow and No. 5
Canadian General Hospital, Liverpool. Returning to Canada in 1919 she worked
on staff at Dr. Galloway's private hospital, Winnipeg and later at the Deer
Lake Convalescent Hospital. In 1924 she married A. E. Kedward and the couple
relocated to England. Source: Health
Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg Class of 1917 online (accessed 2020) |
Madeleine
Dion Stoat
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 BSc 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. (2020) |
Mary Margaret Street |
Born May 30, 1907, Toronto, Ontario. Died
December 7, 1993. Mary earned her original Bachelor of Arts and teaching certificate in Manitoba but
soon decided to enter nursing and studied at the Royal Victoria in Montreal.
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 Ellen Sullivan-Chapman
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born July 27, 1887,
Port Arthur, Ontario. Died ????Margaret at just 12 lost her mother who died
when the family lived in Kenora, Ontario in January 1899. After her nursing
training Margaret worked at the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Kenora. February
5, 1916 Margaret enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical
Corp. She served three years in England at the Ontario Military
Hospital, Orpington and France at No. 7 Canadian General Hospital in
Etaples. In the winter of 1918 she contracted influenza and was in hospital
herself. Om May 18 she was wounded when the enemy bombed the hospital and
she was invalided back to England suffering from Neurasthenia (shell shock).
For the remainder of her service she worked at Shorncliffe and Orpington in
England. By 1921 Margaret was working at St. Joseph's Hospital,
Peterborough, Ontario. In April 1924 she married Edmond Victor Chapman in
Toronto while she worked at Christie Street Hospital for Veterans in
Toronto. Edmund was a long term patient at the hospital and Margaret devoted
herself to his care until his death in 1939. Source:
Kenora Great War Project (accessed 2020) |
Margaret Frances Taylor-Aikens
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born December 24,
1891, Boissevain, Manitoba. Died 1983?, Manitoba. She was a graduated of the
Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1916. She immediately joined
the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service serving 17 months at
the 2nd Birmingham War Hospital in England. In March 1918 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps . Returning to
Winnipeg after the war she worked as a private nurse. She married George
Aikens and the couple settled in Boissevain, Manitoba.
Source: Class of 1916: Remembering our Nursing Sisters Who
Served During World War l. Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg. online
(accessed 2020) |
Jean Templeman
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born June 16, 1885, Ottawa, Ontario. Died June 27, 1918, At
sea. A trained nurse Jean enlisted in the Canadian Army Medical Corps as a
Nursing Sister June 3, 1915 in Montreal, Quebec. The Hospital Ship
Llandovery Castle was sailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool,
England when it was torpedoed by U-86. Despite regulation, the ship which
was marked with Red Cross lights, was deliberately torpedoed and 14 Nursing
Sisters along with many of the crew were machine gunned. The Llandovery
Castle became a rallying cry for the Canadian troops.
In 1967 the Commonwealth War Graves erected the Halifax Memorial
commemorating the 3,000 service members who lost their lives including the
14 Nursing Sisters on board the Llandovery Castle.
The
Canadian Forces Medical Services School at Canadian Forces Base Borden,
Ontario, gives the Llandovery Castle Award each year to the most deserving
nursing officer. (2020) |
Eleanor Jean Thompson
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born December 2,
1888, Valleyfield, Quebec. Died ????. A trained nurse Eleanor enlisted in
the Canadian Army Medical Corps as a Nursing Sister December 29, 1915 in
Montreal. She served at No 6 Canadian General Hospital prior to going to No.
3 Canadian Stationary Hospital, Doullens, France. While the hospital was
clearly marked it was still attacked by the enemy. Eleanor was wounded but
pulled herself out of the rubble and extinguished flames from overturned
before they spread and helped patients. She and Nursing Meta Hodge
(1882-1954) worked through the night to move patients to safety. A few
days later she suffered from neurasthenia (now known as PTSD) and she was
discharged in 1919 for nervous debility. For her
service Eleanor Thompson and Meta Hodge where the first Canadian Nursing
Sisters to earn the Military Medal for gallantry and
devotion to duty. In July 1926 she received the Medaille des Epidemies en
bronze from France. She was featured in the Historica Canada Heritage
Minute, Nursing Sisters, released in 2015. (2020)
|
Margaret Jill Thompson |
Born 1937, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Died November 20, 2001,
British Columbia. Jill spend a year at Guy's Hospital in London, England
which put her on a path of a life long interest in Florence Nightengale. She
would become an authority on this founder of modern nursing. In 1977 she was
teaching at Okanagan University College and at the University College of the
Fraser Valley, British Columbia. Jill took early retirement in 1995 and
joined the British Columbia History of Nursing Group where she would hold
various executive positions. She was a welcome guest lecturer throughout
British Columbia teaching nursing history classes including lectures on the
life of Florence Nightengale. Jill was married to Bruce Beaudreau.
Source: British Columbia History of Nursing Group (accessed
2005) (2020) |
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 was 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-Thomson
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born April 30,
1888, Isafjordur, Iceland. Died 1931, British Columbia. Bertha emigrated to
Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1893. Bertha graduated in 1914 from the Winnipeg
School of Nursing in Manitoba in 1914. After graduation she worked at the
Watrous Hospital, Saskatchewan. In 1916 she resigned her position in
Saskatchewan and joined the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing
Service. She was sent to England and in 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing
Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. After the war she returned to
Winnipeg and worked at the Winnipeg General Hospital.. In 1922 she was
working at the Deer Lodge Convalescent Hospital in Winnipeg. She took
training in Public Health at the University of British Columbia and then
accepted a position at the Vancouver General Hospital. In 1925 she married
Roy Thomson and the couple had two children.
Sadly her husband died around 1931 and
she was left to provide for her young children. She moved to Keremeos,
British Columbia where she worked in primitive conditions to improve health
care. From 1947 to 1954 she ran Hofn, the Icelandic Care Home in
Vancouver. At some point she relocated to New York, U.S.A. and then Toronto,
Ontario before retiring to Vancouver.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1914. online (accessed 2020); B.C. History of Nursing
Society. online (accessed 2020) |
Martha Mary Edith Timlick
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born January 8,
1889, Union Point, Manitoba. Died August 2, 1961.Martha was a graduated of
the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1917. In March 1918 she
enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps and served
until the end of the war in England. Returning to Manitoba after the war she
worked at Dauphin General Hospital, Manitoba and became in charge of the
Operating Room at the Children's Hospital, Winnipeg until 1923. She also
worked in Admitting at the Winnipeg General Hospital.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1917. online (accessed 2020); |
Alice Torr
World War ll Nursing
Sister |
Born November 30,
1881, Grantham, England. Died September 13, 1970, Orillia, Ontario. In 1916
Alice graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing. She
immediately signed up with the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing
Service. After a year she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian
Army Medical Corps in November 1917. She served in England and France. At
the end of the war she was in Toronto where she worked at the Christie
Street Hospital for 24 years. She joined the staff at Gravenhurst Sanatorium
and retired in 1951 and lived in Orillia, Ontario.
Source: Class of 1916: Remembering our Nursing Sisters Who
Served During World War l. Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg. online
(accessed 2020) |
Adruenna 'Addie' Allen Tupper
World War ll Nursing
Sister |
née Trefry. Born
October 13,1870, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Died December, 1916,Hillington,
England. Addie attended the Ladies Seminary (now part of Acadia University)
in Yarmouth prior to attending Nursing School at the General Hospital, New
Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A.. Sometime after her graduation she married
William Stanley Tupper and the couple moved to Boston. William died in 1899
leaving Addie a widow. Addie enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian
Army Medical Corps on September 24, 1914 and was with the first contingent
of nurses to sail overseas arriving in England in October 1914. In order to
enlist Addie lied about her age, otherwise she would have been declined for
the Army. In the spring of 1915 she was hospitalized with severe leg pains.
In November 1915 she was in charge of patients on a ship returning to
Halifax. She returned to England serving at Ramsgate Canadian Special
Hospital. She was sent to France in February 1916. November 8, 1916
she was working with the Canadian Convalescent Hospital in Hillington,
England. December 2, she received from the King The Royal Red Cross 2n
Class, granted to those who had been in charge of patients. She caught a
cold was once again herself admitted to hospital where she died of pneumonia
a few days later. She would also be granted the The Star British War Medal
and the Victory medal. There is a memorial stone dedicated to Addie at
Brookside Cemetery, Bridgewater, Nova Scotia.
(2020) |
Emma Mary Turner
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born March 13,
1885, England. Died 1966. Emma graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital
School of Nursing in 1908. Upon graduation she was hired by the hospital to
work in the surgical unit. In 1911 she left Winnipeg and worked as Night
Superintendent at the Regina General Hospital, Saskatchewan where in 1913
she became Lady Superintendent of the Hospital. In 1916 she joined the Queen
Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service to go overseas. In 1917 she
enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Returning
to Canada after the war she became Matron of the Saskatoon General Hospital,
Saskatchewan. By 1923 she was Nurse Superintendent of the new
Hollywood Hospital , Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Source: Health Science Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1908. online (accessed 2021) |
Charlotte 'Lottie' Urquhart-Seys
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born March 27,
1888, New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Died December 30, 1888, Vancouver, British
Columbia. Lottie studied nursing first at Boston State Hospital School for
nurses, Massacheutts, U.S.A. graduating in 1908. She stayed to work for a
year at the Boston Hospital before heading Montreal where she enrolled at
the Montreal General Hospital School of Nursing graduating in 1913. She then
worked as a private nurse in Montreal. On January 26, 1916 she enlisted with
the Canadian Army Medical Corps in Montreal as a Nursing Sister. She was
soon shipped overseas. In October 1917 she found herself a hospital patient
with a sprained ankle. Once recuperated she was back on duty and on
September 16, 1918 her No. 6 Canadian General Field Hospital,
Joinville-le-Pont, near Paris, France was bombed by the enemy. She
continued to care for her patients during the bombing. For her gallantry and
devotion to duty she was one of the first seven Canadian Nursing Sisters to
receive the Military Medal at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. In mid
March 1919 she was admitted to No. 46 Stationary Hospital in Etretat, France
with Scarlet Fever. By July 3, 1919 she was sailing home to Canada. She
worked in Montreal for several years prior to relocating to Vancouver,
British Columbia by 1949 where she worked as a clerk with an insurance
broker. . In the 1950's she married Reginald William Says (died 1977). Bruce
Macdonald has written a detailed report on Lottie online; First World War
Veterans of Guysborough County, posted 2018. (2020) |
Annette 'Nete' Vardy
Salvation Army Nurse |
Born January 25,
1919, Clarenville, Newfoundland. As a youngster doctors felt that her heart
condition would not let her survive beyond 21. She simply went on with her
life. During World War ll she became engaged to a young sailor, Arthur
Stanfield. They were to marry after the war. While he survived the war he
died a hero saving people from drowning but he was unable to save himself.
Nete would read about his death in the newspaper. She would wear his
engagement ring around her neck . She attended the Salvation Army training
college and then nursing school. She applied to be a missionary with the
Salvation Army and traveled first to London, England and then to India where
she served at Salvation Army hospitals for 25 years. She adopted ,
unofficially, an orphaned baby girls and brought her up. After she retired
she returned once again to India to work another five years. When a young
cousin was about to be married she gave him Arthur's rings for his bride.
She wanted to know they would be useful. In 2019 at 101 years of ages she
was presented with the Salvation Army Order of the Founder.
(2020) |
Marie Beatrice Herminie Vidal
World War l Nursing
Sister
|
née Taschereau.
Born August 6, 1868, (some times recorded as 1874) Quebec City. Died
September 15, 1923, Ottawa, Ontario. Beatrice married General Beaufort
Henry Vidal (1843-1908) and was his third wife. She enlisted as a Nursing
Sister in 1916 in England and was serving in France by the spring of 1917
with the 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. ((2020) |
Gladys Maude Mary 'Bob/Bobbie' Wake
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born December
13, 1883, Esquimalt, British Columbia. Died May 21, 1918, Etaples, France.
"Bob/Bobbie'
graduated from the Royal Jubilee Hospital School of
Nursing, Victoria, British Columbia. She enlisted in the Canadian Army
Medical Corps as a Nursing Sister January 10. 1916, London , England. She
served with the Duchess of Connaught's Canadian Hospital (later N0. 1
Canadian General Hospital), Salonica England and No. 4 Canadian
General Hospital also in England. She also served at No ll Canadian General
Hospital prior to joining No. 1 Canadian Hospital, Etaples in October 1917.
On May 19, 1918 the hospital was bombed by the enemy. 116 bombs were dropped
by five enemy planes. There was a direct hit on the nursing quarters and
'Bob/Bobbie' was severely wounded. She died two days later from her wounds.
She was of three Nursing Sisters who died. She is buried at Etaples Military
Cemetery in France. She is memorialized on a plaque at St. Paul's Anglican
Church, Esquimalt. Source: Blog: Finding the
Forty-Seven: Canadian Nurses of the First World War by Debbie Marshall.
(2020) |
Norma Turina Walker-Elsey |
Born February 1,
1879, Angus, Ontario. November 18, 1968, Saarnich, British Columbia. Norma
graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1908. In
1908 she contracted typhoid fever and was forced to leave her job as
Superintendent of Nursing at Selkirk Hospital. The next year she relocated
to British Columbia and did private nursing and then worked at the Nanaimo
Hospital on Vancouver Island. in 1917 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister
in the Canadian Army Medical Corps and worked at first at the Military Annex
at Vancouver General Hospital in British Columbia. After the was she did
social service work in New York State, U.S.A. and then married John 'Jack'.
Howard Elsey (1876-1966). The couple settled in Victoria, British Columbia.
Source: Health Science Centre Archives,
Winnipeg. Class of 1908. online (accessed 2021);Find-a -grave Memorial
Canada Royal Oak Burial Park Cemetery, Victoria British Columbia |
Dora Asta Walters-Truemner
Nursing Sister World War
l |
Born February 22,
1894, Cavlier, North Dakota, U.S.A. Died January 29, 1928, Melfort,
Saskatchewan. Dora was a student at the University of North Dakota prior to
relocating to Winnipeg and attending the Winnipeg General Hospital School of
Nursing and graduating in 1917. In January 1918 she enlisted as a Nursing
Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She served in England and then
returned to settle at Fort Qu'Appelle tuberculosis Sanatorium in
Saskatchewan. She married Eldon Truemner and the couple settled in Melfort
Saskatchewan. Sadly contracted tuberculoses herself and died quite young.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1917. (accessed
2020) |
Agnes L. Warner
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born 187?. Died
192? Agnes went to school at the Saint John's Victoria High
School for Girls graduating with distinction. She then studied at McGill
University, Montreal, earning recognition for her work. Between 1890 and the
turn of the century, the local flora of New Brunswick and donated over 250
specimens to the Natural History Society Museum. She then attended New
York's Presbyterian Hospital in the U.S.A. training as a nurse. In May 0f
1914 she accompanied a patient from New York to Divonne-Les-Bains in France.
The approaching clouds of World War l saw Agnes organizing local women
and teaching them basic nursing skills. Agnes worked under the auspices of
the Red Cross in France faithfully writing letters home describing her life.
She collected stories, photographs and memories from her Beloved
Poilus/French Soldiers. Friends back in St. John collaborated to publish her
letters in the book, My Beloved Poilus. Sales of the book raised
funds to send to Agnes to help with her work. Agnes was placed in charge of
Ambulance Voland Field Hospital. For her war service she received from the
French government the Médaille d'Honneur, Médaille des Epidémies and the
Croix de Guerre. After the war Agnes returned to Saint John and
quietly continued her work as a nurse. Agnes' story is told in the Book,
Agnes Warner and the Nursing Sisters of the Great War by Shawna M.
Quinn, part of the New Brunswick Military Heritage Series.
(2020) |
Isobel Mary Watts
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born April 15, 1883,
Perth, Ontario. Died March 18,1973, Miami, Florida, U.S.A. Isobel graduated
from Perth Collegiate Institute and went on to train as a nurse probable at
a training school in New England U.S.A. where she volunteered for the
American Ambulance Hospital. Isobel served 15 month nursing service
overseas as a private with the American Ambulance of Paris, France, where
she cared for French wounded and later served with the Harvard University
unit of Boston, Massacheutts at the 22nd General Hospital
nursing wounded. Isobel was a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical
Corps. After a brief visit with her family in Perth, Ontario she enlisted in
Montreal as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps on January
18, 1917. She served at the 22nd General Hospital, Camiers, France until the
hospital closed operation in January 1919. She returned to live and work in
New York and became an American citizen in 1932. In 1953 she
established the J. R. Watts Memorial Scholarship at Queen's University,
Kingston, Ontario to be granted to students at the School of Religion.
Source: Perth District
Historical Society. Online (accessed 2020) |
Dorothy Webb-Cummings
Nursing Sister World War l |
née Webb. Born
April 29, 1887, St. Boniface, Manitoba. Died May 1963, Sault Lookout,
Ontario. In 1913 Dorothy graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH)
School of Nursing. By 1916 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the
Canadian Army Medical Corps. Her first posting was at Sewell Military
Hospital, Camp Hughes, in Manitoba. Overseas she served in France at No. 4
Canadian Casualty Clearing Station and No. 2 Canadian General Hospital, Le
Touquet, France. She returned to Canada in 1919 and worked as a Provincial
School Nurse in Neepawa, Manitoba. In June 1922 she married William
Cummings and the couple settled in Sioux Lookout, Ontario.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1913. online. (accessed
2021) |
Mary White-Murdock
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born September 22,
1883, Camphill, Scotland. Died August 28, 1961, Saskatchewan. Mary was a
graduate of the class of 1910 at the School of Nursing, Winnipeg General
Hospital, Manitoba. After graduating she worked at Westhope Hospital, North
Dakota, U.S.A. for a short while before becoming a private nurse in
Winnipeg. By 1912 she was working in charge of staff at Fernie, British
Columbia. In 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps. She was posted to No. 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital, Egypt.
After the war she returned to Canada and married Alex Murdock and the
couple settled in Saskatchewan.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1910. (accessed
2020) |
Florence Katherine Whittick-McKean
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born February 14,
1885, Niverville, Manitoba. Died December 15, 1966, Winnipeg, Manitoba. In
1910 Florence graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of
Nursing. By June 1915 she had enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian
Army Medical Corps. By December she was posted to No. 15 Canadian General
Hospital , the a Duchess of Connaught Red Cross Hospital, Taplow, England.
Florence returned home to Canada in 1919 and worked for the City of Winnipeg
in Child Welfare. In 1922 she married Allan McKean and the couple settled in
Winnipeg. Florence established the Allen McKean Memorial Scholarship for
Violin at the Faculty of Music, University of Manitoba, with the firs award
being given in 1968-9.
Source: Health Sciences Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1910. (accessed
2020) |
Jessie Helen Weir-Short
World War 1 Home Nursing Sister |
née Weir. Born
August 13, 1892, Rat Portage (now Kenora), Ontario. Died August 29, 1960,
Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1905 the family relocated to Quebec
and then to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1910. In 1916 Jessie was working as a
kindergarten teacher. Jessie went to England and served with the Voluntary
Aid Detachment (VAD) in Leicester, for seven months and then passed her
nurse's medical examination and signed up as a Home Sister in the Canadian
Army Medical Corps. She was assigned to the Canadian Red Cross Special
Hospital, Buxton, England. February 1918 she was transferred to No. 10
Canadian General Hospital, Brighton and then to Granville Canadian Special
Hospital, Buxton. She became ill and was invalided back to Canada in January
1919. In the fall of that year she met the Prince of Wales during his tour
of Canada at the Tuxedo Military Hospital, Winnipeg. In October of 1919 she
moved to Vancouver to take nursing studied at the Vancouver General Hospital
School of Nursing. April 8, 1920 Jessie married John Charles Short (died
1961) in Winnipeg. By the 1921 census the couple were in Vancouver. The
couple had two sons. (2020) |
Janet Mary Williamson
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born April 3, 1887,
Grenville, Quebec. Died ????. Janet enlisted in the Canadian Army Medical
Corps as a Nursing Sister on January 10, 1917 at Kingston, Ontario. She may
have served with the Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Service. She also
served at No. 2 Canadian General Hospital, Etaples, France, where during
bombing she showed extraordinary cool during evacuation of patients. In September 1918 she was one of the first seven Canadian Nursing Sisters
receiving the Military Medal for gallantry and devotion to duty. At the end
of the war she would have also received the British War Medal and the
Victory Medal for her war service. I personally found it sad to see
her World War l medals for sale on eBay. (2020) |
Frederica Wilson
Nursing Matron World War l |
Born February 11,
1896, Goderich, Ontario. Died February 18, 1935, Whonnock, British Columbia.
Frederika graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing,
Manitoba, 1899. She was the Superintendent of Nurses at the Winnipeg General
Hospital from 1905 through to 1914.She resigned her position and moved to
British Columbia. By September 1915 she had enlisted with the Canadian Army
Medical Corps and was Matron of the fifth Overseas British Columbia Hospital
Unit. She was posted to No. 5Canadian General Hospital, Solonika and at No.
2 Canadian General Hospital, Le Treport, France. She was recognized for her
service receiving the Royal Red Cross, first class, at Buckingham Palace and
was received by Queen Alexandra at
Marlborough House. Returning home to British Columbia she became a
fruit farmer. Source: Health Sciences
Centre Archives, Winnipeg. Class of 1898. online (accessed 2021) |
Elsie Jean Wilson
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born August 10,
????*, Toronto, Ontario. Died ???? In 1915 Elsie graduated from the Winnipeg
General Hospital School of Nursing. After she enlisted as a Nursing
Sister to served during World War l with the Canadian Army Medical Corps in
1916 she served at Camp Sewell Military Hospital (Camp Hughes) at Carberry,
Manitoba. She also served in England and France. In 1920, After the War she
worked as a Public Health Nurse for the province of Manitoba. In 1935 she
was elected as President of the Manitoba Association of Registered Nurses.
That same year she became supervisor of the Tuberculosis Section with the
Manitoba Department of Public Health. NOTE: The Canadian
Great War Project has a typo putting her birth year as 1916 (2020) |
Frederica Wilson
Matron World War l |
Born February 11,
1869, Goderich, Ontario. Died February 18, 1935, Whinnock, British Columbia.
Frederica was a graduate in the class of 1899/1900 from the Winnipeg General
Hospital School of Nursing. From 1905 through to 1914 she was the
Superintendant of Nursing. In 1914 she relocated to British Columbia. In
September 1915 she enlisted as a Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical
Corps. Appointed as a Matron of Nurses she served at the 5th Overseas
British Columbia Hospital, No. 5 Canadian General Hospital, Solonka and No.
2 Canadian General Hospital, Le Treport, France. She ended her tour of duty
at the Westcliffe Canadian Eye and Ear Hospital in England. After the war
she returned to British Columbia where she was a fruit farmer. For her
service during the War she received the Royal Red Cross 1st Class at
Buckingham Palace on February 11, 1917. She would have also received at the
end of the war the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
(2020) |
Mona Gordon Wilson |
Born 1894, Toronto, Ontario. Died 1981. Mona attended
Havergal Ladies College followed by St. Johns Hopkins University, School of
Nursing. 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
Nursing Sister World War l |
Born March 2, 1888,
Ingersoll, Ontario. Died January 10, 1973, London, Ontario. Helen graduated
from St. Joseph's Hospital School of Nursing in 1908. May 1916 she enlisted
as a Nursing Sister with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She was posted to
No. 10 Canadian Stationary Hospital and the unit was sent to England. In
England she was reassigned to No. 1 Canadian General Hospital where she
served until the end of the war. She received the Royal Red Cross 2nd class
for her war services. Returning home she nursed at Byron Sanatorium and at
Speedwell Hospital in Guelph, Ontario. She went on to become an
investigator with the Canadian Pension Commission for Military District N.
1, London. Later she worked as night supervisor at St. Joseph's Hospital
School of Nursing through the 1940's until 1957. Materials related to
her nursing career during World War l, including photographs and personal
papers, are retained in the Archives at Western University, London, Ontario.
(2021) |
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) |
Coltilda Adessa Coward Douglas-Yakimchuk
|
née Coward. Born 1932, Whitney Pier,
Nova Scotia. In 1954 Coltilda 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.
Coltilda began her career as Head Nurse of the
Admission/Discharge Unit of the Nova Scotia and would spent 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
1st 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. Coltilda 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
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to categories |
Lady Elsie Elizabeth Allardyce |
Born June 7, 1878, London,
England. 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 |
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
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to categories |
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 (CCNI) 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) |
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 (PTD) 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 PTD drug Photofrin
became a recognized treatment for bladder cancer. Julia served as Chief
Scientific Officer for QLT 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. (2020) |
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: 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.
(2020) |
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 Athabasca, 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) (2020) |
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 |
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
Return
to categories |
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
Return
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)
|
Louise Beaulac-Baillargeon |
Born February 21, 1944, Shawinigan, Quebec.
She studied for her B.A. at Laval University and continued on to earn her Bachelor 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, 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) |
Alice Maude Dyer |
Born 1879, Prince Edward Island. Died 1963. Alice was a
trained nurse. She received her diploma as a pharmacist in
1928, the first woman to be a registered pharmacist in
Prince Edward Island. |
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) |
Physiotherapist
Return
to categories |
Enid Finley Gordon Graham
Person of National Historic
Significance |
née Finley. 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.
In 1979 the Canadian Physiotherapy association established the Enid Graham
Memorial Lecture. In 2014 the Canadian Historic Site and Monument Board
named her a Person of National Historic Significance. (2020) |
Psychiatrist
Return
to categories |
Arlette Marie-Laure Lefebvre
Dr Froggie |
Born July 26, 1947, Montreal, Quebec. Arlette earned her BA
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 Univeristy 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.
(2020) |
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. Accessed 2007 |
Cornelia 'Nel' Wieman
Aboriginal 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 Aboriginal Peoples.
Source: Canadian Who’s Who, Toronto, University of
Toronto Press, 2003) (2020) |
Psychologists
Return
to categories |
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. Her 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)
(2020) |
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) (2020) |
Doreen Kimura |
née Goebel. Born February 15, 1933, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Died February 27, 2013, Vancouver, British Columbia. Doreen holds a 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 behavior 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) |
Arlett Marie-Laure Lefebvre |
Born July 26, 1947. Arlett earned her medical degree as a doctor
of psychology at the University of Toronto in 1970. She married Yvon Bedard
on May 25, 1970. She has worked as a child psychiatrist at the
Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario since 1974 where her patients
call her ‘Dr Froggie’. She teaches at the University of Toronto. She has
served on the Board of Directors for the Easter Seals Society of Ontario,
Ability OnLine Alliance for Children, and TV, the Star Tracks Talent Agency
for the Disabled, Concerned Kids, CANFAR, In 1993 she was listed by the
Toronto Sun newspaper as a 'Woman on the Move'. And she earned that same year
the Community Action Award. In 1994 She earned the Easter Gold Seal Award
followed in 1996 with the Variety Club Diamond Award. She had been
inducted into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame, the
Order of
Ontario and the Order of Canada. (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. She excelled at school recalling receiving 2 jellybeans for
her reading in grade 1. She earned her B.A. from the University of Toronto
in 1943 followed by her M.A. in 1944 and a PhD in 1951. In 1951 she taught
for a year at the University of Saskatchewan. From 1952 through to
retirement in 1986 she taught at the University of British Columbia. 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 published a book Personality and Sociometric Status
while working on her PhD. 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 Est, 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) |
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 5 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 BSc 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) |
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) |
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 Bassrur
Black Doctor |
Born October 17, 1956, Toronto, Ontario.
Died June 2, 2008, Toronto, Ontario. Sheela graduated from the University of
Western Ontario, London with her Bachelor of Science in 1979. In 1982 she earned her medical degree
from the University of Toronto (UofT) and the following year she took time off to
travel the world. Returning to Canada she earned a Master of Health Science
in 1987 with a specialty in community health and epidemiology from the UofT
and was an assistant professor in the UofT Department of Public Health
Sciences. By
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 five foot tall she was described as a ‘diminutive
dynamo’. She was calm by nature and that lead Toronto to survive the Severe
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
epidemic calmly in 2003.
She was also responsible for Canada's first city program that required
restaurants to post health inspection results in their windows. She
developed the post-9/11 bioterrorism preparation plan and developed a
citywide ban on cigarette smoking in 2004.
That same year she became Chief Medical Officer of Health and Assistant
Deputy Minister of Public Health for Ontario.
The Registered Nurses' Foundation of Ontario established a oncology
fellowship in her honour. March 8, 2008 the Ontario Agency for Health
Protection and Promotion was formed with headquarter in the Sheela Basrur
Centre. That same year she was inducted into the order of Ontario.
Source; Tanya Talaga & Prithi Yelaya. Obituary. The Toronto Star,
June 3, 2008. (2020) |
Elizabeth Robb Beatty |
Born 1856. Died 1939.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.
An Historic Plaque is located in Lansdowne, Ontario.
Source: The Indomitable Women Doctors, by Carlotta Hacker. (Toronto:
Clarke & Irwin, 1974) |
Anna
Afanasyevna 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 Gatineau. 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. |
Elinor Francis Elizabeth Black |
Born 1905 Nelson, British Columbia. Died 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 Gynecologists. 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 Gynecologists 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.
|
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. |
Helen Chan |
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 Cornwallis, Nova Scotia. Died 1987, Ottawa, Ontario. She
attended Acadia University 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 attended the University of Toronto after which she worked at the
Banting Institute for Insulin Research. From 1924 through 1942 she practiced
medicine in Regina and was known for her expertise with Diabetics.
During World War ll 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. |
Nancy Rodger Chenoweth |
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.
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) |
Victoria Chung |
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 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 WMS 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.
(accessed January 2012) ; 100 more Canadian Heroines by
Merna Forester (Dundurn, 2011) |
Pearl Smith Chute |
née Smith. Born 1872, St. Catherines, 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.
Source: The Indomitable Lady Doctors by Carlotta
Hacker, Clarke Irwin, 1974. |
Harriet Faxton Clarke |
née Faxton. Born
Brockville, Ontario. She began her medical studies at the Toronto Women’s
Medical College 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. (2020) |
Annie MacKenzie Cleland |
née Chambers. Born Port Elgin, Canada West (Now Ontario)
1859.Died 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. |
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. |
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. Presbyterian.
Source: The Indomitable Lady Doctors by Carlotta
Hacker. (Toronto: Clark Irwin, 1974) |
Ina Ethel Cummings |
Born 1939, Sawyerville, Quebec. Died March 20, 2018,
Montreal, Quebec. Ina attended Bishop's University on scholarships
graduating in 1960. She graduated from McGill Medical School in 1964. In
1975 she worked with Dr. Balfour Mount at Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital
to establish Canada's 1st Palliative Care Unit. By 1984 she was the director
of the unit. In 1993 she became director of the Palliative Care Program at
Queen Elizabeth Health Services Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1995 she edited the
1st Canadian manual of palliative care. She would serve as president of the
Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians who honoured her with a
Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. She also helped found the Canadian
Hospice Palliative Care Association. In 1997 the association presented her
with an award of excellence. She was survived by her two sons.
Source: Obituary, Toronto Globe and Mail. Accessed
2020) |
Jean Flatt Davey |
Born March 16, 1909, Hamilton, Ontario. Died March 31, 1980.
After graduation in Medicine she interned at the Toronto General Hospital
and Women’s College Hospital. Wanting to serve in World War ll in August
1941 she became the second woman and 1st
woman doctor to in enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Women’s
Division.
She held the position of Squadron Leader of the Women’s Division, RCAF,
and was the 1st woman to be granted a commission in the Medical
Branch of any Canadian Armed Forces. May 28, 1943 she was awarded the Order
of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of her service. In 1950 she was
appointed Chief of Medicine at the Women’s College Hospital. 1956 through to
1973 she taught at the University of Toronto where she became Professor in
the Faculty of Medicine. In 1973 she was inducted into the Order of Canada.
Source: The Indomitable Lady Doctors by Carlotta
Hacker (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin & Co Ltd, 1974) ; Order of Canada, (Accessed February 2014)
|
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 (RAMC) 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 centres 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 '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) : DCB Vol. XV (1921-1930. Online (Accessed April 2014)
(2020) |
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 (UofT). 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. Upon 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 gained some surgical experience she also
joined an American Medical Unit overseas. She was in the 1st unit
to go overseas. In France, many members of the unit returned home when asked 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 usually 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.
(2020)
|
Octavia Grace England |
née Ritchie. Born January 16,
1868, Montreal, Quebec. Died February 1, 1948. Olivia graduated in 1888 from
McGill University, Montreal and was the 1st woman to be valedictorian of a
graduating class. While she wished to continue her education and study
medicine she was refused because the institution did not accept women. She
attended instead the Kingston Women's Medical College in Ontario. She
transferred to Bishop's College, Lennoxville,
Quebec
and graduated in 1891 as the first woman to
graduate from a medical school in Quebec. While at Bishop's
she and Maude Abbott forme the Association for the Professional Education of
women to help other women become medical students. She worked as a
demonstrator in anatomy at Bishop's and as an assistant gynaecologist at
Western Hospital. In 1897 she married Dr. Frank Richardson England and the
couple had one child. She served as president of the local Council of Women
from 1911 to 1917. In 1914 she represented Canada at the International
Council of Women conference in Rome Italy. She was president of the Montreal
Women's Liberal Club in 1921 and attended the Pan-American Conference of
Women, Baltimore, U.S.A. She would also serve as vice president of the
National Council of Women. A suffragist she was an active member of La Ligue
des droits de la femme. In 1930 she ran for the Canadian Parliament as the
Liberal Candidate in Mount Royal, Montreal. The McGill University Alumnae
established the Octavia Grace Ritchie England Scholarship in her honour in
1979. |
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 5 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 panelist 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) |
Eva Jeannett Fisher |
née Ryan. Born 1862, Halton, Canada West (now 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 4 years.
Source: The Indomitable Lady Doctors by Carlotta Hacker (Toronto:
Clarke, Irwin & Co Ltd, 1974) (2020) |
Mary Fulkerson |
née
MacNeill/McNeil. Born 1859? Arran Township, Upper Canada (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: DCB |
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) |
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. |
Margaret Blair Gordon |
Born January 14, 1861, London, Canada West (now Ontario) Died
1928.. She 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) |
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. |
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: DCB; Find a Grave Canada. |
Mabel Louise Hannington |
Born 1875 (?) Saint John, New Brunswick. Died 1966. In 1900
she completed her medical studies at the University of Toronto. In 1904 she
was serving as a medical missionary in China under the Missionary Society of
London, England. Back in New Brunswick by 1919 she served through to
1935 as medical inspector of Schools. In 1920 alone she had 8,000 children
under her supervision. In 1927 she organized and served as the corresponding
secretary for the Mental Hygiene Council of New Brunswick. In 1933-1934 she
was the President of the Federation of Medical Women of Canada.
Source: The indomitable Lady Doctors by
Carlotta Hacker. Clark Irwin, 1974. (2020) |
Annie Isabella Hamilton |
Born 18 66 Brookfield, Nova Scotia. Died December 21, 1941
Shanghai, China. Annie took training at the Truro Normal School to receive
her teacher's certificate and then studied at Pictou Academy graduating with
a gold medal in 1884. Working as a teacher she saved
to enter studies as a doctor. Annie applied to Halifax Medical College
(later Dalhousie Medical College) in 1888, seven years after the College had
advertised that it would accept female students. Both her parents died just
weeks apart during her second year of studies and she took a two year relief
from her medical studies to earn monies to continue her medical studies. She
graduated in 1894 as the 1st woman graduate from Dalhousie Medical
College. Annie was also a social activist supporting temperance and anti
smoking campaigns at the university and during her medical career. She was
unique in her personal appearance and did not succumb to modern fashion such
as the bustle. Annie made house calls riding a bicycle wearing a divided
skirt. In 1903, after learning Chinese she sailed to serve as a medical
missionary in Shanghai China working with poor and abused women. In 1985 the
Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (IODE) opened a Brookfield,
Nova Scotia chapter in her name and in 1990 they established the Dr Annie
Hamilton Scholarship.
(2020) |
Marie Daria Haust |
Born 1921, Poland. She earned her first medical degree
at the university of Heidelberg, Germany, 1951. Since it was not acceptable
for foreigners to practice medicine in Germany, Daria and her new husband
Heinz L. Haust emigrated to Canada and she began the process of earning the
right to practice in Canada. In the early 1950’s she enjoyed being at home
with her tow sons born in 1953 and 1955, while working part time towards her
goals of practicing medicine. In 1959-1960 she worked as a post doctoral
Fellow in Cincinnati, returning to Kingston in 1960 to become the first
woman on the Medical Faculty at Queen’s University, Kingston Ontario. In
1965 the family moved to the University of Western Ontario , London,
Ontario. She became a welcome lecturer internationally and as well as a
multitude of medical committees she was soon on the boards of five
prestigious medical journals. Of all her positions she enjoyed working with
her students and is perhaps proudest of her award as best teacher at UWO.
Her list of awards is impressive and long: The Canada Council Killam prize
in Medicine; the Gold Medal Award from the International Atherosclerosis
Society; the Andreas Versalis award, University of Padua; Distinguished
Pathologist Award, US/Canadian Academy of Pathology(2004) to name a few. In
2007 she received the Order of Canada. She is still involved with teaching
as Professor emeritus at UWO.
|
Annie Ella Higbee |
née Carveth. Born October 11,1864 Port Hope, Canada West)
(now Ontario). Died April 23, 1965. Graduating in 1893 from the Toronto Women’s
Medical College she practiced in Windsor Ontario for a short time. On
January 19, 1897 she married a teacher, Charles E. Higbee and the couple had
one son. They moved to California, U.S.A. but in 1912 they were back in
Canada in the Peace River District of Alberta. Annie had a shack that served
as an office in Grande Prairie but more often than not she was on the trail
to serve her clients. In summer she rode on horseback and in winter covered
the vast area where clients lived in a one horse sleigh driven by her son.
In 1919 the family moved to Toronto. Her brother, George Carveth (1858-
?) was one of the founders of Toronto Western Hospital where she served as
an anesthetist on staff for 10 years. At 65 she retired from the Hospital
and opened her own practice in Newcastle, Ontario until 1939.
Sources:
The Indomitable Lady Doctors by Carlotta Hacker (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin
Co. Ltd., 1974) ; “Annie Higbee: Pioneer doctor “ by Dorthea Calverley,
History is where we stand: A history of the Peace Online (Accessed March
2014) ; “Founding Family supports 100 years of Women’s health” in Heart
and Soul, Fall 2011 Online (Accessed March 2014)
|
F. Marguerite " Peggy" Hill |
Born May 24, 1919 Toronto, Ontario. Died January 15, 2012
Toronto Ontario. While still in high school she declared that she wanted to
be a medical doctor. Her family however, did not feel that this was a
profession for a woman. She attended the University of Toronto and obtained
a Masters Degree in Psychology. 1941-1946 she served in the Canadian Women’s
Army Corps as a Captain and as one of the few women in the field of
psychology. She returned to university to earn her medical degree in 1952,
standing at the top of her class. In 1957 she became the first female chief
medical resident at the Toronto General Hospital. She joined the Department
of Medicine at Women’s College Hospital and for 26 years she practiced as a
teacher, clinician and researcher becoming Physician-in-chief of Medicine,
the second woman to achieve this distinction. She was a founding
member of the Canadian Society for Nephrologists and member of the
Federation of Medical Women of Canada. In 1968 she was promoted to full
professor at the University of Toronto and became the first woman ever to be
appointed to the Board of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. On July 1,
1994 she became a Member of the Order of Canada. Upon her retirement in 1984
an endowment was established at Women’s hospital in her name.
Source: Obituary Globe and Mail
January 18, 2012.
Suggestion submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario. |
Rowena Grace Douglas Hume |
Born 1877, Galt, Ontario. Died 1966. Rowena studied medicine
at Trinity College in Toronto. She did her postgraduate studies in the
U.S.A. and in England. She returned to Canada to work at the Ontario Medical
College from 1902-1906. She became the 1st woman
Chief of Obstetrics at Women’s College Hospital. She held this position for
20 years. After retiring from the hospital she opened a private practice.
She was a pioneer of planned parenthood programs and opened Canada’s 1st
birth control clinic in Hamilton, Ontario on March 3, 1932. She was an
ardent supporter of the works of the Salvation Army, Harbour Light Centre
and the Fred Victor Mission in Toronto. At 89 she was murdered by a
transient worker. These were just the people she would take in to do odd
jobs about her home. A small historic plaque dedicated to her is located at
her form home 226 Carleton St. in Cabbagetown, an inner neighborhood of the
city of Toronto.
Source: Cabbagetown People: the social history
of a Canadian inner city neighborhood. Online (Accessed March 2014)
The indomitable Lady Doctors by Carlotta Hacker (Toronto: Clarke Irwin,
1974)
|
Anna
Marion Hilliard |
Born June 17, 1902, Morrisburg,
Ontario. Died July 15, 1958, Toronto, Ontario. Marion studied for her
Bachelor and Master degrees at the University of Toronto. She completed her
post graduate studied in Great Britain and returned to Toronto to work at
Women's College Hospital in 1928. In 1947 this medical doctor helped develop
a simplified Pap test, which is used to detect cancer in adult women. She
specialized in a commonsense approach to childbirth problems and authored a
book A Woman Doctor Looks at Love and Life in 1957. After her death a second book “Women
and Fatique” was published in 1960. In 1964 her biography, Give my
Heart; the Dr. Marion Hilliard Story by Marion O. Robinson was
published.
(2018) |
Helen Isabel Huston |
Born September 20, 1927, Innisfail, Alberta. Helen was part
of a family of 4 with a father who was a United Church Minister. At 12 she
decided to become a medical doctor and be a missionary in China. At a
Canadian Girls in Training (CGIT) summer camp in 1945 she was captivated by
the stories of Korea from a visiting missionary, Elda Daniels. By 1953
she had completed medical studies at the University of Alberta and sailed to
India where she spent 5 years working through the United Church of Canada.
She took her 1st
year at language school and then was posted to a 35 bed hospital in Dhar as
the only doctor. She also worked at a larger medical center in Indore. In
1955 she found herself in Kathmandu, Nepal. From 1960 through 1992, the year
of her retirement, she worked for the people of remote villages of Nepal. In
1969, thanks to her efforts the small dispensary was replaced with a
hospital. Helen is the 1st foreign doctor to receive an honorary
life membership in the Nepal Medical Association. In 1978 the University of
Alberta Medical Alumnae Association honored her with the Outstanding
Achievement Award and in 1984 an Honorary Doctorate. In 1991 she was the 1st
recipient of the Hillary Foundation’s Award for Humanitarian Service. In
1992 Dr Gerald Hankins wrote Helen’s story in A Heart for Nepal: the Dr
Helen Huston Story (Windflower Communications). In 1994 Helen was
inducted into the Alberta Order of Excellence and the Order of Canada.
Source: Lisa Wejna, Great Canadian Women:
Nineteen Portraits of Extraordinary Women. (Folklore Publications, 2005)
|
Mary Evangeline Jackson |
née Percy.
Born December 27,1904, Dudley England. Died May 6, 2000. From the time she was 11 she had wanted to study medicine. Graduating from
Birmingham University in 1927, as best all round student, she answered a
Canadian advertisement for women doctors for the Prairies. Her practice
would cover 560 square kilometers and patients would be reached on
horseback. In spring 1929 her trip to settle in Battle River required a 24
hour train trip,18 hours by boat and an 11 hour 28 kilometers wagon ride to
work in a small cabin with no electricity and no phone. March 10, 1931 she
would marry a persistent suitor, Frank Jackson and move north to Keg River.
Here she settled into home life with two step sons and opened a medical
practice for the local Métis, unsupported financially by the government. She
and Frank would add two children to the family farm. In 1953 the family was
given the Master Farm Award by the province. In 1965 a school was named in
Mary’s honour. More acknowledgements of her work would come in the form of
the Centennial Medal in 1967, The Woman of the year Award from the Voce of
Native Women in 1975.In 1983 she received the Alberta Order of Excellence
followed in 1990 with an Order of Canada. Mary always found her work
to be a gift not a chore and this was felt by her appreciative clients.
Source Rebel Women: Achievements beyond the ordinary by Linda Kupecek.
(Canmore, AB : Altitude Publishing, 2003) pg 83-94. |
June James
Black physician |
Born Trinidad. June immigrated to Canada in 1960. She
attended the University of Manitoba where she earned her Bachelor in
Medicine in 1963 and her in 1967 her Medical degree. In 1976 she was a
consultant with the Department of Allergy and Immunology at the Winnipeg
Clinic. In 1981 she received the YWCA Woman of the Year Award. In 1993 she
earned a Citation for Citizenship from the government of Canada. She is an
Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of
Manitoba and a consultant with the Children's Centre at the Health Sciences
Centre, Winnipeg. In 2002 June received the Queen Elizabeth ll Golden
Jubilee Award. In 2003-2004 she served as President of the College of
Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba. She has been named a Fellow of the
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. She has served on
numerous boards including, the Board of the Canadian Scholarship Trust
Foundation, the Board of the Winnipeg Foundation, the Board of the congress
of Black Women's Federation, and The Harambee Housing Coop, an affordable
housing project. From 1998 to 200 she was President of the Manitoba Museum
and 2000 to 2002 she was President of the Manitoba Museum Foundation. June
15, 2004 she ws invested with the Order of Manitoba.
(2020) |
Faustina Adelaide Kelly-Cook |
Born September 1895, Sudbury, Ontario. Died May 1979. In 1916
she attended Queens University, Kingston, Ontario to earn her B.A. and then
went on to the University of Toronto School of Medicine to earn her Medical
Degree in 1920. She interned at Hamilton General Hospital prior to opening
her own general practice and working at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Sudbury. In
the 20’s being a doctor meant long days and nights and visits to patients
travelling by horse and buggy. In July 1935 she married Dr. William John
Cook , a pioneer surgeon in Sudbury. After her husband’s death she became
the 1st
president of the Business and Professional Women’s Club and was also a
regent in the Elizabeth Fry Chapter of the Independent Order of the
Daughters of the Empire. She also was President of the St Joseph’s Hospital
Women’s Auxiliary. In 1951 she was elected for a term on Sudbury City
Council along with Grace Hartman>She served on the Board of Governors of the
Laurentian University from 1960-1969 and also earned a Honourary Life
Membership with the University Women’s Club. Working with the board of the
District Red Cross she was recipient of the Distinguished Services Award.
Her personal Canada Centennial Project was to serve as Chair of the
Beautification Section of the Sudbury Centennial Committee. She s served on
the Library Board and was a member of La Federation des femmes Canadiennes
française.
Source Business and Professional Women of
Greater Sudbury 9Accessed January 2012). |
Frances Kathleen Oldman Kelsey |
née Oldman. Born July 24, 1914, Cobble Hill, British
Columbia. Died August 7, 2015, London, Ontario. Frances attended
Victoria College (Now Victoria University) in British Columbia for a
year prior to attending McGill University, Montreal where she earned her
Bachelor and Master's Degrees in pharmacology in 1935. In 1936 she was
hired by the University of Chicago who thought that Frances was a man's
name when they first hired her. In 1937 she worked with the Federal Drug
Administration of the United states researching unusual deaths. In 1938,
the
year she earned her Doctorate in pharmacology from the University of
Chicago the US government used part of her research to pass the Federal
Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act concerned with the use of drugs using
diethylene glycol as a solvent. In 1943 Frances married Dr.
Fremont Ellis Kelsey and the couple had two daughters. By 1950 Frances
had earned her medical doctor's degree from the University of Chicago.
She took out dual citizenship in order to practice medicine in the
U.S.A. In 1954 she was teaching pharmacology at the university of South
Dakota. By 1960 th family had relocated to Washington D.C. and Frances
was working with the Federal Drug Administration. She wanted to
investigate a drug, Tradename Kevadon and asked the company for more
information and tested followed. The drug, better known as Thalidomide,
was found to cause deformities in new born babies. From this point on
drug companies were forced to test drugs prior to having approval from
the FDA in the U.S.A. Frances received the Presidential Award for
Distinguished Federal Civilian Service. She was only the second woman to
have received this award. Frances was hailed as a hero. She continued
working at the FDA until 2005 when she was 90 years old. In 2010 the FDA
presented Frances with the 1st annual Kelsey Award. In 2014 Frances
returned to Canada to live in London, Ontario. She was presenting with
the Order of Canada in her home a few weeks prior to her death. |
Mary Alfretta "Retta" Gifford
Kilborn
|
née Gifford. Born 1864 Meford, Upper Canada (now Ontario)
Died December1, 1942, Toronto, Ontario. She studied medicine at the Women’s
Medical College, Toronto, Ontario graduating 1891. She opened a private
practice in Owen Sound, Ontario but soon was called by the Methodist Women’s
Missionary Society to go to China as a medical missionary. She was the 1st
medical woman to serve in the West China Mission. On May 24, 1894 she became
the second wife of Dr. Omar Kilborn. She opened and run a hospital for women
and children in Chingtu, China. She served on the staff of the West China
Union University founded by her husband. She campaigned openly again the
Chinese tradition of binding the feet of infant daughters. And she also
campaigned to have women become medical students as the West China Union
University. She retired back to Canada in 1933.
Source:
The Indomitable Lady Doctors, by Carlotta Hacker ,Clarke Irwin, 1974 |
Lenora King |
Born Farmersville (Athens), Upper Canada (now
Ontario). In order to study medicine she had to leave Canada to study
at the University of Michigan Women's Medical College. With the support of
the Women's Foreign Missionary Society she sailed to Shanghai in 1877, the
first Canadian doctor to practice medicine in China. She was 60 years ahead
of Dr. Norman Bethune. Dr King obtained the patronage of Lady Li, wife of
the viceroy of Chilhli province in Tientsin. It was after she had attended
Lady Li that she opened the first Chinese hospital for women and children.
In 1884 she married a widowed Scottish missionary, the Reverend Alexander
King. As a married woman she was expected to support the work of her
husband, not work on her own. Lady Li opened a new hospital for Dr King in
1885, a hospital totally funded by the Chinese. In 1889 the Government of
China recognized the distinguished doctor with the Imperial Chinese Order of
the Double Dragon making her a Mandarin which is a similar to being a knight
in England. In 1909 she organized the Government Medical School for Women so
that Chinese doctors and nurses could be trained. She is a member of
the Canadian Medicine Hall of Fame. |
Elizabeth Joan Latimer |
Born January 25, 1945. Died April 28, 2012, Hamilton,
Ontario. Elizabeth trained and worked as a nurse prior to becoming a medical
doctor. She began her medical career at McMaster University, Hamilton,
Ontario in 1975 and retired in March 2011 as professor emeritus of the
Department of Family Medicine of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine.
In her 39 years as a palliative care physician, Latimer published
extensively on control of chronic cancer pain, delivery of health care to
the terminally ill, and the ethical basis of practice and decision-making
while caring for thousands of patients at Hamilton Health Sciences. She was
also a consultant and lecturer in several countries in South America,
Africa, Europe and Australia. In 1999, Latimer received Canada's highest
palliative care award, the Award of Excellence in Palliative Care from the
Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association. The Dr. Elizabeth J. Latimer
Prize is Palliative Care is awarded annually in recognition of excellence
and innovation in palliative care in Hamilton and surrounding area. She was
married to Willem Kamphorst. |
Irma LeVasseur
1st woman doctor in Quebec |
Born January 18, 1878. Died January
22, 1964. Young Irma wanted to study medicine but no schools in Canada would
accept women, so Irma headed to New York in the U.S.A. to earn her medical
education. She returned to Quebec in 1900 but it would take three years
before a private members bill would pass the legislature allowing her to
join the
College of Physicians and Surgeons of the
Province of Quebec as the first woman doctor.
She found a lack of knowledge about childhood medical
practices and traveled to Europe to gain more knowledge in 1908. She and Mme
De Gaspé-Beaubien founded Hôpital Sainte-Justine for the care of children.
In 1915 she responded to the request of doctors to serve in World War l
returning to New York to work for the Red Cross in the USA. In 1922, using
her won savings, she founded Hôpital de L’Enfant-Jésus. By 1927 she had her
own clinic for handicapped children and also opened a school for disabled
youth. In order to relax from the rigueur of medicine and hospital
administration she worked with her other passion of painting and took
classes at Ecole des Beaux-Arts in the 1920’s becoming an accomplished
artist. In the 1950’s she was celebrated for her 50 years of medical service
by the Circle des femmes universitaires, however, she would die in poverty
largely and unknown pioneer in pediatric medical care.
Sources: Irma LeVasseur
Accessed June 30,
2008) ; Celebrating women’s achievements: Canadian women in science: Irma
LeVasseur
also available in French.
(Accessed June 30, 2008) This entry suggested by Pat Land. |
Ida Lynd |
Born 1857, Bondhead, Canada West (now Ontario). Died
February 18, 1943, Toronto, Ontario. Ida attended Hamilton Ladies College
prior to attending and in 1890 graduating the Toronto Medical College. She
worked at the Women’s Medical College and became one of the 1st
staff members of the Women’s College Hospital.
Source: The Indomitable Lady Doctors by Carlotta
Hacker (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin & Co Ltd, 1974) |
Margaret MacKeller |
Born October 23, 1861, Mull, Scotland. Died 1941, Toronto,
Ontario. While still a toddler Margaret immigrated with her family to
Canada, settling in western Ontario. Her father had been a sea faring man
and beguiled his children with stories of far off lands such as India. In
Canada he sailed the great lakes. She worked as a skilled milliner in
Hamilton, Paris, London and Ingersoll Ontario. However she could not settle
and desired to serve as a missionary. At 22 she realized she need to be
educated and returned to grade school to learn. She worked her way through
high school and by 1886 she took exams to enter Queen’s University. In 1890
she graduated from the Women’s Medical Collage at Queen’s University,
Kingston, Ontario. She left Canada to be a missionary doctor in India. She
worked first at Indore and later at Neemuch in Central India. Here this
pioneer doctor set up the 1st area hospital. When the Christian
Medical College for Women was established in Ludhiana in the Punjab Margaret
served as secretary then as Chairman. During World War l she was with the
Royal Army Medical Corps at the Freeman Thomas Hospital, Bombay . She was
honoured with the Kaiser-i-hind medal for her years of service in India.
Sources: The Indomitable Lady Doctors by Carlotta
Hacker (Toronto: Clarke & Irwin, 1974) ; Dr Margaret MacKellar: the story
of her early years by Belle Choné Oliver. (Women’s Missionary Society of
the Presbyterian Church of Canada, 1920) Online (Accessed April 2014)
|
Ann C. Macaulay |
Ann graduated medical school in Scotland at the age of 22!
From 1993 through to 2008 she was an Associate Professor for the Department
of Family Medicine at McGill University. In 1995 she joined as a fellow, the
College of Family Physicians. In 2008 the College named Macaulay Family
Medicine Researcher of the Year. She has made significant contributions to
the study of prevention of type 2 diabetes in the aboriginal population in
Canada as well as being an Advisory Board Member for the Institute of
Aboriginal People’s Health. She also served 35 years as a family physician
in the Mohawk Community of Kahnawake. In 2006 she was awarded the Order of
Canada.
Source: Order of Canada Online accessed June 2011. |
Elizabeth 'Eliza' Margaret
MacKenzie |
Born July 10, 1879 Flat River, Prince Edward Island. Died
February 17, 1937 Flat River, Prince Edward Island. In 1875 she graduated
from Prince of Wales College in Charlottetown, P.E.I. The following year she
began teaching in Surry, P.E.I. and four the next few years she taught in
small towns in the province. In 1900 she entered Dalhousie Medical School.
By spring 1904 she had become the 1st P.E.I.
woman to graduate from Dalhousie in Medicine. She opened her
practice in the fall of 1904 advertising to serve women and children.
Competition was fierce and acceptance was not always welcoming. In 1906 she
received her license from the provincial medical board. By 1911 she
had moved back to Flat River. She was soon beginning studies in nursing as
St Luke's Hospital Training School for Nurses in New York City, U.S.A.
graduating in 1913. She joined the call to serve as a nursing sister
during World War l and worked in England and France. She transferred to the
Canadian Army Medical Corp February 25, 1918 and served in England. By 1919
she had sailed back to Halifax, Nova Scotia in Ill health with Tuberculoses.
After convalescing she returned to work on staff of St Luke's in New York
City for a short time. Ill health forced her to return to Flat River. DCB
(2019) |
Helen MacMurchy
National Historic Person |
Born January 7, 1862. Died October 8, 1953.
In 1901 Helen graduated with a medical degree from the University of Toronto
and interned as the 1st woman doctor with the Toronto General
Hospital. She went on to be the 1st
woman doctor to do post graduate studies with the renowned Canadian Dr.
William Osler (1849-1919) at Johns Hopkins Hospital in
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. In 1909 she conducted a survey of the
high infant death rated experienced in cities at the turn of the century.
In 1914 she wrote a popular book, A little Talk About Baby. In 1915
she was appointed the inspector of the feeble minded in Ontario. Sadly her
actions to persuade the government that eugenics was the answer to
preventing degenerate babies led to the wrongful sterilization of many
immigrants. Helen was the 1st editor of the Canadian Nurses
Journal. In 1920 she was placed in charge of the federal government’s new
Division of Child Welfare and was responsible for the contents of some of
the government published Blue Books with advice on caring for
children. These little books were published in multiple languages including
Cree. It was in the 1920’s that she made a special study of medical
inspection of schools, child welfare and public health in England and the
United States. In 1934 she was inducted as Commander of the Order of the
British Empire (CBE). In 1949 she was named one of the leading women doctors
in the western world. In 1997 she was declared a Person of National Historic
Significance. |
Elizabeth "Betty" MacRae
1st woman neurosurgeon in Canada
|
Born 1941, Montreal, Quebec. She originally did her
undergraduate studies in physical education and then switched to continue
her studies in medicine at the University of Toronto In
1982 the young medical doctor moved to Calgary to practice
as Canada’s first woman neurosurgeon. She is know for being
straightforward and “tells it like it is” with all her patients. She is also
an examiner with the Royal College of Physicians. She is married with two
stepchildren and is discovering the joys of being a new grandmother. She
works with the Canadian National Ski Team and enjoys mountain climbing.
Retirement is perhaps on the horizon but for now she is dedicated to the
profession that she says was where she was meant to be even if some men did
not think so! Source: Herstory: the Canadian
Women’s Calendar 2007. |
Jane Sproule Manson |
Born August 29, 1878, Britton, Ontario. She graduated from
the University of Toronto and did post graduate studies in London, Vienna
and Berlin. She was the first Canadian woman to sit for primary examinations
for the Royal College of Physicians in London England. In 1911 she became a
licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, London England and by 1912
she was appointed to the staff at the University of Toronto. Dr. Manson was
appointed Chief, Nose, Throat and Ear Department, Women's College Hospital
in Toronto in 1924. |
Meredith Marks |
Born March 24,
1962, Channel-Port-aux-Basques, Newfoundland. Died 2012, Ottawa,
Ontario. At 18 she was attending the University of Waterloo for
undergraduate studies in Kinesiology and George Brown College, Toronto to
study Orthotics and Prosthetics. . She completed her medical studies
at Memorial University, Newfoundland. Evidently she had to overcome fainting
at the sight of blood during her first year. She took her residency at the
University of Ottawa in Ontario. She worked at the Rehabilitation Centre in
Ottawa working with amputee rehabilitation. She became assistant Dean at the
Academy for Innovation in Medical Education (AIME) promoting academic
pursuit of medical education. She was married to Peter Bruneau and the
couple had one child. In 1992 she became a Fellow in the Royal College of
Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. She also served in a number of
educational roles including those of Residency Program, Director, Director
in the office of Faculty Development and Assistant Dean. The University of
Ottawa Department of innovation in Medical Education celebrates Meridith
Marks day on March 26. (2020) |
Alice Skimmen McGillivray |
She was one of the original women students who took summer
medical courses at Queen’s University even though at the time she was
a married woman.. In October 1881 the women were
allowed to take courses in the regular stream with the men. This did not
work out to well. There was a lot of discrimination towards the women so
the Women’s Medical College was established at Queen’s Upon graduation
Alice, a gold medal student, was immediately appointed to College staff in
1884. She earned a promotion at Queen's to professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women
and Children. In 1889 she and her husband moved to Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
While in the U.S. her husband studied medicine. By 1899 the couple were back
in Canada, settling in the Hamilton area where they opened a joint practice.
Their relationship deteriorated and Alice moved into a home of her own but
the two still maintained their joint medical practice.
Source: The Indomitable Women Doctors, by Carlotta Hacker, Clarke &
Irwin, 1974 |
Margaret Isabelle (Isabel) "Belle"
McTavish |
Born December 19, 1881, Minnedosa, Manitoba. Died January 26,
1953, Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1915 she graduated from the Manitoba Medical
College and left for China as a medical missionary with the Presbyterian
Church of Canada. She worked at the Presbyterian mission in Honan working
with Dr. Jean Dow (1870-1927) She returned home to Canada on furlough during
a civil war and lectured to raise funds to return to China in 1931. During
World War ll she was interred as a prisoner of war until a prisoner of war
exchange in 1942. Back in Canada from 1942-1946 she worked in Alberta at the
Bonnyville General Hospital. After the war she went back to China to re-open
the hospital at Changte.
Sources: The Indomitable Lady Doctors by
Carlotta Hacker, Clarke Irwin, 1974 ; Isabelle McTavish Canadian
Missionary Doctor 1881-1953
by M. Diane Rogers on Canadian Genealogy and Women’s History
Accessed April 2014) (2020) |
Elizabeth Beckett Scott Matheson |
née Scot. Born January 6, 1866 Burnbrae, Upper Canada (now
Ontario). Died January 15, 1958, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A. In 1883 her
family relocated from Ontario to Morrison, Red River, Manitoba. In 1883 she
earned her teacher’s Certificate in Winnipeg, Manitoba. After teaching for
awhile, she became assistant to Ellen Bilborough at the Marchmount Home for
Orphans in Belleville, Ontario in 1887. Here she was encouraged and
supported to enroll in the Women’s Medical College at Queen’s University. In
1888 she returned to teaching in Manitoba hoping to earn funding to continue
her medical studies. From 1889 through 1991 she served as a missionary in
central India with the Presbyterian Board of Missions. Returning home to the
North-West Territories in 1891 she married John Matheson (1848-1916), an
adventurer and later ordained minister with the Anglican Church. The couple
would raise nine children. In 1895, while a mother with two toddlers and
pregnant with her third child Elizabeth studied at the Manitoba Medical
College for her second year of medical courses. For the next 2 years she
studied at the Ontario Medical College for Women in Toronto. Since no
Canadian hospitals would accept women as interns she simply returned home
and set up her practice in Onion Lake First Nation where
in 1898 she
was the 1st woman doctor in the North-West Territories.
She would care for the peoples of the area often riding alone for long
periods to treat patients. In 1901 she was appointed a sanitary inspector
during a small pox epidemic. She still had not been recognized by the North
– West Territories College of Physicians and Surgeons so she re-registered
in 4th year medicine at the Manitoba Medical School earning her
second medical degree. After a couple of additional attempts she was finally
licensed in the North-West Territories. In 1908 she opened a 3 storey
hospital at Onion Lake. After the death of her husband in 1916 she relocated
to Winnipeg and served Assistant Medical Supervisor for Winnipeg Public
Schools. She worked 25 years with inner city children retiring in 1941. In
1948, in recognition of her 50 years of medical service the University of
Toronto granted Elizabeth an honourary medical degree.
Source: The Doctor Road Side Saddle by Ruth Matheson
Buck (Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina, 2003)
|
Maud Leonora Menten |
Born march 20, 1879, Port Lambton, Ontario. Died July 20,1960
Leamington, Ontario. She earned her B.A. in 1904 and a master’s degree in
1907. It was in 1907 that she was appointed a fellow at the Rockefeller
Institute for Medical Research in New York City, U.S.A. In 1908 she worked
as an intern at the New York Infirmary for women and Children before
returning to Canada. A dedicated and outstanding medical scientist was
the 1st Canadian woman to receive a medical doctorate in 1911
at the University of Toronto. In 1913, while working in Germany, she
and a colleague Leonora Michaelis developed the Michaelis-Menten equation
which is a basic biochemical concept. In 1918 she joined the School of
Medicine at the University of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. as an
instructor and remained there until she retired in 1950. She had only become
a full professor in 1948. After her retirement she returned to Canada where
she continued working on cancer research at the British Columbia Medical
Research institute for five years until ill health forced her to retire once
again. She continued researching and publishing and made discoveries
relating to blood sugar, hemoglobin and kidney functions. From 1951-1954 she
conducted cancer research in British Columbia. During her life she enjoyed
learning foreign languages and mastered several languages including Russian,
French, German, Italian and one Native-American language. She also enjoyed
music and was an accomplished artist. An Ontario Historical plaque stands
near the Medical Sciences Building at the University of Toronto.
Sources: Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. Online. Accessed 2008 |
Brenda Langford Milner |
née Langford. Born July 15,1918, Manchester, England.
She took her undergraduate studies at the famous Cambridge University, 1939
in England. By 1952 she had completed her PhD at McGill University,
Montreal. She had immigrated to Canada in 1944 to join the Institut de
Psychologie at the Université de Montréal. She continued her work at the
Montreal Neurological Institute where she became one of the pioneers in
neurophysiology. Her published studies, particularly in epilepsy cases, have
added substantially to the specific understanding of the structure and
functioning of the brain. She was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in
1984 and was promoted to Companion in 2004. As well she is a member of
Canada's Medical Hall of Fame. In 1985 she became an Officer in the National
Order of Quebec and was promoted to Grand Officer in 2009. in 2005 she
was presented with the prestigious Gairdner Award. She is also a
member of the Royal Society, the Royal Society of Canada and the National
Academy of Sciences in the U.S.A. She was elected a Foreign Honorary Member
of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007. She was awarded the
Balzan Prize for her contributions to Cognitive Neurosciences in a ceremony
held in the Swiss Parliament in 2009. |
Florence Jessie Murray |
Born 1894, Pictou Landing, Nova Scotia. Died 1975. Florence
graduated in medical studies from Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia in 1919.
With the Canadian Presbyterian Church in Canada she became a medical
missionary serving in Manchuria and then Korea from 1921-1969. She set up
hospitals, acted as Public Health Officer, taught at medical school, trained
nurses and inters and worked among lepers. She was also a writer and left
numerous published articles about her medical work and about World War ll
when she was interred as a prisoner of war. During the time she served at
Severance Hospital she began the Medical Records Department. After an
exchange of prisoners with the Japanese she returned to Canada in 1942 and
practiced medicine in Halifax until the end of the war. After World War ll
she served at a leper hospital in Seoul Korea until the Korean War broke
out. She returned again to Korea in the early 1950’s until her retirement in
1962. She was decorated by the King of Denmark for her Korean Service.
Source: The Indomitable Lady Doctors by
Carlotta Hacke, Clarke Irwin, 1974 |
Joyce Nsubuga |
SEE - Social Activists |
Samantha Nutt |
Born October 1969, Scarborough, Ontario. Samantha grew up in
Durban, South Africa, Toronto, Ontario, and as a teenager for six months in
Brazil. She earned her Bachelor Degree McMaster University, Hamilton,
Ontario. She studied for her Masters in Science at at the London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in England prior to returning to
McMaster earning her Medical Degree. Samantha and her husband Eric Hoskins
are the co-founders of War Child Canada for which she serves as Executive
Director. It is a non government organization that works with local
international partners to help children in war torn countries to have access
to education. Samantha has written widely to raise awareness of the plight
of these children. She also studied as a Woman's Health Scholar
at the University of Toronto. In 2000 she earned the McMaster University
Alumnae Award and in 2003 she was on the Maclean's magazine list of
the top 40 under 40. In 2010 she was inducted into the Order of Ontario. In
2011 she published Damned Nations: Greed, guns, Armies and Aid which
detailed her work in the world's war zones. That same year she became a
Member of the Order of Canada. The following year she received the Queen
Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Medal. Dr Samantha works on staff at the
Women's College Hospital, Toronto and teaches at the Department of Family
and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto.
(2019) |
Geraldine Oakley |
Born Stratford, Ontario. Died 1948, Calgary, Alberta. In 1912
she earned her medical degree from the University of Toronto. In 1915 she
was appointed medical superintendent of the new 21 bed hospital, The Woman’s
College Hospital and Dispensary, in Toronto. In 1918 she relocated to
Calgary , Alberta where she was appointed as Medical Inspector with the
Calgary Public Schools. She held regular clinics in all the area schools and
at the same time ran a baby clinic at the Calgary City hall. Little did she
know that by doing her job in visiting school children that she would be a
mentor to future women doctors in the province. In 1935 the School and City
Health Services were combined and Geraldine was appointed Calgary’s
Assistant Medical Health Officer. The Independent Order of the Daughters of
the Empire in the Province took to naming their local chapters after
prominent Calgary medical doctors. In 1951 the Dr. Geraldine Oakley Chapter
was formed. On October 6, 1960 the Dr. Oakley School was named in her
honour.
Source: The Indomitable Lady Doctors by Carlotta
Hacker, Clark Irwin,1974. |
Belle Choné Oliver |
Born 1875. Died May 21, 1947, Fort William (Thunder Bay)
Ontario. Belle studied medicine in Toronto graduating in 1900. She sailed to
India as a medical Missionary with the Presbyterian Church of Canada. She
worked at the Women’s Hospital in Indore, Dhar and Neemuch, India. In 1915
she was appointed as the 1st
medical missionary to Banswara. She worked to assure that there was medical
education in India. In 1933 she was appointed Secretary of the Christian
Medical Association of India. Some of her papers are preserved in the United
Church of Canada Archives. Source: The Indomitable
Women Doctors by Carlotta Hacker (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin, 1974). (2020) |
Marion Oliver |
Born 1855, Avonbank, Ontario. Died 1913. She earned a teaching
certificate and taught school in Perth County, Ontario. Deciding to enter
into mission work she was accepted as a candidate with the Women’s Mission
Society to be sent to India. In 1883 she graduated from the Women’s Medical
College in Kingston, Ontario and was valedictorian for her class. In 1886
she became one of the 1st
women to go to India as a medical missionary sailing for India on October 7,
1886. She was stationed at the mission at Indore where the missionaries had
rooms to live right beside the medical dispensary. It was not long before
she was taking weekly trips to Ujjain one of India’s oldest and most sacred
cities. In 1888 she took charge of the Girl’s School in Indore. In 1892 she
was also working at the new Women’s Hospital that was set up in Indore. She
returned home to Canada on furlough and at that time cared for her ill
mother. By 1894 she was once again back working in India retiring in 1913
and returning home to Canada. |
Dorothy Percy |
In 1924 Dorothy graduated from the Toronto General Hospital
School of Nursing. In the 1930's she was an instructor at the School of
Nursing at the University of Toronto. During World War ll she served as a
Nursing Sister. Returning to Canada after the war in 1946 she served as
president of the Alumnae Association of the Toronto General Hospital School
of Nursing. Dorothy was the first nursing consultant hired by the federal
Department of Heath and Welfare. Source: Margaret
Allemang Centre for the History of Nursing. Newsletter May 2005.
|
Marion Powell |
Died December 21, 1997. After
Marion earned her medical degree she went on to earn her Diploma in
Public Health at the University of Toronto. In the 1970’s she assisted in
establishing the Bay Centre for Birth Control which was the first hospital
supported street centre to make information about contraception widely
available. From 1980-1990 the Woman’s College Hospital appointed her as
Director of the Bay Centre. By the time of her retirement in 1990 her
efforts had been recognized by the YWCA with the Woman of Distinction in
Health and Education in 1984. She received the 1988 Persons Award from the
Canadian Government and in 1990 she was inducted into the Order of Canada.
In 1994 the City of Toronto presented her the Gardina Award in recognition
of her contributions to the development of the well-being of the city. In
1998, Women’s College Hospital created the Marion Powell Award in her
honour. |
Annie Powers |
Born March 3, 1907, Rockland, Ontario. Died December 8, 1989,
Rockland, Ontario. Annie earned the BA from the University of Ottawa in
1930. She started teaching and until 1941 she served at Hawkesbury, Ontario.
She decided that the wanted to follow the career paths of her father and
brothers and become a doctor. In 2945 she had received her medical diploma
from the University Laval making her one of the 1st Francophone
women in Ontario to become a doctor. She worked as a rural doctor and often
provided free services for those in need who could not pay. She soon took
over her father’s clients and became the doctor in residence Saint Joseph in
Rockland. Here she established connections with L'Hôpital Montfort in
Ottawa. At her own expense she often had patients in the hospital and even
made certain that they had TV’s to watch. In 1971 she was Citizen of the
year in Rockland and same year she received the Order of Canada. The medical
library at the Montfort hospital was named in her honour and the town of
Rockland named Le Centre Powers, supported by the Chevaliers de Colomb as a
tribute.
Source: Dr Annie Powers Biographies des Médecins Hôpital
Montfort
Online (accessed August 2015. ) |
Kathleen I. Prichard |
Kathleen earned her Bachelor Degree in 1968 from Queen's
University, Kingston, Ontario and went on to earn her medical degree there
in 1971. In 1973 she researched melanoma ant tumor immunology at the
University of Toronto. By 1977 she had began researching Breast cancer. In
1978 through 1984 she conducted clinical trials at Women's College Hospital,
Toronto. In 1978 she was a founding member of the Canadian Oncology Society
and a founding member of the Canadian Association of Medical Oncology. In
1984, she was appointed head of Medical Oncology and Haematology at Women's
College Hospital. She was also Chair of the Breast Cancer Site Group with
National Cancer Institute of Canada. Beginning in 1987 she spent ten years
at Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre, Toronto. In 1990 to 1992 she was
President of the Canadian Association of Medical Oncology. In 1997 she
became Head of Clinical Trials and Epidemiology at the Odette Cancer Centre
at Sunnybrook. She is well known for researching chemotherapy verses hormone
therapy and the effects of aging and menopause and the risk of breast
cancer. In 2005 she earned the O. Harold Warwick Prize from the Canadian
Cancer Society. In 2006 she served on the Board of Directors for the
American Society of Clinical Oncology. In 2015 she was honoured at the Women
of Action Awards by the Israel Cancer Research Fund in Toronto. In 2018 she
was inducted at a Member of the Order of Canada.
(2020) |
Bessie T. Pullen-Singer |
née Pullan. Born November 23, 1896 ? York County, Ontario.
Bessie graduated from the Ontario Medical College in 1909. For the next two
years she did post graduate studies at the New England Hospital for Women
and Children, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. She returned to Toronto where
she married Louis M. Singer (1885-1959) a lawyer and the second Jewish
member elected to the Toronto City Council where he served during World War
1. Bessie is considered the 1st Jewish woman doctor in Canada.
(2020) |
Minerva Ellen Reid |
Born 1872, Orangeville, Ontario. Died May 28, 1957, Toronto,
Ontario. A bright student in Public School and High School she
obtained a teaching certificate and moved to be with her brother Dr. John
Buchanan Reid (1861-1931) in Tilsonburg, Ontario. It while living with
her brother that she became interested in medicine. In 1905 she and her
sister Hannah Emily Reid (1876-1955) both graduated from medical school in
Toronto, Ontario. Minerva completed her surgical training in London, England
and Dublin, Ireland. Both Minerva and Hannah served on the 1st
Board of Directors of the Toronto Women’s College Hospital. In 1915 Minerva
became the 1st
woman to be chief of Surgery in North America. Minerva also campaigned to
the establishment of Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto to care for wounded
soldiers. She was also active in her community as a member of the Toronto
Women’s Committee. She ran for provincial parliament in 1929 and in 1935 she
ran in the federal election. In 1996 Rose Anthony wrote a one woman play,
The League of Notions, based on Minerva’s life. (updated 8/2014)
(2020) |
Maureen Lorimer Roberts |
née McWilliams Born January 26, 1915, Peterhead, Scotland.
Died 2004, Ottawa, Ontario. Maureen graduated in medical studies from the
University of Edinborough, Scotland in 1937. In 1939 she earned a diploma in
child health from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. In 1940 she
married Dr. Richard Roberts. In 1944 she left her son in England and served
in the Indian Medical Service. After the World War ll, back in England, the
couple established a medical practice near Canterbury. By 1948 they
were in Halifax, Nova Scotia where Richard joined the Canadian Navy to earn
money and continue in depth medical training while Maureen taught Pediatrics
at Dalhousie University. Reading about Medic Alert bracelets and their
success in the U.S.A., on June 18, 1961 they put up $1,000.00 to begin the
Canadian Medic Alert Foundation which flourished with her efforts and
dedication. In 1964 the couple joined a medical expedition and sailed
to Easter Island. In 1966, posted to Ottawa, Maureen set up a genetic
counseling service. In 1980 the retired Dr. Maureen worked with an Ottawa
day care center.
Sources: Charlotte Grey, ‘Maureen Roberts’ in the Canadian
Medical Journal
Vol. 131 November 15, 1984: Valerie Knowles, Capital Lives, Volume 2,
2010. (2020) |
Jane "Jennie" Smillie Robertson |
née Smillie. Born February 10, 1878, Hansall, Ontario. Died
February 26, 1981. Jane became a teacher so that she could earn money to
attend the Ontario Medical College, Kingston, Ontario (merged with
University of Toronto, 1906). Once she had earned her medical certificate in
1909 she could not find a Toronto hospital that would accept her for
residency. She took off the U.S.A. to intern at Philadelphia’s Women’s
Medical Collage. She returned to Toronto to practice medicine and became ,
perhaps, the 1st woman in Canada to perform surgery. She operated
in a private home because she was still having problems finding a position
in any local hospital which were still reluctant to accept woman doctors.
She was also the 1st woman doctor in Canada to perform major
gynecological surgery. Jennie worked to establish Women’s College Hospital
as well as the Federation of Medical Women in Canada. At 70 she married her
childhood sweetheart, Alex Robertson.
Sources:
“Dr Jennie Smillie Robertson, woman surgeon, was 1st to enter practice in
Canada”, Globe and Mail, March 3, 1981 : Builders and Pioneers:
Individuals who helped ideas prosper by Steve Brearton, University of
Toronto Magazine, Spring 2000. |
Gretchen Roedde |
Born 1952?. Gretchen earned her medical degree from MacMaster
School of Medicine, Hamilton Ontario. She works in Northern Ontario where
for many years she has spent at least half the year working to improve
maternal health in forlorn parts of more than 30 developing countries. She
has written from her diary and medical journals A Doctor's Quest: The
Struggle for Mother and Child Health Around the Globe. Part of this book
spoke of her experiences in Tanzania. She was invited to share her story
with the United Church Women (UCW) in Northern Ontario. The regional UCW was
so impressed with her presentation and her professionalism that she was
invited to speak to the National conference which was just beginning a
charity drive for helping a maternity training school in Tanzania. Her
passion spawned the UCW across the country to raise some $270,000.00 for
training in Tanzania. Proceeds of the second printing of the book also went
to maternal health projects mainly in Africa. Back home in Northern Ontario
Gretchen became a breast cancer survivor and began work on her second
publication. Deep Water Dream: A medical Voyage of Discovery in Rural
Northern Ontario appeared in 2018. Gretchen has also helped develop a
Cree language community medical dictionary to aid in training health based
care workers. She is an assistant professor at the Northern Ontario School
of Medicine. (2020) |
Charlotte Whithead Ross |
Born 1843, Darlington, England Died February 16, 1916
Winnipeg, Manitoba. She immigrated to Canada with her family when she was
five years old.
Charlotte received her schooling in Clinton, Ontario, and
went to finishing school at the Sacred Heart Convent in Montreal. At
eighteen, she married David Ross, her father's associate in the railway
construction business. In 1870 women were not allowed entry into Canadian
medical schools. She enrolled in an U.S. medical school, the Women’s Medical
College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with her husband's encouragement. She
was forced to take 2 absences because of a miscarriage and the birth of a
daughter. She graduated in 1875 and set up a successful practice in
Montreal, Quebec, the first woman doctor in the city. In 1878 left
Montreal to join her husband and father who were building the Canadian
Pacific Railway, in Whitemouth, Manitoba Charlotte was the 1st woman to
practice medicine in that province. There are many stories attesting to the
fact that after delivering a baby, she would scrub the floor, do the
washing, and cook enough food for several days so that the new mother would
get a couple of days' rest. She was also known to bring new mothers a
bouquet of white roses that she grew in her garden. She was strict about
antiseptic methods and sterilization which meant she was far ahead of some
of her contemporaries in her practice of medicine. Dr. Ross practiced
medicine for twenty-seven years without a license. She applied for licenses
in both Montreal and Winnipeg, but she was denied because she refused to go
to medical school in Canada and pass the exam by the all-male admissions
board of the Manitoba College of Physicians and Surgeons. She continued to
practice medicine, despite the fact that she knew she could be prosecuted
and jailed. She avoided prosecution in Montreal because she worked under the
patronage of Dr. Hingston, her original mentor, who later became the mayor
of Montreal. She avoided prosecution in Manitoba because her practice was
rural and she was the only physician in Whitemouth. The Charlotte W. Ross
Gold Medal for highest honours in obstetrics is given annually in the
Manitoba Medical College. Dr. Ross finally did get her license posthumously
in November 1993 when Liberal MLA, Sharon Carstairs, introduced a resolution
to that effect in the Manitoba Legislature.
Source: Government of Manitoba. Status of Women. Women working for
Healthy Communities by Ada Ducas et all October 2001. Online (accessed
December 2011) |
Mary Helen Irwin Rutnam |
née Irwin. Born 1873, Elora, Ontario. Died 1962. In 1896 she
graduated with a medical degree from the Women’s Medical College, Trinity
College, University of Toronto. While doing post graduate work in New York,
U.S. she met and married Samuel Christmas Kanaga Rutnam, a Christian Tamil
from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The couple would settle in Ceylon and raise 5
children. She was shunned by the missionaries in Ceylon because of her
marriage. She was denied a permanent position with the Ceylonese government
because she only held a Canadian Medical degree not British credentials. Not
deterred she simply opened her own successful medical practice. On a trip to
Canada in 1907 she became interested in the information regarding the
founding of the Women’s Institutes. She returned to Ceylon where she
challenged herself with attempting to install similar institute training for
women. After another visit to Canada in 1931 she returned to Ceylon and
successfully established the Women’s institutes which by 1950 had some
150,000 members. She would go on to found the Lanka Mahila Samiti training
program for rural women in Ceylon. Active in the political scene through the
Women’s Political Union and the All Ceylon Womens Conference. She authored
health textbooks and taught about women’s bodies and childbirth long before
these were accepted topics for conversation. In 1934-35 she served during a
massive malaria outbreak in the country. In 1958 she was honoured as the
only woman to receive the 1st Ramon Magsaysay Award for her
dedication public service.
Source: The Indomitable Lady Doctors by Carlotta
Hacker (Clarke Irwin, 1974) ;
Dr. Mary Rutnam (1873-1962) a Canadian Pioneer for Sri Lanka Women.
Online (Accessed April 2014) |
Helen Elizabeth Ryan |
née Reynolds. Born June 7, 1860, Mount Forest, Ontario. Died
July 9, 1947, Victoria British Columbia. She attended Queen’s University in
the second class that allowed women students in 1881. Helen would have to
withstand abuse from some of the male students and faculty but she still
graduated at the top of her class in 1885. She opened her first practice in
Toronto. While struggling to establish herself she met and married Thomas
John Ryan. The couple settled in Sudbury, Ontario where he would become
elected mayor (1899 to 1901).
She was the first
woman doctor to practice in Northern Ontario. Together they raised a
family of five children. In 1907 the family relocated to British Columbia
where Helen, unable to practice medicine in the province, became active in
public life. She worked for women’s franchise. (right to vote).
She was the 1st woman member of the Canadian
Medical Association.
Sources:
Greater Sudbury 125 1883-2008 the story of our times (Bilingual) ;
South Side Story, January 2005. Additional information provided by
Queen’s University Archives. ; The indomitable Lady Doctors by
Carlotta Hacker (Toronto: Clarke Irwin, 1974) |
Ricky Kanee Schachter |
Born December 23, 1918, Melville, Saskatchewan. After earning
her BA at the University of Saskatchewan she headed to the University of
Toronto to her her medical degree in 1943. She then did some post graduate
work at Columbia University in New York in dermatology. She returned to her
husband in Toronto where they would raise their three children. In 1946 she
joined the staff of the Woman's College Hospital in Toronto. She has
served as Chief of Dermatology and Director of the Psoriases Education and
Research Centre where she pioneered the idea of treating psoriases patients
on an out-patient basis. it is considered a Centre of Excellence in North
America. In 1978-9 she became the first woman to lead specialists in her
field when she served as President of the Canadian Dermatology association.
She has published numerous papers, reports and articles in her field and is
is demand internationally for seminars and scientific exhibitions. She has
received numerous honours including the Queens Golden Jubilee Medal |
Elizabeth Caroline
Secord |
née Smith. Born October 26, 1841, Blissville, New Brunswick.
Died July 4, 1916.After here early schooling Elizabeth earned her teaching
Certificate at Normal School. After teaching for awhile she met and in 1869
married John Secord (Died 1874). The couple had one son in 1872. Elizabeth
attended medical school in Keeokuk, Michigan and spent her internship at the
Women’s Medical College in Chicago in 1882. Returning home she
registered in June 1883 as the 1st woman doctor in New Brunswick
before leaving for Dublin and London, England for post graduate studies. At
first she opened a practice in Frederick, New Brunswick but moved on to
Norton and finally settled in Farmerston (now Jacksonville) for her 33 years
of practicing medicine. In 1908 at the age of 67 she took in 2 British Home
Children, Herbert Morris and Elsie May Morris. The children were sent to
Canada by caring organizations in England. Elizabeth signed a contract to
care for and educate the children. Sources: The
Indomitable Women Doctors by Carlotta Hacker, (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin,
1974) : Elizabeth Caroline (Smith) Secord by John Wood, Online
(Accessed March 2014) |
Alice Mary Sidgwick |
née Sibly. Born December 27, 1922, Gloucestershire, England.
Died June 11, 2014, Toronto, Ontario. Mary was educated at Cheltenham Ladies
College and studied medicine at Cambridge University in England. When she
graduated women were ‘not invited’ to graduation ceremonies! In 1947 she
married John R .L. Sidgwick (d. 1973) a musician. The couple immigrated to
the Toronto area of Ontario and had three children. By 1960 Mary had met the
qualifications of study to practice medicine in Canada. In 1964 she and her
husband John founded the Orpheous Choir of Toronto. Mary herself was an
accomplished pianist and choral singer. Mary had her medical practice in
North York and also worked at North York General Hospital until her official
retirement in 1977.
Source: Obituaries, Globe and Mail June 27, 2014.
Suggestion submitted by June Coxon.
|
Elizabeth Smith–Shortt |
SEE - Social Activists |
Elizabeth Steele
World War 1 Nursing Sister &
doctor |
née McPhail. Born September 30,
1893, Paisley, Ontario. Died ???? Elizabeth graduated in 1916 from the
Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing. In March 1917 she enlisted as a
Nursing Sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She served at No. 16
Canadian General Hospital, Orpington, England and at No. 12 Canadian General
Hospital. Elizabeth returned to Canada in July of 1919. In 1921 she married
Robert Crawford Steele in British Columbia and eventually the couple settled
in Winnipeg in 1925. By 1935 she was a graduate of the University of
Manitoba Faculty of Medicine. Not much information is to be found after this
time. A Robert Crawford Steele (1890-1958) died in British Columbia but when
did he return to British Columbia? Did Elizabeth move with him? She is not
buried with him. Source: Class of 1916 Winnipeg
General Hospital Schools of Nursing Archives online (accessed 2020) |
Elizabeth 'Betty' Steinhauer
Aboriginal physician |
Cree woman who in 1980 was the first Aboriginal woman to
become a medical doctor in Canada. |
Bette Stephenson |
Born July 31, 1924, Aurora, Ontario. Died August 19, 2019,
Richmond Hill, Ontario. In 1945/6 she earned her
medical degree at the University of Toronto. She was one of then women in a
class of 142 students. In 1948 she married Dr. Allan Pengelly and the couple
had six children. She and her husband opened a general medical practice
that would span 40 years. She helped create the College of Family Physicians
in order to promote more interest in family medicine. Bette was a staff
member of Women’s College Hospital, Toronto, with her section becoming the
Outpatient Department and she also served a Chief of the Department of
General Practice. She would be the 1st woman to serve on the
Board of Directors of the Canadian Medical Association and the 1st
woman president of the organization in 1974. She was also the 1st woman
president of the Ontario Medical Association. In 1975 she was elected to the
Ontario legislature where on August 18, 1978 she served as the 1st
woman Minister of Education and the 1st woman Minister of
Colleges and Universities. On May 17, 1985 she became Minister of
Finance/treasurer and the 1st woman to serve as Deputy Premier.
She was also a founding member of the Canadian Institute of Advanced
Research. In 1992 she received the Order of Canada and in 1999 the Order of
Ontario. The Dr Bette Stephenson Recognition of Achievement was named in her
honour.
Source: Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Online. (Accessed
January 2014) |
Emily Howard Stowe |
née Jennings. Born May 1,
1831, Norwich, Upper Canada (now Ontario). Died April 30,1903. A life long
champion of women’s rights. With no Canadian institution allowing women to
study medicine she studied in the United States and in 1868 became the first
Canadian woman to practice medicine in Canada. It was she who organized the
Women’s Medical College in Toronto in 1883. She was also founder and first
president of the Dominion Women’s Enfranchisement Association in 1889. |
Anne Augusta Stowe-Gullen |
née Stowe. Born July 27, 1857, Mount Pleasant, Toronto,
Canada West (Now Ontario) . Died September 25, 1943, Toronto, Ontario.
Augusta’s mother and mentor was Dr. Emily Stowe(1831-1903).
Augusta was the 1st
woman to earn a medical degree in Canada. She graduated from
Victoria College, (an affiliate of the University of Toronto) Cobourg,
Ontario in 1883. Upon graduation she
married Dr. John B. Gullen, a future founder in 1896 of Toronto Western
Hospital. After their marriage the couple did post graduate coursed in
children’s medicine in New York, U.S.A. Augusta taught at the Ontario
Medical College for Women (known 1883-94 as the Woman's Medical College,
Toronto) and was on U of T Senate 1910-22. Both she and her mother were
leading figures in the suffrage movement. Augusta succeeded her mother as
president of the Dominion Women's Enfranchisement Assn in 1903. She was also
a founder of the National Council of women. In 1935 she received the Order
of the British Empire. Sources: Carla Hacker. The
Indomitable Women Doctors. (1974) ; K. Smith. Dr. Augusta Stowe-Gullen;
a pioneer of social conscience in The Canadian Medical Association
Journal, January 15, 1982 ; The Canadian Encyclopedia. Online
(Accessed June 2003) (2020) |
Lucille Teasdale-Corti |
Born January 30, 1929, Montreal, Quebec. Died August 1,
1996, Lombardy, Italy. From the age of 12 she knew just what she wanted to
do, she wanted to be a doctor. She studies at the University of Montreal and
in 1955 was the 1st
woman in Quebec to receive a diploma as a surgeon. She attempted to obtain
training abroad but was turned down by American hospitals because she was a
women. During her internship in Montréal Lucille met Piero Corti, a young
Italian doctor studying pediatrics. His dream to establish a world-class
teaching hospital in Africa. He had already heard about a small clinic near
Lacor, a town not far from Gulu, a city in northern Uganda. It was little
more than a dispensary with a few dozen beds, but he saw it as a starting
point. In 1961, she joined forces with Corti, her future husband, and
they worked in Uganda for more than thirty years. Dr. Teasdale would tend to
as many as 300 outpatients each morning and perform surgeries in the
afternoon. Dr. Teasdale performed more the 13,000 surgeries working through
Idi Admin’s dictatorship, civil wars, epidemics and massacres. She received
many awards for her life work including being an Officer of the Order of the
Merit of the Republic of Italy in 1981, inducted as a member of the Order of
Canada 1991, named a Grand Officer of the National Order of Québec 1995, and
awarded the Saskawa Prize with her husband in 1996. This is the most
prestigious distinction awarded by the World Health Organization of the
United Nations. She died from aids which she contracted while operating on
an infected soldier. Canada Post issued a commemorative stamp in her honour
as part of the Millennium series, January 17, 2000. In 2001 she was inducted
into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
Sources: Dr. Lucille Teasdale. Canadian Medical Hall of Fame
Online (Accessed 2005) ; Lucille Teasdale. The Canadian Encyclopedia Online
(Accessed 2005) ; Dawson, Joanna and Beverly Tallon. “Helping Heroes:
Canadians who made a difference in the world.’ In Canada’s History
February- March 2013 (2020) |
Ethlyn Trapp |
Born July 18, 1891, New Westminster, British Columbia. Died
July 31, 1972, West Vancouver, British Columbia. She graduated with her
B.A. from McGill University, Montreal in 1913. During World War l she worked
in military hospitals and earned her MD at McGill in 1927. She also studied in Europe before she practiced in Vancouver. Using her own
money, set up a centre to prove the benefits of radiotherapy in 1937. From
1939-1944 she served as Director, B.C. Cancer Institute. She was the 1st woman president of the B.C. Medical Association in
1946/7 and in 1952 she was the 1st woman president of the
National Cancer Institute of Canada. She was also president of
the Federation of Canadian Medical Women. In 1963 she was awarded a citation
from the Canadian Medical Association for her cancer research. She was
inducted into the Order of Canada in 1968. An art collector, she
deeded her home, Klee Wyck, named for her artist friend Emily Carr, to West
Vancouver as an arts centre.
Source: Vancouver Hall of Fame (Accessed December
2012) (2020) |
Jenny/Jennie Kidd Trout |
née Gowanlock. Born April 21, 1841, Kelso, Scotland. Died November
10, 1921, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. Jenny came with her parents to
Canada in 1847. The family settled near Stratford, Ontario. Like many young
girls of her generation she earned a teaching certificate from the Toronto
Normal School and taught school. marriage. In 1865 She married Edward
Trout the couple settled in Toronto. The couple did not have any children of
their own but after a family tragedy they adopted the Great-nephew and great
niece. While in Toronto Jenny decided to become a medical doctor. She
studied Medicine at the University of Toronto as one of the 1st women
admitted to the Toronto School of Medicine. She completed her medical
studies at the Women's Medical College in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. March 11,1875, on passing the
Ontario registration exam, she became the 1st Canadian woman licensed to
practice medicine in Canada.
Dr. Jenny opened the Therapeutic and Electrical Institute in
Toronto and also ran a free dispensary for the poor from her offices. The
Institute would expand with branches in Brantford and Hamilton, Ontario.
Poor health forced her to retire in 1882 to Palma Sola, Florida, U.S.A. and
by 1908 she was living in California. She was instrumental in establishing
the medical school for women at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario.
Prior to her death she relocated to California. In 1991 Canada Post issued a
postage stamp to commemorate her as the 1st licensed woman doctor to
practice Medicine in Canada. The Jenny Trout Center in Stratford is a
private medical company.
(2020) |
Agnes Maria Turnbull |
Born August 29, 1866, Melrose, Canada West (now Ontario).
Died January 5, 1907, Neemuch, India. In the 1880’s her family relocated to
Quebec. In 1885 Agnes earned her teacher’s certificated from the McGill
Normal School. By 1887 she was contacting the Women’s Foreign Mission
Society of the Presbyterian Church of Canada. She was encouraged by the
Society to complete medical studies before becoming a missionary. From 1888
to 1982 she studied at the Women’s Medical College at Queen’s University,
Kingston, Ontario. Upon graduation she took a couple of months post graduate
studies in New Your State, U.S.A. In November 1882 she arrived in India to
serve as a medical missionary. She would serve first at the Women’s Medical
Hospital in Indore and by 1895 she was in Neemuch. Her she also pioneered
medical work at an outstation in Jawad, At the turn of the century she took
some leave back in Canada and returned in 1903 in the midst of an outbreak
of the plague. For her service during the plague she was awarded the
Kaisar-i-Hind medal from the Imperial Government which acknowledged service
in the advancement of public interest in India. A local Anglican Church in
Indore, India has a brass plaque tribute to Agnes and her work.
Sources: The Indomitable Women Doctors by
Carlotta Hacker (Toronto: Clarke & Irwin, 1974) : TD C B vol. Xii Online (accessed April 2014) (2020) |
Gene Anne
'Jan' Turner |
née Stewart. Born April 29, 1926, Croydon, England. Died
March 11, 2012, Ottawa, Ontario. Jan earned her medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1952. She had interned at St. Paul’s hospital in Vancouver returning to
Toronto to marry Ed Turner. The couple had three children. Jan held a
variety of medical positions, including being Hamilton’s 1st
District Health Officer, physician for the Borough of East York and doctor
at the students’ heath clinic at the University of Toronto. In later career
years, after training at the Institute for Human Relations she turned to
administering to her patients’ emotional and mental health needs through
psychotherapy.
Source: Obituary Globe and Mail March 15, 2012.
Suggestion submitted by June Coxon, Ottawa, Ontario.
(2020)
|
Jennie Wildman |
née Gray. Born 1863, Dundas, Canada West (now Ontario). Died
December 11, 1953, Barrie, Ontario. She studied at the Ontario Medical
College for Women in Toronto in 1892. From 1892 through 1906 she took charge
with Dr. Ida Lynd of the 1st
clinics run by the College for women. The clinics were a dispensary for poor
women which led into the establishment of the Women’s Dispensary which in
turn became Women’s College Hospital by 1911. On May 14, 1909 she married
James Frank Wildman. For most of the 1920’s Jennie was involved with the
free clinics and from 1920 through 1926 she established the Department of
Gynecology at the Women’s College Hospital. In 1928 the couple was settled
in Barrie, Ontario.
Source:
The Indomitable Lady Doctors
by Carlotta Hacker (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin & Co Ltd, 1974) |
Amelia Yeomans |
née Le
Sueur. Born March 29,1842 Quebec City, Canada East (now Quebec). Died April 11, 1913,
Calgary, Alberta. Amelia married Dr. Augustus A. Yeomans October 16,
1860. The couple had two daughters. In 1878, after the death of
her medical doctor husband, Amelia and her daughter Lillian decided to study
medicine. Since there were no schools in Canada accepting women as students
the two women studied in the U.S. Both specialized in midwifery (birth of
children) and diseases affecting women and children in the Canadian Midwest.
Soon they were joined by daughter Charlotte who was a nurse. The
medical trio became champions of woman's suffrage ( votes for women),
temperance ( stopping excess drinking of alcohol) and crusaded against
prostitution and the diseases of prostitution. Amelia had a great speaking
presence and lectured successfully for social equality and improvement of
life. Modern Canadian women owe a lot to these social pioneering women.
(2020) |
Veterinarians
Return
to categories |
Candace Grier-Lowe |
Born Norway House, Manitoba. In high school her guidance
teacher told her not to consider being a veterinarian as university studies
were just too hard. Never underestimate the determination of a person with
dreams. Candace worked for a couple of years as a dental assistant for a
family friend in Thompson, Manitoba. She became restless and decided to try
university. In 2005 she earned her veterinary degree from Western College of
Veterinary (WCVM) at the University of Saskatchewan. Following graduation
she worked as a clinical associate in radiation oncology at WCVM Veterinary
Medical Centre. In 2008 she became a combined resident in veterinary
dentistry and Master of Science Degree program. In 2009 she was one of the
recipients of the National Aboriginal Achievement Award. Graduating in
2011 Candace is the 1st Aboriginal woman veterinarian
dentist in the world and the ist Indigenous Canadian woman to graduate in
this specialty. In September 2011 she joined the WDVM's
Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences as an assistant Professor. She
is a board certified specialist with the American Veterinary Dental College.
She is the author of articles in veterinary dentistry for the Canadian
Veterinary Journal and the Journal of Veterinary Dentistry.
(2019) |
Lenka J. Husa |
Born February 21, 1942,
Czechoslovak. She
studied for her degree in veterinary medicine in the Czechoslovak Republic.
She and her family emigrated and settled in Newfoundland where she worked as
a research Assistant , at the Animal Care Facility at Memorial University.
She has authored and c-authored numerous articles and reports in her field.
In 1989 she was appointed Director of Animal Care Services at Memorial
University. She won the Award of Excellence from the Canadian Council of
Animal Care and in the President's Award for Exemplary Service from Memorial
University in 1995. |
Miscellaneous
Return
to categories |
Imelda Dallaire
Sister
Marie Joseph |
Born January 19, 1902,
Chicoutimi, Quebec. Died October 10, 1989, Chicoutimi,
Quebec. Imelda studied at Ursuline de Roberval and went
on to post graduate studies at University of Laval. She
began her career at the National Bank of Canada,
Chicoutimi Branch. On August 15, 1922, she became a
novitiate with the Augustines de la misericorde de Jesus
de Chicoutimi. In 1924 she took the name of Sister Marie
Joseph. She taught until 1926 at the orphanage in
Chicoutimi. She would work to establish the Hotel-Dieu
Notre Dame de L'Assomption and the Hotel-Dieu de
Sacre-Coeur de Jésus in Dolbeau. Both were teaching
hospitals for medical students. In 1963 she founded a
hospital in Tripoli Lebanon. In 1985 she was inducted
into the Order of Canada.
(2020) |
Frances Gertrude
McGill
Forensic
pathologist, criminologist, allergoloist and allergist |
Born November 18, 1882, Minnesota, U.S.A.
Died January 21, 1959, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Frances
attended the Winnipeg Normal School (Teacher's College)
and taught summer school in order to further her
education. By 1915 Frances had graduated from the
University of Manitoba with the highest academic
standing in her class. An athletic person she
enjoyed horseback riding and in 1917 she won a prize in
the women's rifle competition. In 1918 she was named
provincial bacteriologist with the Saskatchewan
Department of Health. That same year she produced over
60,000 vaccinations for the Spanish Flu. Two years later
in 1920 she became the provinces provincial pathologist
and then became director of the provincial laboratory.
She would become known as the 'Sherlock Holmes of
Saskatchewan' working with the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police (RCMP) investigating suspicious cases. In 1937
she was a driving force in the establishment of the
RCMP's 1st forensic laboratory and would serve a three
year term as director. During World War ll she supported
the war effort by knitting socks for overseas soldiers.
In 1946 she was appointed Honorary Surgeon for the RCMP.
She would train new recruits to her profession and in
1952 her case notes became textbooks for future
generations. McGill Lake in northern Saskatchewan is
named in her honour and she is a member of the Canadian
Science and Engineering Hall of Fame.
(2020) |
Carol Trotman
Pioneer Transplant
patient |
Born Trinidad, 1954. Died June 30, 2006. Immigrating to
Canada she worked with Employment Canada. Carol was told
by her doctors that she needed a lung transplant. Since
she was going through a divorce the hospital but off
listing her the needed operation. When told she needed a
stress free support system for after the operation and
that a divorce and having teen children at home was not
what was required. Carol established a strong
support team of women and she got her operation in the
spring of 1991. She was one of Ontario’s first
recipients of a single lung transplant. Usually patients
can expect an addition five years but remarkably Carol
had 15 years! She wanted to see her children graduate
and she lived long enough to see her first grandchild. A
year or two after her operation she began to speak to
groups about the importance of organ donation in support
of the Trillium Gift of Life network. She counted each
day as a blessing and never forgot to be thankful to her
creator on a daily basis.
Source: ‘Carol Trotman,
52: Transplant pioneer’ by Catherine Dunphy.
The Toronto Star, August 21, 2006. Online (accessed
September 2006) (2020) |
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