Note Will the person who provided Emma Frances Elliot's
photograph please get in touch with us?

According to the Canadian War Museum, more than 2,800 nurses served in the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC), as fully-enlisted officers in the specially-created all female rank of Nursing Sister, with relative rank and equal pay to men – the first women among the Allied forces to do so. Nicknamed “bluebirds” because of their blue uniforms and white veils, Canada’s nursing sisters saved lives by caring for wounded and sick soldiers as well as convalescents, prisoners of war, and even civilians on occasion.

Port Hope's Nursing Sisters are listed in the Book of Remembrance, the only recognition being their names and number of years served, shown in brackets. We have endeavoured to provide as much information about them as can be found, from such sources as Ancestry, CemSearch, and the Port Hope Library newspaper microfilms' vital statistics. As we only have photographs of two of them, it is hoped that descendents or relatives may be able to provide pictures for the others.

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Source unknown

Lieutenant Emma Frances Elliot, 441609 [Four years' Service; 1915 Star], was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on 10 March 1882, the daughter of Robert and Sarah (Wilson). A professional nurse, she enlisted on 07 April 1915 in Toronto and served in France and Salonika until her demobilization on 15 April 1920, when she was declared unfit for further military service due to chronic bronchitis. Emma passed away at Toronto Sunnybrook Hospital on 26 May 1970 and is interred, with her brother Ernest’s family, in Pine Hills Cemetery in Scarborough, Ontario.

No photograph available

Lieutenant Harriet Gertrude Hudspeth [Four years' Service; Mons Star] was born on 19 September 1879 in Lindsay, one of nine children in the well-off family of lawyer Adam Hudspeth and his wife, Harriette Miles. As both parents had died by 1890, Harriet is shown in the Port Hope 1901 census returns as a ward of 74-year-old Anne Evans. Her war years' history has been elusive, but it appears that she was engaged 07 Jul 1915 to 16 Jan 1919, serving in France, and was of "good character". As she was awarded the Mons Star, she had to have been at Mons between 05 August and 22 November 1914. Previously, she had worked in Canada with the Convalescent Home for Officers, Dieppe & Deauville. Harriet applied for US Naturalization in Providence, Rhode Island, on 06 February 1927, and in the ensuing years is listed in the Providence city directories as a social worker. No further information about her has been located.

From The Regimental Rogue website

Lieutenant Ada Andrews Kemp [Four years' Service] was born 02 June 1895 in Essex County, England. A Barnardo girl arriving at Hazelbrae in Peterborough in May 1904, she became a domestic servant with her Port Hope uncle, Alexander Walsh. (A British Home Child article about Ada can be accessed here.) A graduate nurse, Ada was taken on strength on 11 April 1917 with the Canadian Army Medical Corps at Base Hospital, Toronto. Her attestation papers state she was 5’1” and weighed 103 pounds. While serving in France, until her demobilization in Kingston on 11 June 1919, her medical record shows a number of throat infections (a tonsillectomy on 08 Dec 1917) and anaemia. She also was reported to have been treated for ‘morphinism’ (addiction to morphine) in 1916. She was awarded the Royal Red Cross, 2nd Class (ARRC), an award made to a "Fully-trained nurse or assistant nurse, probationer, or V.A.D. nursing member, who, belonging to one of the officially recognized nursing services, has shown special devotion and competency in the performance of nursing duties, over a continuous and long period, or who has performed some very exceptional act of bravery and devotion at her post of duty. Up to five percent of the total establishment of nurses could receive the ARRC.” Following demobilization, Ada returned to Essex County, England, where she married George Pettican on 21 April 1928. Sadly, she passed away in July 1929.

No photograph available

Lieutenant Myrtle MacMillan [Four years' Service] was born in Cambray, Ontario, on 27 March 1886, the daughter of Donald and Margaret (Birmingham). At the time of her enlistment on 05 May 1915, she was working as a trained nurse at Kingston’s Sydenham Military Hospital. She served in Canada, England, France, and Egypt. Myrtle was on leave for a month, due to the “strain of duties”, as laid out in the medical report of 29 September 1916: “Patient went to France in May in 1915. Was on duty there for two months. Transferred to Egypt on August 1st, 1915, where she remained 8 months. Transferred back to France in April 1916. Was Invalided to England on Sept 14th, complaining of general weakness, easily fatigued on slight exertion, loss of appetite, and shortness of breath.” Myrtle continued her nursing duties until general demobilization on 14 October 1919. Following the war, her whereabouts are elusive. She was appointed superintendent of Ontario’s Smith’s Falls Hospital in 1927 and resigned in 1930 to become superintendent of Nova Scotia’s Glace Bay General Hospital. A note in her military file states she died on 29 January 1971 at Ste. Anne’s Long-Term Care Hospital in Ste. Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec.

Evening Guide: 10 Apr 1915

From WW1 Nursing Sisters of Old Durham County by Sher Leetooze

Edith Elgin MacNaughton [With American Army] was the daughter of James and Margaret (Vogan), born on 24 June 1883 in Port Hope. This seems to have been her only connection to the town, as, on her 17 February 1934 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Veterans’ Compensation Application, with a permanent residence of Peterborough, she was working in Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when she enlisted in the American Nursing Corps on 20 November 1917. She was overseas from 24 March 1918 to 18 May 1919, when she boarded the SSPF Wilhelm in Brest, France, to return home. She was demobilized in New York City 16 July 1919. Following the war, Edith returned to Peterborough, marrying 60-year-old American doctor Elmer Noah Piper on 24 November 1925, before returning to the US, where he continued to practice until his death on 08 May 1930. At that time, Edith was listed in the 1930 New Kensington, Pennsylvania, census returns as "housewife". She died on 05 July 1969 in New Carlisle, Ohio, and is interred with her husband and parents in Plum Creek Cemetery, Plum, Pennsylvania.

At #1 Canadian General Hospital, Etaples c1915 From WW1 Nursing Sisters of Old Durham County by Sher Leetooze

Lieutenant Mary Aleda MacNaughton [Four years' Service] was the daughter of James and Margaret (Vogan) and sister of Edith, born on 21 December 1882 in Port Hope. A trained nurse, she enlisted with the C.A.M.C. in Kingston on 05 May 1915. Until her 28 April 1920 demobilization, she served in England, France, and Egypt, being awarded the Royal Red Cross, 2nd Class on 03 June 1919. She passed away on 16 August 1962 at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital and is interred with her parents in Port Hope’s St. John’s Anglican Cemetery.

No photograph available

Lieutenant Marion Etta McLean [One year's Service] was the daughter of William and Sarah (Jennings), born in Port Hope on 31 August 1890. A graduate nurse, she joined the C.A.M.C. on 30 November 1917 at Base Hospital, Toronto. Going overseas on 25 June 1918, she saw service in England until her demobilization on 12 July 1919. Returning to Port Hope, Marion married William Ewart Watt on 04 February 1920. She passed away in 1975 and is interred in Toronto’s Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

Lt. Roberts on leave in Cairo Courtesy of Briana Simpson

Lieutenant Pansy Eva Roberts [Four years' Service] was the daughter of Thomas and Bertha (Montgomery), born in Welcome on 07 September 1889. She was taken on as a nursing sister on 05 May 1915 in Kingston, serving in England, Egypt, France, and the Dardanelles before returning to France in April 1916, where she remained until demobilization on 31 December 1919. She is listed in the 1940 Rosedale Voters List as a public health nurse. Pansy passed away on 02 May 1968 and is interred with her family in Port Hope’s St. John’s Anglican Cemetery.

Evening Guide: 20 Apr 1915

No photograph available

Lieutenant Pearle Edna Howard Wood [Four years' Service] was the daughter of Sylvester Howard and Belinda (Judge), born in Port Hope on 29 December 1884. A professional nurse before being taken on strength on 23 August 1916 at Base Hospital, Toronto, she had previous service at Toronto’s Exhibition Camp in 1915. Her file shows war service in England to July 1919, when she "Retires in the British Isles". That same year, she married Col. William Robinson at St. Asaph, Flintshire. They returned to Canada prior to 1940, the year William died. Pearl passed away on 28 January 1986 and is interred with him in Ottawa.

The following WW1 Nursing Sisters, with connections to Port Hope but not included in the Book of Remembrance, appear in Sherrell Leetooze's WW1 Nursing Sisters of Old Durham County (Lynn Michael-John Associates, Bowmanville, 2014).

Winifred Alward (15 September 1885:Port Hope - 20 February 1941:Toronto), daughter of John Alward and Alice Reed. Enlisted 22 July 1917:Toronto. Served in England. Discharged on demobilization.
Photograph: Findagrave website Photograph: Berlin to Kitchener: A Nursing Sister's Story (Youtube)

Maude Bowman , a former nurse at Port Hope Hospital, was born 16 February 1885 on a farm near West Montrose, Ontario, one of four children of Leander and Rebecca (Snider). She graduated as a nurse at the General & Marine Hospital in St. Catharines in 1913. When war broke out, she enlisted with the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service, the nursing branch of the British Army Medical Services, and sailed for England in 1915, posted to the No. 5 Canadian Stationary Hospital to be located in Cairo. On arrival, she worked to establish a 1000-bed hospital planned to aid the wounded of the Gallipoli campaign.
When the campaign was a failure, she was withdrawn to England, where she re-enlisted with the CAMC 28 August 1916 to serve in France, arriving to join the No. 7 Queen’s Canadian General Hospital 05 April 1917 at Etaples. Returning to Canada 31 July 1919, she was officially demobilized 30 August 1920 at Toronto. She remained single, passing away 09 September 1968 near her home town, and is interred in the Bloomingdale Mennonite Cemetery near Kitchener.
Although not mentioned in the Book of Remembrance, she has been included due to her previous association with Port Hope Hospital, perhaps as part of her training programme.
Photograph: Berlin to Kitchener: A Nursing Sister's Story (Youtube)

Morna Duckett Brunton (28 November 1872:Port Hope – 11 November 1949:Edmonton), daughter of Charles Hervey Ashton Williams and Amy Elizabeth Meredith. Married Harold George Brunton 05 July 1906:Port Hope. Enlisted 04 December 1915:London, Ontario. Served in England and France (with the Anglo-France Ambulance for 4.5 months). Discharged 19 August 1919.

Annie Copeland (11 January 1880:Port Hope - 07 November 1959:Collingwood), daughter of William Alexander Copeland and Jane Johnson. Enlisted 08 December 1917:Toronto. Served in England, receiving the War Service Badge, Class B. Discharged on demobilization.

Victoria Alberta Stuart Grant (03 March 1897:Port Hope – 09 January 1974:Port Hope), daughter of Albert Grant and Josephine Caroline Clare Stuart. Married Charles Frederick Haultain 16 March 1935:Port Hope. Also served in WW2.
Photograph: Port Hope Archives

Margaret Dorothy Grant (May 1898:London, England – 20 Sep 1980:Port Hope), daughter of Albert Grant and Josephine Caroline Clare Stuart. Also served in WW2.
Photograph: Port Hope Archives

Josephine Elizabeth Stuart Grant (28 September 1899:Port Hope - 29 August 1971:Hope Twp.), daughter of Albert Grant and Josephine Caroline Clara Stuart. Married Hugh Gerard James 15 June 1927:Port Hope. Also served in WW2.
Photograph: Port Hope Archives

Emma Elizabeth Murton (15 April 1870:Guelph – 13 December 1960:Toronto), daughter of George Murton and Julia Ann Evatt from Port Hope. Enlisted 03 June 1915:Montreal. Served in England and France. War experience caused her to be discharged 09 August 1919 as "medically unfit" for service.
Photograph: Leonard Family Tree (Ancestry website)

Annie Lois Small (13 Nov 1892:Port Hope - 26 Nov 1949:Detroit, Michigan), daughter of Samuel Small and Annie Louise Webster. Enlisted 19 November 1917:Calgary. Served in England. Married Major Lorne Fauntleroy Jones, 20 March 1919:Folkestone, England. "Retires in the British Isles" 04 April 1919.
Photograph: Jones Family Tree (Ancestry website)

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Peter and Barbara Bolton - Port Hope, Ontario
www.alivingpast.ca