Macdonald, Major Margaret Clothilde National Historic Person

Bailey's Brook, Nova Scotia
Offices of Matron-in-Chief Macdonald, Canadian Nursing Services, London. © Canada. Dept. of National Defence | ministère de la Défense nationale / Library and Archives Canada | Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
In Macdonald's office in London, 1914-1919
© Canada. Dept. of National Defence | ministère de la Défense nationale / Library and Archives Canada | Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
Offices of Matron-in-Chief Macdonald, Canadian Nursing Services, London. © Canada. Dept. of National Defence | ministère de la Défense nationale / Library and Archives Canada | Bibliothèque et Archives CanadaMargaret Macdonald. © Canadian Nurses Association | Association des infirmières et infirmiers du Canada / Library and Archives Canada | Bibliothèque et Archives Canada / e003525007
Address : Bailey's Brook, Nova Scotia

Recognition Statute: Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date: 1982-06-12
Life Date: 1873 to 1948

Other Name(s):
  • Macdonald, Major Margaret Clothilde  (Designation Name)

Importance: Matron-in-Chief of the Canadian Nursing Service during World War I

Plaque(s)


Existing plaque:  Near Arbuckle and Baileys Brook Ardness Roads, Bailey's Brook, Nova Scotia

Born in Bailey's Brook, Margaret Macdonald chose nursing as a career. She cared for the wounded of the Spanish-American War and then worked with Canadian troops in South Africa between 1900 and 1902. She also served in Panama during the building of the canal. Appointed to the permanent Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1906, she was made Matron-in-Chief of the Canadian Nursing Service in 1914. With headquarters in London, England, she was in charge of all Canadian military nurses overseas during World War I. She retired in 1923 but maintained her professional contacts until her death in 1948.