Smellie, Elizabeth National Historic Person
Ottawa, Ontario
Matron Smellie
(© Canada. Department of National Defence | Ministère de la défense nationale / Library and Archives Canada | Bibliothèque et Archives Canada/ ecopy)
Address :
236 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa, Ontario
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
2011-07-19
Life Date:
1884 to 1968
Other Name(s):
-
Smellie, Elizabeth
(Designation Name)
Research Report Number:
2010-010
Importance:
Assistant Matron-in-Chief during First World War, Matron-in-Chief during the Second World War
Plaque(s)
Existing plaque: 236 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa, Ontario
A remarkable leader who once resided here, this First World War military nurse and then Assistant Matron-in-Chief was awarded the Royal Red Cross (First Class) in 1917. As Matron-in-Chief of the Royal Canadian Medical Corps during the Second World War, she was responsible for thousands of Army nurses, and assisted in the formation of the Royal Canadian Air Force and Navy nursing services and the Canadian Women’s Army Corps. Colonel Smellie retired in 1944, the first woman to hold this rank. She then guided the Victorian Order of Nurses through a changing healthcare system as Chief Superintendent until 1947.