Margaret C. MacDonald

Major Margaret C. MacDonald (1873 in Bailey Brook, Nova Scotia, Canada-1948 in Bailey's Brook, Nova Scotia, Canada) is a Canadian who, on April 11, 1914, was appointed Matron-in-Chief of the Canadian Nursing service band becoming the first woman in the British Empire to reach the rank of major during a nursing career of over thirty years. She graduated as a nurse from the New York City Hospital in 1895. After achieving her post-graduate, she went to Panama to serve for eighteen months during the building of the Panama Canal. There, she caught malaria and promptly returned after she recovered. Her work also brought her to Quebec City, Kingston, Ontario, Halifax, Nova Scotia as well as England. While working in London, she was responsible for over 1,900 Canadian nurses. She returned to Canada in the Fall of 1919 to help in the re-organization of the Canadian Army Medical Service. She retired in 1923 at the age of 51. After her military career, she travelled extensively. She earned an honorary DDL from St. Francis Xavier University. A ceremony took place in 1926 at Parliament Hill to unveil a memorial to the Canadian Nursing Sisters, a sculpted marble panel which portrays the history of Canadian nurses. She was immortalized as a national historic person of Canada by a plaque set in her birthplace in 1983.