Mary Ellen Birtles was born at Sheffield, England in 1858. She emigrated to Canada with her family in June 1883, settling in Winnipeg. In 1889, she was one of the first three graduates of the nurse training program at the Winnipeg General Hospital. During her nursing career, Mary Ellen worked in North Dakota, Medicine Hat, Brandon and Calgary. In Brandon she served first as a senior nurse (approximately 1892-1894), then returned in 1898 to become Matron of the Brandon General Hospital. She retired from that position in 1919. In 1935, Mary Ellen received the Order of the British Empire from the Governor General of Canada for her role in the pioneer nursing of Western Canada. She never married. Mary Ellen Birtles died on June 22, 1943 in Alexander, MB. She is buried at Alexander Cemetery.
Custodial History
As part of the Westman Oral History Collection, this collection was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. The original tapes from the Westman Oral History project were deposited in the Brandon Public Library. Copies of these originals were made by Margaret Pollex of the Brandon University Language Lab at the request of Eileen McFadden, University Archivist in the early 1990s. These copies compose the collection held in the McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
Item is an audiocassette tape containing Phyllis Long reading an article written by Mary Ellen Birtles in 1925, about the history of the Brandon General Hospital.
Notes
History/bio information from the Manitoba Historical Society website. Description by Christy Henry.
Language Note
English
Audio Tracks
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Steve Repa was born in Winnipeg, MB, in 1937. After graduating from Winnipeg School of Art, he worked as a teacher of ceramics and design. He was a director of Brandon Allied Arts center in 1962 and 1963. Active in various arts organizations - founder of Art Forum, chairman for the Manitoba Art Association, Vice-President of Associated Arts of Manitoba. (1996 inventory)
Don LeQuesne, Assistant Professor of Art and Art Education at Brandon College 1962-1965, came here from the Toronto area where he had been Supervisor of Art in the Pickering school system for several years and had taught Art Methods in the Summer School for Teachers at the Ontario College of Education. His parents came to Canada from the Channel Islands. Don grew up at a number of places in Quebec. He obtained the BFA degree from Mount Allison University. This picture was painted while he was on study leave at the University of Georgia in the first half of 1964. (1969 inventory)
Mrs. Busch is a long-time resident of Shellmouth, Manitoba, where her husband operated a general store for many years (shown in the painting). They live (1965) above the former store. (1969 inventory)
