At the turn of the 20^th century, women had few opportunities to serve in Canada’s military. Some of the first women to be allowed to serve were the nursing sisters of the Boer War. Marcella Richardson was one of the twelve Canadian women who cared for thousands of soldiers throughout the war.

Early life

Marcella Percy Richardson was born on November 13, 1873 in Woodstock, Ontario. When she was a young child, her family moved to Saskatchewan. Her father, Hugh Richardson, was a Supreme court judge for the Northwest Territories in Regina, who most notably presided over the trial of Louis Riel during the 1885 Northwest Rebellion. Marcella attended boarding school at the Convent of the Congregation de Notre Dame in Ottawa and excelled her classes. In fact, in 1886 she received the Governor General’s medal for her academic excellence. Shortly after graduation, she moved to New York to train as a nurse at the Charity Hospital Training School on Blackwell’s Island (now known as Roosevelt Island).

Professional nursing was still a relatively new concept, with only a handful of institutions providing nursing instruction. Many Canadian women travelled to the United States to receive this education, which included hands-on experience caring for the sick. Marcella had found her calling. In 1889, after completing her certification, the school hired her as a supervising nurse to help train new students. She would stay in this position until the start of the Boer War.

The Boer War years

In 1899, the Canadian military made the decision to send a group of nurses for medical support alongside each contingent of soldiers serving in the Boer War. Out of the many applications received, only twelve nurses were eventually chosen to take part. Each Nursing Sister was granted equal pay to that of a lieutenant. 

Marcella was selected as one of four nurses to travel to South Africa as part of the second contingent. On Janurary 20,1900, Marcella boarded the Laurentian in Halifax to start the long journey to South Africa.  Before leaving, the Montreal Daily Star interviewed her and the other nurses of the Second Contingent. Speaking about her role in the war, Marcella said “…really we do not know what we are going to do ourselves. Beyond the fact that we have two khaki uniforms and two sailor hats, we don’t know what they are going to do with us.”

Less than a month later, Marcella moved to a temporary hospital in Kimberly. The town was still recovering from a Boer siege, which had recently ended. Marcella and three other Canadian nurses worked at a temporary hospital, which was set up in a masonic temple that contained only basic supplies. Besides some British orderlies, they ran the hospital alone.

She arrived in Cape Town on February 17^th and first worked at the British No. 3 General Hospital in Rodebosch. Nursing Sisters were not allowed to be near the front and instead, worked out of base hospitals where they tended to soldiers who had been transported further away from the fighting. The vast majority of soldiers that they treated were in hospital due to infectious diseases rather than battle wounds.

In late April 1900, Marcella was sent to Bloemfontein, once the capital of the Orange Free State, to work at the No. 10 General Hospital. This became one of the most difficult postings for the Nursing Sisters. Supply lines to the city were not always secure, which made it difficult to get food and resources. Potable water was also in short supply and poor sanitation resulted in major typhoid and dysentery outbreaks. Marcella and two of her three colleagues became very sick with enteric fever. One of the nurses was invalided back to England. Marcella stayed in South Africa and fortunately recovered.

As British troops gained more Boer territory, Marcella was once again transferred. She reached the Irish Hospital in Pretoria on July 20, 1900, and stayed there until she returned to Canada in January 1901. However, later that same year, Marcella returned to South Africa to work with the Canadian contingent to the South African Constabulary. In total, Marcella spent nearly five years working in South Africa both during and after the war.

Marcella’s contribution during the Boer War did not go unnoticed. In 1901, she was mentioned in the dispatches of the London Gazette for her work keeping the hospitals “in a state of efficiency”.  She also received both the Queen’s Medal and the King’s medal for her military service in South Africa (although she lost both medals in a fire at the Gilmore Hotel in Ottawa in 1906). In 1904, she became one of the first nurses appointed to the newly formed Canadian Army Medical Corps Reserve as a result of her service.  Her service in the Boer War also qualified her to apply for a land scrip through the Militia Department in 1908. She was given a parcel of land near Kincaid, Saskatchewan, but sold the land around 1914.

First World War service

When Canada entered the First World War, Marcella was once again ready to serve. She was sent to France in November 1914 to work with the No. 2 Canadian Stationary Hospital. This unit was the first to land in France during the war.  Marcella transferred to the No. 11 (Imperial) General Hospital in Boulogne and was later mentioned in dispatches for her “gallant and distinguished service in the field”.

During her service in Boulogne, the hospital saw as many as 1200 people a day. It was exhausting work. The stress caused Marcella severe gastritis, and she suffered a gastric hemorrhage. Although she eventually recovered, reports back to Canada mistakenly said that she died because of her illness. Her recovery was not without its own complications, however. According to one account, a zeppelin bombed the building that she was recovering in and she narrowly escaped. Eventually, she was granted leave back in Canada.

Instead of going back to Europe, Marcella worked in hospitals in Canada. She became the matron of Deer Lodge Military Hospital in Winnipeg before becoming the principal matron for the Tuxedo Military Hospital and for the entirety of Military District 10 (which included all of Manitoba and parts of Western Ontario). By 1917, she was also supervising the mobilization of nurses in western Canada overseas. She transferred to Military District 13 in Calgary in June 1918 and remained the principal matron of the district until her demobilization in 1919.

Later years

After the war, Marcella returned to New York. In 1928 the Ottawa Gas and Electric Companies hired her to be the new superintendent of their Home Service Department, and she moved to Ottawa. The Home Service Department dealt with educating the public on topics of home economics and provided services like cooking classes. Although not a nursing position, Marcella’s years of supervisory experience made her the perfect candidate. She worked at the company until 1932. In her later years, she moved to Miami, Florida and died at a convalescent home there on June 20, 1958. Her cremated remains were buried at Beechwood cemetery in Ottawa.

Marcella Richardson was a true trailblazer. As one of the first women to serve in Canada’s military, she helped pave the way for countless other women to serve.

Written by Anthony Badame for Honouring Bravery

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