Nurse.
Born at Fletcher, Kent County, Ontario on 14 January 1878, daughter of Scottish immigrants Elizabeth Farquharson (1845-1919) and Francis Beattie “Frank” Stewart (1840-1914), sister of David Alexander Stewart and Helen Gordon Stewart, she came to Manitoba with the family in 1891 and settled near Morden, where his father was a lay minister. In 1900, she trained as a nurse at the Winnipeg General Hospital and was a supervisor at the hospital. She later directed nursing education at the Teachers’ College of Columbia University.
During the 1930s, she toured the world to make a survey of nursing and, at one time, was voted “the most famous nurse in the world”. In recognition of her nursing service, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Manitoba (1956), a medal from the government of Finland, and the Florence Nightingale Award from the International Red Cross.
She died at Chatham, New Jersey on 5 October 1963. She is commemorated by the Isabel M. Stewart Building at the Health Sciences Centre.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Health Sciences Centre Archives and Museum (700 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg)
Ontario birth registration [Isabella Maitland Stewart], Ancestry.
Death registration [Frank Beattie Stewart], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“‘Most famous’ nurse dies,” Winnipeg Free Press 9 October 1963.
We thank Emma Prescott for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 9 June 2026
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