Born in Charlottetown, PEI, Georgina was the daughter of William Henry Pope, a Father of Confederation. After entering the nursing profession she trained at the School of Nursing, Bellevue Hospital, in New York City. She began her nursing career in the United States, where she worked in civic hospitals, then returned to Canada and volunteered to go overseas and serve as a nurse in the Boer War, where she received the rank, pay and benefits of lieutenant.
As a result of her nursing service in the war she was awarded the Royal Red Cross by Queen Victora. With a hiatus from 1900 to 1902, she served until the end of the war. Subsequently she was appointed the first Nursing Matron of the Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1908.
In 1917, Georgina again went overseas, this time to serve in England and France in World War I. She was sent back to Canada in 1918, suffering from health problems, including shell shock. She retired to Prince Edward Island where she died in 1938, with a full military funeral.
Georgina Pope's plaque may be found on the front façade of the 1911 Armoury building at 33 Summer Street in Summerside, Prince Edward Island.
GEORGINA FANE POPE
1862-1938
Born in Charlottetown, Georgina Pope chose nursing as a career. After training and working in the United States, she was selected in 1899 to superintendent Canada's military nurses in the South African War. She was the first Canadian to receive the Royal Red Cross.
Appointed to the permanent Army Medical Corps in 1906, two years later she became Canada's first Nursing Matron, having charge of all Canadian military nurses. Stationed principally at Halifax, Matron Pope served overseas briefly during World War I, but was invalided home in 1918 and retired the following year. She died in Charlottetown.