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Provincial Archives of New Brunswick

Dictionary of Miramichi Biography

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MCGURTY, HELEN (1837-1913)

MCGURTY, HELEN, Sister McGurty of the Religious Hospitallers of St Joseph; chief hospitaller at Chatham; b. Ireland, 1 Sep 1837, d/o Peter McGurty and Helen Flanagan; entered religious life, 1852; d. Montreal, 22 Feb 1913.

Helen McGurty was one of the four members of the Religious Hospitallers who arrived in Chatham in 1869 under the leadership of Louise Davignon to establish and conduct the Hotel Dieu Hospital. As she was the only native English speaker in the group, it was appropriate for her to be made "chief hospitaller." This position required her to be present in the hospital at most times, and it was she with whom the patients and members of the public ordinarily communicated.

McGurty spent thirteen years in Chatham before being recalled to Montreal. During that time she worked in three successive Hotel Dieu hospitals. The first was a makeshift one set up in the bishop's tiny former residence. In spite of the cramped quarters, sixty patients were admitted during the first year of operation, and 500 outpatients were treated. The second hospital, which was built in 1870, was spacious enough, but it was cold and sparsely equipped. The third, which was opened in 1876, was an elaborate T-shaped structure which remained in use as a hospital until 1913. At the conclusion of McGurty's service in 1883 admissions were averaging more than 100 patients annually.

In 1993 a plaque honoring McGurty's memory was placed on the original Hotel Dieu Hospital building, which now houses St Michael's Museum and Genealogical Centre.

Sources

[b/d] RHSJ archives (Chatham and Montreal) / RHSJ data


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