Lady Stanley Institute for Trained Nurses

She was the wife of Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, who served as Governor General of Canada from 1888 to 1893.

[1] On February 18, 1890, at a meeting of representative citizens of Ottawa convened at the City Hall on the invitation of Lady Stanley of Preston, it was suggested the establishment of an institution for training nurses.

The committee then ascertained an approximated amount of money of $20,000 to acquire a site and to construct a suitable building.

It was then decided to appeal to the public for subscriptions: Within the past thirty years a marked improvement has been made in the nursing of the sick, both in hospitals and in private homes.

This improvement is mainly due to the training that has been made available to a large number of women in the various Institutes or Schools for trained nurses established in almost every leading city in Great Britain, the United States and Canada, whereby they can obtain a knowledge of disease and its treatment, and of various duties required of a nurse in the sick room sufficient to enable them to carry on their good work with intelligent and watchfull care.

The City of Ottawa at present stands almost alone among the cities of any size in Canada, in not affording an opportunity to those desiring to acquire a knowledge of the proper nursing of the sick ; and until within the last few weeks no effort has been made to establish in Ottawa a school to train women in this much needed branch of education.

On June 17, 1890, the Certificate of Incorporation under the Act respecting Benevolent, Provident and other Societies, chapter 172 of the Revised Statutes of Ontario, 1887 for the Society of The Lady Stanley institute for Trained Nurses was examined and certified by William Aird Ross, Judge of the County Court of the County of Carleton of the Province of Ontario.

It was filed on the same day by Robert Lees, Clerk of the Peace in and for the County of Carleton of the Province of Ontario.

[11] On June 21, 1890, the provisional committee handed over the work of establishing the institute to a board of directors elected by the Subscribers.

It called for tenders for the whole work of construction, and entered into contracts based upon the best offers submitted by September 11 from which time the building was erected.

On May 7, 1891, the board of trustees appointed Miss Gertrude Warren Moore as lady superintendent to the institute.

[13] The directors were expecting to receive a source of revenue for the services of the nurses sent to outside patients in private homes.