Matheson, Jean (1874-1938)

Jean Matheson epitomizes the dedicated career nurse of the early twentieth century, especially with her work caring for tuberculosis patients.  She graduated from Winnipeg General Hospital in 1899.  From 1901 to 1906 she was Matron of the Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, and in 1907 became the first matron of the new tuberculosis Sanatorium at Tranquille, which she helped make one of the premier provincial tuberculosis hospitals in Canada.

She signed on as a Nursing Sister during World War I with the No. 5 Canadian General Hospital at Salonika (Greece), and later England.  For her wartime service she received the Mons Medal, the Victory Medal, the Royal Red Cross and the King George Jubilee Medal.  She became Matron of Shaughnessy Military Hospital after the war; many of the returning veterans suffered from tuberculosis and respiratory disorders related to gas warfare. She worked there until her retirement in 1938.

In 1946 a new building at Shaughnessy, built to house veterans returning from WW II with tuberculosis, was named the Jean Matheson Pavilion in her honour.

Contents of Biographical File

  1. Nomination to the CNA Memorial Book.
  2. Information related to Jean Matheson and the former Jean Matheson pavilion, Shaughnessy site.  Compiled by Glennis Zilm, ca. 2007.
  3. Information for Parks Canada Sites and Monuments Board relating to the nomination of Jean Matheson as a person of national historic significance.  Compiled by Glennis   Zilm, ca. 2007.
  4. “Jean Matheson” from Glennis Zilm and Ethel Warbinek, “TB Nurses in BC 1895-1960:  A Biographical Dictionary”: White Rock, 2006.
  5. MATHESON .The Canadian Nurse. (1936), 34, (6).p.314.
  6. Photograph with Archives Deed of Gift form
  7. Photograph
  8. Application for Examination and Certificate as a Registered Nurse. – 1921. Photocopied.
  9. Letter to Glennis Zilm (2009) and excerpts from minutes of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (2008).
  10. Correspondence concerning the National Historic Board’s decision not to recommend  Jean Matheson as a person of national historic significance.
  11. Correspondence re Jean Matheson portrait. — 2009
  12. Obituary from The Canadian Nurse, 34, No. 6 (1938).
  13. Other obituaries