Evangeline Lydia EmsleyARRC (March 1885 – February 21, 1967), sometimes written asLydia Evangeline Emsley, was a Canadian nurse who was decorated for her service as a member of theRoyal Canadian Army Medical Corps duringWorld War I.
Evangeline Emsley was born inLindsay, Ontario, the daughter of Rev. William Henry Emsley and Susan A. Major Emsley. Her father was a Methodist pastor and military chaplain fromBarnsley, inYorkshire.[1] She trained as a nurse atColumbia Hospital inWashington, D.C., graduating in 1909.[2][3]
Emsley was appointed Superintendent of Nurses at Kingston General Hospital in Ontario in 1912.[4] She joined the Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1915.[5] In England, she worked as night supervisor at theDuchess of Connaught's Canadian Red Cross Hospital inTaplow. She was sent to a base hospital inBoulogne.[2] In KingGeorge V's1919 Birthday Honours, she was awarded aRoyal Red Cross, second class, for her service during the war.[6] After she returned to Canada in 1919, she resumed a civilian nursing career, working for the health department inOshawa in 1929.[7]
In 1931, Emsley married Frederick James Donevan (1880-1948), a widowed doctor who had also served in the Canadian Army Medical Corps in France and England.[8] They lived inOshawa with his daughter Constance Marie Donevan, who also became a nurse.[9][10]
