Midwife.
Born at Little Burn, Devonshire, England on 17 September 1884, one of fourteen children, at the age of nine she began work as a domestic servant. When England abolished child labour in 1900, she went back to school, and took a three-year nurse’s training, specializing in midwifery. In 1906, she married William F. Flay (1877-1965) with whom she had two children.
In 1913, her husband immigrated to Manitoba and found work with Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1916, she followed him to Deloraine with their children. She worked as midwife in Canada from 1916 to 1933. She stayed with the women she was tending for ten days and often did not get paid for her work. Eventually the doctors requested her presence with women in need, and made sure that she got paid through the municipality. She also worked in a nursing home for mothers at Clearwater.
She died at Brandon on 22 September 1985 and was buried in the Hartney Riverside Cemetery.
Voices of Yesteryear [Audiocassette], 1982. Westman Oral History Collection by the Westman Oral History Association (Effie McPhail, Chair). S. J. McKee Archives.
Obituary, Brandon Sun, 24 September 1985, page 20.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Darryl Toews for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Angela Graham and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 29 February 2024
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