Nurse Myra Bennett came from London to Newfoundland in 1922 on a two-year contract making $900 per year. She would come to be known as ‘the nurse’ all along the coast of the province.
Born in London in 1890, when Myra came to Canada she had intended to head to Saskatcewan, but she recognized a dire need for her services in rural Newfoundland. She also came to be known as Nurse Bennett of the Outports.
Myra knew her services were needed across the pond when she came to Canada but she didn’t expect to fall in love.
She met her husband Angus Bennett and they moved into the house he build in Daniel’s Harbour – a house that is still famous today and can be visited by the public.
The house of Nurse Bennett became known throughout the community and was a steeple of hope and health. Daniel’s Harbour was an isolated community and it was hard to access, but the nearest hospital was all the way out in St. Anthony. This made Nurse Bennett a sought after source for those across the north and Bonne Bay.
It is said that she delivered 5,000 babies and extracted 3,000 teeth all while raising a family of three children. She once saved her brother-in-law’s foot after it was caught in a sawmill.

The House of Nurse Bennett was recognized as a registered heritage structure representing outport nursing in rural Newfoundland throughout history.
The house became part of Nurse Bennett’s practice. One of the upstairs bedrooms was used for patients, and the staircase was designed to accommodate the movement of patients. A light was left on at the top of the stairs in case the nurse had to come to her patients in the middle of the night.
Sources: Heritage Newfoundland
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