Staff Nurse Helen Stewart c1917. Image courtesy Robyn Talbot.
Connection to the Hunter Valley – “Helena” Stewart graduated Newcastle Hospital in 1916 (See list of graduates in A Golden Age of Nursing, Audrey Armitage.) There is a service record for Helen Stewart, whose next-of-kin was her father James Stewart, Laman St, Newcastle, consistent with the family details of Ellen Stewart. There is photographic evidence of Helen in Newcastle Hospital uniform so it can be concluded that Helen and Helena are the same person. See comment below from the granddaughter of Helen [Ellen] Stewart. As the forename Helen is used in army records she is listed on this website under that name.
Australian nurses and soldiers in Egypt late 1917, with guides. L-R SN Vesta May Rayson, unidentified male, SN Aimee Christine Michie, Nurse Walker, unidentified male, SN Helen Stewart, Nurse Moore, unidentified male, SN Mary Ellen Briggs, unidentified male. Image courtesy Robyn Talbot. Click on image to enlarge.
The service record for Staff Nurse Helen Stewart shows the following:
Service – Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS)
Service location – Egypt and transport duty ex-Malta to Australia
Medals, awards and mentions – British War Medal and Victory Medal
Further information
Registered under the birth name “Ellen” – the service record for Helen Stewart is consistent with the date and place of birth, and the parents’ names of Ellen Stewart.
Helen Stewart married Norbert Lawler in 1920 (NSW Register of Marriages, reference number 17898/1920
References:
National Archives of Australia B2455 STEWART H (Official records refer to Staff Nurse Stewart as Helen)
Nominal Roll of the First AIF Australian War Memorial (AWM) AWM133, 50-017
Embarkation Roll of the First AIF AWM Nurses (July 1915 – November 1918)
Australasian Nurses’ Journal, Vol XIV No 1 January 1916
Audrey Armitage, A Golden Age of Nursing, Royal Newcastle Hospital Graduates’ Association Book Committee, Newcastle, 1991
Do you know more?
© Christine Bramble 2013
Great War Nurses from the Hunter 
Helen (a) Stewart was my grandmother and died on the 30 Jan 1961 Randwick NSW
Her birth name was Ellen (n/a Nell) – but reasons unknown signed on as Helen in her own handwriting.
Thanks, Robyn. I’ll update the entry. Regards, Christine