Harriet “Hattie” Starr Stewart was born on 3 April 1862 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. She was the daughter of Rev. Charles Stewart (1827-1910) and Harriet Augusta Starr (1822-1893). She attended public school in Sackville, New Brunswick graduating in 1878. Next, she attended Mount Allison University and in 1882 became the first woman in Canada and the British Empire to receive her BA. After further study, she was also conferred with her MA in 1885. When the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was formed in New Brunswick she was a charter member. She served as an editor of the Women’s Missionary Society of the Methodist Church publication “The Palm” and for a number of years was involved with the Dominion Board of that organization. Following her sister-in-law’s death in 1917 she moved to Regina and assisted her brother, Charles David Stewart, with rearing of his children. While in Regina she was again active with Women’s Missionary Society work serving as President of the Auxiliary, Vice-President of the Saskatchewan Branch and representative to the Dominion Board. She died in Regina, Saskatchewan on 1 November 1931. She is buried in the Sackville Rural Cemetery