Search for "New France"

Dominique François Gaspard, physician and community builder (born 22 December 1884 in New Orleans, Louisiana; died 6 February 1938 in Montreal, QC). Gaspard was a respected doctor and a trailblazer in Montreal’s Black district. After serving with distinction at a field hospital during the First World War, he devoted himself to medical practice in Montreal. He also worked to create social and intellectual outlets for Black men in the city. A bilingual Catholic, he was unique in the city’s early-20th-century anglophone  Protestant Black community. His story speaks of a complexity of language, ethnicity and migration not often explored in narratives of Quebec’s English-speaking and Black communities.

Philippe Roy, physician, diplomat (b at St-François, Qué 1 Feb 1868; d at Ottawa 10 Dec 1948). Educated at Laval, Roy practised medicine in Québec C, and after 1897 in and around Edmonton, where he worked to promote the interests of the FRENCH IN THE WEST.

John Stanley Rowe, botanist, ecologist (b at Hardisty, Alta 11 Jun 1918; d at New Denver, BC 6 Apr 2004). Educated at the universities of Alberta, Nebraska and Manitoba, J.

Robert Foulis, inventor, civil engineer, painter (born 5 May 1796 in Glasgow, Scotland; died 26 January 1866 in Saint John, NB). Robert Foulis is known as the inventor of the world’s first steam-operated fog alarm, which was installed on Partridge Island in 1859. While Foulis never patented or even profited from his life-saving innovation, his invention assisted fogbound mariners for over a century.

François Blanchet, doctor, politician (b at St-Pierre-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud, Qué 3 Apr 1776; d at Québec City 24 June 1830). Blanchet studied in New York and Québec.

Frank Gouldsmith Speck, anthropologist (b at Brooklyn, NY 8 Nov 1881; d at Philadelphia, Pa 6 Feb 1950). He pioneered study of the Algonquian peoples of eastern Canada and New England.

Frederic Franklin Worthington, "Worthy," army officer, engineer, adventurer (b at Peterhead, Scotland 14 Sep 1889; d at Ottawa 8 Dec 1967).

Edward A. Watson, veterinarian, pathologist, researcher (b in Devon, Eng 2 Jan 1879; d at Victoria 12 Mar 1945). He came to Canada in 1896 and, with a brother, homesteaded in Saskatchewan.

Edward William Archibald, surgeon, scientist, educator (b at Montréal 5 Aug 1872; d there 17 Dec 1945).

Frederick Pursh, botanist (b Friedrich Traugott Pursch in Grossenhain, Saxony 4 Feb 1774; d at Montréal 11 July 1820). At age 25 Pursh left Dresden to try his luck in the New World.

François-Xavier Tessier, doctor, politician (b at Québec C 15 Sept 1799; d there 1835). Tessier studied in Québec City and New York and was admitted to the practice of medicine in 1823.

Ethlyn Trapp, physican, researcher (b at New Westminster, BC 18 Jul 1891; d at West Vancouver 31 Jul 1972). Ethlyn Trapp was the fourth of eight children of Thomas John Trapp and Nell Dockrill.

John Stanley Plaskett, astronomer (b at Hickson, UC 17 Nov 1865; d at Esquimalt, BC 17 Oct 1941). Born on a farm, Plaskett joined the Edison Co in Schenectady, New York, and Sherbrooke, Québec.

John Larkin Kerwin, physicist, research director (born 22 June 1924 in Québec City, Québec; died 1 May 2004 in Québec City). Kerwin joined Laval's physics department in 1946 after study at St Francis Xavier, U of T and Massachusetts Inst of Technology and, after earning his DSc at Laval, rose to become its rector in 1972.

Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye, military officer, farmer, fur trader, explorer (born at Trois-Rivières, Quebec 17 November 1685; died at Montreal 5 December 1749). The expeditions organized by La Vérendrye and spearheaded by his sons were the first to open the country from Lake Superior to the lower Saskatchewan River and the Missouri River to the French fur trade. La Vérendrye is often portrayed as emblematic of the French-Canadianvoyageur and of French Manitoba in particular.

William Francis Ganong, regional historian, cartographer, botanist, linguist (b at Carleton, NB 19 Feb 1864; d at Saint John 7 Sept 1941). A passionate lover of New Brunswick, Ganong devoted his life to its study.

Roger Yate Stanier, microbiologist, professor (b at Victoria, BC 22 Oct 1916; d at Paris, Fra 29 Jan 1982).

Joseph-Armand Bombardier, entrepreneur, inventor of the snowmobile and Ski-Doo (born 16 April 1907 in Valcourt, QC; died 18 February 1964 in Sherbrooke, QC). While Bombardier’s many inventions demonstrate his mechanical skills, his ability not only to respond to transportation needs but to create them gave rise to his namesake corporation’s record of innovation (see Bombardier Inc.).

Simon Fraser, explorer, fur trader (born 20 May 1776 in Mapletown, Hoosick Township, New York; died 18 August 1862 in St Andrews West, Canada West). Simon Fraser is best known for his exploration of the Fraser River.

Charles Lightfoot Roman, MD, CM, surgeon, author, researcher, lecturer (born 19 May 1889 in Port Elgin, ON; died 8 June 1961 in Valleyfield, QC). Charles Lightfoot Roman was one of the first Black Canadians to graduate from McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine and became a recognized expert in industrial medicine. He was also one of the first Black Canadians to enlist for service in the First World War and was the only known Black person to serve with the Canadian General Hospital No. 3 (McGill). Lightfoot Roman was also likely the first Black Grand Master of a traditional Masonic lodge.