Search for ""

Louis Jolliet, explorer, cartographer, king’s hydrographer, fur trader, seigneur, organist, teacher (baptized 21 September 1645 in Québec City; died between 4 May and 18 Oct 1700 likely near Île d'Anticosti).

Pehr Kalm, botanist (b in Sweden 6 Mar 1716; d in Finland 16 Nov 1779). Kalm was educated in Finland and Sweden. He met the leading European naturalist, Linnaeus, in 1741, and under his influence became an expert on botanical applications to agriculture.

Graeme Gibson, CM, writer, cultural activist, teacher (born 9 August 1934 in London, ON; died 18 September 2019 in London, England). Graeme Gibson was a noted Canadian author and conservationist. His novels Five Legs (1969), Communion (1971), Perpetual Motion (1982) and Gentleman Death (1993) were widely acclaimed. He also published the environmentally conscious The Bedside Book of Birds (2005) and The Bedside Book of Beasts (2009). A committed bird watcher, he helped found the Pelee Island Bird Observatory. He was also instrumental in forming the Writers’ Union of Canada, the Book and Periodical Development Council and the Writers’ Trust of Canada. He was a former president of PEN Canada and the longtime partner of Margaret Atwood.

Charles Gibb, horticulturist (b at Montréal 29 July 1845; d at Cairo, Egypt 8 Mar 1890). Poor health led Gibb to seek an outdoor occupation and in 1872 he established extensive orchards at Abbotsford, Qué, to study fruit culture and arboriculture, and to test plant material from abroad.

His skill in surveying and mapping had been noted, and in 1763 he was employed by the Admiralty to prepare charts of the coastline and offshore waters of Nova Scotia, at the same time that James COOK was working in Newfoundland and Samuel HOLLAND in the Gulf of St Lawrence and New England.

Joseph Beete Jukes, geologist (b near Birmingham, Eng 10 Oct 1811; d at Dublin, Ire 29 July 1869). Jukes had attended geology lectures at St John's College, Cambridge, graduating with a BA in 1836.

John McLean, fur trader, explorer (b at Dervaig, Scot 24 July 1798; d at Victoria 8 Mar 1890). In charge of Hudson's Bay Co trade at Fort Chimo [Qué] 1837-43, he searched relentlessly for an overland route to Fort Smith [North West River], on Hamilton Inlet.

In 1969 MacInnis developed an underwater contained environment in Georgian Bay and then designed a transparent non-corrodible undersea refuge.

Sir John Murray, oceanographer (b at Cobourg, Canada W 3 Mar 1841; d at Kirkliston, Scot 16 Mar 1914). At 17, Murray moved to Scotland, the ocean voyage inspiring him in his lifelong career.

Timothy Richard Parsons, biological oceanographer (b in Sri Lanka [Ceylon] 1 Nov 1932). He received his doctorate in biochemistry at McGill and worked as a research scientist in Nanaimo, BC, for 11 years, Secretariat of UNESCO, Paris, for 2 years, and professor of oceanography, UBC, 1971 to present.

Sir William Phips, adventurer, colonial governor (b near Kennebec, Maine 2 Feb 1650/51; d at London, Eng 18 Feb 1694/95).

Charles W. Peterson, agrarian editor, printer, NWT civil servant, farmer, businessman (b at Copenhagen, Den 28 June 1868; d at Calgary, 4 Feb 1944).

William Ogilvie, surveyor (born 7 April 1849 in ​Ottawa, ​ON; died 13 November 1912 in ​Winnipeg, ​MB).

William Fitzwilliam Owen, naval officer, hydrographic surveyor (b at Manchester, Eng 17 Sept 1774; d at Saint John 3 Nov 1857). He is renowned for surveying the east and west coasts of Africa in the 1820s.

Édouard-André Barnard, agronomist and journalist (b at Trois-Rivières, Qué 30 Sept 1835; d at Varennes, Qué 19 Aug 1898). An important Québec agronomist in the second half of the 19th century, Barnard had abandoned his studies early to go into trade.

James Bernard Harkin, environmentalist (b at Vankleek Hill, Ont 30 Jan 1875; d at Ottawa 27 Jan 1955).

Terence Michael Shortt, ornithologist, artist (b at Winnipeg 1 Mar 1911; d at Toronto 28 Dec 1986).

John Thoburn Williamson, geologist, diamond-mine owner (b at Montfort, Qué 10 Feb 1907; d at Mwadui, Tanganyika, E Africa 7 Jan 1958). After receiving a doctorate in geology from McGill in 1933, he began mining exploration in Northern Rhodesia [Zambia] but soon switched to Tanganyika [Tanzania].

Frederick Ernest Joseph (F. E. J.) Fry, aquatic ecologist (born 17 April 1908 in Woking, United Kingdom; died 22 May 1989).