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Create AccountHerbert Cyril Thacker, army officer (b at Poona, India 16 Sept 1870; d at Victoria 2 June 1953). Thacker, briefly chief of the general staff in 1927-28, was commissioned in the Royal Canadian Artillery in 1891.
Sir Frederick William Borden, physician, merchant, politician (b at Upper Canard, NS 14 May 1847; d at Canning, NS 6 Jan 1917). As minister of militia and defence 1896-1911, he reorganized the Canadian Militia. Borden represented King's County as a Liberal 1874-1911, except for 1882-87.
The young man from the craggy island in the North is laying siege to the skyscrapered island to the south. He is set on conquering this fabled place where showbiz dreams can come true, or be dashed, in a New York minute.
The Children of Peace. A religious sect active in the area of Sharon (known as Hope until the 1860s but from the 1840s mainly as Sharon), south of Lake Simcoe, Ont, from the second to the ninth decade of the 19th century.
William Morton. Tenor, teacher, b Deloraine, south of Brandon, Man, 27 Sep 1912. First trained as a violinist - he played in a dance orchestra at 13 - Morton studied voice in Regina with Alicia Birkett and in 1933 made his radio debut on CKCK.
Paul Hahn. Cellist, businessman, b Reutlingen, south of Stuttgart, 11 May 1875, d Balsam Lake, Ont, 20 Jul 1962. Paul Hahn arrived in Canada in 1888 and settled in Toronto. His cello teachers included Rudolph Ruth in Toronto and Alwin Schroeder in Boston.
It has been said that Canadians don’t tell our own stories or celebrate our own myths. Our history is full of epics considered “too small to be tragic,” as The Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie once sang.
John Neilson, newspaperman, publisher, editor, politician (born 17 July 1776 in Balmaghie, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland; died 1 February 1848 in Québec City, Canada East). A staunch moderate, John Neilson supported a greater balance of power in the colony. Sympathetic to French-Canadians, he was a deputy with the Parti canadien in the Legislative Assembly – which later became the Parti patriote – and broke away when the party radicalized in the 1830s. Though he opposed the party’s republican and nationalist policies, Neilson continued to fight for French-Canadians, heavily condemning the Union of the Canadas in 1841.
Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, governor general of Canada from 1872 to 1878 (born 21 June 1826 in Florence, Italy; died 12 February 1902 in Bangor, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom). Dufferin and his wife, Lady Dufferin, were the first viceregal couple since Confederation to become prominent figures in Canadian society, touring all provinces and meeting with Canadians from a wide variety of regions and social backgrounds. Dufferin set key precedents for future governors general with his extensive travel and granting of academic and athletic honours to Canadians.
Jan Cherniavsky. Pianist, b Uman, Ukraine, 25 Jun 1892, naturalized Canadian 1922, d Vancouver 8 Jan 1989.
Hugh Graham, Baron Atholstan, newspaper publisher (b at Atholstan, Canada E 18 July 1848; d at Montréal 28 Jan 1938). In 1863 Graham went to work on the Montréal Daily Telegraph and by 1869 became a partner in the new evening paper, the Star.
Carla Qualtrough, politician, athlete, lawyer (born 15 October 1971 in Calgary, AB). Carla Qualtrough is the Liberal member of Parliament for Delta, a suburban constituency south of Vancouver. She has served as Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities and is currently Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility. Prior to entering politics, she worked in human rights law and in sports administration. Qualtrough, who is legally blind, was the first Paralympian elected to the House of Commons. She won three bronze medals in swimming at the Paralympic Games and four medals at the world championships.
The most controversial and un-Canadian member of the Group of Seven finally gets his wish
Roland “Rolly” Gravel served as a gunner with The Fusiliers Mont-Royal regiment during the Second World War. He was among the 6,000 troops who landed at the coastal port of Dieppe, France, on 19 August 1942. The attack was a disaster, and Gravel was taken prisoner. Learn all about the hardships Gravel faced as prisoner of war.
Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.
Mortifee, Ann. Composer, singer, actress, b Durban, South Africa, 30 Nov 1947, naturalized Canadian 1961; BA (British Columbia) 1968. While studying English 1964-8 at the University of British Columbia, she began her career as a folk and blues singer-guitarist at the Bunkhouse.
Zoe Whittall, novelist, poet, journalist (b at South Durham, Que 16 Feb 1976). After growing up on a sheep farm in the rural Eastern Townships of Québec, Zoe Whittall moved to Montréal at age 18 to attend Dawson College and begin her writing career.
Nicolas Dickner, writer (b at Rivière-du-Loup, Qué 1972). After studies in literature and the visual arts, Nicolas Dickner found himself travelling in South America, where he held diverse positions in the not-for-profit sector (Dominican Republic), and as a website designer (Peru).
Kornelius (Herman) Neufeld. Choir conductor, educator, administrator, composer, b Nikolajewa, south Russia, 10 Dec 1892, d Winkler, Man, 14 Jan 1957. As a youth he studied voice at the Moscow Cons and with Max Pohl in Berlin and sang in Moscow's Simin Opera Chorus.
Margaret Visser, classicist, social anthropologist, writer (b 1940 in South Africa). Margaret Visser grew up in Africa, attending boarding school in the British colony of Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). She went on to study at the Sorbonne, in Paris, before moving to Canada in 1964.
