In 1892, medical missionary Dr. Wilfred T. Grenfell visited
Newfoundland and Labrador aboard the medical ship, the Albert, to
investigate reports of inadequate medical conditions among fishermen on
the Labrador. Grenfell travelled as far north as Hopedale and treated 900
patients. The following year, he established the first mission hospital at
Battle Harbour, Labrador. This was rapidly followed by the acquisition of
medical steamers to serve both the settler and fishing populations, the
establishment of hospitals, nursing stations and schools on the Northern
Peninsula and the Canadian Labrador, and the opening of an orphanage. The
Grenfell mission expanded beyond medical work to encompass social welfare
and community development programmes.
Grenfell was an enthusiastic and vibrant man, who combined a passion
for social reform with an intense enjoyment of life. As well as a doctor
and surgeon, he was a preacher, photographer, Justice of the Peace,
seaman, cartographer, writer, lecturer and artist. He conducted religious
services on the Labrador, served as a magistrate for the Newfoundland
government, raised funds through lecture tours, frequently utilizing
his own photographs, and published extensively on northern Newfoundland
and Labrador, including works illustrated with his own whimsical drawings. Grenfell
became a figure of international stature, whose popularity was enhanced by
an widely-publicised incident in 1908, in which Grenfell survived a night
on drifting ice.
Grenfell was the recipient of many awards, including an Honourary
Doctorate in Medicine from Oxford (1907), the Murchison Prize from the
Royal Geographical Society (1911) for his cartographic work, and a
knighthood (1927).
For a biographical sketch and description of records, see Wilfred
Grenfell fonds
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