Medical Personnel

Was your ancestor a doctor, nurse, coroner or other type of medical worker? Find out what resources might be available relating to their employment.

• Resources at Library and Archives Canada
• External links to other institutions
• Other resources
• Published sources

Resources at Library and Archives Canada

Pre-Confederation sources

Library and Archives Canada holds the following series relating to medical licences and applications made before 1867. Some of these records are indexed on David Crawford's website.  See Other resources.

• Applications for Medical Licences from 1788 to 1848 in Quebec, Lower Canada, Canada East (RG 4 B28)

  These records are arranged by date; they are not indexed by name. They are available on the following two microfilm reels, which are digitized on Héritage:

  RG 4 B28, volume 47, 1788 to 1811, pages 1 to 296, microfilm H-1733

  RG 4 B28, volume 48, 1811 to 1816, pages 297 to 557, microfilm H-1733

  RG 4 B28, volume 49, 1817 to 1821, pages 558 to 860, microfilm H-1733

  RG 4 B28, volume 50, 1822 to 1826, pages 861 to 1132, microfilm H-1733

  RG 4 B28, volume 51, 1826 to 1829, pages 1133 to 1421, microfilm H-1733 and H-1734

  RG 4 B28, volume 52, 1830 to 1834, pages 1422 to 1696, microfilm H-1734

  RG 4 B28, volume 53, 1834 to 1837, pages 1697 to 1930, microfilm H-1734

  RG 4 B28, volume 54, 1837 to 1848, pages 1931 to 2082, microfilm H-1734

• Court of Quarter Sessions from 1818 to 1841 in Quebec (MG8-B10, volume 1)

  Court of Quarter Sessions from 1818 to 1841 in Quebec (MG8-B10, volume 1)

  These records are typed transcripts of authorizations for licences to practice medicine in the Province of Lower Canada (Quebec). Some are transcripts of "a true copy" dated 1826, 1827, 1831, 1832 or 1837.  The applicants lived in Quebec City. The licences are in English.

  The following list provides the names and page numbers, which you will need if you want to order a copy. The records are not on microfilm or online.

  ...

  Name	Type of licence (as written in the document)	Year	Page number(s)
  Blanchet, John	Surgeon	1820	1
  Bowles, Joseph	Chymist, Druggist and Apothicary	1837	24 and 25
  Brent, James	Apothecary and Druggist	1829	15 and 16
  Christie, Robert Andre	Physician, Surgeon and Manmidwife	1837	25 and 26
  Fortier, Octave C.	Physic and Surgery	1830	17 and 18
  Hall, John Lilly	Physic, Surgery and Midwifery	1839	26, 27 and 28
  Lyons, William	Physic and Surgery	1831	12, 13 and 14
  Marsden, William	Physic and Surgery	1830	14 and 15
  Martin, Francis Joseph	Physic, Surgery and Midwifery	1827	11 and 12
  Martin, Vincent	Physic, Surgery and Midwifery	1832	23 and 24
  Michaud, Alexis Thomas	Physician, Surgeon and Manmidwife	1833	22 and 23
  Murray, Francis	Medecine, Surgery and Midwifery	1825	7 and 8
  Nault, Jean Zephirin	Physician, Surgeon and Manmidwife	1835	18 and 19
  Parent, Joseph	Medecine and Surgery	1820	9 and 10
  Perrault, Charles N.	Doctor in Medecine	1818	3
  Poole, Charles	Physician, Surgeon and Manmidwife	1835	20 and 21
  Reece, William	Physic and Surgery	1823	2
  Roberts, George	Physic, Surgery and Midwifery	1823	10 and 11
  Rowler, John	Surgeon	1819	8 and 9
  Scott, Montague	Physician, Surgeon and Manmidwife	1836	21 and 22
  Seguin, François Jacques	Physic and Surgery	1822	16 and 17
  Sims, Lindsay	Ship's Surgeon HMS MUTINE	1826	5 and 6
  Tessier, François-Xavier	Physic and Surgery	1826	4
  Whitelaw, John	Physic and Surgery	1826	6 and 7
  Wolff, James Fitzgerald	Physic, Surgery and Midwifery	1841	28 and 29

• Medical Board Certificates and Reports, Upper Canada (Ontario), 1819 to 1854 (RG 5 B9)

  These records have been indexed by name in the General Index. If you find a reference, it will give the page number(s). The following list provides the corresponding volume number, which you will need if you want to order a copy. The actual records are not on microfilm or online.

  RG 5 B9, volume 61, 1819 to 1828, pages 1 to 226

  RG 5 B9, volume 62, 1829 to 1834, pages 227 to 605

  RG 5 B9, volume 63, 1835 to 1846, pages 606 to 941

  RG 5 B9, volume 64, 1846 to 1848, pages 942 to 1006

  RG 5 B9, volume 65, 1849 to 1850, pages 1007 to 1011

  RG 5 B9, volume 66, 1851, pages 1012 to 1060

  RG 5 B9, volume 67, 1852 to 1853, pages 1061 to 1148

  RG 5 B9, volume 68, 1854, pages 1149 to 1191

• Register of Medical Licences Issued, Upper and Lower Canada (Ontario and Quebec), 1819 to 1867 (RG 68)

  This register indicates only names and the date of licences issued. The register is arranged by surname:

  RG68, Register Medical Licences, microfilm C-3947

• Registers of Licences for Surgery and Midwifery, Canada West (Ontario), 1866 to 1867 (RG 68)

  Copies of licences issued for the practice of physic surgery and midwifery. Each certificate includes name, date and place:

  RG68, Liber Canada LT, microfilm C-3908

• Register of Coroners of Upper Canada (Ontario), 1800 to 1867 (RG 68)

  Commissions granted to coroners, which indicate name, date and place. At the front of each register there is an index arranged geographically by county and city:

  RG68, Liber Canada HR, 1800 to 1866, microfilm C-3908

  RG68, Liber Canada LE, 1866 to 1867, microfilm C-3908

First World War sources

Personnel Records of the First World War (includes the files of doctors and nurses who served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force)

The Call to Duty: Canada's Nursing Sisters (includes archival resources, links and some biographies)

Other archival sources

If a doctor or other medical worker donated their personal papers to Library and Archives Canada, the collection will be described in Archives Search. Select "Textual material" to limit your search and use a name as keywords.

External links to other institutions

Each province and territory has self-regulatory bodies established by legislation to regulate and license physicians and nurses. Lists of those authorities can be found on the following websites:

• Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada: Provincial and territorial medical regulatory authorities
• Canada Nurses Association: Regulatory Bodies

Some boards and colleges have transferred their older records to the relevant Provincial or Territorial Archives.

Some university archives hold records relating to doctors and nurses who trained there. See: ArchivesCanada.ca list by name of university

Other resources

David Crawford, McGill University Librarian Emeritus, has created a website with many resources for the history of medicine in Canada. There are links to biographies, bibliographies, and histories. There is also an alphabetical list for Medical Licences issued in Ontario and Quebec prior to 1867. Visit David Crawford's website.

• Researching a Medical Ancestor
• Canadian Association for the History of Nursing: Resources
• Canadian Health Obituaries
• Famous Canadian Physicians (Archived)
• Osler Library of the History of Medicine
• Royal Canadian Medical Service Association
• Royal College of Physicians: Lives of the Fellows (Munks Roll) (includes some Canadian obituaries)

Published sources

• American medical biographies, by Howard A. Kelly, 1920 (includes Canada)
• Canadian Directories Collection
• Dictionary of American medical biography: lives of eminent physicians of the United States and Canada, from the earliest times, by Howard A. Kelly and Walter L. Burrage, 1928, reprint edition 1971 (AMICUS 62796)
• Dictionary of Canadian Biography
• Four centuries of medical history in Canada and a sketch of the medical history of Newfoundland, Volume 1, by John J. Heagerty, 1928.
• Four centuries of medical history in Canada and a sketch of the medical history of Newfoundland, Volume 2, by John J. Heagerty, 1928.
• Polk's dental register and directory of the United States and Canada (various editions)
• Polk's medical register and directory of North America (various editions)
• The indomitable lady doctors, by Carlotta Hacker and Federation of Medical Women of Canada, 2001. (AMICUS 25711153)
• The medical profession in Upper Canada, 1783-1850: an historical narrative with original documents relating to the profession, including some brief biographies, by William Canniff, 1894

You can use Library Search to find biographies of individuals. Use subject keywords such as medicine, biographies, physicians and a name or place.