Maurice Macdonald Seymour
Encyclopedia
Dr. Maurice Macdonald Seymour M.D., C. M., D. P. H., (July 7, 1857 – January 6, 1929), Commissioner of Public Health, was a physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

 and surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...

 of the early North West Territories
Territorial evolution of Canada
The federation of Canada was created in 1867 when three colonies of British North America were united. One of these colonies split into two new provinces, three other colonies joined later...

 in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. He founded the Saskatchewan Anti-Tuberculosis League which incorporated and constructed the Fort Qu'Appelle sanitarium. Dr. Seymour established the Saskatchewan Medical Association in 1906.

Early life

Seymour was born July 7, 1857 in Goderich, Ontario
Goderich, Ontario
Goderich is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario and is the county seat of Huron County. The town was founded by William "Tiger" Dunlop in 1827. First laid out in 1828, the town is named after Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, who was British prime minister at the time. The town...

 to Captain Maurice Bain Seymour and Maria Macdonald. Captain Seymour was born in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and his Maria Macdonald in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. Captain Maurice Seymour and maria had three children.

Seymour began his secondary education be studying at the Assumption College in Sandwich, Ontario from which he graduated in 1873. In 1876 he served with Prince of Wales Rifles during the Guibord Riots in Montreal. Seymour attended McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...

, Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, graduating 1879 with a Doctor in Medicine and Master in Surgery. He continued his education at the Toronto University where he received the degree D.P.-H.

Marriage and children

In 1880, he wedded Helena Louise La Rue, at Aylmer, Quebec
Aylmer, Quebec
Aylmer is a former city in Quebec, Canada. It became a sector of the City of Gatineau on January 1, 2002. Located on the Ottawa River and Route 148 it is a part of the National Capital Region. The population in 2006 was 41 882 — approx. 16% of Gatineau...

. Together, Helena and Seymour had five children, three sons and two daughters.
His sons moved to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. Ena Isabella Seymour married Major M. A. Burbank who served in the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. Cora Muriel Seymour married Frank Dean. Mrs. Seymour died and the Doctor remarried.

Heritage

While practicing medicine in Fort Qu'Appelle, Dr. Seymour lived in a large yellow house presently located south of Saskatchewan Highway 56
Saskatchewan Highway 56
Highway 56 is a highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It runs from Highway 1 near Indian Head to Highway 210 within the Echo Valley Provincial Park. Highway 56 is about 57 km long....

 near the communities of Lebret, and Mission Lake in southern Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

. The home was later donated to Scouts Canada and served as a kitchen and meeting area in Camp Gilwell.

Physician and surgeon

Seymour was employed in Montreal for the West End Dispensary as a surgeon as well as for the Board of Health as the district surgeon. He held a position as Chief Surgeon for the Manitoba South-Western Railway. In 1881, he moved to Winnipeg and continued in general practice. He was railway surgeon for the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

 crews as they finished construction through the mountains on the Transcontinental Railway. Between 1885 and 1905, he served with the North-West Territories Medical Council. He served as both president and vice-president of the Medical Council of the Northwest Territories During the Northwest Rebellion. in 1885, Seymour assisted the 95th Battalion, Manitoba Grenadiers as surgeon.

Seymour settled at Fort Qu'Appelle
Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan
These figures do not include the substantial population living along the shores of the Fishing Lakes.-Origins:The current site is the third Fort Qu'Appelle. The first was a North West Company trading post , also in the valley but near what is now the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border...

 and practiced medicine until 1904. In 1904 he moved to Regina
Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...

, the capital city.

Seymour became the provincial Commissioner of Public Health. When the province of Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

 formed in 1905, he was placed in charge of the province's health. The health department began within the Department of Agriculture. In 1906 the Saskatchewan Medical Association was organised under his leadership. He has also been president of the Canadian Public Health Association and vice president of the American Health Association. He founded the Saskatchewan Anti-Tuberculosis League which incorporated and constructed the Fort Qu'Appelle sanitarium. He then hired Dr. R.G. Ferguson as the physician and director at the sanitorium.

He set up educational campaigns promoting hygiene. He established free clinics and dispensaries for the treatment of venereal disease. The "Seymour Plan" enabled residents to receive diphtheria
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...

 immunizations in September and October, smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...

 immunizations during November and December, and typhoid immunizations in January and February.

Death and afterward

Dr. Seymour died January 6, 1929 in Regina
Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...

, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

.

Philosophical and/or political views

Seymour declined to serve in the political arena so he could devote his time to the medical field. His family were all Roman Catholic.

Awards

For service during the Northwest Rebellion, Seymour received the Northwest Rebellion medal. The Fellowship of the Royal Institute of Public Health from England was conferred upon him in 1920. During the same year he was also declared fellow of the American Public Health Association. Seymour was chosen to represent Canada at the Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

health conference along with eighteen other representatives of other countries.
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