William Grigor

William Grigor was born in 1798 in Elgin, Morayshire, Scotland.

Grigor received his early education in Scotland. He studied medicine and attended lectures at the University of Edinburgh Medical School from 1814 to 1816. In 1817, he earned his qualification from the Royal College of Surgeons upon passing an exam in Edinburgh.{{cite web|url=https://reports.cpsns.ca/2023-annual-report/#history|title=2023 Annual Report: Medical History Vignette - Dr. William Grigor a Pioneer in Medical Care for Nova Scotians|website=reports.cpsns.ca|access-date=2025-03-15}} He obtained his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Edinburgh in 1819.

After his studies, Grigor emigrated to the Colony of Nova Scotia, practicing in Antigonish and Truro for a few years before establishing a medical practice in Halifax in 1824.{{cite web|url=https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/grigor_william_8E.html|title=GRIGOR, WILLIAM - Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 8|website=biographi.ca|access-date=2025-03-12|year=1985|author=Colin D. Howell|publisher=University of Toronto/Université Laval

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He worked without pay as assistant to Charles Wentworth Wallace, the port of Halifax's health officer, from 1827 to 1832. To address the impact of the 1827 Halifax Smallpox Epidemic, Dr. Grigor and Dr. John Sterling founded a medical dispensary, publicized in the Acadian Recorder on 7 November 1829, to aid the poor with healthcare and medicine.{{cite web|url=https://library2.smu.ca/bitstream/handle/01/28280/Scarring%20the%20Landscape%20The%201827%20Halifax%20Smallpox%20Epidemic.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|title=Scarring the Landscape: The 1827 Halifax Smallpox Epidemic|website=library2.smu.ca|access-date=2025-03-15|author=Logan Robertson}} The doctors Grigor and Sterling started the Halifax Visiting Dispensary in a small house on Granville Street.{{cite web|url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Publications_of_the_Public_Archives_of_N/7zAzAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=william%20grigor%20halifax|title=Publications of the Public Archives of Nova Scotia|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-03-15|date=1949|publisher=Imperial Publishing Company}}

Dr. William Grigor joined multiple organizations aimed at social progress and served as an early advocate and inaugural president of the Halifax Mechanics' Institute upon its creation in 1831. The doctor led the meeting on 27 December 1831, guiding discussions on the establishment of a mechanics' institute. The gathering, announced in the Acadian Recorder on 24 December, resulted in the overwhelming approval of the institute.{{cite web|url=https://archives.novascotia.ca/mechanics/archives/?ID=7|title=Nova Scotia Archives: Halifax Mechanics' Institute - Journal of the Halifax Mechanics' Institute|website=archives.novascotia.ca|access-date=2025-03-15}} As the first president, he worked alongside vice presidents John Leander Starr and Joseph Howe. He held the position until 23 December 1833.{{cite web|url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Bulletin_of_the_Public_Archives_of_Nova/QDPoAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=william%20grigor%20scotia|title=Bulletin of the Public Archives of Nova Scotia|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-03-15|date=1960|publisher=Public Archives of Nova Scotia}} Nova Scotia painter William Valentine presented Dr. Grigor's portrait to the Halifax Mechanics' Institute in 1832.{{cite web|url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Collections_of_the_Nova_Scotia_Historica/a1MzAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Painting+william+grigor&dq=Painting+william+grigor&printsec=frontcover|title=Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society Volume 18|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-03-15|date=1914|publisher=Nova Scotia Historical Society}} During the 1830s, Dr. Grigor delivered multiple lectures on art at the institute, most notably his 1836 lecture, A Philosophical View of Painting.{{cite web|url=https://www.racar-racar.com/uploads/5/7/7/4/57749791/_racar_8_2_02_burant.pdf|title=Art in Halifax: Exhibitions and Criticism in 1830 and 1831|website=racar-racar.com|access-date=2025-03-15|author=Jim Burant}} He delivered a course of lectures on phrenology in November 1840.{{cite web|url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/The_Phrenological_Journal_and_Magazine_o/8GQ-AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0|title=The Phrenological Journal, and Magazine of Moral Science|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-03-15|date=1840|publisher=Machlachlan, Stewart & Company}}

The Halifax doctor was a personal physician to politician Joseph Howe.{{cite web|url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/The_Diary_of_Sarah_Clinch/4coRAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=william%20grigor%20halifax|title=The diary of Sarah Clinch : a spirited socialite in Victorian Nova Scotia|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-03-15|date=2001|publisher=Nimbus}} He was also a part of Howe's literary circle, the Club.{{cite web|url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Halifax/uR26UAqtz78C?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=doctor%20william%20grigor|title=Halifax: A Literary Portrait|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-03-15|date=1990|publisher=Pottersfield Press}}

In September 1848, he was one of seven board members who were appointed to the Board of Dalhousie College.{{cite web|url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Lives_of_Dalhousie_University/hv3qDlc6jW8C?hl=en&gbpv=0|title=The lives of Dalhousie University|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-03-15|date=1994|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press}}

Alongside his large private practice and dispensary work, Dr. Grigor worked as Halifax County coroner from 1848 to 1857. His service spanned the administrations of Lieutenant Governor John Harvey and later Maj. Gen. John Gaspard Le Marchant.{{cite web|url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Thom_s_Irish_almanac_and_official_direct/BXc9AAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0|title=Thom's Irish almanac and official directory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: 1857|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-03-15|date=1857|publisher=Thom}}

On 21 February 1849, Sir John Harvey had appointed Grigor to a seat in the Legislative Council of Nova Scotia. By 1853, he was serving on the council presided over by Hon. Michael Tobin (grandfather of Stephen Tobin).{{cite web|url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Scobie_s_Canadian_Almanac_and_Repository/hLINAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0|title=Scobie's Canadian Almanac, and Repository of Useful Knowledge|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-03-15|date=1853|publisher=Hugh Scobie}}

Dr. Grigor was elected president of the Halifax Medical Society (later Nova Scotia Medical Society) on 5 October 1854.

He married Catherine Louisa Forman on 14 April 1827.{{cite web|url=https://archives.novascotia.ca/vital-statistics/marriage/?ID=5125|title=Nova Scotia Births, Marriages, and Deaths: William Gregor and Catharine L. Foreman married on 14 April 1827 at Halifax County|website=archives.novascotia.ca|access-date=2025-03-16|year=1827}} Catherine was the daughter of Halifax merchant James Pringle Forman. They had a son named John Henry Grigor.{{cite web|url=https://htnsarchived.ca/pdf_Griffin/2002/Griffin-Vol27.2-Jun2002.pdf|title=Door of Annapolis Royal's historic Sinclair Inn opens on 300 ...|website=htnsarchived.ca|access-date=2025-03-15|year=2002}}

William Grigor died on 24 November 1857 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Doctors Nova Scotia established the 'Dr. William Grigor Award' to honor the 19th-century physician. It recognizes physicians under 50 for their impact on Nova Scotians' health.{{cite web|url=https://doctorsns.com/news-events/annual-conference/achievement-awards/categories|title=Achievement awards - Award categories|website=doctorsns.com|access-date=2025-03-15}}

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Category:1798 births

Category:1857 deaths

Category:People from Elgin, Moray

Category:Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Nova Scotia

Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh

Category:19th-century Canadian physicians

Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Medical School

Category:Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh