Bibliography of Canadian health sciences periodicals: 1826-1980

This bibliography is based, with their permission and the permission of the publishers, Associated Medical Services, on the Annotated bibliography of Canadian medical periodicals, 1826-1975 by Charles Roland and Paul Potter.The original book, published in 1979, has been extensively revised, expanded and updated and information on titles on nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, chiropractic and other health disciplines has been added. 

Bibliography of histories of Canadian hospitals and schools of nursing: 1751-2024

This bibliography, attempts to list all separately published histories of Canadian hospitals, schools of nursing and faculties of medicine published between 1751 and 2024.

McGill Medical Graduates 1833-1877 and their theses

Between 1833 and 1877 all McGill University medical graduates were required to write a thesis before graduating. Though a few were published separately, almost all of them no longer exist but a list of their titles and the "home town" of the graduates has been compiled.

A separate listing on McGill's honorary and ad eundem medical graduates from 1843-1906 is available as an article in the Osler Library Newsletter.

Medical Licences issued in Ontario and Quebéc prior to 1867

There are various lists and files of early medical registrations in Canada East / Lower Canada and Canada West / Upper Canada (what are now called Ontario and Québec). None of the various lists appear to be complete and most are hard to search as the alphabetization and the spelling of names is 'idiosyncratic'. This Excel / pdf file, which is in A-Z order, attempts to list all medical registrants in one alphabetic sequence.

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George Edward Bomberry, MD CM (1849-1879)

Bomberry was a hereditary chief of the Cayuga (Gayogohó:nợ); he was born on the Tuscarora Reserve on April 14th, 1849 and enrolled at the McGill medical faculty in 1872. He was the first indigenous person to receive a degree from McGill University when he was awarded an MD CM degree in 1875 - his graduation thesis was on Delirium Tremens. He was licenced to practice medicine in Ontario in 1877 and died, of tuberculosis, in 1879. A short biography of him was published in the Osler Library Newsletter, No. 136, Summer 2022. This article was reprinted in McGill's Health e-News in June 2023.

Bibliotheca Osleriana  - the catalogue of Sir William Osler's library

This is a reproduction (pdf files) of the editorial content of the printed Bibliotheca Osleriana and contains a list of Bibliotheca items that are not, yet (as of 2019), listed in McGill University's online catalogue.  It does not reproduce the actual catalogue entries for the approximately 8000 items in the Bibliotheca. With the exception of the few items noted, these are all in the McGill University Library's online catalogue which is accessble via OCLC's WorldCat. McGill-Queen's University Press has issued the full Bibliotheca Osleriana as an e-book which is freely available.

Canadians who graduated in medicine from Edinburgh University 1809-1840

This is a work-in-progress, comments very welcome as additional details of "Canadians" are unearthed. The work, as of May 2013, was published in the Osler Library Newsletter # 118 . An addendum to this printed list appeared in the Osler Library Newsletter #120, Spring 2014; additional updates will appear only on this website.

Canadians who graduated in medicine from Edinburgh University 1841-1868

This is a work-in-progress that brings the earlier listing up to 1868. Publication is not anticipated but corrections, additions and comments are very welcome and will be added to the online version.

Margaret Ridley Charlton - pioneer medical librarian

Miss Charlton was the first trained librarian to work at the McGill University Medical Library, where she was the Assistant Librarian from 1895-1914. In 1898 she was one of the founders of the Association of Medical Librarians (which became the Medical Library Association in 1907).  She was recognized as a 'person of national historic significance" by the Government of Canada and the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada in 2003. On May1, 2006, the 75th anniversary of her death, an official  "historic person" plaque in her honour was unveiled; it was finally erected outside McGill University's McIntyre Medical Sciences Building in 2012. A biography of her is being prepared for the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.

Canadian Osteopath

In 1900 the American-trained osteopath Arthur S. Burgess, who also founded the Dominion Institute of Osteopathy and the Dominion College and Infirmary of Osteopathy in Montréal, published the first, and only, issue of a journal, the Canadian Osteopath. A short article on this journal appeared in the Osler Library Newsletter No 113 in spring 2010.

Langer Carey

While researching an article on recipients of McGill's honorary MD degrees the name Auger Carey came up, he is listed in many sources as having received an ad eundem MD in 1864. After some research it turns out that this degree was actually awarded to Langer Carey, a (British) Royal Artillery medical officer, then serving in Montréal. It is still not clear why McGill gave him this quite rare honour. Osler Library Newsletter, 2015 No. 122.

China Medical University

A brief history of the China Medical University (CMU) in Shenyang, China and its links with McGill University and the Crawford family. David Crawford is an Honorary Research Librarian at CMU.

Agatha R. Crawford

Agatha Randal Crawford was an Irish doctor and teacher who worked in Mukden (Shenyang) China from 1945-1949. Her letters home from this period have been digitised and are available, along with some additional information on her life and her time in China.

George Duncan Gibb

A short online article on the life and work of George Duncan Gibb (MD, McGill, 1846 was published on this site in 2017). In 2019 a slightly edited version of this article plus a useful description of his Lectures and Casebooks was published in the Osler Library Newsletter.

Joseph Godin

Joseph C.E. Godin was the McGill Medical Graduate Who Wasn't. A brief biographical sketch of Godin was published in Osler Library Newsletter No.124, 2016.

Pierre De Sales Laterrière

Pierre de Sales Laterrière was the first Canadian to receive a medical degree from Harvard University, in 1789. His life is probably more interesting than his thesis and a short article on both his life and his thesis - a copy of which is held in the Osler Library - was published in the Osler Library Newsletter. No 111, 2009, pp 1-11.

William Leslie Logie

William Leslie Logie was McGill University's first graduate and the first medical graduate in Canada: he graduated in May 1833. A brief article about his life and the difficulty he had receiving a licence to practice in Lower Canada (Quebec) appeared in the Osler Library Newsletter No. 109, May 2008, pp. 1-7. The legal documents involved in Logie's 1833-34 court case concerning his application for a medical licence in Lower Canada are reprinted in the Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, v. 3, 1843. pp154+

Medical Canadiana

At the request of Canadiana, a short article on the history of Canadian medical journal publishing and Canadiana's current digitization project was prepared for their Bulletin. English language and French language versions were published. A similar article was written for the Osler Library Newsletter in 2012. (#116)

Medical Library Association of Great Britain and Ireland 

A short article on this short-lived Association (whose first and only President was William Osler) appeared in the December 2004 issue of Health Information and Libraries - the official journal of the Health Libraries Group of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. (2004, Vol. 21,  pp. 266-268). The published Proceedings of the  first Annual Meeting of this short-lived Association are difficult to find; they are reproduced here.

Medical Phonography.

Also known as "medical shorthand", was a movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A short article on the Society of Medical Phonographers - it existed in the United Kingdom from 1894-1912. - was published in the Osler Library Newsletter #115 Spring 2011.

Mukden Medical College

Mukden Medical College, founded in 1911 in Mukden (now Shenyang) China, was absorbed by the China Medical University in 1949. A history of  the College was published, in two parts, in the Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.   Vol. 36:1 (March 2006) and   Vol. 36:2  (June 2006).

Ontario Medical Library Association

The Ontario Medical Library Association was founded in 1887 and in 1907 merged into the newly created Academy of Medicine, Toronto. A short article on the background and existence of the OMLA was published in the Spring 2007 issue of the Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association. Vol. 28:2

Osler Library of the History of Medicine, McGill University

A short article on the collection of Edinburgh University medical theses at the Osler Library was published in 2004. (Osler Library Newsletter, No. 101, pp. 1-6.) The Osler Library houses one of the world's largest collection of Edinburgh University medical theses and their collection contains theses written by many students who went on to achieve fame and distinction. Several early Canadian medical theses are highlighted.

A description of the Osler Library and a guide to the services it offers - Whatever happened to William Osler's Library? - was written with Christopher Lyons, and published in 2006. Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association. Vol. 27:1, 2006. pp. 9-13 A slightly updated version of this article under the title The Osler Library of the History of Medicine: McGill’s Medical Memory appeared in the McGill Journal of Medicine MJM in 2010. (v. 13:1, 90-97).

Robert Todd Reynolds

A short article on McGill 1836 MD graduate Robert Todd Reynolds was published on this website in 2016 and in Osler Library Newsletter # 127 Winter 2017 pp 12-13.

Eric Benzel and Terence Sparham.

A brief article on the two Sparham brothers who graduated in medicine from McGill in the mid-nineteenth century. Eric Benzel Sparham was convicted of murder. Osler Library Newsletter 123, Fall 2015 pp 4-5.

Samuel John Stratford

Stratford was a physician; born in England in 1802,. He died, in New Zealand, in 1871. From 1831 to 1854 he lived in Canada (in Woodstock and Toronto) and he was the editor of the Upper Canada journal of medical, surgical and physical science for about a year just before he left the country. In 1828, when he was only 26 years old, he published a well-received textbook on ophthalmology. (A manual of the anatomy, physiology, & diseases of the eye and its appendages.) A short article on Stratford appeared in the Osler Library Newsletter, No 114 2010 pp. 4-7

James Watson

James Watson, a graduate of Edinburgh University, was the first Western medical practitioner in northeastern China; he worked in Newchwang from 1865-1884 as a member of the Medical Service of the Imperial Chinese Maritime Customs. A brief article on his life appeared in the Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. Vol.36:4, 2006. pp. 362-365

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Curriculum vitae

David Crawford was appointed McGill University's first Librarian Emeritus at his retirement in 2002 - the title was officially conferred at the University's graduation ceremony in June 2003. (David Crawford's Emeritus Certificate.) A brief bio prepared by the McGill Association of University Teachers (from 2015) is available HERE.

There is a listing of all McGill University's emeritus academic staff HERE.

He is listed in HealthWiki

Contact Information: david.crawford@mcgill.ca