Worthington Family Fonds
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The Osler Library of the History of Medicine McGill University, Montreal Canada Osler Library Archive Collections P135 WORTHINGTON FAMILY FONDS PARTIAL INVENTORY LIST This is a guide to one of the collections held by the Osler Library of the History of Medicine, McGill University. Visit the Osler Library Archive Collections homepage for more information P135 Name: Worthington Family fonds Dates: ca 1833-1944. Extent: 8 cm of textual records. Biographical Sketch : Notable members of the Worthington family of Sherbrooke, Quebec were Edward Dragge Worthington (1820-1895) and his son Arthur Norreys Worthington (1863-1912). Edward Dragge Worthington was a leading surgeon in the Eastern Townships, Quebec and the first surgeon in Canada to perform a major operation using ether as anesthetic. He served as a staff assistant surgeon in the British Army; and in the Quebec regiment of Volunteer Light Infantery in 1837-1838 in the 53rd Battalion. He was a member of the Canadian Medical Association and a governor of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Quebec. Arthur Norreys Worthington graduated from McGill in Medicine in 1886. He practiced surgery in Sherbrooke and eventually became the mayor of Sherbrooke (1901-1902) and was elected to the House of Commons in 1906. He was an officer in the volunteer movement and served with the field hospital during the Northwest Rebellion, 1885. In 1900-1902 he served with the Royal Canadian Artillery in South Africa. Custodial History: Old accession number 479. Scope and Content: A partial inventory of this collection reveals that it is largely composed of the scattered personal papers of the members of the Worthington Family, ca. 1833-1944, especially those of Edward Dragge Worthington and Arthur Norreys Worthington. The fonds also includes a few items pertaining to Edward Bruen Worthington and Asheton N. Worthington. It includes personal, business and professional correspondence; certificates, diplomas, tests, maps, sketchbooks, loose ledger sheets, testimonials, photographs and newspaper clippings. The greater part of the collection consists of the papers of Edward Dragge Worthington including correspondence related to his business affairs, medical career and family matters (1840- 1883); medical certificates and diplomas, (1840-1847); two sketchbooks, (1840?); with caricatures of John Goodsir, Alexander Munro, Robert Knox and William Robertson; testimonials (1865, 1867); a resume of his education covering 1833-1843; newspaper clippings and photographs. The papers of Arthur Norreys Worthington are primarily correspondence describing his military activities in South Africa, 1900. Source of supplied title proper: Title based on the documents in the fonds. Language: The documents are in English. Finding Aids: Inventory list available. General Note: Conservation and description of the fonds to be done. A LISTING OF THE WOR'IHINGTON FAMn.Y COLLECTION • IN THE OSLER LIBRARY ACCESSION NO.479 by Wendy McKeen Course 405-645A Graduate School of Library Science MCGill University • UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES McGILL UNIVERSITY MONTREAL, P. Q• JM41JARY 1977 • '!Legal Deposit" g • -NOTE This Listing satisfies the requirements of the Course, 405-645A but it it not a complete listing of aU the papers in the collection. Wendy MCKeen has stated that she intends to continue the listing during the Spring term. A supplement may issue. Meanwhile this partial list makes the collection readily accessible. 3.C.L. Andreassen • • INTRODUCTION The Worthington family collection is comprised of the personal papers and mementos of a prominent nineteenth century • Sherbrooke family. They center primarily around Edward Dtagge Worthington and his son Arthur Norreys although his son Edward Bruen and the other children are mentioned briefly. ~ Edward o.agge Worthington (18"-1895) was the first surgeon ,/.:tt, ,:\;t'f~i;:"- ;." ::-'" ,i in Canada to perform a capital operation using ether as an anaesthetic. In 1834 he was indentured for seven years to Dr. James Douglas of Quebec but after serving five years he accepted an appointment as a staff-assistant surgeon in the British army. Later, he spent two years in Edinburgh attending lectures and 'walking' the hospital, returning to Canada in 1848. An extensive practice in the Eastern Townships was built up and he gained the reputation of being a leading surgeon in that • 'IV • part of Canada. He was a member of the Canad.~Medical Associ- ation and one of the governors of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Quebec. Dr. Worthington was also a strong supporter of the volunteer movement and served in the Quebec regiment of Volunteer Light Infantry in 1837-38, in the 53rd Battalion since its formation and in active service in both the Fenian raids.1 Colonel Arthur Norreys Worthingon was born in Sherbrooke in 1862 and graduated in medicine at McGill College University in 1886. He became a surgeon of the Sherbrooke Protestant lRose , Geo. Maclean. A Cyclo~aedia of Canadian Biography. • (Toronto: Rose Publishing Co., 18SS) , vol. 2, pp. 456-5S • - ii - Hospital and the president of the District of St. Francis MedicaL Association. In his career as a legislator, Norreys became mayor of Sherbrooke, 1901-02 and was elected to the House ~ of Commons in 1906. In addition, he was an officer in the volunteer movement; surgeon major in 18S7 and lieutenant colonel in 1901. During the Northwest Rebellion (1885) he served with the field hospital and was present at the action at Batoche and the operations against Big Bear's band. In 1900-2, he served with the Royal Canadian Artillery in South Africa and was present at the operations in Transvaal and the actions at Lydenburg, Belfast, Orange River Colony and Faber Put. 2 Lieutenant Colonel Edward Bruen Worthington was born 1n Sherbrooke in 1860. In 1883 he took his degree of LL.B. at Bishops College University and was admitted as a nO~J public the following year. He was a senior captain in the 53rd ~ oat~alion ~f infantry.) This collection was donated to the Osler Library, McGill University by Colonel E. B. Worthington in 1944. At this time W. W. Francis (1929~1959) was the head librarian. He went through the COllection identifying documents and pictures. His notes were found to be most helpful and in most cases have been incorporated into the following description of the material. By going through the correspondence between Francis and Worthington, it was discovered that originally there had been three sketchbooks and three scrapbooks in the collection. 'Henry James Morgan, Canadian Men and Women of the time. (Toronto. William Briggs, 1912), pp. 1187. ~organ. Canadian men and women of the time. (Toronto I ~ William Briggs, 1898), pp. 1104-05. - iii- Today only two sketchbooks remain. In dealing with the scrap books, W. W. Francis either detached or cut the leaves so that ~ he could separate items dealing with the prominent members of the family. Thus, it is difficult to determine how much of the original material remains. It was possible, through the dif ferent sizes of scrapbook pages to identify at least two separate books. OrigiBally the collection had been given the accession number of 100;;. Later this was changed to its present number of 479. In 1944, when the Osler Library first received the Worthington Family collection, it was found to consist of papers, correspondence, olipping~, certificates and other items for the period 1840-1907 for three locations: Quebec, 1840; Edinburgh, 1841-4;; and Sherbrooke, 1844-1907. The original holdings were later expanded slightly by "E. B. Worthington and these few items ~ brought the collection date up into the 1940's. In dealing with this collection I divided the material into four parts; 1st being the sketchbooks and related items; 2nd being the items added later; ;rd being other loose, items such as photographs, diplomas and others; 4th being the items attached to the sc~ap book pages. These parts were so identified and labelled as they appeared in the collection. This collection provides one with an insight into the Worthington family life. The highlights of Edward D'agge's life as a medical student, as a father, as a doctor and as a soldier are revealed in these pages. Also through the eyes of Norreys we can envision the life of a soldier in South Africa and the Northwest territories. The newspaper clippings related to the ~ Boer war and the election campaign of 1906 between Laurier and Borden are fascinating as well as being historically significant. iv - APPENDIX A few of the items had a great many names listed, i.e., • ledger sheets and rather than include them in the actual item, they have been appended at the end. The have been taken from handwritten lists so the spelling was deciphered as accur~tely as possible. Those names with a reasonable amount of doubt have been marked with (?) and the few totally unreadable nam~ have, for the present time, been omitted • • • - 1 - Accession 479 1/1 Sketchbook 1840-1907 The first of two Edinburgh student note~ooks • belonging to Edward Dragg Worthington. It con- sists mainly of pencil caricatures. This volume contains a drawing of Dr. Robertson of Montreal, one of Knox (labelled by E.D.W.) and two of him- self. The location of the sketches has been indi- cated by W. W. Francis's tabs. There are also ~ages of notes on such things as definitions, courses taken, and a list of baggage. 65 p. 12 x 7i cm. Handwritten. 1/2 Sketchbook 1840-1907 The second of the pocket sketchbooks belonging to E. D. Worthington. It coutains. the penc il caricatures of John Goodsir. Knox and Alex Munro. Their location in the book has been indicated with tabs by W. W. Francis. There are some pages of notes taken from his lectures and pieces copied from the Bible. 78 p. 12 x 7i cm.