DUNCAN CAMPBELL MacCALLUM, M. D., M. R. C. S.
Distinguished honors came to Duncan Campbell MacCallum, M. D., in recognition of his marked ability as a medical practitioner, educator and author. He was in the vanguard of those men to whom science revealed in considerable measure her secrets, his wide research and investigation giving him place with the most eminent of the Canadians connected with the medical profession. He was a fellow of the Obstetrical Society of London, a foundation fellow of the British Gynecological Society and professor emeritus of McGill University. He was born at Ile aux Noix, in the province of Quebec, on the 12th of November, 1825, and died November 13, 1904. He came of pure Scotch ancestry, his parents being John and Mary (Campbell) MacCallum. His maternal grandfather, Malcolm Campbell, of Killin, was a near kinsman, through Lochiel Cameron, of the Earl of Breadalbane.
Dr. MacCallum’s early professional training was received in McGill University, from which he was graduated M. D. in 1850. He then proceeded to Great Britain and studied in London, Edinburgh and Dublin, pursuing post-graduate courses in all three cities. Upon examination he was admitted to the Royal College of Surgeons in England in 1851 and his preliminary training was so thorough and comprehensive as to place him beyond the point of mediocrity even at the outset of his professional career. Returning to Montreal, he entered upon active practice in this city and almost immediately became known, as well, as an able educator and writer upon medical topics. He was appointed demonstrator of anatomy in McGill in 1854 and was connected with the faculty of medicine until his death. In 1856 he was appointed to the chair of clinical surgery and in November, 1860, was transferred to the chair of clinical medicine and medical jurisprudence, occupying that position until April, 1868, when he was appointed professor of midwifery and the diseases of women and children. He retained that professorship until 1883, when he resigned, at which time the governors of the university made him professor emeritus, so that he retained his precedence in the university, in which he had continued as a professor for almost thirty years.
The active work of the profession aside from private practice was carried on by Dr. MacCallum as visiting physician to the Montreal General Hospital from 1856 until 1877, when, after twenty-one years’ service, he resigned and by vote of the governors was placed on the consulting staff of the hospital. From 1868 until 1883 he had charge of the Lying-in Hospital and for fourteen years was physician to the Hervey Institute for Children. His writings gained him almost a world-wide reputation. He contributed articles to the British American Medical and Surgical Journals, to the Canada Medical Journal and the Transactions of the Obstetrical Society of London, England. In 1854 he was associated with Dr. William Wright in establishing and editing the Medical Chronicle, which paper remained in existence for six years. Dr. MacCallum was vice president for Canada of the section of obstetrics in the Ninth International Medical Congress, which was held at Washington, D. C., in September, 1887. His eminent ability and broad learning made him looked upon as a leader in the ranks of the medical profession on the American continent and also gained him recognition abroad, so that he was elected to fellowship in the Obstetrical Society of London and was chosen to become one of the foundation fellows of the British Gynecological Society. On the 1st of March, 1855, he was appointed assistant surgeon of the Sixth Battalion of Montreal Militia and on the 15th of February, 1856, was appointed surgeon to the same.
In October, 1867, Dr. MacCallum was united in marriage to Miss Marie Josephine Guy, the second daughter of Hon. Hippolyte Guy, judge of the superior court of lower Canada and a representative of ancestry, honorable and distinguished. The children born to Dr. and Mrs. MacCallum were: Marie Josephine, who married Professor Thomas A. Starkey of McGill University, of whom there is mention in these volumes and by whom she has one son, Hugh Starkey; Esther Melina; Marianne, who married Edward Desbarats, of Montreal, and has seven children—Edward, Duncan, Josephine, Henry, Lucy Anne, Cecile and Henri; Flora Victoria, who married de Les Derniers Shepherd, of Montreal; and Duncan Guy, who won the degree of M. D. at McGill University in 1907 and is now a medical practitioner of Sherbrooke, Quebec.
The life work of Dr. MacCallum was one of signal service and benefit to mankind and his name deserves to be enrolled with those of the benefactors of the race.
JOSEPH ALEXANDRE BONIN.
Joseph Alexandre Bonin, one of the prominent and successful barristers of Montreal, where he practices as a member of the firm of Taillon, Bonin & Morin, was born in D’Autray, Lanoraie, province of Quebec, a son of the late J. B. Bonin. In the acquirement of an education he attended Joliette College and was called to the bar as advocate in 1874, being made king’s counsel in 1893. He has been for many years in the successful practice of his profession in Montreal, where the firm of Taillon, Bonin & Morin is regarded as one of the strongest in the city, connected through an extensive and representative clientele with a great deal of notable litigation. Mr. Bonin’s wide experience and successful practice have secured for him a large following, and his comprehensive knowledge of legal principles has made him very successful in the conduct of cases intrusted to his care. His mind is incisive, analytical and deductive and his powers have been developed through the years, until today he is one of the most able and prominent barristers in the city where he makes his home.