Mr. Royal L. H. Ewing is a member of the Art Association of Montreal, the Montreal and Canadian Clubs, the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, the Mount Royal Lawn Tennis Club, the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club, the St. James Club, the Manitou Club and the Park Toboganning Club. The sons are worthy successors to their father, not only in business activity but also in that business integrity for which the family name has always stood.
FRANK RICHARDSON ENGLAND, M. D., C. M.
Dr. Frank Richardson England, an alumnus of Bishop’s College of Montreal and now well known as a practical educator as well as a successful practitioner, was born August 21, 1862, at Cowansville, province of Quebec, and is the eldest son of Francis and Jane (Ruiter) England, of Dunham, Quebec. The family comes of United Empire Loyalist stock and the parents are now deceased.
While Dr. England acquired his early education at Waterloo, he pursued his medical course at Bishop’s College in Montreal, from which he was graduated with the class of 1885, the degrees of M. D. and C. M. being then conferred upon him, and obtaining the Wood and Nelson gold medals. He was professor of diseases of children at Bishop’s College in 1887 and professor of surgery in the same institution in 1894. In 1905 he was graduated at McGill College (ad eund). The profession has honored him with official distinction, for in 1906 he was chosen president of the Montreal Medico-Chirurgical Society and the following year was vice president of the Canadian Medical Association. He is a governor and fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is now, 1914, surgeon of the Western Hospital at Montreal and in his surgical practice displays comprehensive knowledge of anatomy, of the component parts of the human body and of the onslaughts made upon it by disease or left to it as a legacy by progenitors. He is cool and collected at critical moments and combines strength with tenderness, seeking ever the ultimate good of patient and of profession.
Dr. England was married twice. In 1887 he wedded Carrie Ann, youngest daughter of the late R. L. Galer, of Dunham. Following her death Dr. England married Octavia Grace Ritchie, B. A., M. D., of Montreal, the youngest daughter of the late Thomas W. Ritchie, Q. C. She was born in Montreal and became a student in McGill University, winning the degree of Bachelor of Arts, together with first class honors in natural science in 1883. She was afterward graduated from Bishop’s College, Lennoxville, Quebec, with the degree of M. D. and C. M. in 1891. She was one of the first class of ladies to graduate from McGill and the first woman to receive a medical degree in the province of Quebec. Mrs. England took a scholarship at Kingston and later pursued a post-graduate course at Vienna, Austria. She has done much to arouse public feeling in favor of the medical education of women in Quebec and was secretary of the organization called the Donalda Students to procure this concession. She is now a governor of the Western Hospital and was assistant gynecologist there from 1894 until 1896. She has lectured on medical subjects before the Women’s Club and the Young Women’s Christian Association. She is a member of the Montreal Medico-Chirurgical Society and was a delegate to the Quinquennial Congress of the National Council of Women at Toronto in 1909. She is president of the local council of the National Council of Women. In 1897 she became the wife of Dr. Frank Richardson England of Montreal. Both continue actively in the practice of the profession, and each has a large clientage, indicating the prominence to which they have attained.
WILLIAM JOHN WHITE.
William John White, whose authorship no less than his practice has gained him eminence and success, is regarded as one of the foremost representatives of the Montreal bar. Contemporaneous writers pronounce upon him high encomiums for his contributions to legal as well as to general literature. A native of Peterboro, Ontario, he was born January 29, 1861, a son of the late Richard White, D. C. L., and Jean (Riddel) White. After completing his studies in the Montreal high school he entered McGill University, where he pursued a classical and legal course, winning the B. A. degree in 1881, the degree of Bachelor of Civil Law in 1882, while in 1885 the Master of Arts degree was conferred upon him and in 1902 that of Doctor of Civil Law. He completed his legal studies at the Sorbonne in Paris and in 1883 entered upon the active work of the profession as an advocate. He has since successfully practiced and was created king’s counsel in 1899. He is now senior partner of the law firm of White & Buchanan and is recognized as one of the leaders of the Montreal bar. In 1901 he was made batonnier. His law practice has been of an important as well as of an extensive character. He was retained as counsel by the Mexican government in the boundary dispute between the United States and Mexico in 1911. His high standing in his profession and his thorough understanding of vital and significant governmental problems have brought him into prominence in various international affairs. He served as a member of the board of investigation appointed by the minister of labor in the United Shoe Machinery case, and his opinions have been sought on various questions of far-reaching importance. He represented the Montreal bar at the annual meeting of the New York State Bar Association at Albany in 1902 and at the Illinois State Bar Association in 1906, and on the latter occasion read a paper on The Law of Quebec. He is the author of a treatise on Canadian Company Law which was published in 1901.
Aside from his profession Mr. White has been connected with several business enterprises and public projects of importance. In 1911 he became one of the directors of the Sherwin-Williams Company of Canada, and from 1906 to 1908 he served as alderman of the city. He is a director and was elected the vice president of the new Technical School of Montreal. He was one of the founders of the Society of Historical Studies and was chosen to the presidency of that organization for 1891-2. He was likewise one of the organizers of the Society of Canadian Literature and of the Canadian branch of the American Folk Lore Society. From 1889 until 1891 he published a monthly magazine known as Canadiana and Dr. John Reade termed him “A writer of taste and force,” while the Montreal Witness spoke of him as “A thoroughly capable man.” Mr. White belongs to a number of the leading clubs, including the St. James, University, Outremont Golf and the Montreal Jockey Clubs of Montreal; the Rideau Club of Ottawa; the Quebec Garrison Club; and the Constitutional Club of London, England. It is in his law practice, however, that he has won the recognition that has placed him in the present enviable position which he occupies. He has ever in his practice been faithful to his clients, fair to his adversaries and candid to the court. In many cases with which he has been connected he has exhibited the possession of every faculty of which a lawyer may be proud—skill in presentation of his own evidence, extraordinary ability in cross examination, strong grasp of every feature of the case, power to secure favorable rulings from the judge, unusual familiarity with human nature and untiring industry. These qualities have gained him notable success in law practice.