Browse "People"

William Neilson Hall, seaman (born 25 April 1829 in Horton Bluff [now Lockhartville], NS; died 25 August 1904 in Horton Bluff). William Hall was the first Black, the first Nova Scotian, and the first Canadian naval recipient of the Victoria Cross.

"For most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy." Such dry words to describe the courage and daring ascribed to the Victoria Cross (VC), the Commonwealth's highest decoration for bravery.

William Notman, photographer (born 8 March 1826 in Paisley, Scotland; died 25 November 1891 in Montréal, QC).

William Ogilvie, surveyor (born 7 April 1849 in ​Ottawa, ​ON; died 13 November 1912 in ​Winnipeg, ​MB).

William Paterson Ewen, painter (born 7 April 1925 in Montréal, QC; died 17 February 2002 in London, ON).

William Pearce, surveyor, civil servant (b near Port Talbot, Canada W 1 Feb 1848; d at Calgary 3 Mar 1930). Pearce journeyed west as a public-land surveyor for the federal Department of the Interior in 1874 and was promoted superintendent of mines in 1884.

William Perehudoff, painter (b at Langham, Sask, 21 Apr, 1918; d at Saskatoon 26 Feb, 2013). Though he lived most of his adult life in Saskatoon, he left the Prairies as a young man to study art.

William Peyton Hubbard, politician, inventor, baker, coachman (born 27 January 1842 in Toronto, ON; died 30 April 1935 in Toronto). Hubbard was Toronto’s first Black elected official, serving as alderman (1894–1903, 1913) and controller (1898–1908), and as acting mayor periodically. A democratic reformer, he campaigned to make the city’s powerful Board of Control an elected body. Hubbard was also a leading figure in the push for public ownership of hydroelectric power, contributing to the establishment of the Toronto Hydro-Electric System.

William Price, entrepreneur (b at Hornsey, Eng 17 Sept 1789; d at Québec C 14 Mar 1867). An enterprising lumber and timber merchant, William Price, "the father of the Saguenay," developed a business empire that extended throughout the Saguenay, St Lawrence and Ottawa river areas.

William Raphael, painter (b in W Prussia in 1833; d 15 Mar 1914 at Montréal, Qué). A graduate of the Berlin School of Art, Raphael came to Canada in 1860, becoming well known for his painting of the Montréal harbour and market life.

William Reed. Organist, choirmaster, composer, b Montreal 9 Sep 1859, d Quebec City 2 Nov 1945. An organ pupil of R.-O. Pelletier and Dominique Ducharme, he won a scholarship at 19 to study at Keble College, Oxford. He is said to have been chosen organist of the college from among 30 contestants.

William Reimer. Bass-baritone, b Chilliwack, near Vancouver, 8 Apr 1931. He grew up in Yarrow, BC, and studied voice at the Mennonite Brethren Bible College in Winnipeg. At the 1960 Vancouver International Festival he sang Noye in Britten's Noye's Fludde.

William Ronald, né Smith, painter and journalist (born 13 August 1926 in Stratford, ON; died 9 February 1998 in Toronto, ON).

William Rowan, ornithologist (b at Basle, Switz 29 July 1891; d at Edmonton 30 June 1957).

William Roy Mackenzie. Literary scholar, folksong collector, writer, b River John, Pictou County, NS, 14 Feb 1883, d there September 1957; BA (Dalhousie) 1902, MA (Dalhousie) 1903, MA (Harvard) 1905, PH D English (Harvard) 1910, honorary LLD (Dalhousie) 1950.

William Rufus Blake, actor, manager (b at Halifax and christened there 5 Dec 1802; d at Boston 22 Apr 1863).

William Saunders, druggist, naturalist, agriculturalist (b at Crediton, Eng 16 June 1836; d at London, Ont 13 Sept 1914). Saunders established the Experimental Farms Service (now Research Branch) of the federal Dept of AGRICULTURE.

William Shatner, actor, author, director (b at Montréal 22 March 1931). William Shatner is best known for his role as Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek television series. The son of a clothing manufacturer, Shatner grew up in Montréal, where he began acting at summer camp at the age of 6.

William Sigurd Bourne, "Bill", folksinger, musician (b at Red Deer, Alberta 28 Mar 1954).

William Southam, newspaper publisher (born 23 August 1843 near Montréal, QC; died 27 February 1932 in Hamilton, ON).