Octavia Grace Ritchie England (16 January 1868 – 1 February 1948) was a Canadian physician and suffragist. In 1891 she became the first woman to receive a medical degree in Québec.

Early life and education

Octavia Grace Ritchie was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, the daughter of Thomas Weston Ritchie and Jessie Torrance Fisher. Her father was a lawyer. She attended the Montreal High School for Girls. In 1888, she was the first woman valedictorian at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

. She wanted to continue into medical school at McGill, but was denied admission based on gender. Instead, she attended Kingston Women's Medical College, then transferred to Bishop's College, where she completed her studies in 1891, becoming the first woman to earn a medical degree in Québec. As medical students at Bishop's, Octavia Grace Ritchie and

Maude Abbott Maude Elizabeth Seymour Abbott (March 18, 1868Sources disagree on the date of Abbott's birth. The Canadian Encyclopedia'Maude Abbott Medical Museum and the ' are among the sources that support a birthdate of 18 March 1868. However, articles in the ...

formed an organization, Association for the Professional Education of Women, to advocate for other women seeking medical or other advanced degrees.

Career

Ritchie was appointed a Demonstrator in Anatomy at Bishop's College, and assistant gynecologist at Western Hospital. After she married, she turned more to advocacy work, supporting causes for women's rights and public health. She was president of the local Council of Women from 1911 to 1917; she was also president of the Montréal Women's Liberal Club, from 1921, and vice-president of the

National Council of Women of Canada National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...

. She represented Canada at the 1914

International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating women's rights, human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington D.C ...

meeting in Rome; in 1922, she once again represented Canada, this time at the

Pan-American Conference of Women Pan-American Conference of Women occurred in Baltimore, Maryland in 1922. It was held in connection with the third annual convention of the League of Women Voters, National League of Women Voters in Baltimore on April 20 to 29, 1922. Cooperating ...

in Baltimore. She was active with La Ligue des Droits de la Femme, which sought the vote for women in Québec provincial elections. In 1930, she ran for a seat in the Canadian Parliament as the Liberal candidate from Mount Royal. A collection of her original letters is conserved at the

Osler Library of the History of Medicine The Osler Library, a branch of the McGill University Library and part of ROAAr since 2016, is Canada's foremost scholarly resource for the history of medicine, and one of the most important libraries of its type in North America. It is located ...

Personal life

Octavia Grace Ritchie became the second wife of a fellow doctor, Frank Richardson England, in 1897. They had a daughter, Esther Ritchie England. Octavia Grace Ritchie England died in 1948, aged 80 years. In 1979, McGill Alumnae established an Octavia Grace Ritchie England Scholarship in her memory. The home on Bishop Street where the Englands lived, designed by architect Robert Findlay, is now a pub."Our History"
McKibbins Irish Pub.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie, Octavia 1868 births 1948 deaths Canadian gynaecologists Canadian suffragists High School of Montreal alumni McGill University alumni