Labrador Days

Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell, KCMG (1865-1940) was a medical missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador. He commenced the study of medicine at the London Hospital Medical College (now part of Queen Mary, University of London). He graduated in 1888. The Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen sent him to Newfoundland in 1892 to develop a medical mission. That mission began in earnest in 1893 when he recruited two nurses and two doctors for hospitals, at Battle Harbour and in Indian Harbour in Labrador. By 1914 the mission had gained international status. In order to manage its property and affairs, the International Grenfell Association, a non-profit mission society, was founded to support Grenfell's work. The Association operated, until 1981, as an NGO. It had responsibility for delivery of healthcare and social services in northern Newfoundland and Labrador. A unique figure, Grenfell served to inspire at least two characters in Canadian literature: Dr Luke in Norman Duncan's Doctor Luke of the Labrador (1904) and Dr. Tocsin in White Eskimo by Harold Horwood (1972).