Frances Gertrude McGill

Frances Gertrude McGill was born on November 18, 1882, in Minnedosa, Manitoba. She paid for much of her schooling through scholarships. In 1915, McGill completed her medical degree at the University of Manitoba, receiving the Hutchison Gold Medal for highest academic standing, the Dean's Prize and an award for surgical knowledge. She was one of the first female medical students to graduate from the university. McGill served her internship at the Winnipeg General Hospital. She subsequently attended the provincial laboratory of Manitoba for post-graduate studies and completed training in pathology. == Career ==

Bacteriologist Developing a growing expertise in bacteriology, McGill also treated returning First World War soldiers for venereal disease. Pathologist In 1920, McGill became provincial pathologist for Saskatchewan, and by 1922 she had become director of the provincial laboratory. Her personal motto was reportedly "Think like a man, act like a lady and work like a dog." McGill was acknowledged for her "untiring" efforts and "excellent" service in annual reports by RCMP Commissioners James Howden MacBrien and Stuart Taylor Wood. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, McGill made do with dramatically fewer resources and a much smaller staff. In 1933, she kept within a budget of $17,000 for testing work that would normally have cost more than $122,000. and over the next several years she concentrated on other projects such as developing a polio serum and becoming a specialist in allergy research. As her expertise in allergy testing gained wider notice, doctors across the province began sending their patients to McGill. She coped with the growing demands on her time by hiring an assistant and opening a private after-hours allergy clinic located at her apartment. having conducted more than 64,000 laboratory examinations over the course of her civil service career. She continued working at her allergy clinic two days per week, and spent more time on outdoor activities and trips with friends. Several months afterwards, McGill decided to start a new project providing vaccinations for preschool children, and subsequently set up inoculation clinics at schools across Regina. In her new role as director, McGill conducted investigations across Saskatchewan Retirement and consultancy By 1946, McGill had formally retired from directing the RCMP forensic laboratory, In 1956, after an American detective magazine ran a story on her work, McGill received a request for assistance addressed to "Dr. Frances McGill, Canada's Famous Pathologist, Regina, Canada." The letter was from a woman in New York City whose brother had died under suspicious circumstances; no autopsy had been performed, and the woman had struggled to get the answers she wanted. Although McGill could not assist directly in the matter, she responded with advice on how to contact the FBI and arrange to have the body exhumed. == Cases and methodology ==

McGill's work sometimes allowed her to solve murders that had gone uninvestigated. During one year, she performed post-mortem examinations of thirteen exhumed bodies, and discovered that five of the bodies were murder victims. farmer Joseph Shewchuk was found dead from a gunshot wound at his home in Lintlaw, Saskatchewan. Police found bloodstains all across the room – presumed evidence of a violent struggle – and also located a rifle hidden in a nearby wheat bin. The local doctor deemed it suspicious and ruled out suicide, and police arrested a neighbour who had been unable to satisfactorily explain several bloodstains on his coat. Investigators uncovered Schwab's remains and found that the trapper's skull had been shattered into dozens of pieces by the gunshot. After completing an autopsy, McGill took the skull fragments back to her laboratory and painstakingly reconstructed it. Her work, revealing the bullet's clear trajectory and black lead markings, South Poplar Case During a period of cold weather, a hitchhiker was found frozen to death in a southern Saskatchewan field near South Poplar, his skull apparently fractured by a blow to the head. A local doctor ruled it murder and sent the victim's remains to McGill's laboratory for further examination. When McGill examined the skull, however, she concluded that the man's bone structure had been weakened by rickets. A truck driver admitted to drinking some alcohol with the hitchhiker, which had increased blood flow to the man's brain – and after his death, the below-freezing temperatures and position of the body had caused those fluids to expand, resulting in the apparent skull fracture. McGill found no evidence of foul play. The cause of death for the hitchhiker was determined to be a simple heart attack. == Personal life ==

McGill preferred not to discuss her personal life, but many acquaintances believed that she had lost a boyfriend to battle in the First World War. For bedtime reading, she often indulged in crime fiction. the Business and Professional Women's Club, and the Regina Women's Canadian Club. McGill was a member of the Anglican Church. She was Conservative in her politics, and eventually became a strong supporter of John Diefenbaker's political career as he ran for parliament and then Prime Minister. In 1958, despite serious health issues, McGill discharged herself from hospital and went home to vote for Diefenbaker in the federal election. She enjoyed travelling abroad and did so extensively, visiting New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Mexico, the West Indies and multiple European countries. == Death and legacy ==

McGill died aged 76 on January 21, 1959, in Winnipeg, In 2024 she was recognized as "a person of national historic significance" under Parks Canada's National Program of Historical Commemoration. McGill Lake, located north of Lake Athabasca in Saskatchewan, is named in her honour. ==See also==