MAURICE MACDONALD SEYMOUR, M.D., C. M., D. P. H.

FELLOW ROYAL INSTITUTE PUBLIC HEALTH, ENGLAND;
FELLOW AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION.
 


	Dr. Maurice Macdonald Seymour, whose career is an honor to the
medical profession of northwestern Canada, where he- has been known
as a leading physician and surgeon for more than four decades, has re-
sided in Regina since 1904 and during the past eighteen years has acted
as Commissioner of Public Health for the province of Saskatchewan.
His birth occurred at Goderich, Ontario, on the 7th of July, 1857, his
parents being Captain Maurice Bain and Maria (Macdonald) Seymour,
who were natives of Ireland and Scotland, respectively. - The paternal
grandfather, Maurice Seymour, was also a native of the Emerald isle.
His son, Captain Seymour of His Majesty's Service, who emigrated to
Canada after retiring from the army, took up his abode in Ontario in
the early 'SOs and remained a resident of that province until called to
his final rest. He was successfully engaged in the grain and commission
business at Goderich. It was at St Andrews, Ontario, that he wedded
Maria Macdonald, who had located in that province when  a girl, with her
father, Major Donald Macdonald of Glencoe, Scotland. The latter served
with Wellington at Waterloo and was presented with a sword and medal
after the notable victory-trophies which are still in the possession of his
descendants. After establishing his home in Ontario he was placed in
charge of militia, so that his entire life was given to military service.
Captain Maurice B. Seymour, father of Dr. Seymour, was a Liberal in
his political views, while his religious faith was that of the Catholic
church, of which his wife was also a devout communicant.
Maurice Macdonald Seymour, who is the only surviving member of
his father's family of three children, supplemented his preliminary edu-
cation by a course of study in Assumption College at Sandwich, Ontario,
from which he was graduated in 1873. In preparation for a professional
career he then entered the medical department of McGill University at
Montreal, which institution conferred upon him the degrees of Doctor
of Medicine and Master in Surgery in 1879. It was from Toronto Uni-
versity that he received the degree of D. P. - H. For two years following
his graduation from McGill he remained in Montreal, doing special post-
graduate work, which well qualified him for the onerous and responsible
duties which later devolved upon him in the pursuit of his profession in
new and sparsely settled districts.  In the year 1881 he entered upon
general practice at Winnipeg.  A contemporary biographer has written
in this connection: "In the early '80s the Doctor had to make many
journeys that involved all the hazards and perils of the old-time explorers.
On horseback and by every known means of conveyance he has carried
the skill of his profession to bedsides in almost every locality of this
primitive civilization. He was the first to perform an abdominal section
successfully in that portion of the Northwest Territory which is now the
province of Saskatchewan."  In 1885 he was appointed surgeon of the
Ninety-fifth Battalion and served through the Riel Rebellion, receiving
the Northwest Rebellion medal.  After the completion of the construc-
tion of the Canadian Pacific Railway he located at Fort Qu'Appelle, Sas-
katchewan, where he remained in practice until 1904, since which year
he has been a resident of Regina.  In 1906 he was appointed Commis-
sioner of Public Health for the province and has served in that important
and responsible position throughout the intervening period of eighteen
years.  Of his work in this connection it has been said: "The marked
advances made in every branch of public health activity in the province,
and the general stimulus that has been given to matters of hygiene and
sanitation are evidence of his thorough grasp of the important duties
which fall to him. The capable manner in which the affairs of his de-
partment have been administered, and his unceasing energy in adopting
measures to protect the health of the public, have more than justified his
appointment to this position. He is rightly considered one of the leading
authorities on questions of public health, and his views are being con-
tinually sought and quoted by the leading medical and health journals
throughout the Dominion and many parts of the United States.  His
wide experience, knowledge of local conditions, originality of thought
and genial disposition all combine to give him an outstanding personality
and to inspire confidence in the government administration on behalf of
the health of the people." Dr. D. A. Craig, a member of the American
College of Surgeons, who visited Regina in the fall of 1922, pronounced
the Saskatchewan Bureau of public health the best in Canada and equal to
any in the States. In 1920 Dr. Seymour received the Fellow's degree of the
Royal Institute of Public Health in England, in recognition of his splen-
did work as Public Health Commissioner in Canada~ For twenty years
he was a member of the Medical Council of the Northwest Territories,
serving on two occasions as president and also as vice president of that
body. In 1906 he organized the Saskatchewan Medical Association, which
has become the largest and most useful professional society in the prov-
ince. He has served as president of the Canadian Public Health Associa-
tion and as vice president of the American Health Association, while in
1920 he was made a fellow of the American Public Health Association.
He is likewise a member of the Dominion Council of Health. Dr. Sey-
mour organized the Saskatchewan Anti-Tuberculosis League, which was
incorporated and through whose efforts was built at Fort Qu'Appelle
one of the most complete sanitariums in the Dominion, over two million
dollars having already been expended in the work.
	In 1880, at Aylmer, Quebec, Dr. Seymour was united in marriage to
Miss Helena Louise La Rue, who was born in Canada and who is a daugh-
ter of Andrew La Rue, a pioneer notary public of Quebec. Dr. and Mrs.
Seymour became parents of five children: Three sons who are residents
of California; and two daughters, Ena Isabella, the wife of Major M.
A. Burbank, who died overseas during the Great war; and Cora Muriel,
the widow of Frank Dean, who passed away in California in 1922. In
religious faith the family are Roman Catholics. The Doctor has refused
all offers to enter the political field, having preferred to devote his un-
divided attention to his professional work, and as an authority on health
conditions his fame is well deserved.
	In August, 1923, a request was received by the Dominion Government,
from the League of Nations, to name a physician actively engaged in
public health work, to represent Canada upon the Health Section of the
League of Nations.  In compliance with this request Doctor Seymour
was nominated, and along with representatives of eighteen other coun-
tries of the world undertook the making of a health survey of the United
States after which Europe will be visited, the final conference being held
at Geneva, Switzerland, the headquarters of the League.  Many express-
ions of approval have been heard of the honour being conferred upon
Doctor Seymour to represent Canada upon this most important Commis-
sion.
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