Sir William Hales Hingston, Kt., M. D

Sir William Hales Hingston, Kt., M. D., whose professional activities constituted valuable contributions to the world’s work, his ability winning him wide recognition and high honors from various scientific bodies, was born at Hinchinbrooke, province of Quebec, June 29, 1829, a son of the late Lieutenant Colonel S. J. Hingston, of His Majesty’s One Hundredth Regiment. He was a representative of a distinguished Irish family, closely related to the Cotters of Cork, the Latouches of Dublin and the Hales. He supplemented his early education, acquired in a local academy, by study in St. Sulpice, now Montreal College, and having determined upon the practice of medicine as a life work, he prepared for his chosen calling by a course in McGill University, which he completed with the class of 1851. He further carried on his investigation, study and research abroad, obtaining a diploma in the Royal College of Surgery at Edinburgh in 1852, and subsequently obtaining diplomas in France, Prussia, Austria and Bavaria. He was the first Canadian to whom was accorded the honor of membership in the Imperial Leopold Academy at Vienna.

Dr. Hingston entered upon the active work of his profession in Montreal and continued an eminent member of the profession to the time of his death, winning notable renown in surgery. His ability along that line constantly developed. He possessed the steady hand and the cool nerve of the surgeon and his professional skill gained him rank with the most prominent representatives of the profession on the American continent. For many years he was surgeon in the Hotel Dieu Hospital, where he gave clinical instructions in surgery. He was also governor of the College of Physicians and Surgeons and at one time was its president. He was honored with election as a first secretary of the Canadian Medical Association, and later was called to its presidency.

He was the organizer of the first board of health in the Dominion, and his efforts in behalf of sanitary interests were far reaching and beneficial. Not only did he display marked skill in surgery, but also eminent ability as an educator, and upon the organization of Bishop’s College Medical School was chosen professor of surgery and clinical surgery, and became dean of the faculty, but at length was forced to sever his connections with that institution, owing to the many other demands made upon his time and services. He never refused to respond to a call for professional aid if he could possibly meet it, and it would be difficult to name a physician and surgeon of Canada whose labors have reached out beneficially to a larger number of people. When, during an epidemic of smallpox, a local board of health was organized, Dr. Hingston was made its chairman, and he also became chairman of the provincial board of health, when in 1885 the province was again being visited by that calamity. He was an energetic advocate of vaccination.

It was but natural that a man of his ability and position should have written much upon professional topics. He was a valuable contributor to the medical literature of his day, one of his most important publications being his “Climate of Canada and its Relation to Life and Health,” published in 1885. Competent authority pronounced this “the fullest work, which has appeared on the subject and apart from its economic and ethnological value, is, from its pleasing style, delightful to read.” Scientific bodies conferred high honors upon Dr. Hingston and in addition, he was elected an honorary member of different state boards of medicine and by many state medical societies in the United States. When the British Association for the Advancement of Science visited Canada some years ago, he was chosen vice president and not long afterward was elected an honorary member of the British Medical Association.

His professional activity would alone entitle him to wide distinction, yet he was active in other fields and in connection with the public affairs of the country.

He became president of the Montreal City & District Savings Bank, and also vice president of the City Passenger Railway Company. In 1875 Montreal elected him its mayor, and he served one term, when he declined renomination. For coolness and judgment, which he displayed during the Guibord affair in Montreal, he received the thanks of the Earl of Dufferin, then governor general of Canada. Bishop’s College University at Lennoxville conferred upon him the honorary degree of D. C. L., while Victoria University of Toronto gave him the honorary degree of LL. D. He was made vice president of the Montreal branch of the St. John’s Ambulance Association and in 1875 was appointed a commander of the Roman Order of St. Gregory. Twenty years later, or on the 24th of May, 1895, he was knighted by Her Majesty, the late Queen Victoria, and he was called to the senate of Canada by the Earl of Aberdeen, January 2, 1896. His political allegiance was given to the conservative party, and his study of vital questions and issues of the day brought about the familiarity of Canadian politics, which enabled him to discuss such subjects with those to whom such study was a life work.

In 1875 Dr. Hingston was married to Miss Margaret Josephine Macdonald, a daughter of the late Hon. D. A. Macdonald, at one time lieutenant governor of Ontario. Her mother was Katherine, the second daughter of the late Hon. Colonel Alexander Fraser of Frasersfield, Ontario. Lady Hingston was educated in Montreal and has been very prominent in charitable and benevolent work. She is a member of the Ladies Committee L’Institute des Ecoles Menageres, vice president of the Needlework Guild, honorary president of the Loyola Literary Club; prominently identified with the local League for the Prevention of Tuberculosis; formerly president of the Woman’s Park Protective Association; etc., and was elected president of the Catholic Girls’ Club of Montreal (an association largely founded by her), in 1911.

Sir William Hingston was a member of the Roman Catholic church to which Lady Hingston also belongs. He passed away on February 19, 1907, but there lives in the minds of those who knew him and of the professional world at large, the memory of distinguished service for the benefit of his fellowmen, in the path of his chosen profession. A keen intellect, splendidly developed, was brought to bear upon complex medical and surgical problems and the result of deep thought, wise research and careful investigation, made his contribution to the world’s work of the utmost benefit.