Historical Figures | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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  • Article

    Mifflin Gibbs

    Mifflin Wistar Gibbs, politician, judge, diplomat, banker, entrepreneur (born 17 April 1823 in Philadelphia, PA; died 11 July 1915, in Little Rock, AR). Gibbs was a notable figure in both American and Canadian history. In just over a decade in colonial British Columbia, he prospered in business, advocated for the Black community, served as an elected official and helped guide British Columbia into Confederation. Gibbs was the first Black person elected to public office in what is now British Columbia.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/Mifflin-Gibbs.jpg Mifflin Gibbs

  • Article

    Lucy Maud Montgomery

    Lucy Maud Montgomery, OBE, writer (born 30 November 1874 in Clifton (now New London), PEI; died 24 April 1942 in Toronto, ON). Lucy Maud Montgomery is arguably Canada’s most widely read author. Her first novel, Anne of Green Gables (1908), became an instant best-seller. It has remained in print for more than a century, making the character of Anne Shirley a mythic icon of Canadian culture. Montgomery produced more than 500 short stories, 21 novels, two poetry collections, and numerous journal and essay anthologies. Her body of work has sold an estimated 50 million copies worldwide. Anne of Green Gables alone has been translated into at least 36 languages as well as braille. It has been adapted dozens of times in various mediums. Montgomery was named an Officer of both the Order of the British Empire and the Literary and Artistic Institute of France. She was the first Canadian woman to be made a member of the British Royal Society of Arts and she was declared a Person of National Historic Significance in Canada.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/86aefeb1-bbe3-4e30-809b-c5680d4f1933.jpg Lucy Maud Montgomery

  • Article

    Odawa

    Odawa (or Ottawa) are an Algonquian-speaking people (see Indigenous Languages in Canada) living north of the Huron-Wendat at the time of French penetration to the Upper Great Lakes. A tradition of the Odawa, shared by the Ojibwa and Potawatomi, states that these three groups were once one people. The division of the Upper Great Lake Algonquians apparently took place at Michilimackinac, the meeting point of lakes Huron and Michigan. The Odawa, or "traders," remained near Michilimackinac, while the Potawatomi, "Those-who-make-or-keep-a-fire," moved south, up Lake Michigan. The Ojibwa (Ojibwe), or "To-roast-till-puckered-up," went northwest to Sault Ste Marie.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/7f43d674-3179-4006-afce-5521ddca5b0a.jpg Odawa

  • Article

    Ordre de Bon Temps

    Ordre de Bon Temps ("Order of Good Cheer"), was founded at Port-Royal in 1606 by Samuel de Champlain . 

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/eae4b142-cd6b-4c86-a303-32da3140b207.jpg Ordre de Bon Temps

  • Article

    Paul Le Jeune

    Paul Le Jeune, Jesuit missionary and superior at Québec, author (b at Vitry-le-François, France July 1591; d at Paris, France 7 Aug 1664). Converted to Catholicism at 16, Le Jeune was named superior of the Jesuits at Québec in 1632.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Paul Le Jeune

  • Article

    Peter Vasilevich Verigin

    Peter Vasilevich Verigin, Doukhobor leader (born 1859 in Slavianka, Russia; died October 1924 near Grand Forks, British Columbia). Exiled in Russia, Verigin immigrated to Canada in 1902. There, he became a powerful and controversial Doukhobor leader in Western Canada. Verigin died when the train in which he was travelling exploded, leading some to believe he was assassinated.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/PeterVeregin.jpg Peter Vasilevich Verigin

  • Article

    Obwandiyag (Pontiac)

    Obwandiyag (Pontiac), Odawa chief (born c. 1720 along the Detroit River; died 20 April 1769 in Cahokia, Illinois Country). Obwandiyag was the leader of a loose coalition of Indigenous nations that opposed British rule in what became known as Pontiac’s War (1763–66). The uprising is regarded by many as a historical antecedent to more contemporary Indigenous rights movements.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/f3d5c6d6-8340-49cb-84e9-433b460ee3a5.jpg Obwandiyag (Pontiac)

  • Article

    Sheila Na Geira

    According to legend, Sheila Na Geira (also spelled NaGeira and Nagira) was an Irish aristocrat or princess who, 300 or 400 years ago, while travelling between France and Ireland, was captured by a Dutch warship and then rescued by British privateers. She fell in love and was married to one of the privateers, Lieutenant Gilbert Pike. They settled at western Conception Bay. By the early 20th century, the legend was being told as part of Newfoundland’s oral tradition, and has since been popularized by poems, novels, scholarly articles and several plays.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/dreamstime_resize_33120989-2.jpg Sheila Na Geira

  • Article

    Récollets

    Récollets, a reformed branch of the Franciscan family, came to France at the end of the 16th century. The main objective of the Récollets was to observe more strictly the Rule of St Francis, and like other semiautonomous branches, they came under the minister general of the Franciscans.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Récollets

  • Article

    Saints

    The first North Americans to be canonized (29 June 1930) in the Catholic church were the five Jesuits killed by Iroquois in intertribal warfare in Huronia in the 1640s: Jean de Brébeuf, Noël Chabanel, Antoine Daniel, Charles Garnier and Gabriel Lalemant.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/6cd19771-2b4c-4a4d-8eab-5b3cc7163666.jpg Saints

  • Article

    Sam Steele

    Sir Samuel Benfield Steele, CB, KCMG, mounted policeman, soldier (born 5 January 1848 in Medonte, Canada West; died 30 January 1919 in London, England). As a member of the North-West Mounted Police, Steele was an important participant in the signing of Treaty 6 and Treaty 7, the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the North-West Rebellion and the Klondike gold rush. His military career began as a private in the Red River Expedition, included service in the South African War as an officer commanding Lord Strathcona’s Horse and as a major general during the First World War.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/a64c2753-6c2c-4abe-a75b-d9e9202495e4.jpg Sam Steele

  • Article

    Shawnadithit

    Shawnadithit (also known as Nance or Nancy April), record keeper of Beothuk history and culture (born circa 1800-6 in what is now NL; died 6 June 1829 in St. John’s, NL). Shawnadithit was captured by English furriers in 1823 and later worked as a housekeeper for merchant John Peyton Jr. In 1828, Shawnadithit was brought to Scottish merchant and naturalist William Cormack, who wanted to record information about the language and customs of the Beothuk. Shawnadithit drew maps of Beothuk territory as well as items of Beothuk material culture. While it is popularly believed that Shawnadithit was the last Beothuk, Mi’kmaq oral histories reject that claim. They argue that Shawnadithit’s people intermarried with inland Indigenous peoples after fleeing their homeland. The legacy of Shawnadithit as an important record keeper of Beothuk history and culture remains undisputed. In 2007, the federal government announced the unveiling of a Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada plaque recognizing Shawnadithit’s importance to Canadian history.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/5a96371d-c37d-49fd-a6da-ab62b28474d0.jpg Shawnadithit

  • Article

    Sir Henry Mainwaring

    Sir Henry Mainwaring, privateer, pirate, royal advisor, vice-admiral (born c. 1587 near Ightfield, England; died in 1653 in London, England). In 1610, Mainwaring was sent to capture the English pirate, Peter Easton. Later, Mainwaring was awarded a letter of marque and ordered to attack foreign ships. He acted on behalf of the King but also became a pirate seeking his own fortune on the African coast and, for a several months, in Newfoundland. Pardoned by King James I in 1616, Mainwaring returned to England where he was nominated as a member of parliament. He also became a naval advisor, vice admiral and was knighted. Mainwaring lost his position of power in the English Civil War.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/Mainwaring1.jpg Sir Henry Mainwaring

  • Article

    Sulpicians

    Sulpicians, society of diocesan priests founded in Paris in 1641 by Jean-Jacques Olier de Verneuil to put into practice the decisions of the Council of Trent (1545-1563) concerning the formation of diocesan clergy. 

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/527550b3-ca52-4894-b607-e161360c35fb.jpg Sulpicians

  • Article

    William Andrew White

    William Andrew White, Baptist minister and army chaplain (born 16 June 1874 in King and Queen Court House, VA; died 9 September 1936 in Halifax, NS). White was a leading member of the African Nova Scotian community. He was chaplain for the No. 2 Construction Battalion, making him one of the few Black officers in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/home-page-images/Captain-William-A-White.jpg William Andrew White