Florence Davy Thompson
Florence Davy Thompson (née Lucas; 1865–1915) was an English-born Canadian biologist, artist and the founding librarian at the University of Manitoba.
Early life[edit]
She was born on 13 September 1865 to Samuel Lucas and Florence Davy in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, where her father owned a brewery.[1] Her mother was the daughter of the American consul in Leeds, and arranged for her own daughter to receive a superb education from a private tutor, William Dawson.[1] In 1892 she married customs clerk William Henry Thompson and moved with him to Winnipeg, Manitoba.[1]
Career in Winnipeg[edit]
On arriving in Canada, she demonstrated her artistic talent, winning prizes for her watercolour paintings at the 1892 Winnipeg Industrial Exhibition.[1] (Her grandfather, named Samuel Lucas like her father, had been well-regarded in England for his painting.)[1]
Thompson collaborated with professors at the University of Manitoba and the Manitoba Medical College, writing and illustrating scientific treatises.[1] In 1906 and 1907 she published four papers on pancreatic islets with professor Swale Vincent and in 1909 she worked on a paper on thyroid and parathyroid glands with professor Jasper Halpenny.[1] She published two more physiology papers as sole author.[1][2]
The faculty of the university were anxious to establish a library and, in 1905 Vincent was asked to lead that effort.[1] In 1908 the library was established and Thompson was made the librarian, but with an honorarium of only $100 rather than the $1,000 Vincent had recommended.[1] In 1910 (by which time her salary had increased to $900) she travelled to McGill University in Montreal to further develop her skills.[1]
In addition to her scientific writing, Thompson presented papers to women's clubs on topics as diverse as furniture and lace-making.[1] She was active in the Local Council of Women, the Women's Canadian Club, and University Women's Club.[1][3]
Thompson died suddenly of appendicitis in 1915.[1] At the time of her death the library's collection had expanded to over 7,500 works.[1] The man who would be hired to replace her as university librarian in 1916 was paid $2,000.[1]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Kinnear, Mary (1998). "Lucas, Florence Davy (Thompson)". In Cook, Ramsay; Hamelin, Jean (eds.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XIV (1911–1920) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
- ^ "Physiology at the British Association". Nature. 81 (2086): 507–508. 21 October 1909.
- ^ "H.R.H. The Duke of Connaught in Canada". The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs. 12: 93. 1913.
- 1865 births
- 1915 deaths
- Canadian biologists
- Canadian librarians
- Canadian women illustrators
- Deaths from appendicitis
- People from Hitchin
- Scientists from Manitoba
- Scientific illustrators
- Academic staff of the University of Manitoba
- Artists from Winnipeg
- Writers from Winnipeg
- 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers
- 20th-century Canadian women writers
- Canadian women librarians
- British emigrants to Canada