Matheson, Elizabeth (1866–1958)
Matheson, Elizabeth (1866–1958)
Canadian physician. Name variations: Elizabeth Beckett Scott Matheson; Elizabeth Scott Matheson. Born Elizabeth Beckett Scott, 1866, near Campbellford, Ontario, Canada; died Jan 1958; dau. of Elizabeth Scott and James Scott (Scottish immigrants); m. John Grace Matheson (missionary), Dec 1891 (died 1915); children: 9, including Ruth Matheson Buck (b. 1905, writer).
Pioneer physician in Canada's Northwest, studied for 1 year at Women's Medical College in Kingston, Ontario; taught in central India for Presbyterian Board of Missions of Toronto until malaria forced her return to Canada; established (with John Grace Matheson) and taught at the Onion Lake mission in Saskatchewan; graduated from Ontario Medical College for Women in Toronto (1898); practiced freely as an unregistered physician until registered physician immigrants from England settled in the Onion Lake region (1903); pursued courses at the Manitoba Medical College in Winnipeg to prepare for the medical licensing exam (1904); cared for patients within a 100-mile radius of Onion Lake for 16 years (after receiving an official medical license); served as 1 of 2 women medical inspectors for the Winnipeg public schools (1918–20); retired (1941).
See also Ruth Matheson Buck, The Doctor Rode Side-Saddle (McClelland & Stewart).