Grenfell, Sir Wilfred Thomason (1865-1940), a British medical missionary, became known as Grenfell of Labrador. He helped establish hospitals, orphanages, nursing stations, schools, and cooperative stores in the cold, bleak regions near the Arctic Circle.
Grenfell was born on Feb. 28, 1865, in Cheshire (now Cheshire West and Chester), England. He studied medicine at Oxford University and at the London Hospital. During the late 1880’s, he entered the medical service of the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen, and sailed on fishing cruises from the Bay of Biscay to Iceland. In 1892, Grenfell was sent with hospital supplies to explore health conditions in Labrador and Newfoundland. He found much illness, especially beriberi and tuberculosis, and hardly anyone to give medical care. The following year, he established the first hospital of the Labrador Medical Mission at Battle Harbour. He also organized a program that enabled medical students and other volunteers to work in this remote region. Grenfell worked in the area until 1935, when ill health forced his retirement. He died on Oct. 9, 1940.
