page_title: Frances Gertrude McGill
section_title: Pathologist
hierarchical_section_title: Frances Gertrude McGill / Career / Pathologist
caption_attribution_description: English: Provincial forensic pathologist Dr. Frances G. McGill is shown working in her laboratory (Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada).
context_page_description: Frances Gertrude McGill was a Canadian forensic pathologist, criminologist, bacteriologist, allergologist and allergist. Nicknamed "the Sherlock Holmes of Saskatchewan" for her deductive skills and prominent role in police investigations and court cases, she influenced the development of forensic pathology in Canadian police work and was internationally noted for her expertise in the subject.
  After completing her medical degree at the University of Manitoba in 1915, McGill moved to Saskatchewan and became the provincial bacteriologist and then the provincial pathologist. She worked extensively with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and local police forces for more than thirty years, and was instrumental in establishing the first RCMP forensic laboratory. She directed the RCMP laboratory for three years, and trained new RCMP recruits in forensic detection methods. After retiring in 1946, McGill was appointed Honorary Surgeon for the RCMP by the Canadian Minister of Justice, becoming one of the first official female members of the force, and she continued to act as a consultant to the RCMP up until her death.
context_section_description: In 1920, McGill became provincial pathologist for Saskatchewan. Two years later she became director of the provincial laboratory. McGill now dealt with cases of suspicious death, working extensively with local police forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Her investigations required frequent travel, and McGill sometimes used a snowmobile, dog sled or float plane to reach crime scenes. In a single year, she made as many as forty-three excursions to investigate crimes, even travelling to remote northern locations in the Arctic Circle.
  Earning the unofficial nickname "the Sherlock Holmes of Saskatchewan", McGill gained a professional reputation as a skilled and meticulous criminologist, and was fondly called "Doc" by members of the police force. Her personal motto was reportedly "Think like a man, act like a lady and work like a dog." She was known for handling the sometimes gruesome nature of her work by maintaining a good sense of humour, and was a formidable, no-nonsense witness in court cases. During her court testimonies, McGill sometimes encountered young Saskatchewan defense lawyer John Diefenbaker – who would later become Prime Minister of Canada – and the strong-willed pair often sparred verbally. In one court hearing, McGill told Diefenbaker: "You ask me sensible questions and I will give you sensible answers."
  
  McGill was acknowledged for her "untiring" efforts and "excellent" service in annual reports by RCMP Commissioners James Howden MacBrien and Stuart Taylor Wood. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, McGill used her resourcefulness to make do with dramatically fewer resources and a much smaller staff. In 1933, she kept within a budget of $17,000 for testing work that would normally have cost more than $122,000.
  Volunteering hundreds of additional work hours on evenings and weekends, McGill assisted the RCMP in establishing their first official laboratory for forensic detection, which opened in 1937. Despite her experience, she was not offered the position of director for the lab. The laboratory took over a substantial portion of McGill's forensic pathology workload, and over the next several years she concentrated on other projects such as developing a polio serum and becoming a specialist in allergy research. As her expertise in allergy testing gained wider notice, doctors across the province began sending their patients to McGill. She coped with the growing demands on her time by obtaining an assistant and opening a private after-hours allergy clinic located at her apartment. 
  McGill retired from her job as provincial pathologist on November 17, 1942, having conducted more than 64,000 laboratory examinations over the course of her civil service career. She continued working at her allergy clinic two days per week, and spent more time on outdoor activities and trips with friends. Several months afterwards, McGill decided to start a new project providing vaccinations for preschool children, and subsequently set up inoculation clinics at schools across Regina.
caption: McGill working in laboratory c. 1942
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