Dr. Frank Hamilton Mewburn was a wiry and fiery surgeon, politician, army officer, and university professor who greatly contributed to the development of Lethbridge. Mewburn came from a long ling of medical professionals, graduating from McGill University in Montreal in 1881.

Mewburn arrived in Lethbridge in December 1885 where he accepted a position as the Medical Officer at the North Western Coal and Navigation Company. At first, he worked from a three-bed hospital in the river valley, to serve Lethbridge and the surrounding area. His medical skills saved many lives in difficult conditions, even when having to operate in livery stables or a pool hall when necessary.

Dr. Mewburn became the first superintendent, doctor, and surgeon of the Galt Hospital when it opened in 1892. He ran the hospital with military strictness but was compassionate to those unable to pay for treatment. His account books often contained notes on patients such as “hasn’t got a bean,” or “charge it to the Lord.”

Mewburn served as mayor of Lethbridge in 1899, 1900, and 1905, and remained in Lethbridge for 27 years until he moved to Calgary in 1913. When World War I began, Mewburn wired Samuel Hughes, Minister of Militia and Defence of Canada, offering his surgical services. Hughes wired back, thanking Mewburn but regretting that he was too old. Mewburn replied, “Reference your wire – go to hell! I am going anyway.”

He travelled to London and was taken on as a major in the Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1915 and was quickly promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1918 for his service.

Upon returning from the war, Dr. Mewburn left Calgary to take a position founding a surgical professorship at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. This enabled the university to award its first degrees in 1925, so that students no longer had to complete their degrees at schools out east. He was a popular teacher, dubbed the Colonel.

While Mewburn passed away in 1929, a cairn was erected outside the Galt Hospital in 1937 to commemorate his service. This cairn dedicated to Mewburn is still standing outside of the Galt Museum & Archives today.

Learn more about the history of medical care in Lethbridge by visiting “Taking Care,” the museum’s exhibit on permanent display.