Dr. Norman Bethune: A Stratford Connection compiled by Gord Conway
Norman Bethune. University of Toronto. 1916
Dr. Norman Bethune lived in Stratford not once, not twice but three times for brief periods in 1917, 1919 and 1926. This noted surgeon, inventor, artist, writer and political activist who died in 1939 in Huang Shiko China worked as a doctor with Dr. J. A. Robertson and his son Dr. Lorne Robertson (See Albert Street) in both 1917 and 1919. He returned briefly to visit his married sister, Mrs. Janet Stiles, in Stratford in 1924.
Many people have heard of his dedicated contribution as a doctor in the Spanish Civil War in 1936, and in China in 1938 and 1939. His death in China in the latter year, as a result of a disease he contracted while trying to apply modern medicine under the worst war conditions, led him to be declared a national hero in that country.
Bethune was born March 3, 1890, in the Presbyterian manse at Gravenhurst, Ont., where his father was a minister. The house is now a National Historic Site. He grew up in a number of Ontario towns, including Beaverton, Aylmer and Blind River, as his father moved around from parish to parish. After graduating from high school in Owen Sound, he spent a year at a lumber camp in Northern Ontario and a term teaching at Edgely near Toronto. In the fall of 1909, he entered the University of Toronto to study medicine, which was briefly interrupted by another stint in a lumbering camp and by service in an Army Medical Corps in Mance in 1915. After being wounded and sent back home, he completed his medical degree in December 1916.
It is at this point that Dr. Bethune's connection with Stratford came about. Dr. J. A. Robertson and his son, Dr. Lorne Robertson, were in the habit of taking fairly lengthy holidays every year or two. They, therefore, would ask the university for a recent graduate to replace them while they were gone. So from February to April, 1916, Dr. Bethune, filled in at their offices next to the Old Fire Hall on Albert Street. This house, known as The Elms, which was torn down to make way for the Woolco store (now the site of Rheo Thompson Candies, Fundamentals Books and Toys, Coldwell Banker All Points Festival City Realty, and other businesses), is shown in the accompanying picture. It was famous for its two stone dogs which now sit at the entrance to Upper Queen's Park, with the warning Cave Canem — "beware of this dog."
During his two-month stay in 1917, Dr. Bethune apparently boarded with a local dentist, Dr. John Alexander Bothwell, (c 1865-1936), and his daughter Margaret, at 77 John Street North. The house is now on the non-designated list of historical properties in Stratford.
Dr. J. A. Bothwell
77 John Street
As you can see, the house at 77 John Street North is a Tudor Revival, two storey home. The first storey is stone and includes a porch with a pediment above the entranceway; the second storey is stucco and timber with a gabled roof.
On April 24, the Stratford Beacon reported that Dr. Bethune had joined the Royal Navy. He spent most of the rest of the war on board the H.M.S. Pegasus, one of the first aircraft carriers. After the war, he spent six months in an internship at the Hospital for Sick Children in London, England and also served as a house surgeon.
In the autumn of 1919, he returned to Canada, and again spent two months in Stratford filling in for the Robertsons. This time, he boarded with Dr. Robertson's receptionist, Ruth Patton, and her mother, at 24 Charles Street.
Bethune stayed at 335 Cobourg with his sister Mrs. Janet Stiles in 1924.
It was during his time there that his fondness for children was noted. It was also during this period that his unorthodox style and behaviour became obvious. Roderick Stewart, in his biography of Dr. Bethune, notes a story of one former resident who accompanied Dr. Bethune to a dance. She noted that he wore a light blue suit, red tie and yellow shoes, which "utterly humiliated" her at the time. However, a group of citizens did offer to support him financially in practice once his two months were up. Instead, he chose to take a placement in Ingersoll.
Shortly afterward, he returned to London, England, for a number of years. There he married Frances Penney, whom he subsequently divorced, remarried and divorced a second time. After a honeymoon in Europe, they returned to Canada and again to Stratford for a few months in 1924, until he could find new employment that suited his taste. This time they stayed with his sister, Janet, and her husband, Thomas Stiles, at 335 Cobourg Street. Mr. Stiles was sales manager at the Globe-Wernicke Furniture Co. until he moved to Kitchener in 1926.
After taking a position in Detroit, Bethune’s career as a doctor and a lecturer became a bit more stable. However, a bout of pulmonary tuberculosis made him very interested in this disease, and for awhile became his focus. He went on to Montreal, where he also practised and lectured. During this period, he also invented or redesigned 12 medical and surgical instruments. He also became interested in radical reforms of the health care system in Canada. He was an early advocate of universal health care in Canada.
His concern took him to the Spanish Civil War in 1936, where he set up the very first mobile blood-transfusion service. In 1938, he became interested in the war waged against the Japanese invaders in northern China, and left Canada for the last time to join the 8th Route Army there. His death led to the writing of Mao Zedong's essay, In Memory of Norman Bethune, which was widely read in China. His image of dedication established a very positive image of Canada and Canadians among the Chinese people.
In his obituary in The Beacon Herald of Nov. 27, 1939, it was noted that "he became well known to many persons in the city and was highly respected as an efficient physician and surgeon." On March 2 and March 3, 1990, the Canada Post Corporation on the 100th Anniversary of his birth issued two stamps commemorating Dr. Bethune's work in Canada and China.
This article by Lutzen H. Riedstra, Stratford-Perth Archives, first appeared in the Reflections series on March 29, 1990 to recognize the postage stamp launched earlier that month in honour of Dr. Norman Bethune. Sourced by Gord Conroy
Self Portrait Source: National Archives of Canada
Dr. Bethune Artist ,
Bethune took lessons from Edwin Holgate and frequently associated with artists, John Lyman, Parskeva Clark, Frederick Taylor and Anne Savage. He was also the creator of the of the Montreal Children's Art Centre, in 1936. (in his own apartment in Beaver Hall Square).
Quote from Dr. Bethune's writings
A great artist lets himself go. He is natural. He swims easily in the stream of his own temperment. He listens to himself, he respects himself. He has a deeper fund of strength to draw from than that arising from rational and logical knowledge.
The function of the artist is to disturb. His duty is to arouse the sleeper to shake the complacent killers of the world. He reminds the world of its dark ancestry, shows the world its present and points the way to its new birth. He is at once the product and the preceptor of his time....In a world terrified of change, he preaches revolution - the principle of life. He is an agitator, a disturber of the peace, quick, impatient, positive, restless and disquieting. He is the creative spirit of life working in the soul of men. Source: Quote from pp 82-83 Norman Bethune byAdrienne Clarkson Penquin Canada,