Dr. Archibald Alexander Riddel was born on
10 December 1819 in Aberdeen, Scotland.
1 He came to Canada around
1836 and began his career as an apprentice
to the printing business in Toronto.
2 Riddel, who was determined to enter the medical field, began college and became a
licensed doctor in
1857, after
some years
practicing in Mexico.
3 On
9 June 1858, Riddel wrote to the Under-Secretary of State in an attempt to convince the government
to aid him in forming
a Settlement in Vancouver’s Island.
4 Unfortunately, the area was leased to the Hudson’s Bay Company at the time and the
Colonial Office could not
undertake to say on which terms land shall be offered in that island
and declined his request.
5 Riddel held positions as the coroner for Toronto,
one of the founders of the… Toronto Medical Society,
and a member of the first school board in Toronto who
was largely instrumental in having free schools established in Toronto.
6 Riddel was described as
a man of sterling honesty, unswerving truthfulness, and unflinching courage.
7 He died on
15 December 1883 in Toronto.
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