Elizabeth Catherine Bagshaw (October 19, 1881 – January 5, 1982) was one of Canada's first woman physicians. She was the medical director of the first birth control clinic in Canada, located in Hamilton, Ontario. Early life Bagshaw was born on a farm in Mariposa Township, Victoria County, Ontario, the youngest of four daughters of John and Eliza Bagshaw. Bagshaw's sister, Annie, remarked that from a young age she had a brilliant memory, and school work came easily for her. Her father died in July 1904 in a farm accident, which left Bagshaw in charge of the family farm which spanned 89 hectares. By the first week of October 1904, Bagshaw sold the farm, and moved both her mother and a sister with her to Toronto to finish her final year of medical school. Education Bagshaw registered at the University of Toronto in September 1901 as an occasional student; this enabled her to obtain a degree from this university while taking most of her courses at the neighbouring Ontario Medical College for Women, which would later become Women's College Hospital. Here she gained practical experience seeing prenatal patients at a maternity clinic. In 1905 Elizabeth became Doctor Bagshaw and graduated from the University of Toronto. After graduation, Bagshaw apprenticed under Emma Leila Skinner who was an 1896 graduate of the University of Toronto. There she learned of maternity work, and the economic struggles patients often had in affording and seeing a doctor. Career After working in Hamilton, Ontario for the summer of 1906, Bagshaw moved to that city and set up her own medical practice. During the Spanish flu epidemic, Bagshaw had approximately 25–30 maternity cases per month. In 1934, Bagshaw entered politics, seeking to fill the Ward 1 aldermanic seat being vacated by Nora-Frances Henderson, one of Hamilton's first elected female local politicians who sought election to the city's Board of Control. Despite a strong campaign, Bagshaw placed third, a loss the Hamilton Spectator attributed to her running against the area's long-serving school trustee, Orville Walsh. From 1932 until 1966, Bagshaw was the medical director of Canada's first birth control clinic. Over the course of her career she delivered thousands of babies, including one delivered by the light of kerosene lamps from her car. She retired at the age of 95 in 1976, the oldest practicing physician in Canada at the time. She became a centenarian in 1981. Personal life