Memorable Manitobans: Morley Robinson Elliott (1900-1982)

Physician.

Born in Ontario on 1 August 1900, son of John Wesley Elliott and Cora Alice Long, he came to Manitoba where he practiced medicine at Rapid City and Wawanesa. He was later an epidemiologist for the provincial government. During the Second World War, he served as a medical officer with the Fort Garry Horse regiment and later became Assistant Director of Hygiene with the First Canadian Corps in Italy. Toward the end of the war, he worked at Canadian army headquarters in Holland and Germany, for which he was awarded an OBE in 1946.

He spent 23 years in the provincial civil service, the last 15 of them as Deputy Minister of Health, from 1951 to 1966. He was involved in the development of the public health system, directed the initiation of immunization programs for polio, and developed treatment programs for the mentally ill. He served as President of the Canadian Public Health Association. In 1966, he was made an Honorary Member of the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors.

He retired to Victoria, British Columbia in 1966, where he died on 5 November 1982.

Sources:

Ontario birth registration, Ancestry.

“Lt.-Col. M. R. Elliott awarded O.B.E.”, Winnipeg Free Press, 3 January 1946, page 3.

“Elliott retires from health post”, Winnipeg Free Press, 30 June 1966, page 10.

Death registration, British Columbia Vital Statistics.

This profile was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Profile revised: 13 January 2012

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