Memorable Manitobans: Florence Pearl Young McGregor (1888-1932)

Click to enlarge

Florence Pearl Young McGregor
Click to enlarge

Inventor, entrepreneur.

Born at Belleville, Ontario on 1 November 1890, daughter of Cassie Hall and Charles Gilbert Young, she came to Winnipeg in 1912. On 1 September 1917, she married Duncan James McGregor (1887-1940) and they had one daughter, Verna Gertrude McGregor (1918-1990, wife of John Hunter Restall). She invented Kleerex, a mercury-based cream that she advertised in local newspapers as being effective for the treatment of skin afflictions such as eczema, psoriasis, pimples, boils, and poison ivy. She established the Kleerex Manufacturing Company to manufacture and market the product. She died at her Winnipeg home, 296 Scotia Street, on 11 August 1932 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery.

Sources:

Ontario birth registration, Ancestry.

Marriage and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Builders of Greater Winnipeg,” Winnipeg Tribune, 18 June 1931, page 33.

Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.

Obituary, Winnipeg Tribune, 12 August 1932, page 9.

“Deaths and funerals,” Winnipeg Tribune, 13 August 1932, page 2.

Obituary [Verna Gertrude McGregor Restall], Winnipeg Free Press, 23 October 1990, page 41.

Florence Pearl Young, Geni.

Kleerex Cream, Grey Roots Museum & Archives.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 3 June 2020

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

Search the collection by word or phrase, name, place, occupation or other text:

Custom Search

Browse surnames beginning with:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z

Browse deaths occurring in:
1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024


Send corrections and additions to this page
to the Memorable Manitobans Administrator at biographies@mhs.mb.ca

Criteria for Memorable Manitobans | Suggest a Memorable Manitoban | Firsts | Acknowledgements

Help us keep
history alive!