Quennell, Peter, 1905-1993

Margaret Anchoretta Ormsby was born in 1909 in Quesnel but spent most of her childhood in the Okanagan Valley. In 1925, she enroled at UBC earning a B.A. (1929) and M.A. (1931) in History. Ormsby began her Ph.D. at Bryn Mawr in 1931, interrupting her studies between 1934 and 1936 to work as a teaching assistant in the Department on History at UBC. After completing her Ph.D. in 1936, she taught in the United States for three years. In 1940, Ormsby became a lecturer in the History Department of McMaster University. She returned to UBC to teach in 1943, becoming a professor in 1955 and the Head of the History Department in 1965. She held the position of head until her retirement from the University in 1974. During the 1970's, Ormsby taught courses at the University of Toronto as well as at the University of Western Ontario. Between 1960 and 1967, she chaired the Historical Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. Ormsby has made several literary contributions to the field of Canadian History including British Columbia: A History (1958) commemorating the centennial of the designation of B.C. as a crown colony, A Pioneer Gentle Woman in British Columbia: the Recollections of Susan Allison (1976) and Coldstream - Nulli Secundus (1990) as well as numerus entries to journals and encyclopedias. She has received honourary doctorates from each of the major universities in B.C. and holds the Insignia of the Order of British Columbia.

From the description of Margaret Ormsby fonds. 1839-1996. (University of British Columbia Library). WorldCat record id: 606456009

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