Julia Wilmotte Henshaw

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Julia Wilmotte Henshaw
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
OccupationBotanist

Julia Wilmotte Henshaw (8 August 1869 – 19 November 1937)[a] was a Canadian botanist, geographer, writer, and political activist who also served with the Red Cross in World War I.[1]

Early life

Portrait of Henshaw in her younger years

Henshaw was born Julia Wilmotte Henderson (some sources spell it Willmothe) in 1869 in

Grant Morden.[1]

World War I

Henshaw travelled to France near the beginning of World War I, and returned to give speeches in favour of conscription and to raise money for ambulance services there.

British Red Cross Society.[1] Due to her courage in evacuating soldiers and leadership, and despite having no medical training, she was promoted to the rank of captain. She was vice-president of the Canadian Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire. For her bravery she was awarded the Croix de Guerre with a Gold Star for "evacuating and recuperating inhabitants under shell fire and aerial bombarding with a devotion and courage worthy of the highest praise."[1][4] Her husband was a military recruiter in Vancouver.[4] During the war she made some trips back to Canada to make speeches supporting the war effort and conscription, including urging women who had the right to vote to support conscription, yet she also made speeches against granting women the right to vote. She was discharged by the Canadians but then served with the French Red Cross from March to November 1918.[1]

Other work

Henshaw mapped Vancouver Island's interior during 1910–1911. The Royal Geographical Society made her a Fellow in 1911. She also wrote for two newspapers in Vancouver.[4] In 1914, she and her husband were the first people to drive a car across the Rocky Mountains.[1]

Books

Henshaw wrote these books:

  • Hypnotized (1889), called Canadian "Book of the Year", using her nom de plume Julian Durham[1]
  • Why Not Sweetheart? (1901), using her nom de plume Julian Durham[1]
  • Mountain wild flowers of Canada; a simple and popular guide to the names and descriptions of the flowers that bloom above the clouds. Toronto: William Briggs. 1906.[2]
  • Mountain wild flowers of America; a simple and popular guide to the names and descriptions of the flowers that bloom above the clouds. Boston: Ginn & Company. 1906.[2]
  • Wild Flowers of the North American Mountains. New York: R.M. McBride. 1917.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ One source lists year of birth as 1868 and date of death as November 18, another as November 20.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Daphne Bramham (September 8, 2014). "Julia Henshaw: A unique woman of the war". Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on December 16, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e "John Davidson: The Legacy of a Canadian Botanist". Botanyjohn. Archived from the original on November 13, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  3. ^ Henshaw, Julia W. (1907). "The Orchidaceae of the Rocky and Selkirk Mountains". The Canadian Alpine Journal. 1 (1): 264–267.
  4. ^ a b c d "Canadian Great War Project". Canadian Great War Project. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  5. ^ International Plant Names Index.  Henshaw.