William Anthony Paddon

Who was William Anthony Paddon?

William Anthony "Tony" Paddon, OC was a Canadian physician and the seventh Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland from 1981-1986.

Born in Indian Harbour, Labrador, the son of Dr. Harry Locke Paddon and Mina Gilchrist, a doctor and a nurse respectively with the International Grenfell Association. He received a Bachelor of Science in 1936 from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He received his Doctor of Medicine in 1940 from the New York Medical College. During World War II, he served with the Royal Canadian Navy as a surgeon.

After the war, he returned to Labrador with the International Grenfell Association, serving as doctor at the North West River hospital. He was the director of the IGA from 1960 until his retirement in 1978. He married Sheila Fortescue, also an IGA nurse.

In 1981, he was the first, and so far only Labradorian to be appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador. He served until 1986.

In 1986, he published his autobiography, Labrador Doctor: My Life with the Grenfell Mission.

In 1977 he received an honorary doctorate from Memorial University. In 1978, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Officer in 1988.