Adelaide Sinclair, 1944

Adelaide Sinclair, nee MacDonald, was born in York County in 1900. She attended a private girl’s school, graduating in 1917, and then achieved a Degree in Political Science in 1922 and a master’s degree in economics in 1925. She continued her studies in Europe before lecturing at the University of Toronto. After war broke out, she became an economist with the wartime prices and trade board, before joining the Women’s Canadian Naval Service in 1943. She was appointed commander later that year, becoming the first Canadian leader and the first woman to earn the rank of captain in the Royal Canadian Navy. After the war she served as executive assistant to the Deputy Minister of National Health and Welfare and the Canadian delegate to the United Nations’ International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). She retired in 1967 and was named an officer of the Order of Canada. She passed away in 1982.

 

Photograph courtesy of Lt. Gerald M. Moses, Canada, Dept. of National Defence, Library and Archives Canada (PA-191176)

 

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