Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell was a doctor and served as a missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador.Born in Parkgate, United Kingdom on February 28, 1865 he came to Newfoundland in 1892 to improve the plight of coastal inhabitants and fishermen.
By 1914 his mission had gained international status. In order to manage its property and affairs, the International Grenfell Association, a non-profit mission society, was founded to support Grenfell's work.
The Association operated until 1981, as an NGO.
It had responsibility for delivery of healthcare and social services in northern Newfoundland and Labrador. After 1981 a governmental agency, The Grenfell Regional Health Services Board, took over the operational responsibility. The International Grenfell Association, having divested itself of all properties and operational responsibility for health and social services, boarding schools, hospitals then became a supporting association making grants and funding scholarships for medical training.
For his years of service on behalf of the people of these communities he was later knighted by the King in 1927.
Grenfell died on October 9, 1940, Charlotte, Vermont, United States from coronary thrombosis.