Kilborn and Walmsley Families, June 1925 (Adults from left to right: Leslie Kilborn, Constance Walmsley, Janet McClure Kilborn , Lewis Walmsley)
Kilborn and Walmsley Families, June 1925
Leslie Gifford Kilborn was born in 1895 in Kiating, West China. He was the eldest child of Drs. Omar and Retta Kilborn. Leslie enrolled at Victoria College in 1913 where he studied Physiology and Microbiology. He graduated in 1917 with First Class Honours and Victoria's Silver Medal in the Sciences. He continued his studies at the University of Toronto, earning a M.A. in Physiology in 1918, an M.D. in 1921, and a Ph.D. in 1928.
In 1921 Leslie Kilborn married Dr. Janet R. McClure, the daughter of pioneer missionaries of the Canadian Presbyterian Mission in North China. Leslie and Janet sailed to West China in the fall of 1921. They spent their first eighteen months studying Chinese in Penghsien. In 1923 they began their careers with West China Union University. Leslie taught Physiology and Biochemistry while Janet was charged with overseeing the WCUU eye hospital, as well as teaching pediatric medicine and medical English. Leslie and Janet Kilborn had four children, all of whom were born in China: Robert, Mary, Frances and Jean.
In 1945 Janet Kilborn died. Two years later, Leslie married Jean E. Millar, a W.M.S. doctor with a specialization in anesthesia.
