Dr. William Canniff trained in medicine in Canada, the US, Great Britain and Europe prior to settling in Belleville where he practiced surgery. In 1852 he enrolled at the Victoria College Medical School studying under Dr. William Thomas Aikins.[2] Following brief periods of study and practice in New York, London, Edinburgh, Dublin, and Paris, Canniff returned to Belleville, Ontario, joining the faculty of the Victoria School in 1859 as a lecturer in pathology.