Matilda Ridout Edgar was a Canadian historian and feminist. She was born Matilda Ridout, became Matilda Edgar by marriage, and became Lady Edgar in 1898 when her husband was knighted. The mother of nine children, she turned to historical research and writing when in her forties. She published three books in her lifetime and was working on a fourth when she died. She was active in a number of Toronto-based societies and in her later years was a strong advocate of women's causes.

The Canadian Historical Dinner Service, originally called the Cabot Commemorative State Dinner Service, is 204-piece eight-course dinner service with 24 place settings of hand-painted porcelain. It was created in 1896–97 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first visit to Canada by a European, John Cabot. The illustrations all have Canadian subjects, and no two pieces are the same.