Bagshaw's sister, Annie, remarked that from a young age she had a brilliant memory, and school work came easily for her.
[5] By the first week of October 1904, Bagshaw sold the farm, and moved both her mother and a sister with her to Toronto to finish her final year of medical school.
Despite a strong campaign, Bagshaw placed third, a loss the Hamilton Spectator attributed to her running against the area's long-serving school trustee, Orville Walsh.
In 1921, nearing her 40th birthday, Bagshaw began a friendship with Rocco Perri, a man known as the king of bootleggers.
[5] Bagshaw attended church her whole life and belonged to a temperance organization; however, she had a tendency to become involved with law-breakers.
At the age of 45 she adopted him, calling her lawyer and avoiding Children's Aid completely, reasoning that "they would never give a child to an unmarried woman.
[5] Dr. Bagshaw was an avid golfer, and a charter member of Glendale Golf & Country Club when it was founded in 1919.