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 My goal was to have at least one name for each day of the year! Believe it or not, it took 20 years. But hey, I made it!

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April 1	Myra Bennett. née Grimsley. Born April 1, 1890, London, England. Died April 26, 1990, Daniel’s Harbour, Newfoundland. As a girl Myra studied nursing and continued courses as a midwife. During World War l she worked in England in the North London slums. She was persuaded by Lady Harris, wife of the governor of Newfoundland, to immigrate and on April 13, 1921 she sailed for St. John’s, Newfoundland. She worked caring for the people of the great northern peninsula, a 200 mile stretch of isolated coastline in colony. In 1922 she married Angus Bennett, a former merchant marine. The couple had three children. Once her paid contract ran out, Myra worked free lance. She served as nurse, midwife, dentist, veterinarian, educator, and was known as the 'Florence Nightingale of Newfoundland'. She retired in 1953 but still continued to care for folks. In 1935 she was presented with the King George V Jubilee Medal and in 1937 the coronation Medal of George VI. She was made a member of the Order of the British Empire and the Order of Canada. In 1974 the CBC made a documentary on her life.  In 1991 the province of Newfoundland and Labrador declared her home in Daniel’s Harbour an Historic Site. Source: 100 more Canadian Heroines by Merna Forster, Dundurn Press, 2010; Heritage Newfoundland (accessed  June 12, 2012. (2022) Image Public Domain
	Tobie Thelma Steinhouse.  née Davis. Born April 1, 1925, Montreal, Quebec. Tobie studied in New York, U.S.A. before 1948 to 1957 when she lived in Paris France where she continued studies in graphics and painting. Just prior to leaving Paris she held a solo exhibition of her works. Returning to Montreal she was a founding member in 1965 at Atelier Libre de Recherches Graphics. She became a member of the Canadian Group of Painters and was its last president before it dissolved. In 1967 she was awarded the Jessie Dow Prize for her painting. Tobie also has an interest in Japanese calligraphy and exhibits with the school of Suiha Hiroko Okata in Quebec. Her works form part of the collections of the National Gallery of Canada and the Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal. In 1972 she published Songes et lumière huit eaux-fortes de Tobie Steinhouse [portfolio]. Montreal: La Guilde Graphique.
April 2	Lise Thibault. née Trudel. Born April 2 1939, Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan, Quebec. As a teenager, as the result f a toboggan accident, Lise was permanently disabled and uses a wheelchair. She married Rene Thibault in 1959. In 1997 she became the 27th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the 1st women to hold this position,  she has earned the right to use the title The Honourable Lise Thibault. She has worked with many public and community organizations. She has served as an adult education teacher, worker for Health and Safety Board, the Canadian Red Cross, she served for disabled person for the Quebecers NO Committee, the Liberal Party of Canada, and founded journals and associations to promote women in Canada. Among her many awards is the Personality of the Year Award from Chatelaine Magazine. In 2007 she was accused of spending beyond the limits of her expense account. In September 2015 she was sentenced to 18 months in jail and was ordered to repay the government $3000,000.00 after pleading guilty to fraud and breach of trust in 2014. Although appealed the sentence was upheld and she she was jailed. She was granted a full conditional release on August 17, 2016.
	Sharon Acker. Born April 2, 1935, Toronto, Ontario. She made her television debut in the made for TV movie Anne of Green Gables. She joined the Stratford Theatre and travelled to England remaining there making her film debut in Lucky Jim in 1957 before returning to Canada with her husband Ron MacDonald to raise a family of two daughters.  In Canada she returned to acting on television. She also did modeling to bring in some funds. By 1967 she was appearing in American films as well as in Canadian productions. In 1969 she was presented with the 1st 'Star of Tomorrow Award' from the Motion Picture Exhibitors of Canada. She is perhaps best remembered for her role as secretary Della Street in the New Perry Mason television series. 1973-1974.In 1973 he married a second time to Peter J. Elkington (died 2001).  She retired in 1992 from her acting career.
April 3	Mary Margaret Anglin. Born April 3, 1876, Ottawa, Ontario. Died January 7, 1958, Toronto, Ontario. Margaret was actually born in the Houses of Parliament Speaker’s Chambers. Her father Timothy Warren Anglin(1822-1986) was, at that time, Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons. A strong willed individual she headed for a career in acting in New York City in the 1890’s much against the wishes of her family. In 1894 she graduated from the Empire School of Dramatic Acting. By 1896 she was touring on stage in the U.S.A. and Canada. By 1905, she had earned wide recognition for her dramatic skills and was invited to work with the renowned Sarah Bernhardt. In 1911 she married a colleague Howard Hill who had little reputable acting talent. By 1913 she was appearing in Shakespearian performances of her own acting group. When her husband did not receive roles she was absent from the stage for many years. She did return to the stage however with her last Broadway appearance was in 1936. The Encyclopedia Britannica called her one of the most brilliant actresses of her era. Sources: The Canadian Encyclopedia Online Accessed 2000. : Encyclopedia Britannica online. (accessed 2000) Suggested reading Margaret Anglin: A stage life by John Levay 1989.
	Nanette Bordeaux. Born April 3, 1911, St. Georges, Quebec. Died September 20, 1956, Los Angeles, California. Her birth name was Hélène Olivine Veilleux. She moved with her family to New York City, U.S.A. in the 1930’s and she began to audition for theater work. In 1938 she did a screen test for Hal Roach Studios and won out over 50 other actors. She had several small roles in the 1940’s using the stage name Francine Bordeaux.  In 1949 she was hired by Columbia Pictures where she began appearing with the famous comedians, the Three Stooges. Since she had a natural French accent when was often cast as Fifi in these films. She also learned to mask her accent to be more American for additional roles.
	Sandra Bell-Lundy. Born April 3, 1958. She studied French at Brock University, St. Catherines, Ontario but it would be her talent as an cartoonist that would become her profession. She actually created comics for her university newspaper when she was a student.  She is the author of the worldwide syndicated comic strip Between Friends.  In 1994 her work caught the attention of King Features and the cartoon strip became syndicated in 175 newspapers internationally. She is married to Tim Lundy and the couple have 2 daughters. Her work has garnered notice from various organizations such as the North American Council on Adoptable Children and the Cancer society for featuring stories. To date her comic strips have been collected and published in 3 books. ( 2016)
April 4	Karen Diane Magnussen.  Born April 4, 1952, North Vancouver, British Columbia. A accomplished free-skating performer, Karen was Canadian champion in 1968. She withdrew from 1969 world championships because of stress fractures in both legs. After three months in a wheelchair she returned to become Canadian champion 1970-1973 and world champion in 1973.She earned a silver medal in the 1972 Winter Olympics. Karen retired from competition in 1977.  The doll that was made and sold as the Karen Magnussen doll did not have any of the characteristics of the determined young athlete. She studied kinesiology at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia and in 1978 she tarried singer Tony Cells and the couple have three children. (2017)
	Evelyn Anne Hart. Born April 4, 1956, Toronto, Ontario. Evelyn studied ballet at the Dorothy Carter School of Dance, London, Ontario and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (R W B) School before auditioning for the National Ballet School of Canada (NBSC) . At this time she did not enter the NBSC training as she was battling anorexia nervosa, a pathological eating disorder and she returned to the RWB School. In 1976 she joined the RWB Company and was promoted to soloist in 1978 and principal dancer in 1979. In 1980 she was the 1st westerner and 1st Canadian to win gold at the Varna International Ballet Competition in Bulgaria. Her career would allow her to perform on stages around the world. In 1983 she was inducted as an officer of the Order of Canada which was upgraded to Companion level in 1994. From 1990 through 1994 she danced ½ time with the RWB and ½ time with the Bayerische Staatsbalelet in Munich Germany.  In 2000 she earned her star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in Toronto. In 2001 she was presented with the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement. In 2005 she retired from the RWB to dance freelance. During her last year with the R W B CBC cameras filmed her performances for a Life and Time television documentary. She completed her 33 year dance career with a guest artist performance with the ProArtDanza. In 2006 she was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and inducted into the Order of Manitoba.
April 5	Minna Keen. née Bergman. Born April 5,1861, Arolsen, Germany. Died November 1943. A self taught photographer in the pioneering days of photography she was the 1st woman to become a fellow to the Royal Photographic Society. She came to Canada in 1913 where commissioned by the Canadian Pacific Railway to photograph the Rockies. She opened her studio in Toronto and was recognized with awards from Japan, South Africa, and Australia. The National Archives of Canada and the Smithsonian Institution in the U.S.A. collect her works.
	Hilda Mary Slater. Born April 5, 1882, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Died April 2, 1965, Norris Castle, England. Hilda left home in 1902 to pursue training in voice in Italy and England. However a performing career was not to be her calling. She  changed her life direction when she met Harry Reginald Dunbar Lacon of British Columbia, and  the couple decided to marry. In order to return to Canada with her wedding gown and trousseau (valued at some $7000.00 at the time), Hilda booked passage on the Titanic in April 1912 as a second class passenger. Originally when the Titanic struck an iceberg, she was told to go back to bed as there was no danger. A half hour later the order to don lifejackets was raised. She was pushed down the corridor to the ship side where she was placed in lifeboat number 13. It was one of the last life boats to be lowered. She later provided touching eyewitness accounts as husbands and wives were separated and of children being handed over to the life boats by parents who stayed on board the sinking ship. In lifeboat 13 there were eight women, a husband and wife, and a ten month old baby, and more than 40 men stokers, men who had manned the furnaces in the bowels of the ship. In total 63 were people huddled in the life boat on the becalmed sea watching the mighty ship sink. The life boat was eventually saved by the ship, Carpathia, and Titanic survivors were taken to New York. Hilda continued her trip to British Columbia where she was married in June 1912. The couple had one son who served with distinction in the Royal Canadian Navy. Hilda is buried in her family plot in Nova Scotia. Rosalee Peppard, a maritime Canadian musical Oral Historian,  commemorated the 100th anniversary with a new show – Living Titanic – the musical memoir of Nova Scotia Survivor Hilda Mary Slayter Sources: Brave musicians of ship meet fate trying to drown cries…Worcester Evening Gazette, April 20, 1912. Online (accessed March 2012): Titanic Remembered: The Unsinkable Ship and Halifax by Alan Ruffman. Titanic, the Canadian Story. by Alan Hustak, Vehicule Press, 1999; Rosalee.ca/titanic (accessed March 2012)
April 6	Maria Campbell. Born April 6,1940, near Athlone, Edmonton, Alberta. In Edmonton she assisted in founding a halfway house for women and a women's emergency shelter. She began writing in 1973 because she was upset that so few people knew about historic and contemporary Native Cultures. Her 1st book was a memoir, Halfbreed which is used in schools across Canada continuing to inspire indigenous women. She herself is fluent in 4 languages: Cree, Michif, Saulteaux and English. Her books have been translated into German, Chinese, French and Italian. Her 1st professionally produced play, Flight, was the 1st all Aboriginal theatre production in modern CanadaShe has written screenplays and books. In 1986 she was presented with the Dora Mavor Award and the Chalmers Award for Best New Play. .In 1992 she earned the Gabriel Dumont Institute Medal of Merit She has written and/or directed films by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), including My Partners My People, which aired on CTV for 3 years. She is coordinator and member of Sage Ensemble, a community theatre group for Aboriginal elders, and is actively associated with the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company in Saskatoon. Maria is also a volunteer, activist and advocate for Aboriginal rights and the rights of women. She sits as an Elder on the Saskatchewan Aboriginal Justice Commission and is a member of the Grandmothers for Justice Society. Her writings and her efforts for justice have been recognized in 1994 with the Saskatchewan Achievement Award and in 1996 with the National Aboriginal Achievement Award In 2006 she was honoured with the Saskatchewan Order of Merit. In 2008 she was inducted as an Officer of the Order of Canada. Over the years she has also served as Writer In Residence for the University of Alberta, Regina Public Library, Prince Albert Public Library, Whitehorse Public Library, the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Winnipeg.
	Margaret Gibson. Born April 6,1948, Scarborough, Ontario. Died February 25, 2006, Toronto, Ontario. Margaret began writing in the early 1970's to document her struggle with mental Illness. Originally diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia she later learned that she was in fact bipolar. In the early 1970's Margaret married Stuart Gilboord and the couple had one son  This writer started off with a bang when one of her 1st published works, The Butterfly Ward, made her a co-winner of the City of Toronto Book Award in 1976. She followed this with collections of short stories, She shared this award with Margaret Atwood (1939-   ). It would later be made into a TV movie for CBC. The movie Outrageous was also based on her work entitled Making it. This movie was followed within a decade by a sequel, Too Outrageous. The made for CBS TV movie For the Love of Aaron was based on an aspect of her life where she and her husband  had a custody battle for their son Aaron. After her divorce, Margaret's life partner was actor Craig Russell (1948-1990). In 1997 she published her only novel Opium Dreams which won the Books in Canada First Novel Award. Her last publication was once again a collection of short stories called Desert Thirst in 1998. She married a second time to Juris Rasa. Her life as a teen was told in the book by Jon Postal and Guia Dine in Of Margaret and Madness: A novel Inspired by True Events. In 2011 David Solomon wrote a play entitled Margaret and Craig based on the writings by the couple. (2022)
April 7	Harriet Irene Dunlop-Prenter. née Dunlop. Born April 7, 1866, Eurkva, Russia. Died July 16, 1939, Belleville, Ontario. On September 8, 1992 Harriet  married Hector Henry Weir Prenter (1860-1945). She believed in peace and followed her beliefs when she by became secretary of the Canadian section of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and which became the Women’s Peace Party founded in the U.S. in January 1915. Many women did not like the pacifist movement and chose instead to support the war. Harriet was also a strong suffragette and a member of the Political Equality League in Toronto. Harriet wrote about her beliefs and her stands in the Canadian Forward, the White Ribbon Bulletin and Women’s Century. In 1918 she and Lucy MacGregor formed the Women's Labour League in Toronto. In 1920 she started a woman’s page in the Industrial Banner where she discussed money value of women’s work in the home and paid wages. After Canadian women gained the right to vote in 1917 Harriet remained interested in politics and the advancement of equality for women. She joined the Independent Labour Party and in December 6, 1921 federal election she was a candidate for Toronto West. Although Unlike fellow candidate Agnes MacPhail (1890-1954) Harriet was unsuccessful in the election it still stands that she was one of the 1st women to run as a candidate in a Canadian federal election. In 1922 she became a member of the Worker’s Party of Canada and helped with communist campaigns. In 1924 she was with the Women’s Labour League celebrating the 1st Canadian International Women’s Day. (2022)
	Elsie Dorothy Knowles.  Born April 7,1927, Unity, Saskatchewan. Elsie graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 1948 and also attended the Goldsmith School of Art. In 1949 she participated in the Banff Summer Session. She would also take part in Lake Artist's Workshops beginning in 1962. For a brief time she studied in London, England.  Elsie, as an artist enjoyed water colour landscapes as her form of expression. She has been able to have her works shown in Vancouver; Edmonton; London, England; Paris, France, Chicago; Los Angeles, and in a 1994 traveling exhibition by the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon. She married fellow artist William Perehudoff (1918-2013) In 1887 she received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit and in 2004 she was inducted into the Order of Canada. Her paintings have had an enormous influence on younger painters across western Canada. April 7, 2006 two commemorative postage stamps were issued showing her works which were completed in 1971; The Field of Rapeseed and North Saskatchewan River. In 2017 she had an exhibition at Art Placement Inc. in Saskatoon entitled "Dorothy Knowles: 90 years'.
April 8	Mary Pickford.  née Gladys Louise Smith. Born April 8, 1892, Toronto, Ontario. Died May 29, 1979, Santa Monica, California, U.S.A. Gladys Smith become seriously ill with diphtheria and is baptized by a Catholic priest and has her middle name changed to Marie. In 1900 her mother, having been left alone to raise her three children,  suggests her daughters Gladys and Lottie be cast in a play. January 8, 1900 'Baby Gladys Smith' makes her stage debut at the Princess Theatre, Toronto in the play The Silver King. By 1905 Gladys is in Manhattan, New York, U.S.A. sharing a room with future film star,  Lillian Gish (1893-1993) and her family. In 1907 Gladys take the name Mary Pickford. She began her screen career in the silent films in 1909 with the Biograph Film Studio in New York City, U.S.A. The following year she becomes the company's second 'Biograph Girl' after fellow Canadian Florence Lawrence (1886-1938) leaves. January 7, 1911 she married, in a secret ceremony, Owen Moore but it was a strained marriage. She would divorce him to marry Douglas Fairbanks on March 28, 1920 when they were know as the King and Queen of Hollywood. As an actress she stands above the rest of her era and earned herself a Best Actress Academy Award (1929) at the second annual event. She was the 1st Canadian Born woman to have won an Academy award.  Her sweet girlish looks and her long ringlets endeared her to the the fans who knew her as "America's Sweetheart". Her dedication to realism in her work sometimes meant getting down into real mud! Her talents went beyond her sincerity and heart melting appearance. She entered the film industry and became Hollywood's 1st female businesswoman "movie mogul" creating with her colleagues United Artists Studios. She was the 1st woman to make $1,000,000.00 a year in the U.S. Movie business!!! Mary and Douglas Fairbanks marriage did not survive the constant making of movies and being constantly in the limelight. The divorced in 1936. The following year Mary married actor and banc leader Charles 'Buddy' Rogers (1904-1999).  and they adopted two children. She remained to the end of her life, proud of her Canadian heritage. The Toronto Sick Kids Hospital is build on the site of her birthplace and around the corner there is an historic plaque and a monument. In 1999 she received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame, Toronto. Catherdral City, California, U.S.A. has a Mary Pickford Theatre established in 2001, build complete with a bell tower and three-story lobby. In 2006 Canada Post issued a Canadian Postage Stamp in her honour. February 2011 the Spadina Museum, Toronto, staged performances of Sweetheart: The Mary Pickford Story, a one woman musical based on Mary's life. On August 20, 2019 the Toronto International Film Festival presented the first Mary Pickford Award. (2021)
	Lois Miriam Wilson.  née Freeman. Born April 8, 1927, Winnipeg, Manitoba. After 15 years as a homemaker she became an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada. In 1976 she became the 1st woman to be president of the Canadian Council of Churches, and in 1980 she was appointed as the 1st woman to the top position of Moderator of the United Church of Canada. She is a member of the Order of Canada and has received the Pearson Peace Prize and the World Federalist Peace Award. She has also written several books. (2020)
April 9	Katherine (Kit) Brennan Watters. Born April 9, 1958, Vancouver, British Columbia. During her studies at Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, she received awards including the Lorne Green Award. She began her career as an actor but soon found that she preferred writing plays to acting. In 1994 her play about the woman Dr. James Barry won the Canadian National Playwright Competition. he acted for several years but prefers writing plays. One of her works, Spring Planting has received the Saskatchewan Writers Guild Award. She is married to Andrew Waters and works as a professor at Concordia University, Montreal. In 2013 she began writing a series of novels starting with Whip Smart: Lola Montez Conquers the Spaniards.
	Karen Clark. Born April 9, 1972, Montreal, Quebec. A few weeks after she was born her family moved to Mississauga, Ontario. At 6 she was a member of the Mississauga Synchronized Swim Club. In 1983, three years after she joined the Olympium organization in Etobicoke, Karen won her 1st individual provincial title, she became the 10 & Under Ontario champion in all events. Two years further up the road she captured her 1st national title (junior champion in figures), in the process becoming the youngest synchronized swimmer to ever win a Canadian national title. She repeated the feat three times. In 1989 she became a triple silver medalist at the Junior World Championships. The following year she won a silver in duet at the international Goodwill Games and first in 1991 then in 1994 helped Canada win silver medals in team events at the World Aquatic Championships. She is a member of our Canadian Olympic Synchronized Swim Team. She earned a sliver medal at the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996. That same year she and Lisa Alexander were chosen c0-winners of Mississauga's Female Athlete of the Year Award. She holds  20 Canadian titles in various categories including figures, solo, duet and team. and has won medals at the Pan American Games and the World Cup. She earned her BA at the University of Calgary and in 1997 she won a Dale Carnegie Achievement Award for excellence in public speaking. After retiring from competition she became a journalist with the Calgary Herald, the Canadian Press and a colour commentator for the CBC Sports. In 2004 Karen was inducted into the Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame. Source: Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame. Accessed May 2016
April 10	Esther Wheelwright. Born April 10, 1696, Wells Massachusetts (now Maine), U.S.A.  Died November 28, 1780.  Born to a Congregationalist protestant family, she would be re-baptized as Marie-Joseph dit L'Enfant-Jésus when she became a nun in Quebec. She was kidnapped by the Indian allies of the French who were at war against the British. The French missionaries introduced her to the Catholic Faith. Her family tried to obtain her return home but there were too many barriers and the girl was placed in a school run by the Ursuline Sisters. She decided to become an nun and refused to return to her home. She would become the Mother Superior and maintain good relations between the Ursuline and the new British authorities after the fall of Quebec. She helped her religious community to become strong through 20 of its most difficult years. Source: D C B
	Janet 'Jay' Barbara Acton. Born April 10, 1941, Kirkland Lake, Ontario. Died October 18, 2012, Ottawa, Ontario. Her Aunt Ida introduced her to the sport of skiing when she was a young girl and she was hooked for life. As a teen she was a top Ontario slalom, downhill and cross country skier. She was a member of the Canadian Junior Ski Championship team and attended the Olympic Training School in Quebec. She was instrumental in founding the Kirkland Lake Ski Club and served willingly as it’s Director. She would involve her entire family including her husband Peter Maheux and her five children. Her niece Brigitte skied for Canada in 2006 and 2010 Olympics. Source: Lives Lived, Globe and Mail, January 16, 2013.
April 11	Margaret O'Hara. Born April 11, 1855, Port Elmsley, Canada West (now Ontario). Died August 28, 1940, Smith's Falls, Ontario. In 1891 Margaret graduated from the Women's Medical College, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario.  She arrived in Bombay, India to begin missionary work in December 1891. She worked for 36 years as a hospital in Dhar, India. She was presented with the Kaiser-i-Hind Medal for her devotion and dedication. She wrote the book,  Leaf of the Lotus. Source: Female Physicians ...Women's Medical College, Queen's University by Dr. Donald Brearley. 2017. online (accessed 2021)
	Agnes Dennis. née Miller. Born April 11, 1859, Truro, Nova Scotia. Died April 21, 1949. President of the Victoria Order of Nurses from 1901 to 1946 and the Halifax Council of Women in Nova Scotia from 1906 to1920.  She mobilized women in World War I for the Red Cross for which she was also President at the provincial level from 1914 to1920. She helped co-ordinate relief efforts for the Halifax Explosion of 1917. Even with all this work she found time to raise ten children of her own!
April 12	Helen Maude Dallas. Born April 12, 1898, Hastings, England. Died May 26, 1993, Winnipeg, Manitoba. She arrived in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1919.  She studied music at Wesley College and began musical career that spanned six decades. In 1920 she married Joseph Dallas and the couple had 2 children. She performed regularly with various choirs and  on local stages ranging from the Walker Theatre to Rainbow Stage. During the depression of the 1930’s she often sang for causes to help the homeless and unemployed.  In the 1940s she hosted a radio show on C K Y. During world War ll she regularly performed for troops and continued doing weekly recitals at Deer Lodge Hospital well into her eighties. Later in life she became a green space activist in her Omand’s Creek neighbourhood. Source: Manitoba Lives: Helen Dallas, West End Dumplings, Online Blog of Christian Cassidy (accessed February 2014)
	Patricia Lorraine Tutty.  Born April 12, 1953. Known as Paddy, she and her sister began performing folk music in the late 1960's. She developed a serious interest in English and Celtic traditional music.  She traveled to England to perform and collect fold music.  She is and active member of the Canadian Fold Music Society and has produced albums of this popular and growing form of music.
April 13	Margaret Marshall Saunders. Born April 13,1861, Milton, Nova Scotia. Died February 15, 1947 Toronto, Ontario. At 15 she attended boarding school in Edinburgh, Scotland before studying French in France. Back home in Canada she taught school for a short period. Margaret originally wrote under the name Marshall Saunders to hide her female identity. While it was just becoming somewhat respectable for women to be writers when Margaret was publishing her works, writings by women were not best sellers. Her 1st novel, appeared in 1889. In 1894 she wrote Beautiful Joe, a story of an abused dog, for a competition sponsored by the American Humane Society. This book, Beautiful Joe, won 1st prize of $200.00! Beautiful Joe would  became the 1st Canadian book to sell more than 1,000,000 copies and by the 1930' it has sold over seven million copies world wide. It was translated into more than 14 different languages. She went on to write more than twenty stories and traveled throughout North America telling her animal stories often inserting the stories into the areas she visited. She wrote on issues of the day in the Halifax Morning Chronicle and the the Toronto Globe and Mail. In 1927 she published her favourite novel, a romance called Ester de Warren which was based on her time in Scotland. In 1947 she was inducted as a Commander in the Order of the British Empire. In 1994 the Beautiful Joe Heritage Society was formed and a park was dedicated to Beautiful Joe in Meaford, Ontario.
	Lydia Longley. Born April 13, 1674, Groton, Massachusetts, U.S.A.  Died July 20, 1758. When she was 20 she was captured by the Abenaki, who were Indian allies of the French during the war against the British. She was taken to Ville Marie (Modern Montreal) where she became accustomed so much to life in New France that she refused to return to the US when captives were exchanged at the end of the war. She embraced the religion of her new home and entered life as a nun in 1695 as Sister Sainte-Madeleine. In a romantic novel, author Helen A. McCarthy called her "the First American Nun".
April 14	Catherine Parker Austin. née Dunn. Born April 14, 1841, Dublin, Ireland. Died October 28, 1890, Vancouver, British Columbia. By 1860 she was in England where she met Samuel Parker (d 1873) and where their 1st two daughters were born. The family immigrated to British Columbia and ran a store in Douglas where another daughter and son were born. Moving to Barkerville during the Cariboo gold rush in June 1867 they opened the Broadway House with a grand ball. The coupe became involved in the Cariboo Dramatic Association where they sang and performed in dramatic presentations. After the fire of 1868 destroyed their hotel the Association gave a benefit for Mrs. Parker. A new large 10 bedroom boarding house was built. In 1872 the saloon and boarding house was auctioned off and the couple followed the gold rush opening the Stanley Hotel on Lightening Creek. Widowed early 1873, Catherine married John Austin on August 3, 1873 and the couple soon had a daughter. By 1875 Catherine was Madame to four ladies of entertainment known as ‘Hurdies’. The family relocated one more to Richfield to run the Austin Hotel and by 1891 they took over the Barkerville Hotel. Later that decade they  moved to Vancouver. In 2009 the Barkerville Theatre Royal presented Firestorm, a play featuring a pregnant Catherine Austin during the fire of 1868.
	Nina Raginsky.  Born April 14,1941. Choosing a career as a photographer, by 1964 she was doing freelance work for the National Film Board of Canada. She 1st  expanded her photographic expression by hand colouring sepia prints and then began to create oil paintings based on photographs. She is perhaps best known for her formal full figure portraits.  She is an Officer in the Order of Canada.
April 15	Mina Hubbard-Ellis. née Benson. Born April 15, 1870, Bewdley, Ontario. Died May 4, 1956, Coulston, United Kingdom. Mina began her working career as a teacher but soon found herself studying to be an nurse at Brooklyn Training School for Nurses, New York State, U.S.A. graduating in 1899. She worked at a small hospital in Staten Island, New York.  It was while caring for a young journalist that she found romance with Leonidas Hubbard Jr., assistant editor of the U.S. magazine Outing, who married his nurse January 31, 1901. In July 1903 Leonidas and a colleague became lost in the backwoods of what was then part of Quebec and he died of starvation. Mina took over the idea of her husbands exploration and on June 27, 1905 she set out in her husband's footsteps. She would write about her two months exploit in her book, A woman's Way Through Unknown Labrador. During her trip she recorded maps which were accepted by the American Geographical Society and the Geographical Society of Great Britain. She named the source of the George River, Lake Hubbard after her husband.  Her mapping work provided details of Labrador and gave insight into the massive Caribou migrations. She eventually remarried to businessman, Harold Ellis and settled in England to raise their three children. After her divorce from Ellis she returned to Canada in 1936 to accompany George Elson on a canoe trip down the Moose River in northern Ontario. Some of her personal papers are maintained  in the Archives at the University of Ottawa. In 2018 Mina Hubbard-Ellis was designated a National Historic Person by the National Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (2021)
	Hugette Labelle. née Rochon. Born April 15, 1939. This nursing teacher was one of the few women of her generation to achieve senior administrative status with the federal government.  She was appointed to nursing's highest administrative position as principal nursing officer at Health and Welfare Canada in 1973.  She became under secretary of state in 1988 and Deputy Clerk of Privy Council in 1985.
April 16	Fifi D’Orsay. Born April 16, 1904, Montreal, Quebec.  Died December 2, 1983. Could you guess that this is a stage name? Her real name is Marie-Rose Angelina Yvonne Lussier.  After several successful acts in Vaudeville,  she began her Hollywood movie career in 1929. She was in movies and television as well as live stage for 40 years and worked with famous male stars like Will Rogers. Billed as a French bombshell from Paris, she never even traveled outside of North America. Her life story was featured on the TV show This is your life.
	Lily Dougall. Born April 16, 1858, Montreal, Quebec. Died October 9, 1923. She visited England and in 1900 decided to make it her permanent residence. However, as a novelist and religious writer she set the background for 4 of her novels in her home country of Canada. Her works are carefully structured. She used humor and lively dialog to describe her unusual plots and twists.
April 17	Marguerite Bourgeoys. Born April 17, 1620, Troyes, France. Died January 12, 1700. She Came to Canada as a nun to work in the colony of New France. She would founded the Congregation de Notre-Dame de Montreal to encourage young women to work for their community with Devine guidance. The Sisters taught and set up schools in New France.  Today the order has several thousand members and has expanded their work to the USA and Japan.   Mother Marguerite Bourgeoys was canonized ( declared a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church) in October 1982. Photograph   © Canada Post Corporation Used with permission
	Dayal Kaur Khalsa. née Marcia Schonfeld.  Born April 17, 1943, Queen’s, New York, U.S.A.  Died July 1989, Vancouver, British Columbia. Dayal attended the Arts Students League 1964-1965 and graduated from City College of New York.  In 1970 she moved to Canada with her partner Brian Grison and stayed in Canada when their relationship ended. In 1974 she settled in Millbrook, Ontario to live on a farm. The following year she was in Toronto and joined a women’s health collective. In time she adopted the Sikh lifestyle and received her new name meaning princess of kindness and purity. She began promoting the Ashram she lived in which led to interest with a graphic design studio. In the 1980’s she relocated to Montreal, Quebec. In 1982 she brought illustrations to show Tundra Books who liked the strong colour sense. She first worked on board books for babies and this was followed by books for older children. In 1986 she made the New York Times Notable Children’s Book list and New York Public Library Award for Best Children’s Book for Tales of a Gambling Grandma. The following year she was awarded the Canada Council Children’s Literature Prize Honorable Mention for Illustration and was a finalist for the Amelia Frances Howard Gibbon Illustrator’s Award. In 1988 she won the Governor General’s Award for Book Illustration for Sleepers. This book also wan the Parent’s Choice Award for Illustration in 1988.
April 18	Claire Martin Faucher. née Montreuil. Born April 18, 1914, Quebec. Died June 18, 2014, Quebec. Using the surname Martin, Claire worked as a secretary and then a host on CKCV Radio in Québec and Radio Canada in Montréal. In 1945 she married Roland Faucher and the couple settled in Ottawa where Claire became a full time writer. In 1958 Claire won the: Prix du Cercle du livre de France for her work Avec ou sans amour. By 1966 she earned the Governor General’s Award in Literature and the Prix Conecours littéraire du Québec for Dans un gant de fer. This book also won the Prix Jean-Hamelin. In 1967 she became a member of the Royal society of Canada. In 1984 she was inducted as a Member of the Order of Canada and became a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2001. In 1999 she won a medal from the  l'Académie des lettres du Québec. In 2007 she was inducted as an Officer of the National Order of Québec. In 2009 she became a member of the Académie des Grands Québécois followed and in 2010 she became an Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters.
	Jane Austin Coop.  Born April 18, 1950, Saint John, New Brunswick. In 1970 she won the CBC Talent Festival for her piano playing. In 1972 she had completed her Bachelor degree in music at the University of Toronto. She made her Toronto debut at the St Lawrence Hall in 1973. In 1975 she won the Washington International Competition and in 1977 was a finalist at the Munich International Piano Competition in Germany. 1979 saw her debut at Wigmore Hall in London, England and by 1980 she had her debut at the famous Carnegie Recital Hall. That same year she joined the faculty at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. She continued to tour and appeared at various locations in the U.S.A. and throughout Europe. In the 1990’s she was touring the orient with performances in Japan, Hong Kong, and China. By 1999 she had produced 10 CD’s. In 1996 she joined the faculty of Knwisel Hall Chamber Music Festival in Blue Hill, Maine, U.S.A. In December 2012 she was appointed to the Order of Canada for her contributions as a pianist, and educator.
April 19	Gertrude 'True' Davidson. Born April 19, 1901, Hudson, Quebec. Died September 18, 1978, East York (Toronto) Ontario. True graduated from the University of Toronto and like so many women of the era of limited professions she attended the Regina Normal School and became a teacher in the prairie provinces. In 1923 she returned to university to earn her Master degree and taught in Toronto. She went on to write children’s books and wrote for the Globe and Mail and various Canadian Magazines. Living in East York, near Toronto, she served 10 years on the East York school board from 1947-1957.She became an elected alderman serving ten years becoming reeve and then mayor. When East York merged with Leaside she was elected mayor retiring in 1972. Originally a member of the Commonwealth Cooperative Federation political party it was with the Liberal party that she ran unsuccessfully for provincial parliament in 1971. In 1973 she was inducted as a Member of the Order of Canada. After politics she took on a weekly column with the Toronto Sun newspaper. She also authored several books including a brief history of East York. In 1977 she was presented with the Queen’s Jubilee Medal. After her death the True Davidson Collection of Literature was established after she had enrolled as a PhD student at the institution. In 1997 the East York council names its meeting place the True Davidson Chamber , along with a housing development, a city park and the local Meals-on-Wheels program.
	Sharon Pollock. Born April 19, 1936, Fredericton, New Brunswick. Her birth name was Mary Sharon Chalmers. Her first published play, A compulsory Option, won the 1971 Alberta Playwriting Competition. After teaching at several western Canadian institutions she became, in 1984, the first woman artistic director of a major western Canadian theatre.  She has written several plays of children as well as TV and radio scripts. Her play DOC earned her the 1984 Governor General's Award.  In 1988 she was awarded the Canada-Australia Literary Prize.
April 20	Elizabeth Goudie. née Blake. Born April 20, 1902, Mud Lake, Labrador. Died 1982, Happy Valley, Labrador. She was a wife and mother in Labrador.  After the death of her trapper husband in 1963 she wrote her autobiography, Woman of Labrador (published in 1993).The book became an international best seller.  It is the first recorded history of family life in the wilds of Labrador.
	Mildred Amanda Gottfriedson. Born April 20, 1918, Kamloops Indian Reserve. Died November 18, 1989, British Columbia. Mildred was a leading member of the Kamloops Indian Reserve who helped with revival of dances, legends, songs, and crafts of her people and encouraged others to follow her lead.  In 1963 she helped start the Secwepemc Dance Troupe which would travel to perform even arriving on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. She was a founding member in 1968 and former president of the British Columbia Native Women’s Society. This group fought against the Indian Act which discriminated against status aboriginal women who lost their status and that of their children if they married non-status men. She married Gus Gottfriedson and raised 13 children and fostered over 30 additional children and was awarded Mother of the year in 1963 by British Columbia and the following year she became Canadian Mother of the year. She was a founding member in 1968 and former president of the British Columbia Native Women’s Society. This group fought against the Indian Act which discriminated against status aboriginal women who lost their status and that of their children if they married non-status men. She was also an experience horseman and marksman but she never bragged or showed off. She became the 1st First Nations individual to be awarded the Order of Canada on July 11, 1977. (2020)
April 21	Jenny 'Jennie' Kidd Trout  née Gowanlock. Born April 21, 1841, Kelso, Scotland. Died November 10, 1921, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. Jenny came with her parents to Canada in 1847. The family settled near Stratford, Ontario. Like many young girls of her generation she earned a teaching certificate and taught school prior to her marriage. After her marriage in 1865 to Edward Trout the couple settled in Toronto and Jenny decided to become a medical doctor. She studied Medicine at the University of Toronto as one of the 1st women admitted to the Toronto School of Medicine.  She completed her medical studies at the Women's Medical College in Pennsylvania, U.S.A.  March 11,1875, on passing the Ontario registration exam, she became the 1st Canadian woman licensed to practice medicine in Canada. Dr. Jenny opened the Therapeutic and Electrical Institute in Toronto and also ran a free dispensary for the poor from her offices. The Institute would expand with branches in Brantford and Hamilton, Ontario. Poor health forced her to retire in 1882 to Palma Sola, Florida, U.S.A. She was instrumental in establishing the medical school for women at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario. Prior to her death relocated to California. In 1991 Canada Post issued a postage stamp to commemorate her as the 1st licensed woman doctor to practice Medicine in Canada. (2022) Image Canada Post used with permission.
	Judith Crawley. Born April 21, 1914, Ottawa, Ontario. Died September 15, 1986. A film producer, director, and scriptwriter, she and her husband Frank “Budge” Crawley formed Crawley Films, which became one of Canada’s foremost independent production companies.  She was also president of the Canadian Film Institute.
April 22	Rita Margaret Johnston. née Leichert. Born April 22, 1935, Melville, Saskatchewan. She was 1st elected to the Surry, British Columbia, city council in 1970. In 1983 she was elected to the British Columbia provincial assembly becoming Minister of Municipal  Affairs and Transit in 1986. In 1991 she became the 1st woman to serve as a provincial premier in Canada.
	Suhana Meharchand.  Born April 22, 1962. She is a television news journalist who was inspired by her uncle, also a journalist, who ran an underground newspaper in her native South Africa. She is a graduate of Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto. Before becoming the host of the CBC Evening News in Toronto, she worked at TV stations in Hamilton, Windsor, and Ottawa   She has received 2 Gemini Award nominations for her work.
	Robbyn Hermitage.  Born April 22, 1970, Montreal, Quebec. Her profession is her sport of badminton.  She states the biggest thrill in her career was winning the gold medal in the doubles event at the Pan American Games in 1997. She had also won silver and bronze medals in 1995 in doubles and single events and was again a medalist in the 2002 doubles event. Her life goal is to coach young badminton players so that she can give a return to the sport that has given her so much.
April 23	Margaret Avison. Born April 23, 1918, Galt (now Cambridge), Ontario. She was a poet, librarian, historian and social worker. She won the Governor General's Award for literature in 1960. She used her writing to bring history alive for young readers in her "History of Ontario".
	Diane Mary Loomer. née Kolander. Born April 23, 1940, St Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A. Died December 10, 2012, Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1962 Diane earned her Bachelor of Arts from Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota, U.S.A. She married Richard Loomer in 1963 and the couple had one son. She worked as a high school teacher in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. for three years. The young couple moved to Vancouver, British Columbia so that Richard could intern for his Medical degree. Once Richard’s studies were complete, Diane returned to studies in music earning her B.A. at the University of British Columbia in 1982. She conducted a choir at  the University  of British Columbia  and studies under well established conductors. She also founded the Douglas Collage Children’s Choir and became assistant director of the Vancouver Bach Choir. In 1987 she co-founded the Elektra Women’s Choir which became recognized internationally. In 1991 she formed Cypress Choral Music Publishing with her husband. In 1992 she founded Chor Leoni Men’s Choir which became one of Canada’s leading male choirs. She composed and arranged numerous spirituals for her choirs. In 1999 her work garnered her recognition with the Order of Canada. In 2002 she received the Queen Elizabeth Golden Jubilee medal. In 2007 she founded En Chor and auditioned 40 voice mixed voice choir for singers over 55 years of age. In 2009 she became conductor emeriti for her choirs. Source: “Choral conductor had a gift for getting the best from her singers” by Suzanne A Hearne, The Globe and Mail, January 9, 2013.  (2021)
April 24	Violet Archer.  Born April 24, 1913, Montreal, Quebec. Died February 21, 2000. She studied music with the best of her era.  As a composer she has produced a wide variety of scores for voice, instrumentals, films and even a comic opera.  She taught in the U.S. but moved to teach at the University of Alberta before she retired.  She was named composer of the Year in Canada and was the first North American woman composer to be honoured with a festival of her own works.
	June Elizabeth Bantjes. Born April 24, 1930, England. Died December 2006, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In 1952 June moved from England to South Africa where she met and married Dennis Bantjes. The couple would have 3 children. In 1959 she moved to Canada and after her divorce she settled in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She attended the University of Saskatchewan and earned a M.A. in sociology in 1995. She was a founding member of Saskatoon’s Women’s Calendar Collective which publishes Canada’s Women’s calendar annually. She became active with woman and drug use, Women for Childcare Action, and worked for the Saskatoon Environmental Society. She joined the Saskatoon Heritage Society and worked with the New Democratic Party both in the front lines and behind the scenes. Source: Herstory: The Canadian Women's calendar. 2008  (Saskatoon Women's Calendar Collective / Coteau Books, 2007) (2020)
April 25	Melissa Hayden. (real name Mildred Herman). Born April 25, 1923, Toronto, Ontario. This ballerina who trained as a young girl in Toronto, became an internationally known dancer.  She danced with the New York City Ballet. Upon retiring as a dancer she opened her own teaching studio in New York City.
	Francine Pelletier.  Born April 25, 1957. This author has written 14 novels for young adults and several novels for adults.  In 1988 she was awarded the "Grand Prix de la science-fiction du fantastique Quebecoise" for her work, La petite fille de silence, also the same year she was awarded the "Prix Boreal" for the work, les temps de migrations.
April 26	Edith MacTavish Rogers. Born April 26, 1876, Norway House, Rupert’s Land (now Manitoba). Died April 19, 1947, Colborne, Ontario. Edith was a Métis born into a family of Hudson Bay Company Officers, Edith spent her youth living in Montreal. She attended Sacred Heart School of Montreal and the Trafalgar School for Girls. Moving back to her home in Manitoba she married businessman Rupert Rogers on June 1, 1898. The couple have 4 children. During World War l she played a leadership role in Winnipeg’s efforts on behalf of soldiers’ families with needs. She continued her efforts at the end of the war helping families of returning soldiers. In 1920 she was the 1st woman elected to the Manitoba Provincial Legislature. She was a member of the Liberal Party and elected to her seat in the legislature three times before she retired in 1932. She was an advocate for reforming the Child Welfare Act of Manitoba making it easier for women to access financial support to care for their children. She was also the 1st female member of the Board of the Winnipeg General Hospital. Edith moved to Colborne, Ontario in 1942.
	Jeanne Mathilde Sauvé. née Benoit. Born April 26, 1922, Howell, Saskatchewan. Died January 26, 1993, Montreal, Quebec. The Benoit family moved to Ottawa when Jeanne was just a toddler. She attended the University of Ottawa earning her tuition by working as a government translator. While working in Montreal  Jeanne met Maurice Sauvé. The two were married on September 24, 1948. The couple would have one son. The young newly weds headed first to London England and then to Paris where Jeanne worked at the Youth Secretariat of UNESCO. In 1951 she attended university at the Sorbonne earning a degree in French Civilization. In 1952, while living in St Hyacinthe, Quebec Jeanne helped found the Institute of Political Research and began working as a broadcast journalist for the CBC. She earned a position in the male bastion of political journalism and from 1956-1963 she hosted her own television show, Opinions. In 1972 she ran for a seat in the House of Commons and became the 1st Quebec woman in a federal cabinet with the position of Minister of State for Science and Technology. She would later serve in cabinet positions in the environment and Communications. On April 14, 1980 she was appointed as 1st woman to be Speaker to the House of Commons. When television camera first came to record proceedings of the house, Sauvé was asked to put some blue colouring in her dazzling white hair which was too bright for television filming. Her time as Speaker was known for its cuts in expenses and for starting the 1st daycare for Parliament Hill. On May 14, 1984 Jeanne Sauvé was sworn in as the 23rd Governor General of Canada since confederation. She was the 1st woman to receive this position. She served in this position until 1993 fostering youth peace programs, creating the Governor General’s Award for Safety in the workplace and supporting nationalism. Upon retirement she established the Sauvé Foundation where she worked until her death. The Jeanne Sauvé Trophy is presented in World Cup Women’s Field Hockey. In 1994 Canada Post issued a postage stamp in her honour.
April 27	Ruth Wilson. Born April 27, 1919, Calgary, Alberta. Died 2001, Vancouver, British Columbia. Her family moved to British Columbia where the youth was encouraged by her mother to play tennis. Winning the provincial doubles, mixed doubles and Pacific Northwest Doubles championships did not however keep her interest in the sport. She attended the University of British Columbia and went on to earn her Masters in education at Western Washington State College. She enjoyed varsity basketball and went on to play on 5 national championship basketball teams in the 1940”s. As a coach in the sport she founded the Eilers and the team won the 1950-51 senior “A” title. In 1967 she was the coach of the Pan Am Games Team that won Canada’s first medal, a bronze. In 1973 her Buzz Bomb team were also national title holders. In total her basketball coaching career spanned 35 years. She also enjoyed softball and played in two women’s world  series. As a golfer she played on eight Interprovincial teams and won the Canadian title four times as well as playing internationally. She has been inducted into the UBC and the British Columbia Sports halls of Fame. She is considered British Columbia’s greatest all round female athlete.
	Janis G. Johnson. Born April 27, 1946, Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1968 Janis graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Arts in Political science. She received the Velia Stern Outstanding Student Award when she graduated. After university she worked in the office of the Hon. Roberts Stanfield and was a political organizer in Ontario, western Canada and Newfoundland & Labrador for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. In 1973 she married Frank Moores the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. The couple had 1 son.  In 1977 her volunteer efforts were recognized with the Queen's Jubilee Medal. By 1979 she was back in Manitoba where she was a businesswoman as head of Janis Johnson and Associates a public policy and communications group in Winnipeg. In 1981 she was a founding member of the Manitoba Special Olympics and went on to serve as Director of Special Olympics Canada. From 1986-1991 she was the 1st woman to be appointed to the Canadian National (C N)  Board of Directors and helped establish the 1st onsite child care facility within a Canadian Crown Corporation. She also served in 1984 as the 1st woman as National Director of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. She also served and the advisory Board of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Prairie Theatre Exchange of Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Art Gallery. On September 27, 1990 she was appointed to the Senate of Canada. In 1993 she received the Canada 125 Medal and in 1995 she received the Business and Professional Women’s Award. In 1994 the Special Olympics presented her with its Volunteer Award.  In 2000 she was a founding member and chair of the Gimli Film Festival and the country of Iceland presented her with the Order of the Falcon for working promoting Canadian-Icelandic relations.  In 2003 she received the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal  and in 2009 she was the Outstanding Alumni of the University of Manitoba. In 2012 she was recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Award.
April 28	Ethel Catherwood. Born April 28, 1908, Haldimand County, Ontario. Died September 26, 1987. Ethel was on the 1928 Canadian Olympic team, the first Olympic games to allow women to compete. She won a gold medal for Canada in the high jump when she cleared 5 feet 2 inches (1.588m). She is a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.                                                                                                                    © Canada Post Corporation used with permission
	Helena Jane Coleman. Born April 28,1860, Newcastle, Upper Canada (Now Ontario).  Died December 7, 1953.  She graduated from the Ontario Ladies College, Whitby, Ontario with the Gold Medal in Music. She was Head of the Music Department from 1880 through 1892. She would take a year to do post graduate studies in Berlin, Germany. A poet and journalist who, for a long period, contributed poems anonymously to a large number of Canadian and American journals. She did not use her real name until 1906 when she published her first book “Songs and sonnets”. Her pseudonyms (pen names) included Caleb Black, Catherine G. Brown, H. C., Helen Gray Cone, Hollis Cattwin, L. D.  Clark, Winifred/Winnifred Cotter, A. T. Cottingham, Winnifred Ford, C. H., Mrs. R. H. Hudson, Hollis Hume, Shadwell Jones, Annie Lloyd, M. D. Merrivale, Helen Saxon, Emily A. Sykes and Gwendolyn Woodworth. With a list of pen names as long as she had it is no surprise to learn that she contributed to some 60 North American magazines. She would publish two additional books of poetry: Marching Men, 1917 and Songs, 1937.
April 29	Frances Shelley Wees. Born April 29, 1902, Gresham, Oregon, U.S.A. Died November 27, 1982, Denman Island, British Columbia. Moving to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Frances graduated from Normal School (Teacher's College) and began teaching at seventeen. She then attended the University of Alberta to earn her Bachelor of Arts. It was while she was at university she wrote her first novel which she never published. In the 1920's she was director for Chautauquas in Canada. This was an adult educational and social movement. In 1924 she married Wilfred Wees and the couple had two children. One of her early handwritten manuscripts was found by her husband he typed it and sent it to a New York Publisher. Frances would go on to write more than two dozen mystery and romance novels including The Maestro murders in 1931. In the 1930's she worked in Toronto in public relations. During the second world war she led the national clothing drive for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.  She also wrote serial fiction, poems and articles which were published in various magazines of the day as well ad publishing readers for primary school. She moved from her home in Stouffville, Ontario to Denman Island, British Columbia in 1981.
	Paula Ross.  Born April 29, 1941, Vancouver, British Columbia. Her real name is Pauline Cecilia Isobel Teresa Campbell.  She began to study ballet at 5 years of age. At 15 she left home to join a traveling performing group from Montreal.  By the early 1960's she had returned to western Canada and had become a principal dancer in a Vancouver company.  In 1965 she opened her own Paula Ross Dance Company.  The Company, although well presented in western Canada and the United States, dissolved due to financial problems in 1987. Paula was known for her dance creativity and continues to work in Canada, Japan, and France.
April 30	Edith Margaret Fowke. née Fulton. Born April 30, 1913, Lumsdon, Saskatchewan. Died March 28, 1996. She Attended the University of Saskatchewan. and in 1938 she married Frank Folk who encouraged her search for folk music.  Working for the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) she hosed the radio program Folk Song Time from 1950 through 1963. This folklorist, collector, writer, and teacher was interested in Canadian folklore. She would publish some 15 books including Folk Songs of Canada  and More Folk Songs of Canada and released recordings of many of these songs. She was a founding member of the Canadian Folk Music Society and editor of the society's journal. She was also a founder of the famous Mariposa Folk Festival. She is included in the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Order of Canada. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada she was the 2000 recipient of the Folk Alliance International Lifetime Achievement Award.
	Mary Elizabeth Macdonald. Born April 30, 1918, North Cobalt, Ontario. Died June 5, 2006, Ottawa, Ontario. Mary was a graduate of Ottawa University with a BA in political sciences in 1938 and a MA in 1948. She began work with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company but soon signed up to serve with the Canadian Red Cross overseas between 1942 - 1945. After the war she joined the Canadian Government Department of External Affairs and followed future Prime Minister Lester Bowles Pearson (1897-1972) into politics serving as his executive assistant. Although she did not leave Ottawa often she did accompany Mr. and Mrs Pearson when he was presented with his Nobel Peace Prize. She was highly respected by her colleagues and other Members of Parliament. She continued working with Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau as his administrative assistant until her retirement in 1979. Mary was awarded the Order of Canada in 1980. In her retirement, Mary was involved with the Salvation Army, the Bronson Home, the Women's Canadian Club and the Zonta Club among others. She also worked with the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation in its early days. Source: Jean Bannerman, Leading Ladies of Canada (Belleville, Mika Publishing, 1977); Obituary, The Ottawa Citizen June 6, 2008.

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