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Return to Timeline introduction1850 AD to 1899 AD
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| DATES |
EVENTS |
| 1850 | Births:
December 25 - Born Isabella Valency Crawford (1850-1887) considered Canada's first important lady poet. |
| 1851 |
Mary Ann Shadd
forms the Anti-Slavery Society in
Toronto. It is a criminal offense for a woman to obtain an abortion in Nova Scotia. Harriet Tubman (?1820-1913), a conductor on the famous escape route for slaves to Canada called the Underground Railroad (the escape route to Canada), came north to St. Catharines, Ontario. this courageous woman made 19 trips back to the South, to help people who had been enslaved to escape to freedom. Source : Cool Chronology at www.coolwomen.org (accessed July 2005) Births: Born Dr Lenora King (1851-1925) first doctor to serve in China, she was made a Manderain by the Chinese. May 11 - Born Emily Ann McCausland Cummings (1851-1930) Journalist and first woman to receive an honorary degree from a Canadian University. June 18 - Born Mary Agnes Fitzgibbon (1851-1915) founder of the Canadian Women's historical Society and author. Mary Agnes Fitzgibbon (1851-1915) founder of the Canadian Women's historical Society and author. Deaths: July 24- Died Nancy McTavish Leblanc (1790-1851) Aboriginal name Matooskie. Métis pioneer of western Canada fur trade era. |
| 1852 | Susanna
Moodie publishes her book Roughing it in the bush.
Births: October 11 - Born Mary Isabella Macleod (1852-1933)pioneer of western Canada. |
| 1853 |
March 24 -
Provincial
Freeman Founded by Mary Ann and her brother Isaac Shadd
Source: Historica; Black History; Timeline http://blackhistorycanada.ca/timeline.php?id=1800 (Accessed March 2007) Births: |
| 1854 | November
- Heroine Abigail Becker is paramount in saving
lives of the master and six men of
the crew of the schooner Conductor, sunk off Long Point Island,
Ontario. Her storey is now largely forgotten. Wesleyan Academy, Sackville, New Brunswick opens its first classes in art and music especially for women. Source: Important moments in Canadian History http;;/www.ouc.bc.ca/flar/timeline ( accessed May 2002) Births: Born Edith Jessie Archibald (1854-1936) social activist for women's rights. A National Historic Person of Canada. Born Mary Augusta Reid (1854-1921) landscape painter, interiors and murals. Born Ellen Elizabeth Spragge (1854-1932) free lance journalist. Deaths: September 18- Letitia Hargrave (1813-1854) - Fur Trading era pioneer. |
| 1855 |
Emmaline Shadd, a black student,
received top honours, first prize and a first class teaching
certificate from the Toronto Normal School.
Source: Black History
Month
http://cyberus.ca/~acdas/bhm1a.html (accessed May 2005)
Births: February 22 - Born Grace Annie Lockhart (1855-1916) the first woman to receive a university degree in Canada. |
| 1856 | Births: Born Kate Yeigh (1856-1906) Journalist and author. May 20 - Born Eliza Ritchie, (1856-1935) probably the first Canadian woman to receive her doctor of letters. |
| 1857 | Queen
Victoria chooses Ottawa as capitol city of Canada.
The British Matrimonial Causes Act, adopted in Canada, makes divorce possible for women on the grounds of adultery. Dr. James Miranda Stuart Barry (1795-1865) is posted to Canada where (s) he becomes well respected for his fight to provide cleaner hospital facilities and better food for the working soldiers. It would not be until death, when the body was being prepared for burial that it would be discovered that the renowned doctor was indeed a woman! It must have cause a stir in the Victorian society to have had the first “woman” doctor in the British Army!!! Births: Born Mary Ella Dignam (1857-1938) feminist, artist, founder of the Women's Art Association of Canada. February 27 - Born Adelaide Hoodless (1857-1910) Social activist and founder of the International Women's Institutes and Victoria Order of Nurses. April 26 - Born Agnes Elizabeth Wetherald (1857-1940) Freelance journalist. July 27- Born Dr. Augusta Stowe-Gullen Mount Pleasant, Canada West (1957- 1943) the first woman to graduate in medicine from a Canadian university. |
| 1858 | April 7 - Thomas D'Arcy McGee, one of the Fathers
of Confederation, is assassinated. April 26- The First Black Californians arrive
by ship in Victoria, British Columbia on the
invitation of James Douglas, the governor of B C. By summer's end, more than 800
Black settlers had arrived. While government legislation suggested
that equality prevailed, in truth, convention and little enforcement
allowed acceptance to give way to segregation. Source:
Historica; Black History - Timeline
http://blackhistorycanada.ca/timeline.php?id=1800 Deaths: |
| 1859 | An Act to Secure to Married Women Certain Rights of
Property grants married women with certain property rights in Upper
Canada. Births: Born Susie Frances Harrison (1858-1935) she used the pen name Seranus and wrote novels and poetry. Born Jean Newton McIlwraith (1959-1938) author. January 18 - Born Elizabeth Smith-Shortt. (1859-1949), pioneer women doctor. March 31 - Born Alice Ravenhill (1859-1954) social activist and author. April 11 - Born Agnes Dennis (1859-1949) social activist. September 2 - Born Georgina Alexandrina Newhall (1859-1932) journalist and poet. Deaths: June 14 - Died Sophia Sims Dalton(1785c- 1859) the first woman to run a newspaper, The Patriot, in Toronto. |
| 1860 | February 29 - Mrs Kwong Lee
arrives in Victoria, British
Columbia, the first Chinese woman to come to Canada.
Source: Jin Guo: Voices of Chinese Canadian Women by
The Chinese Canadian National Council, Toronto : Toronto Women's
Press, 1992 pg. 18. December - Harriet Tubman (ca 1820-1913) leader her last group of escaping slaves from Maryland, U.S.A. to safety in Canada. Source: 100 Canadian Heroines : Famous and forgotten faces by Merna Forester. Toronto : Dundurn Press, 2004. pg 267. Births: Born Ada May Courtice (1860-1923) founder of the Home and School Movement. Born Katherine Elizabeth Wallis (1860-1957) a sculptor who was decorated by Britain and France for her nursing efforts in World War l. February 6 - Born Henriette Saint-Jacques (1860-1946) Journalist and author of several books. April 28 - Born Helena Jane Coleman (1860-1953) journalist and novelist. June 18 - Born Laura Muntz Lyall (1860-1930) artist. Deaths: Died Ann Cuthbert Fleming ( ? - 1860) teacher, poet and author. Died Ann Harvey (1811-1860) heroine who risked her life to save people from floundering ships off Newfoundland March 17 - Died Anna Brownell Jameson, (1794-1860), author. May - Died Marie-Henriette LeJeune Ross 'Granny Ross' (1762-1860) pioneer settler, scientist and medical practitioner. |
| 1861 |
May 25 - Sarah Emma Evelyn Edmonds (1841-1898) joins the Union Army to serve as Frank Thompson, nurse and Union spy in the American Civil War. Births: Born Georgina Fane Pope (1862-1938) The Florence Nightingale of Prince Edward Island and first Matron of the Canadian Army Medical Corp. Born Sadie O. Prince (1861-1905) poet. Born Mary Townsend Schaffer (1861-1939) Historian and author. March 10 - Born Pauline Johnson, (1861-1913) Canada's first renownd native poet. April 5 - Born Minna Keen (1861-1943) pioneer photographer. April 13 - Born Margaret Marshall Saunders (1861-1947) author of the first Canadian book to sell a million copies. June 12 - Born Mabel Phoebe Peters (1861-1914) suffragist and social activist in education. September 18 - Born E. Cora Hind, (1861-1942) first woman journalist in the Canadian west and women's rights activist. October 11 - Born Mary Ellen Smith (1861-1933) First woman appointed Cabinet minister in the British Empire. |
| 1862 | Mount
Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, accepts the
first woman student at a
Canadian university. Catherine Schubert (1835-1918) , her husband Join a group of prospectors heading to the Caribou Gold fields. Catherine was four months pregnant when she and her husband began their overland trek across the prairies and the Rocky Mountains with three children ages 5,3, & 1. Source: Archives of British Columbia. Catherine O'Hare Schubert http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/exhibits/timemach/galler10/frames/index.htm (accessed May 20, 2005) Births: Born Lily Adams Beck (1862?-1931) author. Born Josephine Dandurand (1862-1925) journalist who used the pen name "Josette" Born Mary Agnes Fitzgibbon (1862-1933) Journalist ...pen-name Lally Bernard. Born Sara Jeanette Duncan ( 1862-1922) Journalist and author of some 20 books. January 14 - Born Carrie Derick, (1862-1941) the first woman in Canada to become a full professor. June 27 - Born May Irwin, (1862-1938.) Stage performer and star of pioneering one minute movie by Thomas Edison. November 4 - Born Jean Blewett (1862-1934) journalist, novelist and poet. |
| 1863 | Births: Born Bertha Carr-Harris (1863-1949) author. February 26- Born Robertine Barry (1863-1910) pioneer feminist lecturer and writer, considered the first woman journalist in French Canada. July 23 - Born Teresa Mary Gowanlock,(1863-1899) pioneer settler of Canadian Northwest. October 11 - Born Mary Ellen Smith (1863-1933.) first woman elected to BC Legislature and first woman appointed to a Cabinet position in the British Empire. Deaths: Died Rhoda Ann Page (1826-1863) author. March 13 - Died Helen Mar Johnson (1834-1863) poet (Death sometimes recorded as 1862) |
| 1864 | The
Yorkville Archery Cub, Toronto, is established as the first in Canada. Births: Born Florence Carlyle (1864-1923) outstanding portrait artist. Born Kathleen “Kit” Coleman , ( 1864-1915) the world’s first woman war correspondent (during the Spanish American War.) Born Mary Alexander Bell Eastlake (1864-1951) artist Born Rosalind Goforth (1864-1942) author. January 7 - Born Helen Gregory MacGill, (1864-1947) The first woman to be appointed a judge of juvenile court in her region. February 17 - Born Jane Elizabeth MacDonald (1864-1922) author and poet. Deaths: April 5 - Died Marie Rosalie Cadron (1794-1864) Sister Marie De La Nativité, pioneer social worker. |
| 1865 | American abolitionist and
writer Benjamin Drew, conducted research in Canada in the 1850s and
interviewed many former slaves about the Black refugee experience. In
1865 he published an interview with an elderly woman named Sophia
Pooley who claimed to have been one of Joseph Brant's slaves and the
"first Black girl in Upper Canada." Source: Historica:
Black History; Timeline
http://blackhistorycanada.ca/timeline.php?id=1800 (Accessed March
2007)
Births: |
| 1866 | Births:
Born Aletta Elise Marty (1865-1929) Canada's first woman inspector of schools and author. January 8 - Born Elizabeth Annie McGillivray Knowles (1866-1928) nature study artist. February 3 - Born Alice Amelia Chown (1866-1949) suffragist and author. February 24 - Born Martha Louise Black (1866-1957), adventurer and politician, considered to be the First Lady of the Yukon. May 31 - Born Sophia Margaretta Hensley (1866-1946) author, lecturer and social activist who wrote under male pen names. Deaths: July 9 - Died Susan Sibbald, (1783-1866) pioneer and diarist. |
| 1867 | July
1 - Confederation of Canadian Provinces. Dr. Emily Stowe (1831-1903) graduates in medicine from New York State University, but is not legally allowed to practice in Canada until 1880. Susannah Oland (1798-1886) first brews a batch of brown October Ale in her backyard in Nova Scotia and a family brewery that would become known for Moose Head Beer was born. Births: Born Flora Macdonald Denison (1867-1921) Journalist and suffragist and successful Toronto businesswoman. Born Edith Eaton (1867-1914) author. April 4 - Born Victoria Cartier (1867-1955) Pianist, organist and teacher. October 19 - Born Marie Gerin-Lajoie (1867-1945) champion of women's rights in Quebec. December 28 - Born Joanna E. Wood (1867- 1927) author Deaths: November 28 - Died Julia Catherine Hart (1796-1867.) author who wrote the first work of fiction by a native born Canadian to be published in Canada. |
| 1868 | Sisters
Susanna Moodie and Catherine Parr Trail, in order to earn money to
live on publish Canadian Wild Flowers.
Births: Born Annie Mackinnon Fitch (1868-1940) noted mathematician. Born Margaret Alexandra Shea ( 1863-1949) first woman to be a professional nurse in Newfoundland. January 9 - Born Irene Parlby (1868-1965) one of the "Famous Five" who worked on the Persons Case 1929. January 16 - Born Octavia Grace England. First woman to be valedictorian at McGill University. February 12 - Born Jessie Georgina Sime (1868-1958) author February 23 - Born Mary Sollace Saxe (1868-1942) librarian Westmount Public Library, author. and playwright. March 14 - Born Emily Murphy (1868-1933.) the first woman appointed magistrate (judge of a lower court) in the British Empire. September 22 - Born Louise McKinney (1868-1931) one of the two first women in Canada elected to a provincial legislature, and member of the Famous 5. November 4 - Born Dorothy Sproule (1868-1963) poet. Deaths: March 29 - Died Henrietta Feller (1800-1868) founder of the protestant mission at Grande-Ligne, Quebec. |
| 1869 | Manitoba joins the Dominion of
Canada. A clause in Section 6 of the Act for Gradual Enfranchisement of Indian states that " any Indian woman marrying other than an Indian shall cease to be an Indian, as will be the children of such marriage." Abortion is made illegal , under threat of life imprisonment. Dissemination of information about birth control is also illegal. Source : A History of Abortion in Canada http://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org/history.html (accessed July 30, 2003) Births: March 18 - Born Maud Abbott (1869-1940) internationally acclaimed medical doctor who specialized in the study of heart disease. May 3 - Born Julia Arthur (1869-1950) international stage actress and movie star. |
| 1870 | Agnes
Blizzard establishes the first Canadian Young Women's Christian Association
(YWCA) in Saint John, New Brunswick. Source: History of the YWCA http://www.ywcacanada.ca/ Frances Anne Hopkins shows sixteen works at the Art Association of Montreal. It is the largest showing from any one woman to this date. Source: Important Moments in Canadian Art History compiled by Dr. Robert J. Belton, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Creative Projects http://ubc.ca/okanagan/creative/links/timeline (accessed February 2006)
Births : |
| 1871 | July
20 - British Columbia joins Confederation. The Ontario School Act, very progressive for its time, provides free school for both boys and girls. Source: The Timechart history of Canada by Meredith Macardle (2004) May 10 - the Montreal Ladies Educational Association is founded with Anne Molson as President. They had honorary male members and a male treasurer. Their main goal was to have women accepted as students at McGill College. Births: May 14 - Born Marion Osborne (1871-1931) poet, playright and author. Deaths: September 14 - Died Elizabeth Speed Beaven, ( ? - 1871) author. |
| 1872 | The Married Women’s Property Act of
Ontario gives a married woman the right to her own wage
earnings free from her husband’s control. Women with dependant children who have no husband may have homestead land in accordance with the Public Lands of the Dominion Statute. Births: Born Minerva Ellen Reid (1872-1957) Medical doctor, Chief of Surgery Women's College Hospital, Toronto Deaths: July 15 - Died Mary Eliza Herbert (1832-1872) first woman editor and publisher of a magazine in Nova Scotia. October 24 - Died Frances Stewart, (1794-1872) pioneer diarist and letter writer. |
| 1873 | Northwest Mounted Police are formed. Prince Edward Island enters confederation. YWCA is established in Toronto Source: History of the YWCA http://www.ywcacanada.ca/ April 30 - Tookoolito (1838-1876) is rescued as one of 19 survivers of 6 1/2 months on a ice flow in the Canadian artic ( the survivors had been separated from their ship the Plaris) Births: May 6 - Born Henrietta Tuzo Wilson (1873-1955) The first Canadian born woman mountaineer. June 13 - Born Jean Adair (1873-1953) movie actress. August 27 - Born Maud Allan (1873-1956) , pioneer of modern dance. October 20 - Born Nellie McClung, Author, and social activist. |
| 1874 | Russian
Mennonites (Anabaptists) start to arrive in Manitoba from various
Russian colonies. YWCA is established in Montreal. Source: History of the YWCA http://www.ywcacanada.ca/ July 26 - Alexander Graham Bell discloses the invention of the telephone to his family in Brantford, Ontario. The Ontario Ladies College is opened in Whitby, Ontario. Births: Born Elizabeth Rebecca Laird (1874-1969), a Physics teacher & college administrator. who after she retired she became a researcher. Born Clara Brett Martin (1874-1923) the first woman admitted to the profession of law in the British Empire. November 3 - Born Florence Livesay (1874-1953) journalist and poet. Deaths: |
| 1875 | The Supreme Court of Canada is established.
Grace Annie Lockhart (1855-1916) is the first woman to receive a university degree. Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, became the first university in Canada to grant a degree to a woman. Dr. Jennie Trout (1841-1921) returns from a Medical school in the U.S.A. with her medical degree in her hand. She is the first woman licensed to practice medicine in Canada. Married women’s property legislation is passed in Manitoba. Henrietta Muir Edwards and her sister open the Working Girl's Association in Montreal. It offers a boarding house, a reading room, classes and meal services. YWCA is established in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Quebec City, Quebec. Source: History of the YWCA http://www.ywcacanada.ca/ Births: Born - Winnifred Eaton (1875-1964) Onoto Watanna first known author of Asian descent to be published in America. Born Margaret May McWilliams, (1875-1952)author and founder of the Canadian Federation of University Women. February 25 - Born Edith Berkeley (1875-1963) world authority on the classification of marine worms and noted botanist. November 25 - Born Isabel Ecclestone MacKay (1875-1928) author, poet and playwright. Deaths: October 25 - Died Maria Miller (1813-1875) Artist of wild flowers. December 14 - Died Marie-Anne Lagemodiére, (1780-1875.) one of the first white women to visit such outposts as Red River and Fort Edmonton. |
| 1876 | The Toronto Women's Literary Club is founded
by Dr Emily Howard Stowe (1831-1903) and her
daughter, Dr Augusta Stowe-Gullen. ( 1857-1943)The group is created for suffrage
activities. Births: January 10 - Born Norah Mary Holland, (1876 - 1925) A well-respected author and poet. April 3 - Born Margaret Anglin, (1876-1958) daughter of the Speaker of the House in the Canadian parliament she was born in the speaker's chambers! Deaths: Died Catherine McPherson (1789c-1876) Pioneer settler of the Red River settlement. April 5 - Died Elizabeth Bruyère (1818-1876) founder of the Grey Nuns of Ottawa and founder of schools and hospitals in Ottawa. December 31 - Died Tookoolito (1838-1876) Inuit interpreter and life skills teacher to Artic explorers and National Historic Person. |
| 1877 | The
University of Manitoba is created, It is the oldest university in
western Canada. Onésime Dorval (1845-1932) is the first trained teacher to arrive in the Red River Settlement. Source: Directory of Designations of National Historic Significance of Canada http://pc.gc.ca (accessed July 2005) Dr Lenora King (1851-1925) sails for Shanghai, the first Canadian Doctor to serve in China , some 60 years before Dr. Norman Bethune. Source: Merna Forster, 100 Canadian women: familiar and forgotten Faces ( Dundurn, 2004) Births: Born Lorrie Alfreda Dunnington-Grubb (1877-1945) pioneer in the profession of landscape architecture. Born Isabel Skelton (1877-1956) respected historian and author. |
| 1878 | Félicité Angers
(1845-1924.) is the pen name of Laure
Conan, author of nine novels of French Canadian Life. She is the first French
Canadian female novelist. Births: Born Amelia Beers Garvin (1878-1956) journalist and editor. Born Florence Harvey (1878-1968) member of Canada's Golf Hall of Fame. Born Madge MacBeth (1878-1965) multimedia author with over 20 novels to her credit. June 7 - Born Lady Elsie Elizabeth Allardyce (1878-1962) founder of Girl Guides in Newfoundland. |
| 1879 | Births:
Born Helena Rose Gutteridge (1879-1960) first woman elected to Vancouver City Council. Born Ethel Johns, (1879-1968) nurse, teacher and administrator. Born Maud Leonora Menten (1879-1960.) the first Canadian woman to receive her medical doctorate. Born Gertrude Balmer Watt (1873-1963) journalist June 14 - Born Rena Maude McLean, (1879-1918) a nursing sister of World War l August 1 - Born Eva Tanguay (1879-1947) vaudevillian and movie star who in 1912 was the highest paid woman actor in the US. Deaths: September 20 - Died Rosanna Eleanora Leprohn, (1829-1879) novelist and poet. |
| 1880 | Emily Stowe (1831-1903) is finally granted license to practice medicine in Toronto even though she has been practicing medicine for years. |
| 1881 |
The Ottawa Rideau Tennis Club stages the
first tournament for women only. The rules of dress
included ground length skirt, long leaves, high neck blouse and nipped
waist. These of course would be worn over a corset and multi layers of
underskirts!
Source: Women playing Tennis
http://www.coolwomen.org (accessed
July 2005) Births: Born Flora McCrae Eaton (1881-1970) businesswoman, social activist and author. Born Beatrice LaPalme (1881-1921) Opera singer. May 29 - Born Bertha Mabel Dunham ( 1881-1957) Librarian, local historian and author of works for young readers. August 26 - Born Alice Wilson (1881-1964) a paleontologist, she was the first woman elected as fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. September 4 - Born Isabella Preston, (1881-1965) first professional hybridist in Canada. October 18 - Born Dr. Elizabeth Bagshaw Cannington, Ontario (1881-1982) operated the first Canadian family planning clinic in Canada. November 4- Born Gena Brancombe (1881-1977) composer, choir conductor, teacher and pianist. November 24 - Born Florence Wyle (1881-1968) a sculptor who made several Canadian War Memorials and is represented in numerous art galleries. |
| 1882 | Carsley's, a department
store in Montreal, introduces the first mail-order catalogue in
Canada. Source: Before e-commerce :
a history of mail order catalogues
http://wwwcivilization.ca/cpm/catalog/catooooe.html
December 2004. Elizabeth Armstrong Forbes begins etching in Point Aven, France. Source: Important Moments in Canadian Art History compiled by Dr. Robert J. Belton, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Creative Projects http://ubc.ca/okanagan/creative/links/timeline (accessed February 2006)
|
| 1883 | Dr.
Augusta Stowe-Gullen (1857- 1943) is the first woman to graduate in medicine from a
Canadian university at Victoria College, Cobourg,
Ontario. The Toronto Women's Literary Club becomes the Toronto Women's Suffrage Association. Mary Shadd Cary (1823- .) is the first black woman in North America who is an editor of a newspaper when she establishes the "Provincial Freeman" a weekly paper designed to cover the lives of Canadian blacks and promote the cause of black refugees to Canada. The Methodist Home for Chinese Girls opens in Victoria, British Columbia. It's goal is to help those girls escaping prostitution, slavery or marriage contracts. Source: Canadian Chinese National Council. Moments of Chinese Canadian History. http://www.ccnc.ca/toronto/history/timeline.html (accessedJ uly 7, 2003) The Louisa Street School in Toronto opens the first kindergarten established as part of a public school. Ada Marean is the first teacher of a class of 80 children. She had 7 teacher trainees assisting with the class. Source: Canadian Chronology http://tdi.uregina.ca/~maguirec/chron.htm (accessed April 28, 2003) October 1 - The Toronto Women's Medical College , the first
medical school in Canada for women, is opened.
Source: A history of Women's College
Http://sunnybrookandwomens.on.ca/programs/wcacc/history (accessed
February 2006) |
| 1884 | Married women’s property legislation is passed in
Nova Scotia. Ontario grants married women the right to own property and deal with it and sell it without consulting her husband. The Ontario Factory Work Act limits the work age for young women to begin at 14 which is two years after boys who may begin to work in factories at 12 years of age. They were limited to a 10 hour work day or 60 hours a week. Women are admitted to McGill University, Montreal, for the first time. August - T. Eaton Co. of Toronto, issues its first "Wishing book" which is distributed to visitors at the Toronto Exhibition. Timothy Eaton declares that the catalogue is destined to go wherever the maple leaf grows...Source: Before e-commerce : a history of mail order catalogues http://wwwcivilization.ca/cpm/catalog/catooooe.html December 2004. Births: May 13 - Born Gertrude Moffatt (1884-1923) poet. May 21 - Born Francis Marion Beynon (1884-1951), journalist, feminist and social reformer Deaths: May 9, 1884 - Died Augusta Baldwin (1821?-1884) poet. |
| 1885 | May 12 - Loretta Miller
becomes the first woman to serve in the Canadian military when she
arrives at a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Filed hospital.
Source: The Canadian Encyclopedia. Women in the
Military. Http: www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com November 7 - The Last spike of the transcontinental railroad is hammered into place. November 16 - Louis Riel is hanged in Regina for his part in leading a rebellion. The Women's Teachers' Association of Toronto is formed. Source: Canadian Chronology http://tdi.uregina.ca/~maguirec/chron.htm (accessed April 28, 2003) Births: Born Violet Irene Guymer (1885-1955) first woman licensed funeral director in Canada January 23 - Born Dora Ridout Hood Renown book dealer of Canadiana. February 4 - Born Cairine Wilson Born Montreal, Quebec. (1885-1962) The first woman appointed to the Canadian Senate. May 29 - Born Esther Marjorie Hill, (1895-1985) first Canadian woman to become a graduate architect. September 20 - Born Eva Gauthier, (1885-1958) internationally acclaimed mezzo soprano. Deaths: May 13 - Died Juliana Horatia Ewing (1841-1885) poet. |
| 1886 | Married women’s property legislation is passed in
the Northwest Territories. May Irwin (1862-1938.) is the star of pioneering one minute movie by Thomas Edison, the famous inventor, called The Kiss. It was the first kiss of the movies!!! It was considered scandalous by early movie audiences and the clergy! It is considered to be the first moving picture to ever be shown in Canada! The first known women's lacrosse game is played. Source: www.Womenwarriors.ca Births: October 18 - Born Thais Frémont (1886-1963) social activist Deaths: Died Mary Christianne Morris, (1804?-1886) respected native artist and model. Died Susannah Oland (1798-1886) brewer and businesswoman October 4 - Died Mary McKenzie (1796-1886) early pioneer of the Canadian North west |
| 1887 | Manitoba, women are allowed
to vote municipal elections, but are not eligible for
municipal office until 1917. Anna Harriett Leonowens (1834-1915) organizes an exhibit of art in Halifax, Nova Scotia that will eventually lead to the establishment of the Victoria School of Art. Source: Important Moments in Canadian Art History compiled by Dr. Robert J. Belton, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Creative Projects http://ubc.ca/okanagan/creative/links/timeline (accessed February 2006)
Births: |
| 1888 | Harriet Brooks begins research as
Canada’s first woman
nuclear physicist. Octavia Grace Ritchie (married name England) (1868-1948) is the first woman valedictorian at McGill University. Richard Sears of the USA is selling so much in catalogue order in Canada that an office is opened in Toronto. Source: Before e-commerce : a history of mail order catalogues http://wwwcivilization.ca/cpm/catalog/catooooe.html December 2004. Moulton Ladies' College, named for Susan Moulton McMaster, is opened in Hamilton, Ontario. It served for 66 years. The buildings were sold and demolished in the mid 1950"s Births: Born Maisie Hurley (1888-1964) founder of the first native newspaper, The Native Voice. January 20 - Born Ethel Davis Wilson (1888-1980) acclaimed author. March 15 - Born Constance Mary Evans (1888-????) romance novelist. July 8 - Born Evelyn Bolduc, (1888-1939) translator and author. September 2 - Born Dorothy Stevens (1888-1966) Portrait and figure painter. September 27 - Constance Eleda Brewster (1888-1988) a well respected nursing administrator in Hamilton, Ontario. Deaths: January 7 - Died Harriet Annie Wilkins (1829-1888) teacher and author. August 5 - Died Anna Swan (1846-1888) in her day she was the tallest woman in the world some 228 cm (7'6"). |
| 1889 | The Dominion Women’s Enfranchisement Association is
formed to incorporate all suffrage groups in the
country. Eliza Ritchie. (1856-1935). receives her Ph.D. from Cornell University in the United States. She is probably the first Canadian woman to receive her doctor of letters. The Royal Victoria College for women opens in Montreal Source: The Timechart history of Canada by Meredith Macardle (2004) Isobel Stanley, daughter of Governor General Lord Stanley of Preston, is one of the first women hockey players in Canada. Her Government House hockey team played the Rideau Ladies team in what may be the first women's hockey game on the ice rink at Rideau Hall, Residence of the Governor General of Canada. Source: http://www.womenwarriors.ca Timeline Births: May 23 - Born Mary Susanne Edgar (1889-1973) youth leader and camp founder and director. May 28 - Born Kathleen Frances Daly (1889-1994) An artist known for her paintings of Montagnais, and her landscapes. Deaths: July 1 - Died Mary Teresa Dease (1820-1889) Superior-general of the Institute of Blessed virgin Mary in America |
| 1890 | Canadian Icelandic women, who had the right to vote
back in Iceland, are led
Margaret Benedictsson, to start the first suffrage movement in the west. June 12-13- The first convention of the Dominion Women's Enfranchisement Association was held in Toronto. Noted American Susan B. Anthony attended as a guest. Dr Anna McFee, a medical student at the Women's medical School in Toronto starts a clinic for women to come to see women physicians. Source: A history of Women's college http://sunnybrookandwomens.on.ca/progrms/wcacc/history (accessed February 2006)
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| 1891 | The Women’s Christian Temperance Union officially
endorses the suffrage cause. Robertine Barry (1863-1910) A well known personality in Montreal society and a pioneer feminist lecturer and writer joins the staff of the weekly newspaper La Patrie. . She is considered the first woman journalist in French Canada. Octavia Grace Ritchie (married name England) (1868-1948) is the first woman to receive a medical degree in the province of Quebec. She attended Bishop's University. The first women's golf clubs are formed at the Royal Montreal Golf Club, the Royal Quebec Golf Club and the Toronto Golf Club. Source: http://www3.sympatico.ca/bill.macdonald/history.htm Births: Born Kate Aitken (1891-1971) journalist, author, radio and TV Personality, lecturer, "Busiest woman in the world" Born Ethel Mary Bennett (1891-1988) award winning writer of historical novels January 23 - Born Cora Bell Ahrens (1891-1964) , teacher, lecturer and pianist June 16 - Sarah Margaret Armor Roberston (1891-1948), artist who was one of the top painters of her day. |
| 1892 | The Ontario Mines Act prohibits women from working
in and around mines. August 29 - The world's first electrically cooked meal was served in Ottawa Source: Ottawa Citizen Saturday, February 6, 2005 pg. E2. The Canadian Lawn Tennis Association (Tennis Canada) establishes a 'Ladies draw' as part of the National Tennis Championships. Source: Women playing Tennis www.coolwomen.org (Accessed July 2005) A women's Art Club is established in London Ontario. Source: Important Moments in Canadian Art History compiled by Dr. Robert J. Belton, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Creative Projects http://ubc.ca/okanagan/creative/links/timeline (accessed February 2006) Births: Born Nellie Margaret Lewis (1892-1956) teacher and author. March 5 - Born Pauline Donalda ( real name Pauline Lightstone) (1882-1970) internationally renowned opera singer. Deaths: Died Ellen Ross ( ? - 1892) author. May 28 - Died Mary Elizabeth Jane Muchall (1841-1892) poet, journalist and writer of short stories. August 18 - Died Catherine McLennan (1837-1892) west coast social activist. |
| 1893 | October 27 - Lady Aberdeen, (Ishbel Maria Gordon, Marchioness of
Aberdeen and
Temair) (1857-1939) wife of the Canadian Governor General, chairs the organizational meeting of the National Council of
Women in Canada. December 7, 1983 - The YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association) becomes a national organization. The Nova Scotia House of Assembly refuses a suffrage bill for women property holders. C. L. Josephine Wells is the first woman to graduate and gain certification from the Royal College of Dental Surgeons. Dr. Wells was a distinguished practitioner for 36 years. She was the first dentist in Canada to work entirely in hospital dentistry. Robert Simpson's, a Toronto based department store, introduces a full mail-order catalogue. Source: Before e-commerce : a history of mail order catalogues http://wwwcivilization.ca/cpm/catalog/catooooe.html December 2004. Births: September 3 - Born Dr. Norma Ford Walker (1893-1968)well known medical researcher of childhood diseases. Deaths: March 30 - Died Jane Mackenzie (1825-1893), wife of Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie. June 5 - Died Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823-1893) first free black in North America to edit a newspaper. |
| 1894 | The North
West Territories allows unmarried women to vote in municipal
elections but not to hold office. Dr. Amelia Yeomans (1881-1968) becomes president of the Manitoba Equal Franchise Club, the first English-speaking suffrage group formed west of Ontario. Margaret Marshall Saunders (1861-1947.) writes Beautiful Joe, a story of an abused dog, winning a competition sponsored by the American Humane Society. The book becomes the first Canadian book to sell more than 1,000,000 copies. It is translated into more than 14 different languages. YWCA in Hamilton, Ontario, opens a School of Domestic Science, the first of its kind in Canada. Adelaide Hoodless (Born St George, Canada West (Ontario) February 27, 1857. Died February 26, 1910.) and the Hamilton YWCA are instrumental in having the subject of domestic science incorporated into the Ontario provincial school system. Source: History of the YWCA http://www.ywcacanada.ca/ Mary Agnes Fitzgibbon founds the Canadian Women's Historical Society of Toronto. Robert Simpson Co. store in Toronto is destroyed by fire. Source: Important Moments in Canadian Art History compiled by Dr. Robert J. Belton, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Creative Projects http://ubc.ca/okanagan/creative/links/timeline (accessed February 2006) Births: Born Vega Dawson (1894- 1988) Order of the British Empire for war services. Born Allie Vibert Douglas (1894-1988) she was Dean of Women at Queen's University & an international lecturer in astronomy. Born Phyllis Munday (1894-1990.) one of the first women to reach the summit of Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies and early Girl Guide organizer. April 9 - Born Cecilia Krieger (1894-1974) noted mathematician. May 28 - Born Beatrice Lillie, (1894-1989) outstanding comedic actress of her era. June 4 - Born Mary Travers (La Bolduc) (1894-1941) popular vocalist and composer of her era. December 15 - Born Allie Vibert Douglas (1894-1988) first woman in Canada to graduate with a PhD in astrophysics. Deaths: July 27 - Died Louisa Annie Murray (1818-1894) author |
| 1895 | The
Yukon becomes a provisional district separate from the Northwest
Territories. The Toronto School Board will not hire married women nor women over 30 years of age. Source: Canadian Chronology http://tdi.uregina.ca/~maguirec/chron.htm (accessed April 28, 2003) The Law Society of Upper Canada admits women as barristers. The Toronto Camera Club debates the admission of women as members. Source: Important moments in Canadian History http;;/www.ouc.bc.ca/flar/timeline ( accessed May 2002) The Toronto Camera Club
debates opening it membership to women. Women were finally
accepted as members. Most other camera clubs in Canada were already
accepting women as members. Source: Important Moments in Canadian Art
History compiled by Dr. Robert J. Belton, University of British
Columbia, Okanagan Creative Projects
http://ubc.ca/okanagan/creative/links/timeline (accessed February
2006) The Roberts Simpson Co. rebuilds its store that was destroyed by
fire. The new store is built with a "fireproof" frame of concrete-clad
steel. Source: Important Moments in Canadian Art
History compiled by Dr. Robert J. Belton, University of British
Columbia, Okanagan Creative Projects
http://ubc.ca/okanagan/creative/links/timeline (accessed February
2006) |