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54 plaques found that match your criteria
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Marie-Rose Turcot 1887-1977
Born in Laurierville, Quebec, Marie-Rose Turcot moved to Ottawa around the age of 20 to work in the civil service. Later, working as a journalist, Marie-Rose Turcot published in the daily newspaper Le Droit, as well as in several other weekly and daily publications in Ottawa and Montreal, sometimes using the pseudonym Constance Bayard. She also worked in broadcast journalism for the French radio station CKCH in Hull, Quebec. Turcot was the author of a... -
Elisabeth Bruyère 1818-1876
In the 1840s, Bytown (Ottawa) was a growing timber-trade village with a substantial French-Canadian population but no Catholic schools and few social services. In February of 1845 the Sisters of Charity of Montreal (Grey Nuns) sent four nuns here. Led by Élisabeth Bruyère, a devout, well-educated young woman, the sisters quickly established a bilingual school for girls, a hospital and an orphanage. They helped the poor, the elderly and the sick, including hundreds of immigrants... -
Adelaide Hunter Hoodless 1858-1910
Adelaide Hunter was born in this farm house and lived here until she married John Hoodless in 1881. On February, 19, 1897, she organized at Stoney Creek the world's first Women's Institute. It was her belief that, in this organization, rural women could discuss their problems and work together to improve their standard of homemaking and citizenship. The movement spread rapidly throughout Ontario and later to the other provinces. Mrs. Hoodless, a natural leader and... -
Agnes Campbell MacPhail 1890-1954
The first woman elected to the parliament of Canada was born on a nearby farm in Proton Township. In 1919, women had received the right to sit in the federal house, and in that year Agnes MacPhail joined the United Farmers of Ontario. Elected as a Progressive for Grey in 1921, she retained her seat until 1940. A strong and eloquent speaker, she always maintained her independence from party policies, and was concerned mainly with... -
Alma College
In response to a petition from a provisional Board of Management appointed in 1876, the Ontario Government granted a charter the following year for the erection of a ladies' college in St. Thomas. In this building, designed in the High Victorian Gothic style by James Balfour of Hamilton, Alma College was opened in October 1881. The establishment of the College resulted largely from the contributions of residents of St. Thomas and Elgin County and the... -
Catharine Parr Traill 1802-1899
A member of the literary Strickland family, this talented author married Lieut. Thomas Traill and emigrated to Upper Canada in 1832. For seven years, they struggled unsuccessfully to establish a profitable farm on bushland in Douro Township. Subsequently, they lived at Ashburnham and Rice Lake. In 1862, following her husband's death, Mrs. Traill's daughters purchased "Westove," and she lived here the rest of her life. Her best known book, "The Backwoods of Canada," is based... -
Dr. Augusta Stowe Gullen 1857-1943
Canada's first woman graduate in medicine was born in Mount Pleasant. She attended the Toronto School of Medicine, received her degree from Victoria University in 1883, and was licensed to practise. Her mother, Dr. Emily Howard Stowe, had graduated in New York State in 1868, and after a prolonged struggle for recognition had been licenced to practise medicine in 1880, thus becoming Canada's first woman doctor. Both were ardent feminists, and devoted themselves to the... -
Elizabeth Rabb Beatty 1856-1939
One of the earliest Canadian female medical missionaries, Elizabeth Rabb Beatty was born near Caintown and moved to Lansdowne where she attended local schools. She taught in Leeds County before entering Queen's University, Kingston, to study medicine. Graduating in 1884, she was sent by the Presbyterian Women's Foreign Missionary Society to Indore, Central India. Two years later, she was joined by another medical missionary, Dr. Marion Oliver, with whom she co-operated in the opening of... -
Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe 1766-1850
The wife of John Graves Simcoe, first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim was born at Whitchurch, Herefordshire. Her diaries and sketches, compiled 1791-96 while in Canada, provide a valuable record of pioneer life in that colony. Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe, who claimed direct descendence from Lord William de Brewer, the founder, in the twelfth century, of the Abbey of St. Mary, Dunkswell, died in 1806, and thereafter Mrs. Simcoe devoted herself to charitable work. She... -
Founding of Tweed, The
During the 1830s, a settlement, initially called Munroe's Mills and later Hungerford Mills, developed here on the Moira River. In 1850, when its population had reached approximately 100, it was surveyed and renamed Tweed by prominent mill owner, James Jamieson. The community grew steadily during the mid-19th century with the development of lumbering and mining in the area. Later, as agriculture assumed greater importance, it became a service centre for local farmers. By 1891, when... -
Louise de Kiriline Lawrence, 1894-1992
Louise Flach was born in Sweden and grew up on the scenic Baltic coast where she developed an interest in nature. Flach became a Red Cross nurse, serving during the First World War in Denmark, and then with her first husband Greb de Kiriline who died in revolutionary Russia. She immigrated to Canada in 1927, settled near Bonfield, Ontario and was head nurse for the Dionne Quintuplets. In 1935, she retired from nursing to study... -
Pauline McGibbon 1910-2001
The first woman to hold a vice-regal office in Canada, Pauline Emily Mills, was born in Sarnia, Ontario in 1910. After local schooling and a degree at Victoria College, University of Toronto, she married Donald Walker McGibbon in 1935. A life-long volunteer and supporter of the arts, Mrs. McGibbon became president of the Dominion Drama Festival in 1948 and national president of the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire in 1963. She was... -
Women's Law Association of Ontario
Founded in 1919, the Women's Law Association of Ontario (WLAO) was the first organization to work actively to create a place for women at Osgoode Hall. With membership open to law students, lawyers and judges, the non-profit organization advances issues relevant to women in law through networking, educational and social events. Strengthened by the women's rights movement, the WLAO's first 100 years marked Canada's first female lawyer being called to the bar, the first female... -
Heroine of Long Point, The
In November 1854 the schooner "Conductor" was wrecked off this shore during one of Lake Erie's many violent storms. Jeremiah Becker, who resided nearby, was away on the mainland but his courageous wife, Abigail, risked her life by repeatedly entering the water while assisting the exhausted seamen to reach land. The eight sailors were housed and fed in her cabin until they recovered from their ordeal. In recognition of her heroism she received a letter of commendation from Queen Victoria, several financial awards, and a gold medal from the Life Saving Benevolent Association of New York. -
Isabella Valancy Crawford
Born in Dublin, Ireland, about 1846, this notable Canadian poet immigrated with her family to Canada, 1857-58, settling at Paisley. Her father practiced medicine here for some years and after his death in Peterborough, in 1875, Isabella moved to Toronto where she attempted to support her sister and mother by writing. A fine knowledge of classical literature, an intense idealism and a gift for startling imagery pervade her poetry. Like many post-Confederation poets, she was... -
Janet Carnochan 1839-1926
For more than 30 years Janet Carnochan, a native of Stamford, Ontario, taught elementary and secondary school at Niagara-on-the-Lake, but she made her greatest contribution to the community as an historian rather than as an educator. A distinguished historical preservationist, Carnochan founded and was first president of the Niagara Historical Society, 1895-1925, and laboured tirelessly to safeguard and promote the rich heritage of Niagara. She wrote and edited numerous historical works including The History of Niagara and successfully campaigned for the construction... -
Laura Ingersoll Secord 1775-1868
Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Laura Ingersoll came to Upper Canada with her father in 1795 and settled in this area. About two years later she married James Secord, a United Empire Loyalist, and within seven years they had moved to this site from nearby St. Davids. From here, during the War of 1812, Laura Secord set out on an arduous 19-mile journey to warn the local British commander, Lieutenant James FitzGibbon, of an impending... -
Letitia Youmans 1827-1896
Born near Cobourg of Methodist parents, Letitia Youmans, nee Creighton, was educated at local schools and at Burlington Ladies' Academy. In 1849, she moved to Picton and taught briefly at a girls' school. Deeply religious and believing that a well-ordered Christian family was fundamental to a prosperous, moral society, she viewed with alarm the threat presented to this ideal by intemperance. She became active in temperance reform and in 1874, formed a "Woman's Christian Temperance... -
Louise C. McKinney 1868-1931
Born on a nearby farm, Louise Crummy taught school in Leeds County and in 1896 married James McKinney. In 1903 they settled at Claresholm, Alberta. A leader in the temperance movement and strong advocate of female suffrage, she was elected as an Independent member of the Alberta legislature in 1917. She thus became the first woman in the British Empire to gain a parliamentary seat. In 1929 five leaders in the struggle for female emancipation... -
Lucy Maud Montgomery
In this house, the author of "Anne of Green Gables" lived for fifteen years, and here wrote eleven of her twenty-two novels, including "Anne of the Island" (1915) and "Anne's House of Dreams" (1916). Born in 1874 at Clifton, Prince Edward Island, she was educated at Charlottetown and Halifax. From 1898 to 1911 she lived at Cavendish, P. E. I., and there began her career as a novelist. In 1911 she married the Reverend Ewan... -
Marie Dressler 1868-1934
Leila Maria Koerber, a talented actress and singer known internationally as Marie Dressler, was born in Cobourg. About 1883, she joined a touring stock company, later gaining recognition on Broadway in a series of successful comedy productions, including "Tillie's Nightmare". Although she made her first film in 1914, entitled "Tillie's Punctured Romance" with Charlie Chaplin, her real success in motion pictures began in 1930 when she played in "Anna Christie" with Greta Garbo. During the... -
Mary Pickford
Born in 1893 in a house that stood near this site, Gladys Marie Smith appeared on stage in Toronto at the age of five. Her theatrical career took her to Broadway in 1907 where she adopted the name Mary Pickford. The actress's earliest film, "Her First Biscuits," was released by the Biograph company in 1909 and she soon established herself as the international cinema's first great star. Her golden curls and children's roles endeared her... -
Mazo de la Roche 1879-1961
Born Mazo Louise Roche in Newmarket, this celebrated Canadian writer attended the Ontario School of Art and the University of Toronto. She established an international literary reputation when her book "Jalna" won the Atlantic Monthly competition of 1927. It was the first of 16 novels narrating the history of the Whiteoak family and set in the Clarkson, Ontario, area. The books provide a comprehensive picture of life in the province from the mid-19th to mid-20th... -
Nellie L. McClung
This outstanding suffragette, author and teacher was born near Chatsworth in 1873 and moved with her family to Manitoba in 1880. Ten years later she commenced her teaching career in Manitou, where she became an active member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union and began the writing of "Sowing Seeds in Danny", the best known of her published works. An indomitable fighter for equal rights, Nellie McClung was a militant member of the Winnipeg Political... -
Ontario Ladies' College
Opened in 1874 by the Governor-General, Lord Dufferin, the Ontario Ladies' College was established in "Trafalgar Castle", former residence of Nelson Gilbert Reynolds, Sheriff of Ontario County. Built in 1859, "Trafalgar Castle" was visited in 1869 by Prince Arthur and Sir John A. Macdonald. The college, under the jurisdiction of the Methodist Church, offered a diploma, and matriculation for university entrance. Additions to the school were named in honour of Dr. Egerton Ryerson in 1877...