Maria Grant

Helen "Maria" Grant (born Helen Mary Smith, 1843 − 1907 Victoria BC)[1] was an early Canadian women's rights activist in British Columbia and first woman in Canada elected to any political office.

Early life

Grant was born in Maitland Nova Scotia.[1]

Career

In 1884, when women in Canada became eligible to vote for school board members − based on the requirement that they were mothers − they were then allowed to run for school board positions in 1889. In March 1895 Grant was elected as the first school board trustee and served for six years.[2] In 1901 she was presented to George V (then still the Duke of York) as the first and only woman school trustee in Canada.

She was active in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and helped to found the Victoria Local Council of Women[3] in 1894 which was created to facilitate communication between women and women's organizations to discuss the issues pertinent in their community. The Victoria Local Council of Women went on to become the first Council in Canada to endorse women's suffrage and Maria Grant was honored by the Council for her more than 30 years of work towards women's suffrage in 1987.[3]

Personal life

Grant married Captain William Grant in 1873 and sailed the world with him until they settled in Victoria BC in 1886.

References

  1. 1 2 "Ross Bay Cemetery: Helen Grant". Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria. The Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  2. ↑ Forster, Merna (2004). 100 Canadian Heroines: Famous and Forgotten Faces. Dundurn. pp. 94–95. ISBN 9781550025149.
  3. 1 2 "Victoria Council of Women". Victoria.tc.ca. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/13/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.