Person of National Historic Significance
Nellie Letitia McClung (née Mooney)
Nellie McClung (1873–1951) was a Canadian suffragist, reformer, legislator, and author, best known for her role in advancing women’s rights and for her involvement in the landmark Persons Case. Raised on a Manitoba homestead, she began formal schooling at age 10 and became a teacher at 16. After marrying Robert McClung, she became active in the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and began her writing career. Her first novel, Sowing Seeds in Danny (1908), became a national bestseller and established her as a prominent literary voice. McClung became a leading figure in the women’s rights movement after moving to Winnipeg in...
Agnes MacPhail
Date of Birth1890-03-24 Date of Death1954-02-13 Agnes MacPhail was Canada's first woman Member of Parliament. She was elected in the 1921 federal election. She was a champion of the rights of farmers, women and prisoners was Canada's first woman delegate to the League of Nations.
Martha Louise Munger Black
We received this suggestion from Sue McGregor-Hunter. Thanks for sharing, Sue! I have a suggestion for another person for your site. Her name was Martha Louise Black. She was the second woman elected to the Parliament. However that is just one part of her fascinating story: She was a Chicago socialite who was abandoned by her husband. She heard about the Klondike Gold Rush and travelled with her brother to San Francisco where they boarded a ship to Skagway Alaska. She climbed the Chilcoot Trail (to be allowed to go to the Kondike goldfields, all travellors had to "carry" one...
The Right Honourable Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott
Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott - 3rd Prime Minister of Canada John Joseph Caldwell Abbott, PC, QC, KCMG, lawyer, professor, businessman, politician and prime minister. Abbott was a leading authority on commercial law, a strong advocate of English Quebec’s business elite and an influential figure in many corporate and social organizations. He was the first Canadian-born prime minister, as well as the first to hold the position from the Senate rather than the House of Commons. He served as Canada's 3rd prime minister from 16 June 1891 to 24 November 1892. Early Life John Joseph Caldwell Abbott was born in...
Hiram Walker
Hiram Walker built the Windsor Distillery and Flouring Mill in 1859 later to become Hiram Walker and Sons Ltd. He introduced Canadian Club whisky in 1884. Hiram Walker was a businessman and philanthropist whose legacy is deeply woven into the history of southwestern Ontario. Born on 4 July 1816 in Douglas, Massachusetts, Walker was largely self‑educated and relied on determination, experimentation, and an exceptional sense for opportunity. After moving to Detroit in 1838, Walker spent more than a decade trying — and often failing — to establish himself in business. His fortunes changed in the early 1850s when he entered...
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in Baie-Comeau, Quebec, to Irish-Canadian parents, he was educated at St. Thomas High School in Chatham, New Brunswick, and later at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1959. As leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, he led one of the largest majority governments in Canadian history and oversaw major economic and constitutional initiatives, including the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement and the introduction of the...
Herbert Marshall McLuhan
Marshall McLuhan's work is viewed as one of the cornerstones of the study of media theory. He is popularly known for the expressions "the medium is the message" and "global village". From Wikipedia:McLuhan was born in Edmonton, Alberta, to Methodist parents Elsie Naomi (née Hall) and Herbert Ernest McLuhan. His brother, Maurice, was born two years later. "Marshall" was a family name: his maternal grandmother's surname. Both of his parents were born in Canada. His mother was a Baptist schoolteacher who later became an actress. His father had a real estate business in Edmonton. When war broke out, the business...
Margaret Laurence
Margaret Laurence was a Governor General Award winning novelist for A Jest of God (1966) and The Diviners (1974). Her novel Stone Angel (1964) is also widely read in schools across Canada.She is interred in the Neepawa Cemetery, Neepawa Manitoba.
The Right Honourable R.B. Bennett
aka R.B. Bennett R.B. Bennett served as the 11th Prime Minister of Canada during the worst of the Great Depression years. Following his defeat as prime minister, Bennett moved to England, and was elevated to the House of Lords.";" June 12, 1941, became the first and only former Canadian Prime Minister to be elevated to the British House of Lords, as Viscount Bennett of Mickleham in the County of Surrey and of Calgary and Hopewell in the Dominion of Canada. Richard Bedford Bennett was Canada's 11th Prime Minister.