Great Canadian women

October is Women's History Month in Canada, as proclaimed in 1992.

Ancestry.ca points to some women prominent in Canadian history found in their records. See an extract from their press release below.

One prominent woman they don't mention, although she is well represented in their records, is former Ottawa mayor Charlotte Whitton. Not one to mince words she said of Ottawa City Council "I don't think a third of them are there just to serve the City", which rings as true today as more than a quarter of a century ago. To get a first hand view of the mayor, together with her forthright views, see the video here.

Here are some of the less well Canadian women from the Ancestry.ca press release:

o Emily Stowe from Norwich Township, Ontario was Canada’s first woman to practice medicine. Stowe is considered by many to be the mother of the suffragist movement in Canada. (1881 Census of Canada)
o Carrie Derick from Clarenceville, Quebec was a geneticist who gained international recognition for her research on heredity. When McGill University in Montreal appointed her as full professor in 1912, she was the first woman to receive this status in Canada. (1871 Census of Canada)
o Eileen Vollick from Wiarton, Ontario was Canada’s first licensed female pilot and played a large role in opening the field of aviation to Canadian women. (1911 Census of Canada)
o Elsie MacGill, born in Vancouver, British Columbia was the world’s first female aircraft designer and led Canada’s fighter plane production during the Second World War. (1911 Census of Canada)