Mary Irene (Marryat) Parlby (bef. 1868 - 1965)

Born before 9 Jan 1868 in Pimlico, Westminster, London, England

Ancestors

Wife of Walter Coventry Hall Parlby M.A. — married 14 Mar 1897 in Alberta Canada

Died 12 Jul 1965 after age 97 in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada

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Biography

Irene (Marryat) Parlby is Notable.

Irene Parlby was a Canadian women's farm leader, activist and politician. She was one of five women who became known as the famous five who asked the Supreme Court of Canada to answer the question, "Does the word 'Persons' in Section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867, include female persons

And what when we die? Should women go back to the state they once belonged to. No, they should rather take arms against it, and fight for acknowledgment, not uniformity.

Irene (Marryat) Parlby was a part of the Suffragette Movement.

Irene (Marryat) Parlby migrated from England to Canada.

Mary Irene Marryat was born in England. She immigrated to Alberta Canada in 1896.^[1] She married a rancher Walter Parlby and settled in the Lancombe area.

Irene Parlby helped to found and was president of the first women's local of the United Farmers of Alberta in 1913 , she was a supporter of rural Alberta women and distance education. In 1921, she was elected to the Alberta Legislature for the riding of Lacombe, holding the position for 14 years. She was the first woman Cabinet minister in Alberta. Irene Palby supported 18 bills passed to improve the plight of women and children, six of which she introduced herself.

She was known as the Women's Minister, but without a mandate or budget of her own and as the only woman among seven men, she was marginalized within cabinet. She was only the second woman in the British Empire to hold ministerial office. She was particularly active on issues related to public health care, improved wages for working women and married women's property rights. In 1925, she introduced a Community of Property Bill for the legal recognition of women's domestic work. The idea wasn't popular and the bill failed to pass.

Irene Parlby was popular among her rural constituents and was re-elected in 1926 and again in 1930. In 1930, she also served as a member of the Canadian delegation to the League of Nations.^[2]

On the 27 August 1927 Irene Parlby, Emily Jamima Gowan (Ferguson) Murphy (1868-1933), Helen Letitia (Mooney) McClung (1873-1951), Louise (Crummy) McKinney (1868-1931) and Henrietta Louise (Muir) Edwards (1849-1931) filed a petition asking the Supreme Court of Canada to answer the question, Does the word Persons in Section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867, include female persons? They sought to have women legally considered persons so that women could be appointed to the Senate. On 24 April 1928, Canada's Supreme Court summarized its unanimous decision that women are not such persons,the last line of the judgement reads, Understood to mean Are women eligible for appointment to the Senate of Canada, the question is answered in the negative This judgement was overturned by the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on 18 October 1929. This case, became known as the Persons Case.^[3] These five Canadian women became known as the famous five.^[4]

Irene Parlby was the last surviving member of the Famous Five. In October 2009, the Senate voted to name Irene Parlby and the other members of the Famous Five Canada's first honorary senators.^[5] Irene Parlby was recently award a mural in her honour in Edmonton, Alberta.

Irene remained in the Alberta cabinet till 1935. She died in 1965, at the age of 97. Throughout her long political career, Irene Parlby was an advocate for the betterment of rural Canadian women and children.

Sources

1. ↑ Family Search - Citing this Record"Canada Census, 1916," index, FamilySearch, Irena Parlby in household of Walter Parlby, Alberta, Canada; citing p. 3, line 8; Library and Archives Canada film number T-21954, Ottawa; FHL microfilm 2434969.
2. ↑ Canadian Encyclopedia - League of Nations League of Nations, international organization established at the Paris Peace Conference (1919) at the end of WWI. It was founded on the principles of collective security and preservation of peace through arbitration of international disputes.
3. ↑ Canadian Encyclopedia - Persons Case - In 1928, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously decided women were not "persons" who could hold public office as Canadian senators.
4. ↑ Canadian Encyclopedia - Famous 5 - Alberta's "Famous 5" were petitioners in the groundbreaking Persons Case, a case brought before the Supreme Court of Canada in 1927 and later decided by the Judicial Council of Britain's Privy Council (1929), Canada's highest court at the time
5. ↑ The Globe and Mail - Alberta's Famous Five named honorary senators - Alberta's Famous Five have been posthumously made honorary senators, reports the CBC.The Senate voted this week to bestow the recognition on Emily Murphy, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney and Irene Parlby.

• Famous Five Canada Wikipedia
• Historica Canada - Emily Murphy from the Heritage Minutes collection
• Alberta on line Encyclopedia - The Suffrage Movement
• WordPress.com - First Wave Feminsim (1900-1939) Irene Marryat Parlby
• Irene Parlby Wikipedia
• Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/82907842/mary-irene-parlby#source : accessed 11 January 2020), memorial page for Mary Irene Marryat Parlby (9 Jan 1868–12 Jul 1965), Find A Grave Memorial no. 82907842, citing Alix Cemetery, Alix, Red Deer Census Division, Alberta, Canada ; Maintained by Aaron C. Shaw (contributor 47208837) .

See Also:

• Canadian Suffragettes