Nellie McClung, one of the Famous Five, and Women's Suffrage in Canada
Feb 25, 1999 -
© J. M. Bridgeman
Nellie McClung, née Helen Letitia Mooney, was born in 1873 in Chatsworth, Ontario, and is one of the most important members of the Famous Five for women's suffrage.
Growing up, neither McClung nor any woman was considered a person under Canadian law; women were denied the right to vote, to inherit property, to pursue medical, legal, or political careers, or to live economically independent of men.
Nellie McClung's Early Life
The Mooney family emigrated from Ontario to the Canadian West in 1880, south of Brandon, Manitoba. Nellie attended school from age 10 to 15, and in 1889, she completed Normal School to become a teacher.
When Nellie was hired to teach in the small town of Manitou, she boarded with the Methodist minister, Reverend James McClung, and his wife Annie. Mrs. McClung, who was president of the local chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, was at first a mentor and later, a mother-in-law. Nellie married Robert Wesley McClung in 1896.
Nellie's Married and Literary Life
The marriage ended Nellie's teaching career. In the first 16 years of her marriage, Nellie bore 5 children and published her first novel; Sowing Seeds in Danny became a best-seller and launched Nellie's writing career.
In 1911, when the McClung's moved to Winnipeg, Nellie joined the Women's Press Club. There she met like-minded women who organized themselves as the Political Equality League to lobby for women's suffrage. Nellie was active in the speakers bureau, travelling across Canada, the United States, and to Great Britain to lecture at rallies in support of social changes such as prohibition, property rights for wives and widows, access to education and careers, and better laws to regulate safety and working conditions.
Nellie and the Women's Parliament
Nellie McClung is best remembered in Winnipeg for her triumph in the Women's Parliament of 1914. The League staged a mock parliament where disenfranchised men petitioned women law-makers. With her powers of mimickry, Nellie, playing the Premier, brought down the house. The audience, through tears of laughter, was forced to see how ridiculous were the arguments against women's suffrage.
The government resigned shortly after the show, over allegations of corruption, and was defeated in the election that followed in 1915. The world was already at war in Europe. In January, 1916, women's suffrage also became law. Women in Manitoba were the first in Canada to achieve the right to vote and hold provincial office.
Nellie McClung moved from Winnipeg to Calgary in 1915, and published In Times Like These. She ran for office, was elected, and sat as a member of the provincial legislature from 1921-26. After her defeat, she wrote The Stream Runs Fast, documenting her life commuting from Calgary to the legislature in Edmonton. She also wrote a weekly newspaper column, Nellie McClung Says.
The Alberta Famous Five
While she was an MLA, Nellie McClung had become one of the Famous Five—five Alberta women who petitioned the government of Canada to expand the legal definition of the word person to include women. Ottawa refused, but the Five persevered, appealling to London. Eventually, they won their case; in 1929, the women of Canada legally became persons.
In 1933, Nellie and Wesley retired to Victoria, British Columbia. Nellie began her autobiography, Clearing in the West: My Own Story. She was appointed in 1936 to the first Board of Governors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and in 1938, as Canada's delegate to the League of Nations in Switzerland.
In all, Nellie McClung published 16 books and wrote numerous speeches and columns. Through her work as a teacher, a writer, an activist, a legislator, and as a political appointee, she improved the lives of all women in Canada.
Growing up, neither McClung nor any woman was considered a person under Canadian law; women were denied the right to vote, to inherit property, to pursue medical, legal, or political careers, or to live economically independent of men.
Nellie McClung's Early Life
The Mooney family emigrated from Ontario to the Canadian West in 1880, south of Brandon, Manitoba. Nellie attended school from age 10 to 15, and in 1889, she completed Normal School to become a teacher.
When Nellie was hired to teach in the small town of Manitou, she boarded with the Methodist minister, Reverend James McClung, and his wife Annie. Mrs. McClung, who was president of the local chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, was at first a mentor and later, a mother-in-law. Nellie married Robert Wesley McClung in 1896.
Nellie's Married and Literary Life
The marriage ended Nellie's teaching career. In the first 16 years of her marriage, Nellie bore 5 children and published her first novel; Sowing Seeds in Danny became a best-seller and launched Nellie's writing career.
In 1911, when the McClung's moved to Winnipeg, Nellie joined the Women's Press Club. There she met like-minded women who organized themselves as the Political Equality League to lobby for women's suffrage. Nellie was active in the speakers bureau, travelling across Canada, the United States, and to Great Britain to lecture at rallies in support of social changes such as prohibition, property rights for wives and widows, access to education and careers, and better laws to regulate safety and working conditions.
Nellie and the Women's Parliament
Nellie McClung is best remembered in Winnipeg for her triumph in the Women's Parliament of 1914. The League staged a mock parliament where disenfranchised men petitioned women law-makers. With her powers of mimickry, Nellie, playing the Premier, brought down the house. The audience, through tears of laughter, was forced to see how ridiculous were the arguments against women's suffrage.
The government resigned shortly after the show, over allegations of corruption, and was defeated in the election that followed in 1915. The world was already at war in Europe. In January, 1916, women's suffrage also became law. Women in Manitoba were the first in Canada to achieve the right to vote and hold provincial office.
Nellie McClung moved from Winnipeg to Calgary in 1915, and published In Times Like These. She ran for office, was elected, and sat as a member of the provincial legislature from 1921-26. After her defeat, she wrote The Stream Runs Fast, documenting her life commuting from Calgary to the legislature in Edmonton. She also wrote a weekly newspaper column, Nellie McClung Says.
The Alberta Famous Five
While she was an MLA, Nellie McClung had become one of the Famous Five—five Alberta women who petitioned the government of Canada to expand the legal definition of the word person to include women. Ottawa refused, but the Five persevered, appealling to London. Eventually, they won their case; in 1929, the women of Canada legally became persons.
In 1933, Nellie and Wesley retired to Victoria, British Columbia. Nellie began her autobiography, Clearing in the West: My Own Story. She was appointed in 1936 to the first Board of Governors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and in 1938, as Canada's delegate to the League of Nations in Switzerland.
In all, Nellie McClung published 16 books and wrote numerous speeches and columns. Through her work as a teacher, a writer, an activist, a legislator, and as a political appointee, she improved the lives of all women in Canada.
The copyright of the article Nellie McClung, one of the Famous Five, and Women's Suffrage in Canada in Canadian History & Culture is owned by J. M. Bridgeman. Permission to republish Nellie McClung, one of the Famous Five, and Women's Suffrage in Canada in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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