Cairine Reay Wilson - Cumberland, Ontario - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

"Cairine Reay Mackay Wilson, the first woman to be appointed to the Senate in Canada, embodies the conclusion of the Persons Case. Her appointment, made in 1930, marked the end of the era during which women in Canada were denied civil rights. It also gave substance to the right of women to sit in the upper chamber, a right granted in a 1929 decision by the Privy Council in London.

Through her work as an organizer and senator, Mrs. Wilson contributed to the advancement of women in the public sphere. She also campaigned for the admission of refugees and the release of interned refugees during the Second World War, and for liberalized immigration laws and other progressive measures.

Born in Montréal on February 4, 1885, Cairine Ray Mackay married Norman F. Wilson, the Liberal Member of Parliament for Russell, Ontario, in 1909. In 1919, the Wilson family moved to Ottawa, where Mrs. Wilson soon became heavily involved in politics. She contributed to the founding of the National Federation of Liberal Women of Canada in 1928 and the Twentieth Century Liberal Association in 1930.
In the Senate, Mrs. Wilson supported legislative measures designed to promote equal opportunity and independence for women. She called for easier access to divorce, and denounced the Naturalization Act, whereby Canadian women would lose their citizenship if they married a man of another nationality.

In 1936, Senator Wilson began to take an interest in the fate of European refugees fleeing from the Nazis. She was president of the League of Nations Society in Canada from 1936 onward, the Canadian National Committee on Refugees from 1938 to 1948, and the Senate Standing Committee on Immigration and Labour. In 1949 she became the first woman named to a Canadian United Nations delegation. In 1950, she was named Knight of the Legion of Honour by France in recognition for her assistance to French refugees during the Second World War.

Cairine Reay Mackay Wilson died on March 3, 1962, at the age of 77. A marble bust, unveiled in 1960, stands in the Senate antechamber commemorating the work of this great philanthropist and Canada’s first woman senator."

Reference: (visit link)

Description: Cairine Wilson was born Cairine Reay Mackay on February 4, 1885 to the upper-class Mackay family who made their home in Montreal, Quebec. While politics formed the background of her whole life, Cairine was not interested in being a politician herself. She was concerned about women’s rights, though did not participate in the efforts of suffragettes. By February 1930 at age 45, Cairine Wilson had been living in Ottawa for nearly ten years. The wife of former MP Norman Wilson, she was the mother of 8 children.. Four months earlier, in October 1929, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of England ruled that women were “persons” in Canada; Women could at last take part in the Senate of the Government of Canada. It was fully expected that the leader of the Famous Five, Judge Emily Murphy, would receive a post as Senator in the Upper House for the years of effort she put in to facilitate change. Instead, Prime Minister Mackenzie King made the call to Mrs. Cairine Wilson. Cairine Wilson was ceremonially welcomed to the Senate on February 20, 1930 with her husband and two of their children in the audience." Reference: http://suite101.com/article/cairine-wilson-1st-woman-senator-a44639 Date of birth: 02/04/1885 Date of death: 03/03/1962 Area of notoriety: Politics Marker Type: Headstone Setting: Outdoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: The headstone can be visited at anytime Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

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