THE FAMOUS FIVE
In 1927, a group of women from western Canada, known as the “Famous Five”
challenged the Canadian government’s definition of the word “persons”.
The BNA Act from 1867 outlines the qualifications that Canadian “persons” must fulfill in
order to serve in the senate and other government positions. The wording used in the
document did not specify a particular gender. Women had not been appointed to the
senate because most people assumed that “persons” only referred to men.
The courts ruled that “persons” indeed referred to males. The five challenged the
court’s ruling at the Privy Council in Britain. Since Canada was still a British territory,
the Privy Council could overrule the Supreme Court of Canada. They ultimately ruled
that the term “persons” included women as well as men.
EMILY MURPHY
o Journalist, politician, legal reformer, and author.
o Wrote professionally under the alias Janey Canuck.
o First woman magistrate in Canada and the British Empire.
o Her appointment as police magistrate in Alberta, her appointment
was challenged on the grounds that women were not persons
according to the BNA Act.
IRENE PARLBY
o First female provincial cabinet minister in Canada.
o Canada’s delegate to the League of Nations in 1930.
o First president of the United Farm Women of Alberta.
o Advocate for libraries, traveling medical clinics & distance
education.
NELLIE MCCLUNG
o Suffragist, prohibition activist, and successful author.
o Elected to Alberta legislature in 1921.
HENRIETTA EDWARDS
o Journalist and suffragist
o Fought for equal rights for wives and mothers' allowances
o She started the Working Girls' Association in Montreal in 1875
o Wrote two works on federal laws affecting women and children.
LOUISE MCKINNEY
o Involved in the Dominion Women’s Christian Union.
o Elected to Alberta legislature in 1917.
Lord Sankey, Lord Chancellor of England’s Privy Council (1929)
“Their Lordships have come to the conclusion that the word persons includes members
of the male and female sex…women are eligible to be summoned and become members
of the Senate of Canada.”
“The exclusion of women from all public offices is a relic of days more barbarous than
ours. And to those who would ask why the word "persons" should include females, the
obvious answer is, why should it not?"
Henrietta Edwards
Nellie McClung
Emily Murphy
Louise McKinney
Irene Parlby
Famous Five Monument in Ottawa
Prime Minister Mackenzie King with the Famous Five