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The Famous Five: The Woman's Case

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The Famous Five were petitioners in the Persons Case. It was a case that the Supreme Court of Canada in 1927 decided by the Judicial Council of Britain's Privy Council. They were Canada's highest court at the time. The five women had many years of work in different campaigns for women's rights going back to the 1880s and 90s. The media called them the Alberta Five after they got their victory. They fought for women's rights and politics.

The case took a long time and they came to represent an entire generation's political activism, including an earlier nationwide campaign for women's suffrage. Then the case attracted renewed controversy. Some see the Famous Five as a symbol of modernity, women's political rebellion and progress; they were …show more content…

Emily Murphy was born on March 14 1868. She was a Canadian women's rights activist, jurist, and author. She became the first female magistrate in Canada and in the British Empire in 1916. She is known for her help to Canadian feminism, especially to the question of whether women were "persons" under Canadian law. Next is Mary Irene Parlby She was born in London England, January 9 1868. Mary was a Canadian women's farm leader, activist and politician. She arrived in Canada in 1896 Parlby helped to found the first women's local of the United Farmers of Alberta. Now Nellie Letitia McClung, she was born in Helen Letitia Mooney on October 20 1873. She was also Canadian feminist, politician, author, and social activist. Nellie was a part of the social and moral reform movements prevalent in Western Canada in the 1900s. Louise McKinney is next she was born September 22 1868 and lived till July 10 1931. Louise was a provincial politician and a women's rights activist from Alberta, Canada. She was the first woman put into the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and the first woman elected to a legislature in Canada and in the British Empire. Last we have Henrietta Muir Edwards, born December 18 1849. She was a Canadian women's rights activist and reformer. Henrietta grew up in an upper-middle-class family that valued culture and

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