Irene Parlby

Mary Irene Parlby ( Marryat; 9 January 186812 July 1965) was a Canadian women's farm leader, activist and politician. She served as MLA in the United Farmers of Alberta government from 1921 to 1935, serving as Minister without portfolio in the Cabinet of Alberta during that time. She worked to implement social reforms that helped farm women and children and was an advocate of public health programs. As a member of the Famous Five, she was one of five women who took the Persons Case first to the Supreme Court of Canada, and then to the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council for the right of women to serve in the Senate of Canada. From 1930 to 1934, she was one of three Canadian representatives at the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Parlby's accomplishments have garnered her many honours, both before and after her death. In 1935, the University of Alberta granted her an honorary Doctorate of Laws, making her the first woman in its history to receive such a distinction. In 1966, a year after her death, she was named a Person of National Historic Significance, and in 2009, the Senate of Canada voted to name Parlby and other members of the Famous Five Canada's first honorary Senators. Early life Parlby was born Mary Irene Marryat on 9 January 1868 in London, England, the eldest of eight children of Colonel Ernest Lindsay Marryat and Mrs. Elizabeth Lynch Marryat. The Marryats had many well-known relatives, including Frederick Marryat, a Royal Navy author and writer, and Henry Young, a colonial administrator in Australia. She lived in India for six years, from 1868 until 1871 and from 1881 to 1884, due to her father's job in the Royal Engineers. Her family was in the upper middle class, and the children were taught by governesses instead of attending school. She was interested in writing and acting, creating plays for family and friends. She received a good education, studying music and elocution, and was interested in theatre, though such a career was considered inappropriate for a woman of her social status. In 1884, when Irene was 16, her father retired from his work in India and returned with his family to England, where they rented a farm in Limpsfield, Surrey. She enjoyed her social life, but felt that her life was aimless; she later described this as "killing time as pleasantly as possible". In the mid-1890s, she spent time in Switzerland, recovering from an illness.