Alice Jamieson (July 14, 1860 – July 4, 1949) was an American and Canadian

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and magistrate.

Career

Jamieson arrived in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Alberta, Canada in 1903 when her husband,

Reuben Rupert Jamieson Reuben Rupert Jamieson, also known as Reuben Roper Jamieson, (December 12, 1856 – May 30, 1911) was the 16th mayor of Calgary, Alberta. Jamieson was born in Westover, Ontario and educated in Hamilton, Ontario. His career between 1873 and ...

, became the area general superintendent for the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

. They prospered in Calgary and after his retirement, he became the 19th mayor of Calgary. After the death of her husband, Alice continued to be active in the community. She was involved in organizations such as the Calgary Council of Women and the YWCA of Calgary. In 1914, Jamieson was appointed the first female judge in the British Empire of a juvenile court. In 1916, she became the second female magistrate of the Empire, just months after Emily Murphy was appointed in Edmonton, Alberta. Jamieson's right to serve as magistrate came into question in 1917 in the Lizzie Cyr Case. Cyr's lawyer argued that as a woman, Alice was legally "incompetent and incapable" of holding the office. The Alberta Supreme Court upheld her right to serve in this position. This was a precursor to the 1929

Persons Case ''Edwards v Canada (AG)''also known as the ''Persons Case'' (french: l'Affaire « personne »)is a famous Canadian constitutional case that decided in 1929 that women were eligible to sit in the Senate of Canada. The legal case was put forward b ...

where five other Albertan women fought to answer the question, "Are women persons?" Jamieson retired in 1932. When the

Calgary Board of Education Calgary School District No. 19 or the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) is the public school board in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. As a public system, the CBE is required to accept any students who meet age and residency requirements, regardless of ...

opened its only all-female school in 2003, it honored her by naming it the Alice Jamieson Girls' Academy. Bentall Capital LP and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC) broke ground in February 2007 on a new office tower called Jamieson Place in honour of Alice Jukes Jamieson. The tower opened in 2009. Alice Jukes Jamieson had 4 children. One of her great-granddaughters is Adrienne McLennan who followed in Jamieson's footsteps, becoming the then highest-ranking woman and the highest ranking civilian to serve on any police force in Canada until her retirement in 1996. McLennan was the Director of Public Affairs for the Metro Toronto Police. Alice Jamieson, along with her husband, were Christian Scientists, and long-time members of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Calgary.

References

External links

Great Alberta Law Cases:The Cyr Case:People:Alice Jamieson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jamieson, Alice Canadian feminists American expatriates in Canada Judges in Alberta Canadian Christian Scientists Canadian women judges 1860 births 1949 deaths