Beatrice Greig (born 1869) was a

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

ian writer, editor and women's rights activist in the period between 1900 and 1940. She was one of the most influential voices for women's civil, economic and political equality during this time frame. She was one of the first women to run in an election in Trinidad.

Biography

Greig was born in 1869 in St. John's,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, Canada. She moved with her missionary Scottish parents to

at the age of sixteen and then studied in India, becoming exposed to the ideas of

theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

and

Katherine Mayo Katherine Mayo (January 27, 1867 – October 9, 1940) was an American historian and nativist. Mayo entered the public sphere as a political writer advocating American nativism, opposition to non-white and Catholic immigration to the United Sta ...

's work on the subjugation of Indian women. Returning to Trinidad, in 1891, she married William Greig and took up residence on his Cedros Estate. Widowed at a young age, she turned to activism and social work. Greig formed the Trinidad Union of Girls Clubs and organized branches throughout the island. She also worked with the Teacher's Trade Union and Trinidad Labor Party. Beginning in the late 1920s, she began contributing to the ''East Indian Weekly'', becoming an activist speaking on behalf of Indo-Trinidadian women on issues like girls' education and child marriage. She also served as an advisor to Pandit Āyodhyā Prasād when he visited the island and established

Arya Samaj in Trinidad and Tobago The earliest efforts to establish the Arya Samaj in Trinidad and Tobago were made by visiting missionaries in the beginning of the 20th century. In the 1930s their activities led to the establishment of a new organisation, which first was called th ...

. In 1927, when the issue of women being able to hold positions on the

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

Council was being hotly debated, Greig gave a public speech, "The Position of Women in Public Life", arguing that women were ready to serve and paid taxes. Her arguments were rejected by the ''

Port of Spain Gazette The ''Port of Spain Gazette'' was a newspaper based in Port of Spain, Trinidad (and later, Trinidad and Tobago) between 1825 and 1959. The paper took a proslavery position in the 1830s, and later supported the rights of local elites against the ...

'', but two years later, women were granted the right to serve. By 1929, Greig was the associate editor of ''The Beacon'' and had a regular column in ''The Library''. Her journalistic efforts focused on social issues, such as a 1931 piece in the ''Labor Leader'' about the involvement of religion in civil marriage and divorce. She argued that without divorce, marriage imprisoned women, allowing men to use their wives at their convenience. In 1936, Greig became one of the first three women to run for a seat on the City Council. Though she was one of the most respected citizens and one of the most influential voices for women's rights, Greig's qualification papers were rejected. That same year, she made a presentation, "The New Age and Women's Place in It", at the Conference of British West Indies and British Guiana Women Social Workers organized by

Audrey Jeffers Audrey Layne Jeffers CM, OBE (12 February 1898 – 24 June 1968) was a Trinidadian social worker and the first female member of the Legislative Council of Trinidad and Tobago. Life Born in Woodbrook, Port of Spain, Trinidad,< ...

and the

Coterie of Social Workers The Coterie of Social Workers is a women's organization, established in 1921 in Trinidad and Tobago, British West Indies to engage in empowering women as well as providing benevolent assistance to the poor and disadvantaged. It was the first organiz ...

. In the speech, she argued that women had equal mental abilities to men and that though often subordinated and suppressed, women were ready to be integrated as equal participants in society.

Legacy

Greig along with Gertrude Protain and Louise Rowley of Grenada, May Farquharson and

Una Marson Una Maud Victoria Marson (6 February 1905 – 6 May 1965) was a Jamaican feminist, activist and writer, producing poems, plays and radio programmes. She travelled to London in 1932 and became the first black woman to be employed by the BBC d ...

of Jamaica, and Audrey Jeffers helped spread feminism throughout the Caribbean. She has been called one of the most important feminists of her era and her work influenced other feminists like

Gema Ramkeesoon Gema Ramkeesoon (''née'' Julumsingh; 1910-1 March 1999) was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian social worker and women's rights activist who was one of the early pioneers of the women's movement in Trinidad and Tobago. She was honored for her social ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Greig, Beatrice 1869 births Date of death missing Suffragists British feminists British women's rights activists British women journalists 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago women writers 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago writers 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago women politicians 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago politicians Trinidad and Tobago women writers Trinidad and Tobago journalists Trinidad and Tobago people of Scottish descent Writers from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador