Florence Elsie Inman ( Macdonald; 5 December 1891 – 31 May 1986) was a long–serving member of the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

. A Liberal, she was appointed to the Senate 28 July 1955 on the recommendation of Louis St-Laurent, and represented the senatorial division of

Murray Harbour Murray Harbour is a community that holds rural municipality status in Prince Edward Island, Canada. It is located in southeastern Kings County. Located in the township of Lot 64, the community is named after General the Honourable James Mur ...

, Prince Edward Island until her death. She was the first female Senator from Prince Edward Island.

Early life

Florence Elise Inman was born in

West River, Prince Edward Island West River is a rural municipality in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island within Queens County. History The Municipality of West River was originally incorporated in 1974. It incorporated as a rural municipality on January 1, 2018. ...

in Queen's County Her parents where Alexander Macdonald and his wife, Florence (née White). At an early age, she lived with her grandfather on his farm and later moved to the city of

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

. In the later years, Inman owned an inn known as the Poole House Inn in Montague located in the eastern end of the island, populated at 1,200 people. She was also the Vice President of the Inn's Association, the only women to hold that position at the time. Inman was married at eighteen to

lawyer George Strong Inman. He had many political aspirations that inspired her to follow in his direction of politics and she was a great aid to him in his campaigns. The two were married from 1910 and had four sons and eight grandchildren. Her four sons consisted of: Commander William Robert (W.R.) Inman located in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

; Dr. George Strong Inman who practices medicine at Montague and on occasion, his children would help his mother at the Poole House Inn; Lt. Commander Wilfred Nelson (W.N.) Inman stationed at

St. John's, Newfoundland St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...

; and Major Roland Victor (R.V.) Inman, who is on the joint staff in Washington. Elise was also interested Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (IODE) and wanted to offer her aid in the

Red Cross Movement The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, an ...

. She is responsible for the Blood Donor Clinic set up in Summerside.

Politics

Inman was very inspired by her husband's political achievements. She was an advocate for women's rights to vote and urged women across Prince Edward Island to do so. She also went before the Island Government, accompanied by Mrs. Cecil Stewart, to ask that all women be given the opportunity to vote. After her husband's death in 1937, she remained active in her political work. When the Canada Act 1982 was before the Senate, Inman was among 23 members of the upper house to oppose the patriation of the Constitution of Canada.

Death

Inman died at Ottawa's National Defence Medical Centre on 31 May 1986 following a heart attack the previous month (29 April). At 95, she was the oldest serving senator at that time and continued to attend some Senate sessions until December 1985 despite having arthritis in her final years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inman, Florence Elsie 1891 births 1986 deaths People from Kings County, Prince Edward Island Canadian Anglicans Canadian senators from Prince Edward Island Liberal Party of Canada senators Women members of the Senate of Canada Women in Prince Edward Island politics 20th-century Canadian women politicians