Lillian Beynon Thomas (4 September 1876 – 2 September 1961) was a Canadian journalist and feminist.
Life
Lillian Beynon was born on 4 September 1876
Birth Certificate
in Streetsville, Ontario.
Her parents were James Barnes and Rebecca Beynon, and her younger sister was Francis Marion Beynon.
At the age of five she had an accident that left her disabled.
In 1889 the Beynon family moved to Hartney, Manitoba.
She studied at Portage Collegiate, then taught for a period at Chain Lakes School.
She then studied at Wesley College and graduated from the
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Morden, then in 1906 joined the
Manitoba Free Press
The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (or WFP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well a ...
.
She was appointed an assistant editor of the Weekly Free Press.
As editor of the Women's page she wrote the column ''Home Loving Hearts'' under the pen name of "Lillian Laurie". In the column she told of stories of women who had been abused or abandoned, and lobbied for new laws to protect the rights of women. She also pushed for prohibition of liquor, which she saw as a major cause of problems.
From 1907 to 1908 she was secretary of the Winnipeg branch of the Canadian Women's Press Club.
In 1910 she became a member of the Executive of the Women's University Club.
That year she organized Women's Institutes in association with the
University of Saskatchewan
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
.
Lillian married A. Vernon Thomas in 1911, and changed her name to Lillian Thomas.
Members of the Winnipeg branch of the Canadian Women's Press Club formed the nucleus of the
Manitoba Political Equality League
The Political Equality League was a group active in Manitoba, Canada between 1912 and 1916 that successfully lobbied for women's suffrage at the provincial level. One of the highlights of the campaign was a mock parliament in which Nellie McClung p ...
Winona Flett
Winona Margaret Flett (June 10, 1884 – May 16, 1922) was a prominent suffragist and social reformer in Manitoba.
Life
Flett was born in South Dumfries Township, Ontario, the daughter of Isabella Bowie and James Flett. She left Woodstock, Ont ...
also joined, as did men such as
George Fisher Chipman
George Fisher Chipman (18 January 1882 – 26 December 1935) was a Canadian journalist who edited the ''Grain Growers' Guide'' for many years. The paper was the official organ of the provincial grain growers' associations in the Canadian prairies, ...
and Fred Dixon.
Lillian Beynon Thomas was the first president, but Dr. Mary E. Crawford soon took over the leadership.
In late June 1917 Francis Marion Beynon left Winnipeg and moved to New York City.
In 1917 A. Vernon Thomas was fired as legislative reporter of the Free Press for publicly opposing conscription, and the Thomases also moved to New York.
They spent 1918–23 in New York.
Lillian Benyon Thomas and her sister worked at the Seamen's Church Institute, an Episcopalian Mission for sailors in New York.
After they returned to Canada, Lillian pursued a career as a writer.
She wrote a number of successful plays, including ''Among the Maples'', ''Jim Barber's Spite Fence'' and ''As the Twig Is Bent''.
She published her first novel, New Secret, in 1946.
Lillian Beynon Thomas died in Winnipeg on 2 September 1961.