Marion Elizabeth Stinson Crerar (September 8, 1859 — May 20, 1919) was a Canadian
clubwoman
The woman's club movement was a social movement that took place throughout the United States that established the idea that women had a moral duty and responsibility to transform public policy. While women's organizations had always been a par ...
focused on public health, and especially active during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Early life
Marion Elizabeth Stinson was born in
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...
, the daughter of John Stinson and Emma Caroline Counsell Stinson. Her father was a banker who died from
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
when Marion was six years old. Marion was educated in Canada and in England.
Career
Marion Stinson Crerar helped to found the Hamilton branch of the
Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire
The Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (IODE) is a women's charitable organization based in Canada. It provides scholarships, bursaries, book prizes, and awards, and pursues other philanthropic and educational projects in various communities ac ...
(IODE), a women's club, and served as the club's regent from 1902 to 1919. She led the club in promoting locally-made goods in Hamilton, and raising funds for tuberculosis prevention. The latter work led to her joining the women's auxiliary of the Hamilton Health Association, which operated the Hamilton Mountain Sanatorium for Consumptives. She also founded a second sanatorium at
London, Ontario
London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...
.Paul Dickson "Marion Stinson Crerar" ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'' (1998). She was the only woman speaker at the Ontario Anti-Tuberculosis Convention in 1908.
During World War I, she worked with the IODE and the
Canadian Red Cross
The Canadian Red Cross Society () Also in 1915, she persuaded the Canadian National Committee of Women for Patriotic Service to send a letter of support and loyalty to the King of England. In 1917, she advised "the new women voters" to keep their votes secret, saying "The women's votes can be of enormous power if we do not make the mistake of talking too much."
All three of her sons enlisted; one son (Alistair Crerar) was badly wounded in 1918, and one son (Malcolm Crerar) was killed in action as a member of the Royal Air Corps in 1917.
Personal life
Marion Stinson married twice. Her first husband was English lawyer Cuthbert John Ottaway; they married in 1877 and she was pregnant with her daughter Lilian Ottaway and 18 years old when he died from tuberculosis months later. She married again in 1884, to Scottish-born lawyer Peter Duncan Crerar; they had four children together, including
Harry Crerar
General Henry Duncan Graham Crerar (28 April 1888 – 1 April 1965) was a senior officer of the Canadian Army who became the country's senior field commander in the Second World War as commander of the First Canadian Army in the campaign in N ...
, a Canadian general during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Her daughter Lilian married Sir
Adam Beck
Sir Adam Beck (June 20, 1857 – August 15, 1925) was a Canadian politician and hydroelectricity advocate who founded the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario.
Biography
Beck was born in Baden, Upper Canada (now Ontario) to German i ...
, a German hydropower expert in Ontario.James Reaney "Beck Maligned as Unsuitable Suitor" ''Canoe Network News'' (May 23, 2004).
Marion Stinson Crerar was widowed a second time in 1912. She died in 1919, aged 59 years, from diabetes.