Alice Jamieson

Alice Jamieson was a leading Calgary, Alberta feminist and magistrate.

Jamieson arrived in Calgary in 1903 when her husband, Reuben Rupert Jamieson, became the area general superintendent for the Canadian Pacific Railway. They prospered in Calgary and after his retirement, he became the 19th mayor of Calgary.

After the death of Jamieson's husband, Alice continued to be active in the community. She was involved in organizations such as the Calgary Council of Women and the YWCA.

In 1914, Jamieson was appointed the first female judge of 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 Cyr Case. Cyr's lawyer tried to argue that as a women, Jamieson 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 where five other Alberta women fought to answer the question, "Are women persons?" Jamieson retired in 1932.

When the Calgary Board of Education 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. Jamieson Place is slated for completion in late 2009.

Alice Jukes Jamieson had a daughter, Ruby Stewart, and a granddaughter Dorothy Frame, both now deceased.

Jamieson's great granddaughter, Adrienne McLennan, broke new ground by becoming the first female civilian public affairs director for the Toronto police.

Alice Jamieson's great-great granddaughters are Susan McLennan, who is a busy communications executive engaged in the charitable and arts sectors and Heather McLennan, a producer and writer for CBC's The National. Great-great-great granddaughters are Holly Kurelek and Daisy Kurelek, who are also the great-nieces of iconic Canadian painter William Kurelek.

External links

* [http://www.albertasource.ca/lawcases/constitutional/cyrcase/people_alice.htm Great Alberta Law Cases:The Cyr Case:People:Alice Jamieson]