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Marguerite Bourgeoys

Besides chaperoning girls sent from France as brides for settlers (Filles du Roi), she recruited French and Canadian girls as teachers, organized a boarding school for girls in Montréal, a school for Indigenous girls on the Sulpician reserve of La Montagne, and a domestic arts school.

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Abigail Becker

During a vicious storm on 24 Nov 1854, the overloaded schooner Conductor foundered on a nearby sandbar. The captain and crew clung to the frozen rigging all night, not daring to enter the raging surf.

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Lady Aberdeen

Ishbel Marie Marjoribanks Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair, vice-regal consort, author, philanthropist and women’s rights advocate (born 14 March 1857 in London, United Kingdom; died 18 April 1939 in Aberdeen, United Kingdom). As Vice-Regal Consort to Governor General John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen, from 1893 until 1898, Lady Aberdeen organized the National Council of Women in Canada, became first sponsor of the Women’s Art Association of Canada and helped found the Victorian Order of Nurses. Lady Aberdeen was the first woman to address the House of Commons and the first woman to receive an honorary degree in Canada.

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Julia Catherine Hart

Julia Catherine Hart, née Beckwith (b at Fredericton 10 Mar 1796; d there 28 Nov 1867). Hart wrote the first work of fiction by a native-born Canadian to be published in Canada.

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Clara Brett Martin

Martin finally achieved her goal on 2 February 1897, becoming the first woman lawyer in the British Empire. She went on to earn Bachelor of Civil Law (1897) and LLB (1899) degrees and to establish a successful Toronto practice.

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Lady Sara Kirke

Lady Sara Kirke (née Andrews), entrepreneur, wife of Sir David Kirke (b circa 1611 at Middlesex, England; d 1683 at Ferryland, Nfld).

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La Corriveau

La Corriveau, popular designation of Marie-Josephte Corriveau (born 14 May 1733 in St-Vallier, Québec; died 18 April 1763 in Québec City).

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Anna Haining Swan

Anna Haining Swan, giantess (b at Mill Brook, NS 7 Aug 1846; d at Seville, Ohio 5 Aug 1888). In 1862 she joined P.T. Barnum's American Museum in New York, attracted by the monthly salary of $1000 and by the opportunity to further

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Irene Spry

Irene Mary Spry (née Biss), economic historian (born 28 August 1907 in Standerton, Transvaal, South Africa; died 16 December 1998 in Ottawa, ON).

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Queen Victoria

Victoria, queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India (born 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace, London; died 22 January 1901 at Osborne House, Isle of Wight).

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Letitia Youmans

Letitia Youmans, née Creighton, temperance worker (b in Hamilton Twp, UC 3 Jan 1827; d at Toronto 18 July 1896), founder of the WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION in Canada. Educated at the Burlington Ladies' Academy, she graduated in 1847 and taught there for 2 years.

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Sara Riel

Sara Riel, (also known as Sister Marguerite Marie), sister of Louis Riel, Métis Grey Nun and missionary, cultural liaison, teacher, founder of female Catholic lay organization (born 11 October 1848 in St. Boniface, Red River Colony [now Manitoba]; died 27 December 1883 in Île-à-la-Crosse, SK). Sara Riel strove to empower Métis people and women through English-language and Catholic studies. Her education and multilingual abilities made her a valuable mediator between conflicting cultures in the early Red River Colony. Today, a charitable organization established by the Grey Nuns of Manitoba bears her name.

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Marie Rollet

Marie Rollet, first Frenchwoman to settle in New France (born circa 1580 in Paris, France; died in May 1649 and buried 27 May 1649 in Quebec City, New France). She is recognized as the first female French farmer in New France, alongside her husband Louis Hébert.

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Thanadelthur

Thanadelthur (Chipewyan for “marten shake”), peace negotiator, guide, teacher, interpreter (born c. 1697 likely in present-day northern MB; died 5 February 1717 at York Factory, MB). Known as the Ambassadress of Peace, Thanadelthur negotiated peace between the Chipewyan (Denesuline) and Cree peoples during the early fur trade. She was also instrumental in creating ties between the Chipewyan people and the Hudson’s Bay Company, as well as expanding the fur trade in today’s Churchill, Manitoba region.

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Mary Brant (Konwatsi'tsiaiénni)

Mary Brant, Kanyen'kehà:ka (Mohawk), Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) leader, Loyalist, diplomat, political activist (generally known as Molly Brant and as Konwatsi'tsiaiénni in the Mohawk language, meaning “someone lends her a flower”) (born circa 1736; died 16 April 1796 in Kingston, ON). Brant was one of the most important Indigenous women in Canadian history. From her influential position as head of a society of Six Nations matrons, she enjoyed a much greater status within the Mohawk nation than her more colourful, younger brother, Mohawk leader Joseph Brant. Consulted by Indigenous people on matters of importance, she was a powerful ally to the British forces and served as their highly effective intermediary with the Iroquois in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783).