Mary Irene Parlby (née Marryat), Alberta MLA (1921–35), women’s rights advocate, activist (born 9 January 1868 in London, UK; died 12 July 1965 in Red Deer, AB). Irene Parlby served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Alberta for 14 years. She was the first woman in Alberta, and the second in the British Empire, to be appointed to a cabinet position. One of the Famous Five appellants in the Persons Case, Parlby was a compelling advocate for women’s rights. Known as the “Women’s Minister,” her career in activism and legislation was dedicated to improving the lives of rural women and children, such as with Alberta’s Dower Act in 1917. She was also a delegate to the League of Nations in 1930. However, she has also been criticized for her views on eugenics and for her support of Alberta’s Sexual Sterilization Act. She was named a Person of National Historic Significance in 1966 and an honorary senator in 2009.
Irene Marryat was the eldest child of Colonel Ernest Lindsay Marryat. Born and partly raised in London, England, Irene moved to India when she was 13; her father was stationed there. Irene was educated at exclusive schools in Switzerland and Germany. Despite her father’s suggestion and support, she did not study medicine. Instead, she was interested in writing and theatre.
She travelled around Europe for a time. In 1896, she visited friends in Buffalo Lake, North-West Territories (later Alberta). Shortly after arriving, she met Walter Parlby, an Oxford graduate who had immigrated to Canada to join his brother, a farmer near the town of Alix, Alberta. Irene and Walter married in 1897.
After settling into her new home in Alix, Irene Parlby found that she enjoyed farm life on the Prairies. Rural Canada was considerably different from her background. In 1899, Parlby gave birth to her son, Humphrey.
United Farm Women of Alberta
Walter Parlby was involved with the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA). He was elected president of the Alix chapter in 1909. In 1913, Irene Parlby joined the Alix Country Women’s Club and was named its secretary. She said of her role there: “Little did I think as I accepted the position that I was taking the initial step that was going to plunge me into many years of public life, for which I had no ambition at all.”
One of Parlby’s first initiatives with the Women’s Club was to establish a local library. It was made possible by donations from readers of the London Spectator. They had seen Parlby’s advertisement for books in the paper.
In 1913, Irene Parlby organized the first women’s local of the UFA. She was elected president of the UFA Women’s Auxiliary in 1916. As president, Parlby was instrumental in transforming the auxiliary into an independent organization, the United Farm Women of Alberta (UFWA). In her new role, Parlby travelled the province. She called for better health care and social services, as well as better schools and libraries for rural families. (Parlby was president until 1920.)
In 1916, Parlby presented a paper at a joint UFA/UFWA convention in Calgary titled “Women’s Place in the Nation.” In it, she argued that women should insert themselves in all areas of society.
Along with leading feminist activists in Alberta — Louise McKinney, Henrietta Edwards and Emily Murphy among them — Irene Parlby helped push the Dower Act through the Alberta legislature in 1917. (See also Dower.) The act was a vital piece of legislation that protected married women’s property rights. (See also Irene Parlby and the United Farmers of Alberta.)
The Board of Directors of the United Farmers of Alberta in 1919. Irene Parlby sits in the front row, third from the right.
The UFA transformed into a political party in 1921. It sought to regulate the grain trade and opposed the privatization of transportation while also highlighting other concerns of the western province.
Irene Parlby was nominated as a UFA candidate in the Lacombe district. She reportedly only agreed to run because she thought the UFA had little chance of success. Parlby described the ensuing campaign as “nasty.” She said that the “