Kate Simpson Hayes (née, Hayes; after first marriage, Simpson; after separation, Hayes; pen names, Mary Markwell, Elaine, Marka Wohl, Yukon Bill; 6 July 1856 - 15 January 1945) was a Canadian playwright, author, journalist, poet, teacher, milliner, and legislative librarian. She was a founding member of the Canadian Women's Press Club, and the first woman journalist in Western Canada.
Kate Simpson Hayes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Catherine Ethel Hayes 6 July 1856 Dalhousie, New Brunswick, British North America |
| Died | January 15, 1945 (aged 88) British Columbia, Canada |
| Pen name | Mary Markwell; Elaine; Marka Wohl; Yukon Bill |
| Occupation | playwright, author, journalist, poet, teacher, milliner, legislative librarian |
| Language | English |
| Spouse |
Charles Bowman Simpson
(m. 1882, separated) |
| Partner | Nicholas Flood Davin |
| Children | 4 |
Biography edit
Catherine Ethel Hayes was born in 1856, in Dalhousie, New Brunswick. Her parents were Patrick Hayes, a lumber merchant and storekeeper, and Anna Hagan Hayes, a school teacher.
A founding member of the Canadian Women's Press Club, she was the first woman journalist in the Canadian West.[1][2] Hayes wrote for the Free Press, Winnipeg, and wrote poetry using the pen name Mary Markwell for the Regina, Saskatchewan Leader.[3] She married Charles Bowman Simpson in 2 June 1882; they had two children before separating in 1889. She had a relationship with Nicholas Flood Davin, and they had two children.[4] She was opposed to women being given the vote and she worked in the UK for a time encouraging other women to emigrate to Canada. She died in British Columbia in 1945.[5] Her papers are housed at the Saskatchewan Archives, McGill University, and National Archives of Canada.[2]
Personal life edit
Simpson had four children: Burke Hayes Simpson, Anna W Elaine ("Bonnie") Simpson, Henry Arthur Davin, and Agnes Agatha Davin.[2]
Kate Simpson Hayes died in Victoria, British Columbia, 15 January 1945.[5]
Selected works edit
- Prairie pot-pourri
- The legend of the West, 1908
References edit
- ^ Lewis 2006, p. 10.
- ^ a b c "Hayes, Kate Simpson". Simon Fraser University. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
- ^ Powell, Williams & University of Regina. Canadian Plains Research Center 1996.
- ^ "Hayes, Kate Simpson (a.k.a Mary Markwell) - City of Regina". www.regina.ca. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
- ^ a b Wishart 2004, p. 330.
Bibliography edit
- Lewis, Norah L. (1 January 2006). Dear Editor and Friends: Letters from Rural Women of the North-West, 1900-1920. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-88920-732-5.
- Powell, Barbara Pezalla; Williams, Myrna; University of Regina. Canadian Plains Research Center (1996). Piecing the Quilt: Sources for Women's History in the Saskatchewan Archives Board. University of Regina Press. ISBN 978-0-88977-090-4.
- Wishart, David J. (2004). Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-4787-7.
