Agnes Campbell Macphail National Historic Person (1890-1954)

Agnes Campbell Macphail was designated a national historic person in June 1985.

Historical importance: First woman elected to the House of Commons (1921).

Commemorative plaque: On Jane Street at Grey Road 4, Ceylon, Ontario

Agnes Macphail was the first woman to be elected to the House of Commons following the enfranchisement of women in Canada. A rural school teacher, she joined the United Farmers of Ontario, and ran succesfully as a Progressive candidate in the 1921 election for Grey County. In the House she fought for penal reform, disarmament and social welfare, and championed the causes of the common people. Defeated in 1940, she sat as a CCF member of the Ontario legislature from 1943 to 1951. Witty and forceful, fearless and uncompromising, Macphail left an indelible mark on Canadian public life. Approved inscription.