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, Canada |
Died | January 15, 1945(1945-01-15) (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 |
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]
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]
General | |
---|---|
National libraries |