Emily Murphy was born in 1868. As social activist who worked for women's and children's causes, she was also a magistrate, a politician and a best-selling author. Her books were published under the nom de plume of Janey Canuck.
Through her efforts, the Dower Act and the Married Women's Protection act were passed. Before this, women were not allowed to own property. Thus, if a woman was widowed, she did not inherit her husband's home or farm. Instead, a male relative would be given the property left by her husband she, along with her children, would be left to the mercy of the male heir.
In 1916, Emily Murphy became the first female magistrate not only in Alberta, but in the British Empire. Her brother lawyers challenged her, citing the BNA Act that defined her as a non-person, and claiming that she must therefore be unqualified for the job, but Murphy continued to carry out her duties.
When in 1919 women's organizations from across the nation recommended that she become a Senator, the issue of her non-person status came up again, and this time, she decided to strike at the root of it. She selected her four co-appellants and they approached the Supreme Court of Canada, which confirmed that women were not persons under the law. It took another ten years of lobbying before the British Privy Council made the landmark decision that women were indeed persons, and the five celebrated their victory as "persons" in Calgary's posh Palliser Hotel.
Emily Murphy never did become a senator; Prime Minister Mackenzie King feared she would make trouble for him. Following the trail blazed by Emily Murphy and her colleagues, in 1930 Cairine Wilson became Canada's first woman senator, and a distinguished one too.
After a long and productive life, Murphy died in 1933. In her home city of Edmonton, Emily Murphy Park is named after this pioneering woman; she is commmorated with a statue there.
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