Emily Murphy Appointed the First Female Magistrate in the British Empire

On June 4, 1916, Emily Murphy made history when Alberta appointed her as Canada's first female police magistrate — making her one of the first in the entire British Empire. Her appointment came just months after Alberta granted women the right to vote in April 1916. However, her authority wasn't unchallenged; a lawyer immediately argued she wasn't legally a "person." If you keep scrolling, you'll uncover the full story behind her groundbreaking journey.

Key Takeaways

• Emily Murphy was appointed Canada's first female police magistrate on June 4, 1916, making her one of the British Empire's first five female magistrates.
• Her appointment coincided with Alberta granting women the right to vote in April 1916, reflecting a broader shift in women's rights.
• Murphy had established credibility as a reformer by successfully campaigning for Alberta's Dower Act in 1916, granting women property rights.
• On July 1, 1916, lawyer Harry Robertson challenged Murphy's authority, arguing women were not legally defined as "persons" under common law.
• Despite legal challenges to her authority, Murphy persisted, later leading the Famous Five's petition that saw women declared "persons" in 1929.

Who Was Emily Murphy Before She Entered the Courtroom?

Born Emily Gowan Ferguson on March 14, 1868, in Cookstown, Ontario, Murphy grew up in a household that valued self-sufficiency and curiosity. Her self-sufficient upbringing shaped her into a determined, resourceful woman.

She married Anglican minister Arthur Murphy at 19, and by 1898, she was traveling Europe, recording her experiences in diary entries that became her first published book in 1901.

Her writing career gained momentum quickly. She contributed regularly to the National Monthly of Canada, serving as both women's and literary editor. When her husband fell ill with typhoid in 1902, she supported the family entirely through her writing. She also authored The Black Candle in 1922, a influential book that tackled the widespread issue of drug addiction in Canada.

Before her courtroom career, Murphy made a significant mark in property rights advocacy, successfully persuading the Alberta legislature to pass the Dower Act in 1916, which granted women legal rights to one-third of their husband's property.

How Women Were Barred From Alberta Courtrooms

When Emily Murphy walked into an Alberta courtroom as a newly appointed magistrate in 1916, defense lawyer Harry Robertson immediately challenged her authority—not on procedural grounds, but on the basis that she wasn't legally a person. Under English common law, the definition of "person" explicitly excluded women, making them ineligible to hold public office.

Robertson wasn't alone. Lawyer Mackinley Cameron raised identical legal technicalities before Judge Alice Jamieson, calling her "incompetent" to hear cases. Cameron even appealed his client's 1917 conviction, arguing that Jamieson lacked authority to render judgment.

These weren't isolated incidents—male lawyers systematically weaponized courtroom procedures and established precedent to undermine female judicial authority. The resistance wasn't personal; it was institutional, rooted in centuries of law that treated women as legal nonentities. It would take until 1929 for the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to formally rule that women were indeed "persons" under the British North America Act.

Women's courts established in Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, and other major Canadian cities during the early twentieth century had presided over by female judges and offered an explicit feminist critique of the male-dominated justice system, yet these courts passed before the Second World War, reflecting the persistent institutional barriers women faced in law.

Why Emily Murphy Demanded a Women-Only Court in Alberta

The same year Murphy was appointed magistrate, she and a group of women attempted to observe a prostitution trial in an Alberta courtroom—only to be ordered out by the judge, who deemed the evidence unsuitable for a mixed audience. This judicial gender bias sparked her demand for gender specific court proceedings.

She argued:

• Women defendants faced all-male judges, juries, and observers
• Male-only trials exposed female defendants to unfair scrutiny
• Punishing women as legal equals while excluding them as observers contradicted justice
• Female defendants deserved sensitive, appropriate courtroom environments
• Women-only courts would protect defendants from indecent courtroom exposure

Murphy lodged a formal protest with Alberta's Attorney General, pressuring the government to establish dedicated women's courts. Her advocacy directly produced Edmonton's inaugural Women's Court. Murphy had previously fought for married women's property rights, successfully pressuring the Alberta government to pass the Dower Act in 1917. Prior to her legal advocacy, Murphy had gained public attention through her patriotic travel sketches written under the pseudonym "Janey Canuck", which helped establish her voice as a prominent commentator on Canadian social issues.

How Emily Murphy Became the First Female Magistrate in the British Empire

Murphy's successful push for a Women's Court didn't just change how Alberta tried female defendants—it changed what Alberta's government thought a woman could do in a courtroom. Her municipal advocacy efforts and growing public profile made her the obvious choice when officials needed someone to lead it.

On June 4, 1916, Alberta appointed Murphy as the first female police magistrate in Canada. The timing wasn't coincidental—Alberta had granted women the right to vote just two months earlier in April 1916. Her appointment also made her the fifth female magistrate across the British Empire, following four Australian women appointed in 1915.

She took the bench in Edmonton, and her first case came on July 1, 1916, resulting in a guilty verdict—marking an undeniable shift in Canadian legal history. A lawyer challenged her authority in court, arguing she was not legally defined as a person under law. Murphy had previously forced the Alberta Dower Act in 1911, a landmark victory that protected married women's rights to family property.

The Dower Act That Built Emily Murphy's Legal Reputation

Before Murphy became a magistrate, she'd already built a legal reputation through a grassroots campaign that reshaped property rights for married women in Alberta.

Picture what the dower act legacy meant for rural women facing:

• A husband selling the family farm overnight
• Children left homeless on frozen prairie land
• Wives abandoned without legal recourse or income
• Decades of farm labor vanishing through one signature
• Destitution following a husband's death or desertion

The dower act significance transformed this reality. Murphy personally persuaded Alberta's legislature to pass the 1916 legislation, guaranteeing wives one-third of their husband's property upon death or divorce. Rural women fueled the grassroots momentum, pressuring lawmakers after multiple failed attempts. This victory established Murphy's credibility as a reformer and laid the groundwork for her historic magistrate appointment. Murphy had previously gained public attention writing book reviews, articles, and travel sketches under her pseudonym "Janey Canuck". Her upbringing in Cookstown, Ireland exposed her to the Irish Protestant values that would deeply inform her feminist advocacy and views on women's legal protections.

Emily Murphy's First Case and the Challenge to Her Authority

On July 1, 1916, Emily Murphy heard her first case as magistrate in an Edmonton courtroom—and immediately faced a challenge that cut to the heart of women's legal standing. After she delivered a guilty verdict, lawyer Eardley Jackson contested her legal legitimacy, arguing that women weren't legally "persons" under the British North America Act of 1867 and an 1876 British common law ruling.

His position was clear: women could bear pains and penalties but couldn't hold rights or privileges—including sentencing authority. The Edmonton Bar backed this interpretation. Murphy didn't back down, and neither did the courts. The Provincial Supreme Court rejected the appeal outright, upholding her appointment and her right to sentence. That ruling set the stage for the broader Persons Case campaign ahead. For those seeking further historical documentation on Murphy's appointment, users are advised to contact depotlegalnumerique-digitallegaldeposit@bac-lac.gc.ca for support.

Was Emily Murphy Really a "Person" Under the Law?

How could a woman sentence criminals if she wasn't legally a person? That question defined the legal challenges faced by female lawyers and judges like Murphy. The definition of "person" under Canadian law became a battleground:

• The Supreme Court ruled in 1928 that women weren't "qualified persons" under Section 24 of the BNA Act
• Women were grouped alongside criminals, lunatics, and minors
• The Famous Five petitioned London's Privy Council after losing in Canada
• Lord Sankey overturned the ruling on October 18, 1929, declaring women as "persons"
• The decision applied specifically to Senate eligibility, not all Canadian law

The ruling advanced the "living tree doctrine," allowing Canada's constitution to evolve alongside society's changing values. The case originated when Emily Murphy and four other prominent Albertan women, known as the Famous Five, petitioned the federal government to refer the question of women's legal status to the Supreme Court of Canada. The Privy Council's landmark decision had reverberations throughout the British Empire, establishing that the word "persons" includes both women and men in all nations under British rule.

How the Famous Five Brought the Persons Case to London

The Supreme Court's 1928 ruling that women weren't "persons" didn't stop the Famous Five—it pushed them to take their fight across the Atlantic. Their legal strategy was straightforward: petition Prime Minister Mackenzie King to appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, Britain's highest court. King approved, and the Famous Five selected Newton Wesley Rowell as counsel, someone they'd known since the 1917 Women's War Conference.

Rowell spent months preparing the Privy Council appeal through spring, summer, and fall of 1929. When the case was finally heard in July 1929, the courtroom packed for the October 18th judgment. Lord Chancellor Viscount Sankey delivered the verdict, reversing the Supreme Court entirely and declaring women were indeed "persons" under Section 24 of the BNA Act. This landmark ruling ensured that future rights denials based on women's legal status as non-persons could never again be used to bar them from political participation.

Although the Famous Five did not themselves become Senators, their victory directly led to the appointment of Cairine Wilson as the first woman to serve in the Canadian Senate, a historic milestone made possible by the Persons Case.

Why the Privy Council's 1929 Ruling Still Matters?

When Lord Sankey delivered his October 18, 1929, verdict in *Edwards v. Canada (AG)*, he reshaped constitutional law permanently. The ruling's ongoing constitutional significance continues shaping Canadian governance and the continued symbolism of gender equality resonates globally.

Consider what this ruling still delivers today:

• Legal foundation protecting women's full constitutional personhood
• Living tree doctrine enabling evolving constitutional interpretations
• Persons Day celebrated annually every October 18 across Canada
• Commonwealth-wide standard dismantling prejudiced historical precedents
• Precedent against narrow interpretations denying fundamental rights

You can't separate modern Canadian gender equality law from this moment. Lord Sankey's words—calling women's exclusion from public office "a relic of days more barbarous than ours"—remain a sharp warning against reverting to exclusionary legal thinking. The case itself originated when five Albertan women, known as the Famous Five, petitioned the federal government to clarify whether women qualified as "Persons" under the British North America Act. Before reaching the Privy Council, the Supreme Court of Canada had ruled in 1928 that women were not qualified persons under Section 24 of the BNA Act, making the Privy Council's reversal all the more consequential.

Emily Murphy's Legacy in Canadian Law and Politics

Emily Murphy's legacy stretches far beyond her 1916 appointment as the British Empire's first female magistrate. Her advocacy for women's rights reshaped Canadian law through landmark achievements like the Dower Act, which secured women one-third of their husbands' property, and the 1929 Persons Case, which granted women eligibility for the Senate.

Her social reform initiatives touched every level of society. She established women's and juvenile courts in Alberta, revised the Children's Protection Act, and authored The Black Candle, exposing links between poverty, addiction, and crime. You can trace modern Canadian gender equality directly back to her relentless push against institutional barriers. Murphy didn't just open doors—she dismantled the walls surrounding them, leaving a legal and political framework that continues protecting Canadian women today.

Born in Cookstown, Ontario in 1868, Murphy's journey from a privately educated young woman to one of Canada's most transformative legal and social pioneers reflects a lifetime of purposeful determination that shaped the nation's future. As one of the Famous Five women, she petitioned to have women legally recognized as persons, a cause she believed was essential to saving civilization itself.