Mary Grant, London Township Trailblazer and Women's Advocate

An unpretentious grave in Hyde Park Cemetery bears the name of an energetic local trailblazer, Mary Samantha Grant (1875-1934), clerk and treasurer of the former London Township (now part of Middlesex Centre). Mary appears to have been the first woman in Canada to hold such a position.  

Mary is buried with her brother and sister-in-law, as well as a niece.

A daughter of James Grant (1841-1901) and Samantha Elson (1843-1919), Mary was born June 6, 1875, in London Township. She was educated at area public and high schools and attended Hellmuth Ladies' College just down the road in London. 

Her father, James, was a Justice of the Peace, president of the London Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and assistant manager of the Royal Standard Loan Company. He became London Township clerk in 1873 and treasurer in 1887,* continuing until 1900 when he became too ill to work. His daughter Mary took over his job and, after James died in 1901, Mary's position became official. 

James Grant and daughter Mary, in Alice Gibb, ed., London Township: A Rich Heritage 1796-1997 Volume 1. Arva, Ont.: The London Township History Book Committee, 2001, p. 30. James looks jovial, his daughter more serious. 

This may not at first seem remarkable. We can assume that an unmarried daughter assisted her father by filing, typing, and so on, while he collected his salary and took all the recognition. Mary no doubt knew a lot about her dad's work. But when a man resigned his position in those days, another man almost always replaced him. Perhaps the township council decided to hire Mary instead, knowing she was no ordinary girl. 

Mary had ambition. And energy. According to a 1922 news article:**

She also took over her father's work at London Mutual Fire Insurance until his death on October 26, 1901, after which the company chose a man to succeed him. 

She was president of the Middlesex Patriotic Association, a volunteer organization instrumental in rallying thousands of women to support local soldiers during World War I and veterans after it.

She was a member of the Middlesex Mothers' Allowances Board, a local administrative body responsible for overseeing the Mothers' Allowance Act, an early form of welfare. This board evaluated and monitored widows and single mothers receiving state financial assistance to ensure they maintained strict moral and financial standards.

She was a member of the War Memorial Sick Children's Hospital Committee. Not sure, but this might have been part of the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (I.O.D.E.), the organization that raised the money to build the hospital. 

She was a member of the Canadian Tax Conference of the Citizens' Research Institute. The latter was founded to promote effective, efficient government. It held conferences to bring together municipal assessors, civil servants, and tax experts to discuss public finance in Canada. 

She represented the township at the "Chamber of Commerce." I assume this means the London Chamber of Commerce, founded as the London Board of Trade in 1857.

For her war work in the Red Cross Society, she was presented with a life membership. This might have been the London Red Cross, unless the county had its own organization. 

She was president of the Ontario Municipal Association, now the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, in 1922. You can see Mary's name on the list of presidents here.

One of her most interesting positions was that of Secretary of the London Township Hydro-Electric System. Here, "she emphasized the benefits to be derived from Hydro by farmers' wives" and "was eager to see labour saving devices installed in every rural home."*** No doubt she had watched her mother and other pioneer women struggle and hoped to make rural homemaking easier through electricity. 

Mary might have had other positions besides those above. But her most remarkable achievement was retaining the position of clerk-treasurer of London Township until she died in 1934, a record of 34 years.  And at a time when few women held municipal offices of any kind. 

Mary Grant died of colon cancer on March 5, 1934, at St. Joseph's Hospital, London. Newspapers carrying her obituary included The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star. As a trailblazer and advocate for women, she had become a celebrity.

Seems like she deserves an historic plaque, doesn't it?

* There seems to be some confusion as to whether these were two separate positions or only one, that of clerk-treasurer. I'm going with the version found under the Grant family history in Alice Gibb, ed., London Township: Families Past and Present. Arva, ON: The London Township History Book Committee, 2001, p. 155. Mary and her father are also covered in volume 1 of the above work, London Township: A Rich Heritage, p. 30. 

**Miss Mary Grant New President Ontario Association. The Victoria Sentinel, Victoria, BC, December 22, 1922, p. 6. Accessed through newspapers.com. Yes, Mary made the news all the way out in BC. 

***Mary Grant, London Township. Grand River Sachem, Caledonia, Ontario, April 25, 1934, p. 7. Accessed as above.