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
BornCatherine Ethel Hayes
6 July 1856
Dalhousie, New Brunswick, British North America
DiedJanuary 15, 1945(1945-01-15) (aged 88)
British Columbia, Canada
Pen nameMary Markwell; Elaine; Marka Wohl; Yukon Bill
Occupationplaywright, author, journalist, poet, teacher, milliner, legislative librarian
LanguageEnglish
Spouse
Charles Bowman Simpson
(m. 1882, separated)
PartnerNicholas Flood Davin
Children4

Biography

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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]

Personal life

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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]

Selected works

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  • Prairie pot-pourri
  • The legend of the West, 1908

References

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  1. ^ Lewis 2006, p. 10.
  2. ^ a b c "Hayes, Kate Simpson". Simon Fraser University. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  3. ^ Powell, Williams & University of Regina. Canadian Plains Research Center 1996.
  4. ^ "Hayes, Kate Simpson (a.k.a Mary Markwell) - City of Regina". www.regina.ca. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  5. ^ a b Wishart 2004, p. 330.

Bibliography

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