Nellie (Mooney) McClung - a true Canadian icon

Grey County has been home or birthplace for men and women who have made contributions beyond our county’s border. Nellie McClung was one of these.

Nellie McClung, born Letitia Ellen Mooney entered this world on 20 October 1873. [1] The Mooney family lived on a 100-acre farm at Lot 8, Concession 1, Sullivan Township (about 1 km or 1.5 miles south of Chatsworth). Her parents, John Mooney, a Methodist Irishman and Letitia McCurdy, a Presbyterian Scotswoman, were already parents to William (Will), George, Elizabeth (Lizzie), Jack and Hannah. Life was difficult in rural Grey County in the 1870s. All the family worked hard but the land was rocky and they could not get ahead. People were heading west. After hearing glowing reports about available land in Manitoba, her eldest brother Will, with the encouragement of his mother, headed west in the spring of 1879 to find a suitable property for the family. [2]

In May 1880 when Nellie was not yet seven, the family set off on a trip by land, water and rail via Minnesota that would take them to Manitoba. Nellie would live the rest of her life in Western Canada. The place where the Mooney family homesteaded was isolated at first with no neighbours. Nellie was ten by the time the Northfield School was built about two miles from their home. Although, Nellie did not learn to read until she began school, she appears to have been a quick learner. When she was sixteen, she travelled to Winnipeg to take her teacher training at the Normal School. [3]

Nellie McClung’s accomplishments were many. In addition to being the wife of R. Wes McClung and mother to five she was a teacher, an author, a temperance leader, a politician, a lecturer, a suffragette, a hard worker for women’s rights and a social activist. Canadians remember her for the role she played as part of the “Famous Five” with their petition to the British Parliament seeking clarification of the word ‘persons’ in the British North America Act as it related to the Canadian Senate. On 18 October 1929, the British Parliament decided that women were indeed persons in Canadian law. [4]

Nellie McClung returned twice to Grey County. In 1915, she spoke about temperance and in 1932 she spoke about her writing. [5]

In Grey County, a cairn and a historical plaque honour the many contributions of Nellie McClung. People gathered for the unveiling of the cairn near her birthplace on June 8, 1957. [6] The Ontario Historical Trust Foundation erected the historical plaque on September 28, 1975. [7]

During the winter of 2006-7, the plaque was damaged. A new plaque is now in place and the Grey County Historical Society will be the host to the rededication ceremony Sunday, October 19 at 10:30 a.m. by the roadside plaque on the grounds of the Chatsworth United Church. This date is most fitting as it falls between October 18 – Person’s Day and October 20 – her birthday.

We are pleased that some of Nellie McClung's relatives will be able to attend.

Never retreat, never explain, never apologize--get the thing done and let them howl.[8]

Sunday, October 19
9:45 a.m. Chatsworth United Church Congregation invites all who wish to attend their service
10:30 a.m. Rededication at roadside plaque
11:00 a.m. short presentations and displays with a lunch hosted by the congregation

Please RSVP by October 12 if you plan to stay for the lunch jiles AT bmts DOT com

[1] Letitia Ellen Mooney Ontario birth registration #04890 (17 November 1873); digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 23 June 2008), citing microfilm MS 929 reel 10, Archives of Ontario, Toronto
[2]Charlotte Gray, Nellie McClung (Toronto: Penguin Group (Canada), 2008), 9-11.
[3]Gray, 11-22
[4] “BBC h2g2 Nellie McClung, author and activist” BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2398854 ; accessed 23 June 2008)
[5]“Nellie McClung of Grey County” Owen Sound Sun Times 5 September 1951; Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library, vertical file “Nellie McClung”
[6]“Grey W.I. Memorial to Nellie McClung Unveiled at Chatsworth, Saturday”, Owen Sound Sun Times Monday 10 June 1957; Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library, vertical file “Nellie McClung”
[7] “Historical Plaque to Commemorate Nellie McClung” Flesherton Advance, October 2, 1975; Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library, vertical file “Nellie McClung”
[8] Quote by Nellie McClung in Times Like These

The above is from an article I wrote about Nellie McClung that appeared in The Historian, July 2008.

Carnival of Genealogy, 44th Edition - A Tribute to Women

Creative Gene: Carnival of Genealogy, 44th Edition

Jasia has rounded up all the offerings of the most recent Carnival of Genealogy. Have your hanky in hand as your read the loving tributes to mothers, aunts, grandmothers, teachers and a librarian. The tributes have been done through words, photographs, slide shows and videos. Well done everyone.

April 1st is the next deadline. The topic is the family car. Ideas are already perculating in my head.

Women's History Month Salutes

Women's History Month salutes Emily Lily Iles nee Dudley. Although, her name was registered as Emily, I have only known her as Lil.
I was fortunate that I spent my early years living across the road from my grandmother. Thanks to photographs that have been kept in the family, I have photographs of her at different stages of her adult life and one from her childhood.

Emily Lily Dudley was born in 1884 in Birmingham, England to Josiah Dudley, a bricklayer and Sarah Mucklow. She came from a family where only four children lived into adulthood. Family lore says that Lil's mother had 22 children, which included 3 sets of twins and 2 sets of triplets. This has not been substantiated. So far, I have found only one other birth in 1869. There is a gap from 1875 to 1884 so quite possibly there were other children.

The picture to the left is of Rose, her younger sister and Lil.


In 1901, Lil's father died. At the time of Lil's marriage, the family lived at 2 Back 6 Little Green Lane in the Aston area of Birmingham. (Small Heath) Housing was often crowded. To read about Back to Back Housing in Birmingham, check this site.
I suspect that she met her future husband, William Iles at the Small Heath Salvation Army.









Using multi-map with approximate addresses, it would be about a twenty minute walk between their homes.


My grandparents were married in 1903 in the Register office. From the Salvation Army Heritage web site I learnt that

The Salvation Army, were not registered to perform marriages until 1898 (and after that it was up to individual corps to have their halls licensed). Many corps halls were not licensed for marriages until the 1950s or 1960s, or later, so sometimes there would be two ceremonies: the official marriage ceremony at the Register Office and a Salvation Army marriage service at the Army hall. After 1898, the corps building could be used for marriages, with the ceremony conducted by a Salvation Army officer, but with a registrar or 'Authorised Person' present to fulfil the legal requirements.

The photograph to the left may be from around the time of their marriage.


Lily came to Canada in 1905 with her husband and baby girl, May. Also on board were William's mother and siblings. Her father-in-law may have emigrated the year before. Her older brothers had already emigrated to the United States. She left behind her sister, Rose and her mother, Sarah in England.


The 1911 census shows the two Iles families living outside Owen Sound. What a contrast after living in the crowded city of Birmingham. The family moved into Owen Sound, a small town, and Lil lived there the rest of her life.



Lily was a member of the Salvation Army until her death, but her husband and some of the boys left the Salvation Army to join the United Church of Canada. I have been told that she played the timbrel (similar to a tambourine) and was active in the Home League.

Lil was mother to nine who lived to adulthood: three daughters and six sons. One son and one daughter are still living. During the First World War, her husband was overseas for three and a half years. I understand that he went overseas in March 1916, the month in which my father was born. I wonder if he was home for my dad's birth. It must have been hard for her while grandpa was gone. She kept the postcards that he sent her.

During the Second World War, five of her sons served. Fortunately, all returned home.

Grandma knit baby sets and sweaters for her young grandchildren. She was grandma to over thirty grand-children. I recall a time when she asked me to try on a sweater. She wanted me to check how it fit on me as she was making it for one of my cousins who was about my size. It turns out it was to be my sweater. I don't remember anything about the sweater. When she got older and her vision was getting poorer, grandpa wrote out the patterns on cardboard to make it easier for her to follow.
This photograph is of my sister, Nancy and I. I don't look very happy. I have never been fond of having my photo taken.
She and William celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary with a family dinner. In attendance were her six sons and three daughters, twenty-eight grandchildren and thirty-three great grandchildren.

In her later years, she became quite frail, but she still had the sparkle in her eyes. The photograph below was taken at Niagara Falls. It would be quite an outing for her.

Now that I am interested in our family history, I wish had asked her more questions. I would love to know more about her life and her family.