Episode 7 - Controversial Women, Part 3: Emily Murphy

The Irish in Canada Podcast

Ah, Emily Murphy... where do we begin?! Maybe with the salient fact that this first female magistrate in the British Empire and driving force behind the Persons' Case of 1929 was also the grand-daughter of Ogle Gowan, the founder and Grand Master of the Orange Order in Canada. In terms of having an Irish pedigree, she definitely had one, though how many of her fans knew that her great-grandfather was the leader of Co. Wexford's notorious Black Mob after the 1798 Irish Rising? Emily Gowan Ferguson Murphy was a lightning rod for controversy during her lifetime, and she remains so to this day. But, why? How does her story fit within the larger conversation in the 2020s regarding who should be remembered in Canadian history?