Kate Simpson Hayes

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Kate Simpson Hayes
Born
Catherine Ethel Hayes

6 July 1856
Dalhousie, New Brunswick, British North America
DiedJanuary 15, 1945(1945-01-15) (aged 88)
British Columbia, Canada
Pen name
  • Mary 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

"Society at large depends upon the home -- it has been called the 'bulwark of the nation,' and it is there woman's place is and should be."[1]

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, and poet from New Brunswick. As the first woman journalist in Western Canada, she wrote for the Free Press and the Regina Leader using a variety of pen names, including "Mary Markwell". She was a founding member of the Canadian Women's Press Club and the author of works such as Prairie pot-pourri. Hayes also worked in Britain for a time encouraging other women to emigrate to Canada.

Hayes also worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway, promoting the emigration of woman domestics from Britain. She was a charter member of the Canadian Women’s Press Club, and club president in 1906. Hayes continued to write until well into her seventies.

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.

Hayes was the first woman journalist in the Canadian West.[2][3] She wrote for the Free Press, Winnipeg, and wrote poetry using the pen name Mary Markwell for the Regina, Saskatchewan Leader.[4] A founding member of the Canadian Women's Press Club, she also served as club president in 1906.[5]

Hayes was opposed to women being given the vote. She was a "determined anti-suffragist".[6] She was employed by the Canadian Pacific Railway, where she encouraged other women to emigrate to Canada.[5]

Personal life

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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.[7] Her children were: Burke Hayes Simpson, Anna W Elaine ("Bonnie") Simpson, Henry Arthur Davin, and Agnes Agatha Davin.[3]

Kate Simpson Hayes died in Victoria, British Columbia, 15 January 1945.[8] Her papers are housed at the Saskatchewan Archives, McGill University, and National Archives of Canada.[3]

Selected works

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

References

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  1. ^ Carter, Sarah (1 November 2020). Ours by Every Law of Right and Justice: Women and the Vote in the Prairie Provinces. UBC Press. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-7748-6190-8. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  2. ^ Lewis 2006, p. 10.
  3. ^ a b c "Hayes, Kate Simpson". Simon Fraser University. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  4. ^ Powell, Williams & University of Regina. Canadian Plains Research Center 1996.
  5. ^ a b "The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan - Details". esask.uregina.ca. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  6. ^ Kay, Linda (2012). The Sweet Sixteen: The Journey That Inspired the Canadian Women's Press Club. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-7735-3967-9. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ Wishart 2004, p. 330.

Bibliography

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