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Ellen Louks Cook Fairclough

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Birth	:	28 Jan 1905 Hamilton, Hamilton Municipality, Ontario, Canada
Death	:	13 Nov 2004 Hamilton, Hamilton Municipality, Ontario, Canada
Burial	:	Old Medway Cemetery, Medway, Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate	:	45.6000089, -68.5260583
Plot	:	All Souls Chapel Columbarium, in the Cathedral undercroft
Description	:	The Right Honourable Ellen Louks Fairclough, PC, CC, OOnt, was the first female member of the Canadian Cabinet. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, daughter of Norman Ellsworth Cook and Nellie Bell (Loucks) Cook, Ellen married Gordon Fairclough, owner and operator of a printing company, in 1931. They had one son, Howard Gordon Fairclough. Mrs. Fairclough was a chartered accountant by training, and ran her own accounting firm prior to entering politics. She was a member of Hamilton City Council from 1945 to 1950. She was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in a 1950 by-election after being defeated in the 1949... Read More	The Right Honourable Ellen Louks Fairclough, PC, CC, OOnt, was the first female member of the Canadian Cabinet. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, daughter of Norman Ellsworth Cook and Nellie Bell (Loucks) Cook, Ellen married Gordon Fairclough, owner and operator of a printing company, in 1931. They had one son, Howard Gordon Fairclough. Mrs. Fairclough was a chartered accountant by training, and ran her own accounting firm prior to entering politics. She was a member of Hamilton City Council from 1945 to 1950. She was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in a 1950 by-election after being defeated in the 1949 federal election. She then represented Hamilton West for the Progressive Conservatives until 1963. As a Member of Parliament, she advocated women's rights including equal pay for equal work. When the PC Party took power as a result of the 1957 federal election, the new Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker, appointed her to the position of Secretary of State for Canada. In 1958, she became Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and from 1962 until her defeat in 1963, she was Postmaster General. As Immigration Minister in 1962, Fairclough introduced new regulations that mostly eliminated racial discrimination in immigration policy. She also introduced a more liberal policy on refugees, and increased the number of immigrants allowed into Canada at the time. However, she was said to be fiercely opposed to hiring homosexuals to important positions. Her firing of Alan Jarvis as director of the National Gallery was fictionalized in the novel 'What's Bred in the Bone' by Robertson Davies. Mrs. Fairclough was also the first female Acting Prime Minister of Canada from February 19 to February 20, 1958. In 1993, she formally nominated Kim Campbell for the Progressive Conservative Party leadership, after which Campbell became Canada's first woman prime minister. Mrs. Fairclough was defeated in her bid for re-election in the 1963 election. She subsequently worked for the Hamilton Trust and Savings Corporation as a senior executive, as well as being chairperson of Hamilton Hydro. In 1979, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, and was promoted to Companion in 1994. In the fall of 1996, she received the Order of Ontario, the highest honor awarded by the province. She was granted the rare honour in 1992 of having the title Right Honourable bestowed upon her by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, one of very few Canadians to have the title who had not been Prime Minister of Canada, Governor General, or Chief Justice of Canada. This was done, in part, because she had been Acting Prime Minister from February 19-20, 1958, the first woman to do so. Before, during and after her stay in office, Mrs. Fairclough was active in the Consumers Association of Canada, the Girl Guides, the I.O.D.E., the United Empire Loyalist Association, the Zonta Club of Hamilton, and Zonta International. In 1982, a government office tower at 55 Bay Street North in Hamilton was officially named the Ellen Fairclough Building. In 1995, she published her memoirs, 'Saturday's Child: Memoirs of Canada's First Female Cabinet Minister'. Ellen passed away just two months shy of her one-hundredth birthday, on November 13, 2004. Her husband Gordon and son Howard both predeceased her. On June 21, 2005, Canada Post issued a postage stamp in honour of Ellen Fairclough and other notable Canadian women.

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is Ellen Louks Cook Fairclough's memorial?
Ellen Louks Cook Fairclough's memorial is located at: Old Medway Cemetery, Medway, Penobscot County, USA.
When did Ellen Louks Cook Fairclough death?
Ellen Louks Cook Fairclough death on 13 Nov 2004 in Hamilton, Hamilton Municipality, Ontario, Canada
Where are the coordinates of the Ellen Louks Cook Fairclough's memorial?
Latitude: 45.6000089
Longitude: -68.5260583

Family Members:

Parent

Spouse

Gordon David Henry Fairclough

(1905 - 1997)

Siblings

Howard Alexander Cook

(1906 - 1991)

Children

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Old Medway Cemetery
Medway, Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.6000089, -68.5260583

2. Fiske Cemetery
Medway, Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.6058200, -68.5274100

3. Lynch Cemetery
Medway, Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.5977050, -68.5030170

4. Grindstone Road Cemetery
Medway, Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.6282600, -68.5375400

5. East Millinocket Cemetery
East Millinocket, Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.6201782, -68.5622406

6. Pattagumpus Cemetery
Medway, Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.5143000, -68.4594220

7. Millinocket Cemetery
Millinocket, Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.6518784, -68.7007980

8. Mattawamkeag Cemetery
Mattawamkeag, Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.5216667, -68.3597220

9. Wyman Family Cemetery
Chester, Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.4566830, -68.4476720

10. North Chester Cemetery
Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.4678001, -68.4036026

11. Chesley Cemetery
Chester, Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.4586500, -68.4213166

12. Mary Cobb Burial Site
Benedicta, Aroostook County, USA
Coordinate: 45.7168666, -68.3679000

13. Scott Cemetery
Chester, Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.4520450, -68.4302060

14. Snow Cemetery
Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.4439011, -68.4300003

15. Spencer Cemetery
Chester, Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.4265830, -68.4757000

16. Macwahoc Cemetery
Macwahoc, Aroostook County, USA
Coordinate: 45.6270060, -68.2680290

17. North Lincoln Cemetery
Lincoln, Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.4103012, -68.4869003

18. South Chester Cemetery
Chester, Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.3978670, -68.5111170

19. Saint Benedicts Cemetery
Benedicta, Aroostook County, USA
Coordinate: 45.8025170, -68.4122500

20. Silver Ridge Cemetery
Aroostook County, USA
Coordinate: 45.7616997, -68.3125000

21. Kingman Cemetery
Kingman, Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.5523980, -68.2101840

22. Park Street Cemetery
Lincoln, Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.3637400, -68.5178800

23. West Broadway Cemetery
Lincoln, Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.3620400, -68.5185400

24. Half Township Cemetery
Penobscot County, USA
Coordinate: 45.3466988, -68.3882980