Quick Facts
Biography
Alice Jamieson (1860-1949) was an American Calgary, Alberta feminist and magistrate.
Career
Jamieson arrived in Calgary in 1903 when her husband, Reuben Rupert Jamieson, became the area general superintendent for the Canadian Pacific Railway.They prospered in Calgary and after his retirement, he became the 19th mayor of Calgary.
After the death of her husband, Alice continued to be active in the community.She was involved in organizations such as the Calgary Council of Women and the YWCA of Calgary.
In 1914, Jamieson was appointed the first female judge of in the British Empire of a juvenile court.In 1916, she became the second female magistrate of the Empire, just months after Emily Murphy was appointed in Edmonton, Alberta.
Jamieson's right to serve as magistrate came into question in 1917 in the Lizzie Cyr Case. Cyr's lawyer argued that as a woman, Alice was legally "incompetent and incapable" of holding the office.The Alberta Supreme Court upheld her right to serve in this position.This was a precursor to the 1929 Persons Case where five other Albertan women fought to answer the question, "Are women persons?"Jamieson retired in 1932.
When the Calgary Board of Education opened its only all-female school in 2003, it honored her by naming it theAlice Jamieson Girls' Academy.
Bentall Capital LP and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC) broke ground in February 2007 on a new office tower called Jamieson Place in honour of Alice Jukes Jamieson.The tower opened in 2009.
Alice Jukes Jamieson had 4 children. One of her great-granddaughters is Adrienne McLennan who followed in Jamieson’s footsteps, becoming the then highest-ranking woman and the highest ranking civilian to serve on any police force in Canada until her retirement in 1996. McLennan was the Director of Public Affairs for the Metro Toronto Police.
Alice Jamieson, along with her husband, were Christian Scientists, and long-time members of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Calgary.