Lillian Beynon Thomas (4 September 1876 – 2 September 1961) was a Canadian journalist and feminist.

Life

Lillian Beynon was born on 4 September 1876 Birth Certificate in

Streetsville, Ontario Streetsville (pop. 47,327) is a neighbourhood located in the northwestern corner of the city of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, on the Credit River. Although Streetsville occupies the west and east banks of the river, the historic village area is l ...

. Her parents were James Barnes and Rebecca Beynon, and her younger sister was

Francis Marion Beynon Francis Marion Beynon (26 May 1884 – 5 October 1951) was a Canadian journalist, feminist and pacifist. She is known for her semi-autobiographical novel ''Aleta Day'' (1919). Early years Francis Marion Beynon was born in Streetsville, Ontario o ...

. At the age of five she had an accident that left her disabled. In 1889 the Beynon family moved to Hartney, Manitoba. She studied at Portage Collegiate, then taught for a period at Chain Lakes School. She then studied at Wesley College and graduated from the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

in 1905. Lillian Beynon was a schoolteacher in

Morden Morden is a district and town in South London, England, now within the London Borough of Merton, in the ceremonial county of Greater London. It adjoins Merton Park and Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Sutton, Londo ...

, then in 1906 joined the '' Manitoba Free Press''. She was appointed an assistant editor of the ''Weekly Free Press''. As editor of the

Women's page The women's page (sometimes called home page or women's section) of a newspaper was a section devoted to covering news assumed to be of interest to women. Women's pages started out in the 19th century as Society reporting, society pages and event ...

she wrote the column ''Home Loving Hearts'' under the pen name of "Lillian Laurie". In the column she told of stories of women who had been abused or abandoned, and lobbied for new laws to protect the rights of women. She also pushed for prohibition of liquor, which she saw as a major cause of problems. From 1907 to 1908 she was secretary of the Winnipeg branch of the Canadian Women's Press Club. In 1910 she became a member of the Executive of the Women's University Club. That year she organized Women's Institutes in association with the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

. Lillian married A. Vernon Thomas in 1911, and changed her name to Lillian Thomas. Members of the Winnipeg branch of the Canadian Women's Press Club formed the nucleus of the

Manitoba Political Equality League The Political Equality League was a group active in Manitoba, Canada between 1912 and 1916 that successfully lobbied for women's suffrage at the provincial level. One of the highlights of the campaign was a mock parliament in which Nellie McClung p ...

, which campaigned for women's suffrage, including

, Lillian Beynon Thomas,

Nellie McClung Nellie Letitia McClung (; 20 October 18731 September 1951) was a Canadian author, politician, and social activist, who is regarded as one of Canada's most prominent suffragists. She began her career in writing with the 1908 book ''Sowing Seed ...

and

Ella Cora Hind Ella Cora Hind (September 18, 1861 – October 6, 1942) was a Canadian journalist, agriculturalist, Women's rights activist and suffragist. During the Great Depression, she became famous internationally for her accurate predictions of Canadia ...

. Lynn and

Winona Flett Winona Margaret Flett (June 10, 1884 – May 16, 1922) was a prominent suffragist and social reformer in Manitoba. Life Flett was born in South Dumfries Township, Ontario, the daughter of Isabella Bowie and James Flett. She left Woodstock, On ...

also joined, as did men such as George Fisher Chipman and Fred Dixon. Lillian Beynon Thomas was the first president, but Dr. Mary E. Crawford soon took over the leadership. In late June 1917 Francis Marion Beynon left Winnipeg and moved to New York City. In 1917 A. Vernon Thomas was fired as legislative reporter of the ''Free Press'' for publicly opposing conscription, and the Thomases also moved to New York. They spent 1918–23 in New York. Lillian Benyon Thomas and her sister worked at the Seamen's Church Institute, an Episcopalian Mission for sailors in New York. After they returned to Canada, Lillian pursued a career as a writer. She wrote a number of successful plays, including ''Among the Maples'', ''Jim Barber's Spite Fence'' and ''As the Twig Is Bent''. She published her first novel, New Secret, in 1946. Lillian Beynon Thomas died in Winnipeg on 2 September 1961.

Works

Published work included: * * * * *

References

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Lillian Beynon 1876 births 1961 deaths Canadian feminists Canadian women novelists Canadian women dramatists and playwrights Journalists from Manitoba Journalists from Ontario 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian novelists Canadian non-fiction writers Writers from Mississauga Writers from Winnipeg 20th-century Canadian women writers Canadian women non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian journalists Women's page journalists Canadian writers with disabilities 20th-century Canadian women journalists Novelists from Ontario