Alice Jamieson (Herstory 1990) was appointed judge of the juvenile court in Calgary in 1914. She became the first woman in Canada and in the British Empire, appointed to a court. In 1916, a short time after Emily Murphy's appointment in Edmonton, she also was appointed magistrate of the women's court.
Not surprisingly, there was opposition to her appointment. As Alice later commented:
When I first assumed my duties in the police court, with cold shoulders greeting me on every hand, I said to myself, "I don't know why I ever came here--l don't have to do this" and then I drew myself up and said "well, I'm here and I'm going to stay."
Alice was active in a number of women's organizations including the suffrage movement, the Calgary Council of Women and the YWCA. She also worked hard to get women elected to public office.
