Kate Simpson Hayes

Kate Simpson Hayes (pen names, Mary Markwell, Elaine, Marka Wohl, Yukon Bill; 6 July 1856 - 15 January 1945) was a Canadian playwright, author, journalist, poet, teacher, milliner, and legislative librarian.

Kate Simpson Hayes
Born	Catherine Ethel Hayes 6 July 1856 Dalhousie, New Brunswick, Canada
Died	January 15, 1945(1945-01-15) (aged 88) British Columbia, Canada
Pen name	Mary Markwell; Elaine; Marka Wohl; Yukon Bill
Occupation	playwright, author, journalist, poet, teacher, milliner, legislative librarian
Language	English
Spouse	Charles Bowman Simpson ( m. 1882)

Early years

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.

Career

A founding member of the Canadian Women's Press Club, she was the first woman journalist in the Canadian West.[1][2] Hayes wrote for the Free Press, Winnipeg, and wrote poetry using the pen name Mary Markwell for the Regina, Saskatchewan Leader.[3] 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.[4] She was opposed to women being given the vote and she worked in the UK for a time encouraging other women to emigrate to Canada. She died in British Columbia in 1945.[5] Her papers are housed at the Saskatchewan Archives, McGill University, and National Archives of Canada.[2]

Personal life

Simpson had four children, including Burke Hayes Simpson, Anna W Elaine ("Bonnie") Simpson, Henry Arthur Davin, and Agnes Agatha Davin.[2]

Selected works

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

References

1. Lewis 2006, p. 10.
2. "Hayes, Kate Simpson". Simon Fraser University. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
3. Powell, Williams & University of Regina. Canadian Plains Research Center 1996.
4. "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.
5. Wishart 2004, p. 330.

Bibliography

• Lewis, Norah L. (1 January 2006). Dear Editor and Friends: Letters from Rural Women of the North-West, 1900-1920. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-88920-732-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Powell, Barbara Pezalla; Williams, Myrna; University of Regina. Canadian Plains Research Center (1996). Piecing the Quilt: Sources for Women's History in the Saskatchewan Archives Board. University of Regina Press. ISBN 978-0-88977-090-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Wishart, David J. (2004). Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-4787-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)