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Grace Julia Parker Drummond

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Grace Julia Parker Drummond, from a 1900 publication.

Grace Julia Parker Drummond (December 17, 1860 — June 10, 1942) was a Canadian clubwoman and philanthropist, decorated for her work during World War I.

Early life

Grace Julia Parker was born in Montreal, Quebec, the daughter of Alexander Davidson Parker and Grace Gibson Parker. Both of her parents were born in Scotland. (Because she and her mother shared a first name, she was called Julia or Grace Julia.)[1]

Career

Julia Parker Drummond was the first president of Montreal's branch of the Canadian Council of Women (1893-1899), and helped to found the Montreal branch of the Victorian Order of Nurses in 1899. She was president of the city's Charity Organization Society from 1911 to 1919. She was director of the Woman's Historical Society, and she served as an advisor to the Parks and Playgrounds Association of Montreal.[2] She "lent her aid ungrudgingly to every movement for the betterment of her sex," including women's suffrage.[3]

During World War I, Drummond was in London as head of the Canadian Red Cross Information Bureau,[4] providing news for families of missing and wounded soldiers,[5][6] and to organize housing and other supports for Canadian men in hospital or on leave in London.[7] She was decorated by the French government, the Serbian Red Cross, and the British Red Cross for her work. She also received an honorary degree from McGill University, in recognition of her community service in Montreal.[8] In 1923, the Winnipeg Tribune named her one of the "12 Greatest Canadian Women" for her Red Cross work.[9]

The Drummonds hosted many prominent visitors in their Montreal home, including opera singer Emma Albani[10] and Lord and Lady Minto.[11]

Personal life

Julia Parker married twice, first in London to the Rev. George Hamilton in 1879; she was widowed at age 19, when Hamilton died in 1880. She married as her second husband Sir George Alexander Drummond, a Canadian senator. In addition to George Drummond's seven children from his first marriage, he and Grace had two sons together;[12] Julian Drummond died young, and Guy Drummond died at Ypres in 1915, during World War I.[13][14] Grace Julia Parker Drummond was widowed for the second time in 1910, and died in 1942, aged 82 years.[15] The Drummond Family Papers are archived at McCord Museum.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Lady Grace Julia Drummond" L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia, Marianopolis College.
  2. ^ Jean M. Wolfe and Grace Strachan, "Practical Idealism: Women in Urban Reform, Julia Drummond and the Montreal Parks and Playgrounds Association" in Caroline Andrew and Beth Moore Milroy, eds., Life Spaces: Gender, Household, Employment (UBC Press 2011): 70-74. ISBN 9780774843140
  3. ^ "Women in the News" Statesman Journal (October 31, 1915): 4. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  4. ^ Sarah Glassford, Mobilizing Mercy: A History of the Canadian Red Cross (McGill Queen's University Press 2016): 102-103. ISBN 9780773548329
  5. ^ "Back in Home City" Vancouver Daily World (September 1, 1917): 5. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  6. ^ Iona K. Carr, "A Story of the Canadian Red Cross Information Bureau During the Great War" (Canadian Red Cross Society).
  7. ^ Linda J. Quiney, "'Bravely and Loyally They Answered the Call': St. John Ambulance, the Red Cross, and the Patriotic Service of Canadian Women During the Great War" History of Intellectual Culture 5(1)(2005).
  8. ^ a b Drummond family fonds (P015), McCord Museum.
  9. ^ "The 12 Greatest Canadian Women?" Winnipeg Tribune (March 31, 1923): 31. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  10. ^ "The Social Round" Ottawa Journal (May 8, 1901): 7. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  11. ^ "The Social Round" Ottawa Journal (February 17, 1900): 7. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  12. ^ Michèle Brassard and Jean Hamelin, "George Alexander Drummond" in Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Springer Science & Business Media 1994): 284. ISBN 9780802032409
  13. ^ "Capt. Guy Melfort Drummond" Who's Who in Canada (International Press Ltd. 1914): 1296.
  14. ^ "Montreal's Losses" Ottawa Journal (April 26, 1915): 10. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  15. ^ "Long Illness Fatal to Lady Drummond" Kokomo Tribune (June 11, 1942): 2. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
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