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By Chad Martin
March 8, 2018 A common thread I have found throughout my years of researching Palmerston and the people it has produced, is one of determination and a work effort like none other. Coupled with that work effort is a level of compassion that can make us all proud of our community and hometown. Margaret Paton Hyndman is by far a shining example of a person who dedicated their life to a just cause and saw it through with the utmost dedication and determination despite the obstacles before her. The list of appointments, achievements and accomplishments Hyndman accumulated goes far beyond what most people could dream of doing over multiple lifetimes. Yet, as a person of note, she has had little recognition in her hometown. |
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Rather than delve into why Hyndman only received occasional acknowledgments in the local paper, it’s safe to assume that when she left the area to pursue her career she faded from memory, which is unfortunate considering her successes.
Hyndman was the oldest of 5 children (4 sisters, 1 brother), her father Hugh and mother Agnes, both devote Scottish Presbyterians who did their utmost to encourage the ambitions of their children. Hugh, in his own right is a person of note as he served as the Town Clerk in Palmerston for over 30 years, his service saw the waning or the town’s exponential growth, decline into disrepair through the turn of the century and the rebirth and redevelopment of the town in the early 1900’s.
Hugh and Agnes married in their early thirties by which time Hugh had already developed a fairly successful career while also caring for a niece and nephew. He started out as a telegrapher at the Palmerston railway station which connected him with the coal and wood industry. After finding a good amount of success in coal and wood sales he expanded into selling home insurance. It was selling insurance that began his love for law. While he wasn’t able to study law in school he became very adept at the ins and outs of local laws to help with his businesses. This knowledge made him the ideal candidate for the Town Clerk position.
As the Town Clerk, Hugh was heavily involved with writing and forming all of the early by-laws in Palmerston as the town did not have a lawyer yet. When a lawyer finally did come to Palmerston Hugh still worked in tandem with them as they would take cases before the Ontario Municipal Board. Hugh’s ability with legal work made him an invaluable asset to the town. In an interview with Margaret from 1983, she described how her father would come home from Toronto after appearing before the Board, and he would report back on how he would have to take over and argue the case as he was the one familiar with by law being enacted. This was where Margaret got her first taste for the law, and would propel her to a life of achievements.
Born in 1901 and named after her maternal Grandmother Margaret Stewart (Wilson) Wilkie, the young Margaret Hyndman excelled at her education, by the age of 10 she had passed the county examinations at the Palmerston Continuation School and was able to move on to high school. It was at that time in 1911 that her parents took her on a trip to Ottawa. Both parents were ardent followers of politics, Hugh being a Conservative and Agnes being a Liberal made for rousing conversations in the home. While in Ottawa they made a visit to Parliament where Margaret witnessed a rousing debate about the Reciprocity Act. She watched Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Sir Robert Borden duel over the points, and was awestruck by their arguments. While looking over the list of Members of Parliament, she noticed that all but two were lawyers. It was then and there that she decided that was what she wanted to be. Nothing would stand in her way, she would be a lawyer.
At the time the closest high school was in Listowel meaning she had to commute by train daily. In later years she boarded at a home nearby the school, but would still return to Palmerston on weekends and the occasional weekday.
By age 15 Margaret had completed her senior matriculation at the Listowel High School and was awarded a scholarship in Political Science at the University of Toronto. She was on the path to achieve her dream of working in law. However, the timing was unfortunate as her fathers investments in the failed Kreutziger Trunk Factory and Taylor and Scott Woodenware of Palmerston had left the family on hard times. Not one to accept this as her fate, she said in her 1983 interview, her father told her,
“…that he couldn’t afford to invest what would be necessary with that help to put me through for law and when and even if he could do it, he didn’t think that I would be able to succeed as a lawyer because it wasn’t a profession for women.”
For the first time in her life and certainly not the last time, she had heard law was not for women. Her father insisted that she attend school in Stratford and become a teacher instead. As she put it, “I got on my high horse and said I didn’t want to waste my time on that!” Undeterred, Margaret enrolled in a new course being offered in Listowel to learn how to be a secretary, because as she determined, that would be a sure way to get into a law office.
At age 17, Margaret moved to Toronto and started work as a secretary for the law firm of Bain and Bicknells. A few months later, not feeling she was having any luck with being a secretary, Margaret began looking for new opportunities. With sheer determination she arranged to meet with Mr. Albert McMichael, in the attempt to become not only his secretary, but to also become articled to him so she could accelerate her chances of becoming a lawyer. After the brief introductions Margaret simply stated “I want to be articled to you, and I want to be a lawyer.” McMichael simply responded, “Oh, God help you!”
McMichael took Margaret under his wing and started providing her with copies of his legal texts on contracts. He would lend her a few at a time and then examine her a few days later. Within a few months she was officially articled to him, and after a year she had saved enough money to enroll in law school. While attending school Margaret worked two or sometimes three jobs while completing her studies, one of which was a teacher in English Literature and Canadian Geography three evenings a week… By 1925 she had graduated and began working full time for a Mr. Wegenast, who was the head of the legal department for the Canadian Manufacturers Association. Wegenast had been tasked with writing a book on corporate law. Margaret took on a lead roll in writing the book which was finally printed in 1931, then reprinted again in 1979 and is still in use today.
It was shortly after graduating in 1925 that Margaret received her call to the bar, and in January 1926 she would officially become a lawyer. Margaret and Ruby Wigle were the only two women who were to receive the honour at that time. Justice Logie “welcomed the young men to the Bar but it was constitutionally impossible for him (his personal feeling) to welcome the young women, he regretted that our parents had foolishly spent so much money to educate us for a profession in which there was no room for us” according to Hyndman.
Hyndman described it as “we stood there smiling, and said nothing, a lot of people in the room including my mother and father were wild and there as nothing we could say.”
Two weeks later Mr. Wegenast was to appear in front of Justice Logie, with a client, but was trapped by a snow storm and couldn’t get to the court. Hyndman requested an adjournment until his return, but was denied and forced to go on alone. Having only a day and a half to prepare for her first trial, Margaret unfortunately lost. When Mr. Wegenast was finally able to return, he simply said, “you will take the Appeal”, which she did, and won.
Hyndman described a trial before Justice Logie years later, it was a matter of an injunction on a house. When Hyndman approached the bench she was asked by Logie for a specific detail, she provided a quipped response of “it is in my order as it is described in the agreement, Sir” in which he responded, “always got an answer, plenty to say, just like your father.” Taken aback she asked how Logie had known her father. He said, “We met the day you were called to the bar. He came back and berated me for what I had said to you.” Just goes to show how well she had changed her fathers opinion on being a lawyer!
The next few years were a struggle for Margaret, now a partner in the firm, but the long hours pushed her to her limits. Battling exhaustion and a never ending list of trials and litigation. She would be up all hours of the night formulating and rewriting arguments for her upcoming trial and spending all day researching for the next.
It was during the height of the depression when Dorothy Palmer, an employee for Kaufman Parents’ Information Bureau was arrested for distributing information on birth control in an Ottawa neighbourhood. The lawyers for the Kaufman Parents’ Information Bureau happened to be the firm of Wegenast and Hyndman. The Kaufman Birth Control case was a ground breaking trial which ran from October 1936 to January 1937. The case made national headlines about the ramifications of the legalities around birth control and contraceptives. Hyndman is said to have presented such a impassioned argument that even one of the priests testifying on behalf of the church was demoted after the trial for being swayed to change his opinions and agreeing with Hyndman.
The case and the appeal were both won, and it forced the Canadian Medical Association to begin discussions on contraceptives in June of 1937 with the results of making it acceptable for medical professionals to provide information on birth control to their patients. Margaret said in an interview that the trial “was for the public good, it was for the health of the women, it was for social class, social health and welfare.”
It was the Kaufman Birth Control case that put Hyndman into the spotlight for successful lawyers in Canada, and it was in 1938 when she received a phone call from the Attorney Generals office. They informed her that she had been appointed the honorary title of Kings Counsel, something only one other woman had been bestowed in the entire British Commonwealth. The honour was only given to eminent lawyers who were appointed as one of “His Majesty’s Counsel learned in the law”.
Never one to rest on her laurels, Margaret continued her life’s work and soldiered on with the utmost determination. The following year with war looming in Europe, Margaret had learned about a movement by women in Britain to form the Womens Voluntary Services, which was to recruit women to enter into the workforce during times of war. The WVS in Britain had been active well in advance of the war and Margaret felt Canada should do the same. She gathered a group of like minded people and began work in earnest.
Using her reputation as a prominent lawyer, Hyndman was able to get the support of Prime Minister MacKenzie King and began having the Canadian Womens Voluntary Service questionnaires distributed across the country for women to complete. The next step was the formation of committees nationwide, Hyndman, using her own money, travelled to every provincial capital and helped recruit and form the committees to begin their work.
The way it worked was once the questionnaire was completed it would be documented, and categorized, each provincial committee would break the respondents into their respective regions, classifications, etc. These would then be provided to the local community committees who would accept applications from those who required volunteers or employees. They would then be matched up with the best women available who would then lend a hand where they were needed. This included everything from someone who could knit to drivers to canvassers. Beyond this, they fundraised, gathered donations, made materials to be sent overseas and supported groups like the Red Cross.
Some statistics of what the Canadian Women’s Voluntary Service accomplished during World War Two are as follows:
Collected and distributed 20 million garments worldwide
85,000 bed sheets
86,000 blankets
350,000 quilts
16,000 boots and shoes
262 tons of jam
Recruited 12,000 volunteers
Keep in mind Margaret was also working full time as a lawyer while using her personal time to organize the C.W.V.S. During the war a case which has come to be a “quirky historical fact” about Canada came onto Hyndman’s desk. For 60 years prior to WW2 the sale of margarine had been illegal in Canada, however Canadian troops were being fed it overseas. With the rising costs of everything including butter, Hyndman was requested to assist in forming the Canadian Association of Consumers, which was an all woman’s organization. Together they petitioned the Canadian government with Hyndman representing their cause to the Supreme Court and Senate, claiming the Canadian Dairy Act was unconstitutionally blocking the sale of margarine.
Hyndman won the argument and then proceeded to have to travel to every province and argue the legislation. Each province determined their own rules surrounding margarine to avoid compromising butter. But nonetheless, from then on margarine was available legally in Canada.
Next came the Canadian Bar Association and Legal Aid, in 1941 Hyndman was nominated as chairwoman of the Provincial Committee tasked with creating and providing free legal services to military personnel and veterans returning from the war. The committee established lawyers around the province who could assist in all matters from estates, divorce, settlements etc. All free of charge. This program grew into what is our modern day legal aid.
After the war, in 1946 President Charles De Gaulle of France came to Canada. Apart of his visit included meeting with members of the Canadian Women’s Voluntary Services, for their service during the war to support the Free France Movement. For her work Hyndman received the City of Paris Silver Medal and citation.
In July of 1949 Hyndman travelled to England to represent the Federation of Business and Professional Women at the opening of the Middle Temple Hall in London. Here she attended a reception which was attended by the King and Queen. The Queen apparently had taken notice and had been abreast of “these Canadian women lawyers who had been made Kings Counsel”. When learning that Hyndman would be in attendance, the Queen insisted the King was to meet her. Over the next year Hyndman would be presented to the King and Queen a number of times, even to the point of having regular correspondence with the Queen and exchanging Christmas gifts each year.
Next in this ongoing list of accomplishments came in 1952 and has to do with Equal Pay. For years many of the Federation of Business and Professional Women had often discussed the lack of equal pay for women. Finally, they took action and set up meetings with the Premier of Ontario and began their full on attack. Through a series of meetings, presentations and a grass root campaign of phoning every Member of Provincial Parliament repeatedly they were able to have a Private Bill introduced and the Equal Pay Act was created. Hyndman is quoted as saying the only reason it passed the vote was so the politicians could have “some relief from these women, who were making their lives miserable.”
It was this achievement and the continually growing list of accomplishments that provided Hyndman with the 1952 “Woman of the Year” award.
Hyndman’s work and achievements thus far in the fight for women’s rights can certainly be considered remarkable, but as I have repeatedly said, that didn’t stop her from doing more. Next, came her involvement in the Jury Act Amendment Act of 1964, she called it “a great feat, when I fought and won the right for women to sit on juries.”
1970, brought a massive yet disappointing challenge for Hyndman. Jeanetta Corbiere, an Anishinaabe woman from the Wikwemikong Reserve, married David Lavell, a non-Indigenous man from Toronto. At the time, under the Indian Act, women who married non-Indigenous men lost their legal status as an Indian. Corbiere-Lavell filed a legal suit against the federal government on the basis that it was in violation of the Canadian Bill of Rights as discrimination against women on the basis of sex.
The challenge for Corbiere-Lavell and Hyndman, was that they were opposed at every turn by the male dominated National Indian Brotherhood (now known as the Assembly of First Nations). They argued that women who challenged the Indian Act were “selfish and anti-Indian”. Initially the case was dismissed by the York County Court system. However, upon the appeal in 1971 the Federal Court of Appeal ruled that the Indian Act did not afford equality to Indigenous women and recommended the Indian Act be repealed for failing to adhere to the laws established in the Bill of Rights.
For a time they had won and the rights of Indigenous women were beginning to improve. That is until August of 1973, in an extremely controversial decision, the Supreme Court of Canada, in a 5-4 ruling, overturned the lower courts decision and ruled the Bill of Rights did not invalidate the Indian Act. Despite the loss, Indigenous women continued to launch similar cases and even took it to the United Nations in 1981. It was in 1985 when the Indian Act was finally brought into accordance with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, at which time Corbiere-Lavell had her Indian status restored.
When asked how she felt about the Supreme Court Ruling in 1973, Hyndman said, “Well, the ultimate result was, of course, was a disappointment but looking back one can’t help feeling that it was another step forward.”
Despite, the disappointing loss of Canada v Lavell, Hyndman received a letter that same year informing her that she would be the recipient of the Order of Canada. When asked why she received the award she simply stated, “I haven’t a clue, and I don’t know why I got it.” Which just goes to show the focus of Hyndman, her goal was not the awards and accolades, she was working for the greater good.
1973 also became her last year practising law, and Hyndman retired from the legal profession, but really never stopped in her work. Her unparalleled work in the provincial, national and international legal field left her with a formidable legacy. Within this article I focused on her legal career, but it was her legal career and vast knowledge of corporate law that saw her also form numerous associations, sit on a bounty of company boards as a director and chair countless committees (see entire list below). After 47 years of practising law and devoting her life to the betterment of women in Canada, Hyndman hung up her silks and enjoyed her cottage on Georgian Bay for many years afterwards.
Generally, when you do a simple google search for a person from Palmerston, Ontario, you normally get a few decent results. Maybe there’s a mention or two in an article on some lowly website dedicated to the community’s history, but with Margaret Hyndman it is a whole other story. I mentioned earlier how she received such little recognition in her hometown, but when you look at her recognition world wide the results are astounding. Never have I had such a challenge trying to compact such a massive list of achievements into one piece of writing. Never have I seen a person with such drive and determination towards their life’s work.
Margaret Hyndman passed away on the 18th of January, 1991, she never married, and never considered herself a feminist. She always knew anything she did would be an uphill battle in a male dominated profession, but nothing would stand in her way. She was an early activist for women’s rights, but most importantly she was a hard-working and determined leader. From an early age she knew she wanted to be a lawyer, but she became so much more. She is by far one of the most accomplished people to come from Palmerston and she is by far a true Canadian legend.
I have attempted to create a list of all her appointments, achievements and awards, but I am certain I have missed a number of them as the list is so large. They are as follows:
List of Accomplishments and Awards
Studied law at Osgoode Hall Law School
1926 - Called to bar
1937 - Formed a part of the legal team in the Kaufman birth control case (for legalization of sales of Birth Control in Canada)
1938 - Granted King’s Counsel (K.C.) – Second woman in the empire
1941 - Convinced Canadian Bar Association to provide free legal services to military personnel and their spouses, pioneered legal aid.
1942 - Incorporated the Consumers Association of Canada
Represented the Canadian Association of Consumers before the Supreme Court of Canada where she succeeded in having the ban of 1886 on oleo-margarine declared invalid.
1946 - Awarded - City of Paris Silver Medal with citation from President Charles De Gaulle for work in Free France movement during Second World War
1949 – Invited to the opening of the Great Hall of the Middle Hall Law Courts in London England by the King
1952 – received “Woman of the Year” for her work in getting equal pay legislation adopted in Ontario – Bell Canada equal pay case
1964 - Fought for and won the right for women to sit on Juries in Ontario
1970 - Represented Aboriginal Women in the Supreme Court for individual and group rights (Lavell case and status of married indigenous women)
1973 – Awarded Officer of the Order of Canada
1976 – Received Doctor of Common Law Degree from Acadia University
1984 – First Honourary life member of the Advocates Society of Ontario
1986 – first to be awarded the Law Society Medal from the Law Society of Upper Canada
1988 – received the Governor Generals Award in commemoration of the Persons Case
Boards and Committees
Grand Dean, Kappa Beta Pi
First woman to sit on board of a trust company (London and Western, Canada Trustco Mortgage Co.)
First Canadian woman to appear before the Privy Council in London UK
Organized voluntary registration of Canadian women for war work.
President of the board for the National and International Federation of Business and Professional Women
Charter Member of the Zonta Club for advancement of the status of women – President 1936-37
VP of the Women’s College Hospital
Formed and sat as President of the Liberal Club for Professional and Business Women
Board of directors for CBC Pension Fund and a member of its investment committee
National Council and Executive Committee of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind
Member of advisory board in Toronto of the Canada Trust-Huron & Erie Mortgage.
Director, Griffin Theatres Ltd.
Director, The Palmer Thermometer Company
Director, G.S.W. Inc.
DCL Acadia University
Women’s International Democratic Federation
Sir William Campbell Foundation Trustee
Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario – Parliamentarian
Hyndman was the oldest of 5 children (4 sisters, 1 brother), her father Hugh and mother Agnes, both devote Scottish Presbyterians who did their utmost to encourage the ambitions of their children. Hugh, in his own right is a person of note as he served as the Town Clerk in Palmerston for over 30 years, his service saw the waning or the town’s exponential growth, decline into disrepair through the turn of the century and the rebirth and redevelopment of the town in the early 1900’s.
Hugh and Agnes married in their early thirties by which time Hugh had already developed a fairly successful career while also caring for a niece and nephew. He started out as a telegrapher at the Palmerston railway station which connected him with the coal and wood industry. After finding a good amount of success in coal and wood sales he expanded into selling home insurance. It was selling insurance that began his love for law. While he wasn’t able to study law in school he became very adept at the ins and outs of local laws to help with his businesses. This knowledge made him the ideal candidate for the Town Clerk position.
As the Town Clerk, Hugh was heavily involved with writing and forming all of the early by-laws in Palmerston as the town did not have a lawyer yet. When a lawyer finally did come to Palmerston Hugh still worked in tandem with them as they would take cases before the Ontario Municipal Board. Hugh’s ability with legal work made him an invaluable asset to the town. In an interview with Margaret from 1983, she described how her father would come home from Toronto after appearing before the Board, and he would report back on how he would have to take over and argue the case as he was the one familiar with by law being enacted. This was where Margaret got her first taste for the law, and would propel her to a life of achievements.
Born in 1901 and named after her maternal Grandmother Margaret Stewart (Wilson) Wilkie, the young Margaret Hyndman excelled at her education, by the age of 10 she had passed the county examinations at the Palmerston Continuation School and was able to move on to high school. It was at that time in 1911 that her parents took her on a trip to Ottawa. Both parents were ardent followers of politics, Hugh being a Conservative and Agnes being a Liberal made for rousing conversations in the home. While in Ottawa they made a visit to Parliament where Margaret witnessed a rousing debate about the Reciprocity Act. She watched Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Sir Robert Borden duel over the points, and was awestruck by their arguments. While looking over the list of Members of Parliament, she noticed that all but two were lawyers. It was then and there that she decided that was what she wanted to be. Nothing would stand in her way, she would be a lawyer.
At the time the closest high school was in Listowel meaning she had to commute by train daily. In later years she boarded at a home nearby the school, but would still return to Palmerston on weekends and the occasional weekday.
By age 15 Margaret had completed her senior matriculation at the Listowel High School and was awarded a scholarship in Political Science at the University of Toronto. She was on the path to achieve her dream of working in law. However, the timing was unfortunate as her fathers investments in the failed Kreutziger Trunk Factory and Taylor and Scott Woodenware of Palmerston had left the family on hard times. Not one to accept this as her fate, she said in her 1983 interview, her father told her,
“…that he couldn’t afford to invest what would be necessary with that help to put me through for law and when and even if he could do it, he didn’t think that I would be able to succeed as a lawyer because it wasn’t a profession for women.”
For the first time in her life and certainly not the last time, she had heard law was not for women. Her father insisted that she attend school in Stratford and become a teacher instead. As she put it, “I got on my high horse and said I didn’t want to waste my time on that!” Undeterred, Margaret enrolled in a new course being offered in Listowel to learn how to be a secretary, because as she determined, that would be a sure way to get into a law office.
At age 17, Margaret moved to Toronto and started work as a secretary for the law firm of Bain and Bicknells. A few months later, not feeling she was having any luck with being a secretary, Margaret began looking for new opportunities. With sheer determination she arranged to meet with Mr. Albert McMichael, in the attempt to become not only his secretary, but to also become articled to him so she could accelerate her chances of becoming a lawyer. After the brief introductions Margaret simply stated “I want to be articled to you, and I want to be a lawyer.” McMichael simply responded, “Oh, God help you!”
McMichael took Margaret under his wing and started providing her with copies of his legal texts on contracts. He would lend her a few at a time and then examine her a few days later. Within a few months she was officially articled to him, and after a year she had saved enough money to enroll in law school. While attending school Margaret worked two or sometimes three jobs while completing her studies, one of which was a teacher in English Literature and Canadian Geography three evenings a week… By 1925 she had graduated and began working full time for a Mr. Wegenast, who was the head of the legal department for the Canadian Manufacturers Association. Wegenast had been tasked with writing a book on corporate law. Margaret took on a lead roll in writing the book which was finally printed in 1931, then reprinted again in 1979 and is still in use today.
It was shortly after graduating in 1925 that Margaret received her call to the bar, and in January 1926 she would officially become a lawyer. Margaret and Ruby Wigle were the only two women who were to receive the honour at that time. Justice Logie “welcomed the young men to the Bar but it was constitutionally impossible for him (his personal feeling) to welcome the young women, he regretted that our parents had foolishly spent so much money to educate us for a profession in which there was no room for us” according to Hyndman.
Hyndman described it as “we stood there smiling, and said nothing, a lot of people in the room including my mother and father were wild and there as nothing we could say.”
Two weeks later Mr. Wegenast was to appear in front of Justice Logie, with a client, but was trapped by a snow storm and couldn’t get to the court. Hyndman requested an adjournment until his return, but was denied and forced to go on alone. Having only a day and a half to prepare for her first trial, Margaret unfortunately lost. When Mr. Wegenast was finally able to return, he simply said, “you will take the Appeal”, which she did, and won.
Hyndman described a trial before Justice Logie years later, it was a matter of an injunction on a house. When Hyndman approached the bench she was asked by Logie for a specific detail, she provided a quipped response of “it is in my order as it is described in the agreement, Sir” in which he responded, “always got an answer, plenty to say, just like your father.” Taken aback she asked how Logie had known her father. He said, “We met the day you were called to the bar. He came back and berated me for what I had said to you.” Just goes to show how well she had changed her fathers opinion on being a lawyer!
The next few years were a struggle for Margaret, now a partner in the firm, but the long hours pushed her to her limits. Battling exhaustion and a never ending list of trials and litigation. She would be up all hours of the night formulating and rewriting arguments for her upcoming trial and spending all day researching for the next.
It was during the height of the depression when Dorothy Palmer, an employee for Kaufman Parents’ Information Bureau was arrested for distributing information on birth control in an Ottawa neighbourhood. The lawyers for the Kaufman Parents’ Information Bureau happened to be the firm of Wegenast and Hyndman. The Kaufman Birth Control case was a ground breaking trial which ran from October 1936 to January 1937. The case made national headlines about the ramifications of the legalities around birth control and contraceptives. Hyndman is said to have presented such a impassioned argument that even one of the priests testifying on behalf of the church was demoted after the trial for being swayed to change his opinions and agreeing with Hyndman.
The case and the appeal were both won, and it forced the Canadian Medical Association to begin discussions on contraceptives in June of 1937 with the results of making it acceptable for medical professionals to provide information on birth control to their patients. Margaret said in an interview that the trial “was for the public good, it was for the health of the women, it was for social class, social health and welfare.”
It was the Kaufman Birth Control case that put Hyndman into the spotlight for successful lawyers in Canada, and it was in 1938 when she received a phone call from the Attorney Generals office. They informed her that she had been appointed the honorary title of Kings Counsel, something only one other woman had been bestowed in the entire British Commonwealth. The honour was only given to eminent lawyers who were appointed as one of “His Majesty’s Counsel learned in the law”.
Never one to rest on her laurels, Margaret continued her life’s work and soldiered on with the utmost determination. The following year with war looming in Europe, Margaret had learned about a movement by women in Britain to form the Womens Voluntary Services, which was to recruit women to enter into the workforce during times of war. The WVS in Britain had been active well in advance of the war and Margaret felt Canada should do the same. She gathered a group of like minded people and began work in earnest.
Using her reputation as a prominent lawyer, Hyndman was able to get the support of Prime Minister MacKenzie King and began having the Canadian Womens Voluntary Service questionnaires distributed across the country for women to complete. The next step was the formation of committees nationwide, Hyndman, using her own money, travelled to every provincial capital and helped recruit and form the committees to begin their work.
The way it worked was once the questionnaire was completed it would be documented, and categorized, each provincial committee would break the respondents into their respective regions, classifications, etc. These would then be provided to the local community committees who would accept applications from those who required volunteers or employees. They would then be matched up with the best women available who would then lend a hand where they were needed. This included everything from someone who could knit to drivers to canvassers. Beyond this, they fundraised, gathered donations, made materials to be sent overseas and supported groups like the Red Cross.
Some statistics of what the Canadian Women’s Voluntary Service accomplished during World War Two are as follows:
Collected and distributed 20 million garments worldwide
85,000 bed sheets
86,000 blankets
350,000 quilts
16,000 boots and shoes
262 tons of jam
Recruited 12,000 volunteers
Keep in mind Margaret was also working full time as a lawyer while using her personal time to organize the C.W.V.S. During the war a case which has come to be a “quirky historical fact” about Canada came onto Hyndman’s desk. For 60 years prior to WW2 the sale of margarine had been illegal in Canada, however Canadian troops were being fed it overseas. With the rising costs of everything including butter, Hyndman was requested to assist in forming the Canadian Association of Consumers, which was an all woman’s organization. Together they petitioned the Canadian government with Hyndman representing their cause to the Supreme Court and Senate, claiming the Canadian Dairy Act was unconstitutionally blocking the sale of margarine.
Hyndman won the argument and then proceeded to have to travel to every province and argue the legislation. Each province determined their own rules surrounding margarine to avoid compromising butter. But nonetheless, from then on margarine was available legally in Canada.
Next came the Canadian Bar Association and Legal Aid, in 1941 Hyndman was nominated as chairwoman of the Provincial Committee tasked with creating and providing free legal services to military personnel and veterans returning from the war. The committee established lawyers around the province who could assist in all matters from estates, divorce, settlements etc. All free of charge. This program grew into what is our modern day legal aid.
After the war, in 1946 President Charles De Gaulle of France came to Canada. Apart of his visit included meeting with members of the Canadian Women’s Voluntary Services, for their service during the war to support the Free France Movement. For her work Hyndman received the City of Paris Silver Medal and citation.
In July of 1949 Hyndman travelled to England to represent the Federation of Business and Professional Women at the opening of the Middle Temple Hall in London. Here she attended a reception which was attended by the King and Queen. The Queen apparently had taken notice and had been abreast of “these Canadian women lawyers who had been made Kings Counsel”. When learning that Hyndman would be in attendance, the Queen insisted the King was to meet her. Over the next year Hyndman would be presented to the King and Queen a number of times, even to the point of having regular correspondence with the Queen and exchanging Christmas gifts each year.
Next in this ongoing list of accomplishments came in 1952 and has to do with Equal Pay. For years many of the Federation of Business and Professional Women had often discussed the lack of equal pay for women. Finally, they took action and set up meetings with the Premier of Ontario and began their full on attack. Through a series of meetings, presentations and a grass root campaign of phoning every Member of Provincial Parliament repeatedly they were able to have a Private Bill introduced and the Equal Pay Act was created. Hyndman is quoted as saying the only reason it passed the vote was so the politicians could have “some relief from these women, who were making their lives miserable.”
It was this achievement and the continually growing list of accomplishments that provided Hyndman with the 1952 “Woman of the Year” award.
Hyndman’s work and achievements thus far in the fight for women’s rights can certainly be considered remarkable, but as I have repeatedly said, that didn’t stop her from doing more. Next, came her involvement in the Jury Act Amendment Act of 1964, she called it “a great feat, when I fought and won the right for women to sit on juries.”
1970, brought a massive yet disappointing challenge for Hyndman. Jeanetta Corbiere, an Anishinaabe woman from the Wikwemikong Reserve, married David Lavell, a non-Indigenous man from Toronto. At the time, under the Indian Act, women who married non-Indigenous men lost their legal status as an Indian. Corbiere-Lavell filed a legal suit against the federal government on the basis that it was in violation of the Canadian Bill of Rights as discrimination against women on the basis of sex.
The challenge for Corbiere-Lavell and Hyndman, was that they were opposed at every turn by the male dominated National Indian Brotherhood (now known as the Assembly of First Nations). They argued that women who challenged the Indian Act were “selfish and anti-Indian”. Initially the case was dismissed by the York County Court system. However, upon the appeal in 1971 the Federal Court of Appeal ruled that the Indian Act did not afford equality to Indigenous women and recommended the Indian Act be repealed for failing to adhere to the laws established in the Bill of Rights.
For a time they had won and the rights of Indigenous women were beginning to improve. That is until August of 1973, in an extremely controversial decision, the Supreme Court of Canada, in a 5-4 ruling, overturned the lower courts decision and ruled the Bill of Rights did not invalidate the Indian Act. Despite the loss, Indigenous women continued to launch similar cases and even took it to the United Nations in 1981. It was in 1985 when the Indian Act was finally brought into accordance with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, at which time Corbiere-Lavell had her Indian status restored.
When asked how she felt about the Supreme Court Ruling in 1973, Hyndman said, “Well, the ultimate result was, of course, was a disappointment but looking back one can’t help feeling that it was another step forward.”
Despite, the disappointing loss of Canada v Lavell, Hyndman received a letter that same year informing her that she would be the recipient of the Order of Canada. When asked why she received the award she simply stated, “I haven’t a clue, and I don’t know why I got it.” Which just goes to show the focus of Hyndman, her goal was not the awards and accolades, she was working for the greater good.
1973 also became her last year practising law, and Hyndman retired from the legal profession, but really never stopped in her work. Her unparalleled work in the provincial, national and international legal field left her with a formidable legacy. Within this article I focused on her legal career, but it was her legal career and vast knowledge of corporate law that saw her also form numerous associations, sit on a bounty of company boards as a director and chair countless committees (see entire list below). After 47 years of practising law and devoting her life to the betterment of women in Canada, Hyndman hung up her silks and enjoyed her cottage on Georgian Bay for many years afterwards.
Generally, when you do a simple google search for a person from Palmerston, Ontario, you normally get a few decent results. Maybe there’s a mention or two in an article on some lowly website dedicated to the community’s history, but with Margaret Hyndman it is a whole other story. I mentioned earlier how she received such little recognition in her hometown, but when you look at her recognition world wide the results are astounding. Never have I had such a challenge trying to compact such a massive list of achievements into one piece of writing. Never have I seen a person with such drive and determination towards their life’s work.
Margaret Hyndman passed away on the 18th of January, 1991, she never married, and never considered herself a feminist. She always knew anything she did would be an uphill battle in a male dominated profession, but nothing would stand in her way. She was an early activist for women’s rights, but most importantly she was a hard-working and determined leader. From an early age she knew she wanted to be a lawyer, but she became so much more. She is by far one of the most accomplished people to come from Palmerston and she is by far a true Canadian legend.
I have attempted to create a list of all her appointments, achievements and awards, but I am certain I have missed a number of them as the list is so large. They are as follows:
List of Accomplishments and Awards
Studied law at Osgoode Hall Law School
1926 - Called to bar
1937 - Formed a part of the legal team in the Kaufman birth control case (for legalization of sales of Birth Control in Canada)
1938 - Granted King’s Counsel (K.C.) – Second woman in the empire
1941 - Convinced Canadian Bar Association to provide free legal services to military personnel and their spouses, pioneered legal aid.
1942 - Incorporated the Consumers Association of Canada
Represented the Canadian Association of Consumers before the Supreme Court of Canada where she succeeded in having the ban of 1886 on oleo-margarine declared invalid.
1946 - Awarded - City of Paris Silver Medal with citation from President Charles De Gaulle for work in Free France movement during Second World War
1949 – Invited to the opening of the Great Hall of the Middle Hall Law Courts in London England by the King
1952 – received “Woman of the Year” for her work in getting equal pay legislation adopted in Ontario – Bell Canada equal pay case
1964 - Fought for and won the right for women to sit on Juries in Ontario
1970 - Represented Aboriginal Women in the Supreme Court for individual and group rights (Lavell case and status of married indigenous women)
1973 – Awarded Officer of the Order of Canada
1976 – Received Doctor of Common Law Degree from Acadia University
1984 – First Honourary life member of the Advocates Society of Ontario
1986 – first to be awarded the Law Society Medal from the Law Society of Upper Canada
1988 – received the Governor Generals Award in commemoration of the Persons Case
Boards and Committees
Grand Dean, Kappa Beta Pi
First woman to sit on board of a trust company (London and Western, Canada Trustco Mortgage Co.)
First Canadian woman to appear before the Privy Council in London UK
Organized voluntary registration of Canadian women for war work.
President of the board for the National and International Federation of Business and Professional Women
Charter Member of the Zonta Club for advancement of the status of women – President 1936-37
VP of the Women’s College Hospital
Formed and sat as President of the Liberal Club for Professional and Business Women
Board of directors for CBC Pension Fund and a member of its investment committee
National Council and Executive Committee of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind
Member of advisory board in Toronto of the Canada Trust-Huron & Erie Mortgage.
Director, Griffin Theatres Ltd.
Director, The Palmer Thermometer Company
Director, G.S.W. Inc.
DCL Acadia University
Women’s International Democratic Federation
Sir William Campbell Foundation Trustee
Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario – Parliamentarian