Hannah Gale

Who was Hannah Gale?

Hannah "Annie" Elizabeth Rolinson Gale was a politician in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Mrs. Gale was born in Netherton, West Midlands, England. In 1901 she and her husband, William, moved from England to Canada. She then moved to Calgary in 1912 with their two sons.

She became the first woman in Canada, and the first in the British Commonwealth to be elected to a position in any level of government. On December 10, 1917 she was elected as an Alderman for the City of Calgary municipal council.

In the 1921 Alberta provincial election she ran as an Independent Labor candidate in the Calgary provincial electoral district. She was badly defeated finishing 16th out of 20 candidates.

In 1924 she was elected as a Public School Trustee for the Calgary Board of Education. She resigned in 1925 when she moved to Vancouver, British Columbia where she lived until her death in 1970.

In 1983 a Jr. High School was built with her namesake in the Calgary community of Whitehorn.

Annie Gale was a gutsy lady who became the first alderman in the British Empire when she won a seat in the 1917 Calgary Civic Election.