Memorable Manitobans: Lillian Carter Stephens (1876-1957)

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Lillian Carter Stephens
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Community activist.

Born at Montreal, Quebec on 16 February 1876, she was educated in Winnipeg and Kildonan schools. Her father, Thomas Porter, a veteran of the Fenian Raid, had came West in 1888 via St. Paul, taking a steamboat to Winnipeg then an ox-cart to a homestead near Wapella, North West Territories (now Saskatchewan).

On 24 March 1896, she married Henry Stephens at Winnipeg and they had seven children: Bertha Georgina Stephens (1897-?, wife of John Gilbert Bertrand), Arthur Milton Stephens (1900-?), Victor Henry Stephens (1902-?), Albert Lorne Stephens (1904-?), Harold Porter Stephens (1907-1915), Lillian Stephens (1909-1998, wife of Mr. Allison), and Edward James Stephens (1913-1956). Active in the community of Portage la Prairie, where she lived, she was Regent of the Prairie Gateway Chapter of the IODE, Vice-Regent of the Second Provincial Chapter of IODE from 1914 to 1920, and 1924 to 1925. She was a member of the Eastern Star. During the First World War, she was one of three women to serve on the Conservation Board at Ottawa.

In recognition of her community service, she was inducted into the Order of the British Empire (1935) and was made the first Life Member of the Portage la Prairie Board of Trade (1939).

She died at Montreal on 22 October 1957 and was buried in Portage Hillside Cemetery.

Sources:

Birth and marriage registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

1901 and 1911 Canada censes, Automated Genealogy.

Pioneers and Prominent People of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Canadian Publicity Company, 1925.

“Nine Canadians knighted and King honors 97 more,” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 June 1935, page 1.

We thank James Kostuchuk and Ed Stephens for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 5 June 2019

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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