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| Nellie Mooney was born in Grey County, Ontario in 1873 as the youngest of six children. Her desire for education was fostered by her mother, who believed that all children are entitled to schooling: "If you don't get that for them then you have cheated them." Carefully taught that careers and homemaking could not mix, Nellie, as a young adult, thought she would prefer a career. After a five month teacher training program in Winnipeg in 1889, she began to teach eight grades at Milford, near Wawanesa, where she met Annie McLung, her future mother-in-law. On August 25, 1896, at 7:45 A.M. Nellie married Wesley McLung, saying that she would rather fight with Wes than agree with anyone else. This was the first wedding in the new Presbyterian church in Wawanesa. For the next eleven years, the couple lived in Manitou where Nellie began writing. "Sowing the Seeds in Danny" was published in 1908. Their family grew during this time and in 1902, Nellie wrote: "With these small children and a house to run, you can imagine the sort of frame of mind I'm in. In fact the frame is all that is left of my mind." |
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"I have admired her for her generous attitude towards others. She had a healthy self-respect but of self-conceit not a shred. Her sparkling wit and ready tongue she never used cruelly or vindictively." |
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| Nellie recognized that her world was doubtful of a woman who tried to juggle a career and a family, certain that the family, especially the children, would surely suffer. Even during her speaking tours for temperance and women's suffrage she would phone home before each lecture, so she could begin: "Settle down now, and don't worry about my children. They are all well and happy, clothed and fed. The baby is in bed and all is well." |
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| Of Nellie's relationship with Wes, her niece Ruth Scott says: "He and Nellie were well-suited; there was a remarkable "rapport" between these two which was always a delight to witness." The McLungs moved to Alberta where Nellie was heavily involved in the suffrage movement and politics of all sorts. Nellie became a Liberal member in the Alberta Legislature in 1921. Nellie McLung passed away at her home in Victoria, B.C. in 1951, at the age of 77. Wes joined her in 1958. |
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| Nellie was tremendously talented and pursued her goals tirelessly. The following pages detail the numerous aspects of her public life. By reading each section, one can get a feel for who Nellie was and how each part of her life was related to the next. | |||||||||||||
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