Dutch War Criminal Dead

Guus Kouwenhoven died, age 84. Sentenced to 19 years in prison by a Dutch court, 'Mr. Gus' - like 'Bolle Jos' - was yet another Dutchman on the loose, financing presidential power, be it with diamonds, timber or drugs. 

His 'boss', Liberian president Charles Taylor was convicted in the Netherlands by the Special Court of Sierra Leone and is locked up for the rest of his life in a high-security prison in Durham, England, but Kouwenhoven never saw the inside of the cell that was waiting for him.

The Liberian Daily Observer writes:

It is about how the country's extraordinary natural wealth —particularly its forests— was transformed into a financial and logistical resource for a war machine, how international businesses benefited from that system, and how ordinary Liberians paid the price.

Kouwenhoven's importance went beyond logging. A United Nations expert panel described him as a “member of President Charles Taylor's inner circle” and linked him to the logistical aspects of arms deals. The UN placed him on its travel-ban list in 2001. The relationship was brutally transactional.

Timber went out. Weapons came in.

• Liberian Daily Observer 08-09-2026: Guus Kouwenhoven Is Dead
• NOS 12-09-2026 Voortvluchtige Nederlandse wapenhandelaar Guus Kouwenhoven (84) overleden
• Styloblog 16-06-2007 Taylor rijk
  Een VN-rapport meldt dat het houtbedrijf van Guus Kouwenhoven 3,4 miljoen euro rechtstreeks op de privérekening van Charles Taylor stortte. 
• Wikipedia: Guus Kouwenhoven

Will the roof hold?

Here and there, roofs have collapsed under the weight of the snow. This reminds me of a thrilling anecdote, which my father once made notorious in Barneveld and the surrounding area. From 1960 to 1963, my father was a municipal inspector for the municipality of Barneveld.

The inspector visits the construction site to check whether it meets the structural and permit requirements.

In the youth village De Glind in the municipality of Barneveld, also known as the foundation Rudolphstichting, a gymnasium hall with a flat roof was built. The roof of a building must be able to support a prescribed weight. How do you check this? Usually by placing building props (extendable metal supports) under the ceiling and adjusting them to the prescribed distance the roof may (and must be able to) sag, the tolerance, and then applying a test load to the roof. This was often done by placing cement bags on the roof. There's plenty of stock on the construction site, the weight of each bag is precisely equal and known, relatively easy to install and remove. Place the prescribed weight on the roof and check that the top of the props (just) doesn't touch the underside of the roof.

Still, lugging cement bags up and down the roof is quite a chore. My father saw that it was just lunchtime and the staff from the adjacent office wanted to get some fresh air. Inventive and unconventional as he was, he suggested that the staff go up onto the roof. Average and total weight aren't difficult to estimate, and the job would be done in barely ten minutes. No sooner said than done. A little later, the roof was tested and approved.

Whether the explanation had been clear enough remains to be seen, but in any case, the concept of props and tolerances hadn't fully sunk in. Years later, the story still circulated about Lont who had chased the office staff onto the roof. If you fall through the roof, it's condemned. If you're still alive and well at your desk after lunch, the roof has passed the test. The staff of the Rudolph Foundation paid for the gymnasium roof inspection with their own lives. "Gespaard en bewaard", spared and saved, as my father used to rhyme every day during his prayer of thanksgiving at dinner.

>>> Translated from Dutch

Cows to South Africa

Thursday November 20th, 2025, I went to a lecture in the Frisian provincial archive and library Tresoar by the author Froukje Santing about her book 'Pake en zijn vee, een reis naar Zuid-Afrika in 1911' (Granddad and his cattle, een trip to South-Africa in 1911). I catalogued the book for my library, and added my notes about the lecture. In this blog I add an English translation of my notes. 

Publisher's information (translated from Dutch): In her grandmother's attic, Froukje Santing discovered that her grandfather, Gerben (1883-1942), had left for South Africa at the beginning of the twentieth century. What possessed a poor farm hand from Southwest Friesland to travel to the Cape with Frisian breeding cattle? A hundred years later, she retraces his steps, uncovers a lost family history, and more. "Pake and his Cattle" tells the intriguing story of international agricultural ties between Friesland and South Africa in the aftermath of the Boer War (1899-1902), demonstrating the importance of the renowned Frisian breeding cattle worldwide. Froukje Santing (born 1956) studied World Religions in Leiden and Islam in the Modern World at the University of Amsterdam. She lived in Turkey for seventeen years, where she worked as a correspondent for NRC Handelsblad and Radio 1 Journaal. She currently works as a writer and journalist for De Groene Amsterdammer, among others, and for many years was vice-chair of PEN Netherlands, the writers' organization that advocates for endangered writers worldwide.

Lunch lecture by Froukje Santing at Tresoar in Leeuwarden on 20/11/25

Grandfather Gerben Heslinga, born in 1883, died in the cold winter of 1942. During an exhibition of personal letters at the Fries Museum at Leeuwarden, Froukje Santing recalls a notebook or booklet in her grandmother's attic in Oosterwierum (Friesland) with the inscription "Boerenoorlog 1903."  (Boer War). She investigates and discovers that her grandfather Gerben traveled to South Africa as a milking hand in 1911 and returned via Southampton and Germany in 1914. On the archives website AlleFriezen.nl, she finds his government registration card with registration of his departure and return. With great difficulty, she found a 1912 file in the archives of the former municipality of Baarderadeel (Mantgum), titled "Statement of Relocations to Other Countries 1911," which stated that her grandfather had left for South Africa in 1911 to "improve his position" and had left no debts. He departed from Southampton by ship on November 4, 1911, and returned to Southampton by ship on April 22, 1913.

The Frisian Studbook (pedigree) was established in 1879, and from 1881 onward, Frisian pedigree cattle were exported to South Africa. During the Boer War, these exports stalled, but after the war ended in 1902, exports peaked again. Major exporters were the Schaap and Kuperus companies. Advertisements appeared in Frisian magazines for livestock assistants to accompany these exports and care for the animals or to provide instruction to farmers in South Africa. The focus in the Netherlands is primarily on the defeated republics Oranje Vrijstaat (Orange Free State) and Transvaal.

Froukje Santing runs into problems with her archival research, and no one in her family knows anything about her grandfather's journey to South Africa. She decides to travel to South Africa herself. Based on various documents (including an export receipt from the Schaap company in 1905, a dissertation by a South African woman on Frisian breeding cattle, and farm names), she maps out a route past farms in South Africa. (Schaap 1905: Cape Town - Port Elizabeth - to Oranje Vrijstaat and Transvaal). She calls a whole string of travel agencies, but no one can help her until a Dutch travel agency number is answered in Pretoria by a Frisian woman who moved to South Africa ten years ago. She arranges a car and driver and books overnight stays in remote locations. A journey that lasts about a month. However, she can find no evidence that her grandfather Gerben ever visited any of those farms. Emotionally, she comes closest to the story through an old, neglected cow shed from 1902, where she takes photographs. In her book, she describes various stories from her visits to the farms. Upon invitation, she makes a short detour and meets two sisters who own a large farm (plaas) in Volksrust.

Empty-handed, she returns to the Netherlands and faces the choice of abandoning her project or, based on the information she has gathered, telling the general story of the dairy farmhands and the Frisian cattle that left for South Africa shortly after the Boer War. She thinks about it for nearly a year. She decides to accept an invitation from the two women in Volksrust, returns to South Africa, and stays there for about seven weeks. She decides to tell the story of the larger history.

Following her lecture, the author answers a few questions from the audience. She talks about the fear and unrest among white farmers due to the robberies and farm murders. In Volksrust, she was instructed to lock her bedroom and not to come out if a robbery occurred. The farm is secured with gates and access codes. The two sisters inherited the 1,282-hectare farm. They have stopped farming and no longer own livestock, but have leased 1,000 hectares of their farm and another 1,000 hectares of their other nearby farm to a larger company. Based on the 2,000 hectares of leased land to a larger company, one sister works as a manager. The other sister runs a goat farm. To survive on a farm, you need at least 1,000 head of cattle. The farms, fields, and houses are very large, but income is scarce.

She stayed in Volksrust during the summer, but temperatures in this area fluctuate from 5 to 18 degrees Celsius, with heavy rains and even hailstorms, which sometimes damage crops (like maize).

Someone in the audience asks if her grandfather was involved in the church and whether anything about him can be found in the church archives. Froukje Santing points out that her grandfather was only in South Africa for a short time, perhaps even wandering around there, never settling, a "passerby." He traveled on a passenger ship without livestock; she suspects he did have a contract to work at a specific farm. Some farm hands also left with a small travel allowance but had to find work there. Wages were sometimes paid in a gradual buildup of land ownership, but that was only useful for farmers/hands who wanted to stay and eventually build their own farms. She also points out that emigration to South Africa was not large-scale; many more Dutch people left for Canada and the US, where Frisian and Dutch communities emerged. Such Frisian communities are not found in South Africa. Moreover, the South African archives are not very good.

Ten birthdays missed

*** Ten birthdays missed ***

Isatu Sesay passed away at the first day of the year 2016. She passed our lives and left a deep impression. Her footprints are still here. Only 32 years old, full of plans and hopes, she suddenly had to leave her beloved son and family behind, for who she so passionately and loyally took care every day. This week, thinking of her on her birthday, she will be especially missed.

One Sunday afternoon, while she was preparing food at the back of her house, I took this picture of her. In fact, it's one of the rare pictures on which she's not smiling. Yet, at that moment she was relaxed and satisfied, accepting every day as a gift. Thank God, she suddenly said. When I asked her why, she told me right there how grateful she was for life.

Photo: Isatu Sesay (21.09.1983-01.01.2016) and her sisters.

Sad news

Friday Susu Sesay contacted me from Freetown, Sierra Leone, and brought me the sad news that his mother Fatmata Conteh-Sesay passed away that Friday morning, June 20th. A few weeks ago she was admitted to the 34 Military Hospital in Freetown due to a heart condition. This was the last time I've been in touch with her, May 31, wishing her a fast and full recovery, and she was full of hope. Last week she went home and was doing well, but on Thursday she was rushed to the hospital again, where she passed away shortly after. She will be laid to rest on Tuesday June 24th.

Fatmata Conteh was a police woman in Freetown. From Sierra Leone she joined the African Union police mission in Somalia for several years. After I made a crowdfunding call here on Facebook, several of my friends and family chipped in to help her pay for her medical check and other preparations for this mission. After coming back she recently moved from Freetown to Waterloo, a small town just outside Freetown. I visited those places and the family in 2014.

 
Fatmata Conteh-Sesay leaves five children behind of whom Susu is the eldest.

 
Today I'm also reminded of the day when Susu contacted me New Year's 2016, to tell me that my good friend Isata Sesay had passed away, Fatmata's sister who really had been as a mother to Susu. Now the family has been struck again with grieve. I wish them strength and standing together to bear this loss.

Fatmata Conteh
with her boarding pass for Mogdishu

Be right back

Translated from Dutch

Courier at the door. Like so often and so many. I'm a little angry, because - as often - he not only rings the doorbell, but also immediately knocks impatiently on the window. My window is not for that and I'm not into that. I tell him grumpily and then put my smile back on. The weather is nice.

Do you have a parcel for me? The parcel turns out to be for number 4, while I live at 20. But there should be a note at 4 that the parcel has to go to 20. I don't believe it - I don't know anyone there - but I accept the parcel and tell him that I'll sort it out.

I've always been the post office for half the neighbourhood, most parcels are for my roommate and yesterday I accepted a parcel for someone in Nieuwegein (the previous roommate). I don't mind that and 'we're a good neighbourhood'.

With the package in hand, I walk to number 4. I suspect that the note says that the package should be delivered to the neighbors of number 2 and that a point has expanded to zero.

But the reality is more beautiful and makes this sunny walk through the street worthwhile. The courier is not into letters but recognizes Arabic numerals. A note hangs on number 4:

"Leg pakket maar neer, zo terug"

"Just put the package down, Be right back". 

"Zo", meaning in an instant, reads like 20. He didn't get anything else.

Still waiting for the boy

SONG

Listen here >>> Still waiting for the boy

LYRICS

[Verse]

I sit by the window where the sun sinks low

With a shadow of a dream from long ago

Your laughter haunts the air like a fleeting ghost

You were the fire and I was just the smoke

[Chorus]

Still waiting for the boy who never came

A name in the wind that I can't reclaim

The cradle stayed empty while the years grew cold

Your love slipped away before the story told

[Verse 2]

We painted our hopes on the walls of time

But the cracks ran deep in this heart of mine

I promised you the world but my hands were bare

You wanted forever but I wasn't there

[Chorus]

Still waiting for the boy who never came

A name in the wind that I can't reclaim

The cradle stayed empty while the years grew cold

Your love slipped away before the story told

[Bridge]

I see your face in the stars at night

But the sky is a thief that won’t make it right

I was blind to the hunger in your eyes

Now I’m chasing the echoes of goodbyes

[Chorus]

Still waiting for the boy who never came

A name in the wind that I can't reclaim

The cradle stayed empty while the years grew cold

Your love slipped away before the story told

Listen here >>> Still waiting for the boy

Prompted by Ytzen * AI-generated by Suno

Also publisihed in Aisite

Banning

On Facebook I read a post, stating the American navy after Pentagon approval could put almost all almost 400 removed books back in their library. This, of course, started a discussion in the comments about 'bad books' and their bad influence, and the pro's and con's of censorship.

Someone quoted former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley: “I’ve read Marx as well, that doesn’t make me a communist”. The poster added: "Banning a book, any book - including Mein Kampf - says more about the lack of morality in the person banning the title than it does about the morality of the author."

I wrote a comment on that. 

At my conservative Christian highschool, for several months in a row once a week, we had rather factual history lessons about Marx, Marxism and Communism. The author of the textbook? His name is Banning. 

So when you wrote "Banning a book", for a moment I thought you were talking about him. I never noticed that pun before (and I'm 70 this year). So our textbook already had the word "Banning" printed on it.

Rev. Willem Banning was a well known Dutch 'left leaning' pastor in the Dutch Reformed Church. The textbook contained many quotes of Karl Marx' writings (like Das Kapital), Friedrich Engels and historic-materialist philosophy. I've learned a lot of those lessons, among other things the Christian background and prayers of Friedrich Engels, Marx' concept of "Verelendung" - capitalism would make the poorer poor, which in Europe was countered by revisionist socialist movements and especially in the Northern countries by Christian Democratic parties and Cooperatives in agriculture and insurance, also pope Leo XIII (taken as an example by the present America pope) played an important role in that movement - and "Selbstentfremdung", (the risk of) alienating from yourself when work and work-force is only ruled by money and by bosses without inherent sense and motivation, which are both from a psychological point as well as from a biblical point of view important discussions, and it helped me in thinking about my own work, as an employee as well as being self employed and being an employer for some time, and moreover how to be free and independent and inherently motivated in whatever role or state you are (a popular topic in the US as well).

Anyway, in fact I only wanted to react to the phrase "Banning a book": I recommend the book by Banning.

No intimidating trading relationship

The European People's Party EPP (the largest group in the European Parliament, consisting of Conservative and Christian Democratic parties, like the Dutch CDA) last week published a clear statement about the tariffs that president Trump wants to impose on the EU-countries. "Tariffs benefit no one.", "The EU cannot en will not accep a trading relationship based on intimidation". 

On Facebook this statement triggered a discussion about the recent agreement between the EU and the UK about trade. Several British people critized the deal, and stated that the EU had intimidated the UK to give in to unreasonable demands and unfavorable conditions. 

I couldn't help but to comment on the idea that the EU 'bullied' the UK, and commented: "The UK could have all the advantages of full membership but voted they didn't want that, nor anything close to that, so British negotiators have to bargain to get far less than the EU actually has on offer for them. Knowing you have to ask for less than you can get is not a strong position."

Desparate to fish in our waters

Paul from the UK commented that they didn't want to be tied up to "ridiculous" laws made by "unelected" EU-leaders, and said the EU was only "desparate to fish in our waters". I decided to give my view on that. 

<< Paul, I don't know where this view comes from. I gather you mean to say that you don't agree on many EU laws, but that doesn't make them ridiculous. Yes, in a democracy that recognises Rule of Law everyone is tied by laws. In my home country the Netherlands there are many laws that I don't agree on: that's called democracy, I am not "the majority". Same goes for the EU. I can discuss, "lobby" (in direct contact or through parties or organisations that stand up for my interests) and vote in the EU, just as I can in my own country, province or municipality. That's called democracy. There's much to be improved on all those levels: that's called democracy in progress and we have to continuously see to that. 

I voted in every election for the European Parliament since 1978. Before that the EP was elected by the national parliaments, but since then we have direct elections by the people and proportional representation. My country the Netherlands has a parliamentary system, the government is indeed not elected but the parliament is, with proportional representation, where every vote counts. Do you think countries like the Netherlands or Belgium are no democracy?

On fishing in "your" waters. No one is allowed to fish in British waters (territory). Those are within 12 miles off the coast. Until 1982 outside a nation's territory everyone was allowed to fish freely (law of the free sea). As you may remember it was Iceland that introduced first a 12, then a 50 and then a 200 miles economic zone, outside their territory, where others were not allowed to fish. The United Kingdom didn't want to recognise such zone, maintained the principal of the free see and fought several wars against NATO partner Iceland to defend the right of British fisherman to fish in the Icelandic economic zone. 

I remember these wars well, being quite anxious about it (espcially since it was an war between friends). In the end, after tough negotiations, the UK accepted the 200 miles economic zone and it became law in a worldwide international treaty, stating that fishing within this economic zone (outside national territory) permission is needed. 

Since the Northsea and especially the Channel aren't very wide, there's little "free sea" left, so negotiations and mutual agreements are inevitable. In the EU, also when the UK was still in the EU, this was decided in one package deal, following democratic procedures. Since the UK is outside the EU now, this must be negotiated and agreed separately in a bilateral agreement. I agree with you that this may not be ideal, and there's the continuous risk of overfishing, with too much competition.

Saying "The EU is desperate to fish in our waters" is a bit odd though, hearing it from a Brit, since it was Great Britain that fought wars over the right to fish in international waters without any negotiations or permission whatsoever, and if they hadn't lost that legal conflict, other countries could have fished in those waters freely without any barriers. So whether this is a good agreement on fishing is definitely a cause for debate, but a agreement with other countries had to be made one way or another (even if there was no EU), and this agreement follows democratic procedures on both sides of the water. >>

UK-EU agreement
In the same discussion a man called Bobby gave a pretty neat summary of the UK-EU agreement, that I like to quote here.

Bobby wrote:

<< In return for extending current fishing rules, the UK has secured a deal to reduce checks on food exports to the EU. The vast majority of routine border checks on animal and plant shipments to and from the EU will be dropped. The new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement means the UK can sell raw burgers and sausages back into the EU for the first time since Brexit.

A formal UK-EU defence and security pact has been established. UK and EU officials will meet every six months to talk about defence and foreign policy. Both sides will coordinate on sanctions, share more information and develop a space-related security policy/ The UK will join the EU's PESCO project on military mobility, aimed at speeding troop and equipment movement inside and outside the bloc.

The UK and EU will link their carbon markets to avoid taxes on carbon-intensive goods like steel and cement travelling between the UK and EU. The government says it will save £800m in taxes and shield British steel from EU tariffs, thanks to a UK-only deal worth £25m a year.

British holidaymakers will be able to use e-gates at more European airports. When Brexit ended free movement, UK travellers were shut out from using EU e-gates. Now the EU Commission says the there is no legal barrier to stopping UK citizens using them after the roll-out of its long-awaited digital border checks system, which is due to come into effect in October. >>

Source: EPP-statement 20.05.2025 Tariffs undermine trust - Europe must stay united

Gwen Cash - Canadian journalistic pioneer

Translated from Dutch

In 1980, I traveled - hitchhiking with my girlfriend - for a year through North America. We had bought a one-way ticket from Brussels to Boston and travelled on from there we just winged it. In just under four months we travelled from coast to coast and in July of that year we arrived in Vancouver. I still remember standing there on the beach of the Pacific Ocean and having this intense feeling of having reached the edge of the world. After a few days we took the ferry from Vancouver to Vancouver Island, an idyllic Pacific island off the coast of British Columbia, the westernmost province of Canada. The provincial capital Victoria is also located there.

In Victoria we met Gwen Cash. We saw an advertisement in the newspaper, looking for a "companion for woman writer". From the YMCA where we were staying, we called the number in the advertisement. We got no answer, but after a few hours of trying, a young woman, Kathy, finally answered. She explained that it was for an old lady of 90, who was in the hospital. She would be allowed to go home if she had company at home for 24 hours a day. We could come straight away for an introductory meeting.

Canada's first female reporter
We walk the long way along the Gorge Road to the Gorge Hospital. The old woman is sleeping and the nurse wakes her up. Her name is Gwen Cash and soon someone points out to us that she is the "first female reporter in Canada". That is not entirely true, because there have been female journalists for much longer, even in the 19th century, but she is said to be the first "general reporter" who did not only write for a women's section or specifically female subjects. The claim is the subtitle of her book, which was published in 1977 but which I only discovered today (23 May 2025): "Off the record: the personal reminiscences of Canada's first woman reporter".

Gwen Cash wanted to go home, but that was only allowed if she had permanent company. She tried to arrange that herself. My girlfriend and I had a long talk with her. She was very interested in us. I remember her specifically asking me if I had any objection to helping an old lady in the bath. No, I didn't, but I did feel a little anxious about that responsibility. After consulting with her son Jack and her friends Liz and Gladwell, we all agreed that my girlfriend and I would take care of her in her house for a month.

It wouldn't work out
The next morning we walk to the hospital again. There we are met with disappointment. Or maybe it is a bit of a relief. "It wouldn't work out", we are told. The doctor does not agree and we would not fit in her apartment together, the plan is canceled. In the meantime, an older and experienced lady has been found who can take care of her. Unfortunately, we missed a unique opportunity to get to know her better. We traveled further along the rural coastal area of ​​Vancouver Island, where new adventures awaited us. 

Today I thought of her. I didn't really know anything about her and couldn't even remember her name. I went online to look for the "first female reporter of Canada", but that took me much further back in history. I found quite a few Canadian female journalists from the past, but not the woman we met. But when I found her name in our diary entries and with the quick help of Google's Gemini, I quickly found her.

This is her story (edited by me based on a search report from Gemini).

Gwen Cash - a Canadian journalistic pioneer

Gwen Cash was born Gwen Goldsmid in 1891 and she died in 1983, three years after we met her at the age of 90. She was indeed an important figure in Canadian journalism, I read. Her career, which spanned several decades, was marked by an independent spirit and pioneering work as a "general reporter" in the early 20th century.

Gwen was the daughter of Howard J. Goldsmid, an author and leader of the left-wing Young Liberal Party in England. She trained as a teacher at Stockwell Teachers Training College in London and emigrated to Canada with her mother during the First World War, joining her brother Gervas, who had settled in British Columbia in 1912.

In Vancouver she soon found that she could not continue teaching without additional training at the teacher training college, and she did not want to do so. She began writing freelance articles for local newspapers about war-torn England. Teaching was a respected profession for women, journalism was not, but it offered flexible access for educated women, as there were no strict qualification requirements. As a journalist she quickly became successful because of her innate talent and undoubtedly her father's literary background.

Gwen Cash began her journalism career on March 23, 1917, as a junior reporter for Walter Cameron Nichol, the influential owner and publisher of the Vancouver Daily Province. Her appointment was conditional on her learning to type. She began writing about the war in Europe, but expanded her reporting to a wide range of subjects, including celebrity profiles and travelogues.

In addition to her work for the Vancouver Daily Province, she also wrote for the Prince George Citizen, Victoria Times-Colonist, About Town, Canadian Home Journal, Maclean's Mayfair, Panorama, Post Intelligencer, Vancouver News Advertiser, Vancouver World and The Victorian.

In addition to her journalistic work, she also served as head of public relations for the prestigious Empress Hotel in Victoria and published a number of books: I Like British Columbia (1938), Turkeys Have Charming Faces (c. 1939), A Million Miles from Ottawa (1942) and her memoir Off the Record: The Personal Reminiscences of Canada's First Woman Reporter (1977).

She was independent and critical. Her critical view of British Columbia in her book A Million Miles from Ottawa cost her her job at the Empress Hotel and, as a socialist, she was also a strong critic of the social-democratic New Democratic Party.

The claim in the subtitle of her memoir that she was Canada's first female reporter - which we were also told during our interview with her in the hospital - is dubious. ABC Book World states: "She was not Canada's first female reporter, but she did have a remarkable career as an independent journalist for the province". She could be described as "Canada's first female general reporter". Early female journalists were often confined to specialized women's pages, focusing on domestic, fashion and society news. These were often referred to as the "lace-collar ghetto". The claim in her memoir to be the "first" therefore applies primarily to her personal experience as a pioneer in this broad role in the newsroom.

>>> More Pioneering female Canadian journalists

Sources:

1. Gwen Cash | Database of Canadian Early Women Writers

2. Cash Gwen – ABC BookWorld

3. Gwen Cash Archives | Eve Lazarus

4. Gwen Cash | CWRC/CSEC – Canadian Writing Research Collaboratory

5. Meet the Queens of the Gilded Age Who Pioneered Women’s Journalism in Canada

6. Women who made the news : female journalists in Canada, 1880-1945 – TCS Education System Libraries

7. Idem: PDF

8. Twenty Pioneering Newspaperwomen in Canada | The Canadian Encyclopedia

9. Helen Gregory MacGill | The Canadian Encyclopedia

10. Famous Canadian Women’s Historic Timeline – 1850-1899

11. Victoria Hayward (journalist) – Wikipedia

12. City Research Online

13. The Woman Journalist of the 1920s and 1930s in Fiction and in Autobiography – Image of the Journalist in Popular Culture

14. Jack Cash, photographer

Pioneering female Canadian journalists

Translated from Dutch (*)

In my search for “Canada’s first female reporter,” whom I met in 1980 at the age of 90 in the Canadian city of Victoria, I came across several “first” or at least early female journalists. The woman I met—who I now remember was called Gwen Cash—was born in 1891 and could therefore have started her journalistic career around 1920. But the search shows that there were female pioneers in journalistic roles much earlier, already in the 19th century. I think it would be good to record these results of the search as well.

Some of the most prominent early female journalists in Canada include:

• Cora Hind (1861-1942): She is widely recognized as “Canada’s first female journalist.”1 Born in Toronto, Hind established herself as a prominent women’s rights activist and author.
• Mary Ann Shadd (1823-1893): An even earlier and very important figure. Shadd became the "first black woman in North America to publish and edit a newspaper," The Provincial Freeman, beginning in 1851.3 She used her platform to advocate for the abolition of slavery and for women's rights and suffrage.3
• Sophia Dalton (1840s) and Mary Herbert (1851): Other early female publishers in Canada include Sophia Dalton, who published The Patriot in Toronto from 1840 to 1848, and Mary Herbert, who became the "first woman publisher in Nova Scotia" with The Mayflower in 1851.7
• Kathleen Blake "Kit" Coleman (1856-1915): A very influential figure, Coleman is distinguished as the "first woman journalist in Canada to oversee her own section", the women's section of the Toronto Daily Mail and "North America's first accredited female war correspondent".3 She was also the "first president of the Canadian Women's Press Club" (CWPC).3
• Sara Jeannette Duncan (1861-1922): Notable for being the "first woman to be employed full-time by the Toronto Globe (1886-87)".3
• Robertine Barry (1863-1910): Recognized as the "first French-Canadian woman journalist".3

Table 1: Notable Early Female Journalists in Canada (before 1920)

Name	Year of Birth	Year of Death	Major "first" or pieoneering role	Primary region or city of work
Mary Ann Shadd	1823	1893	First Black woman in North America to publish and edit a newspaper	Ontario
Sophia Dalton	Unknown	Unknown	First female publisher of The Patriot	Toronto
Mary Herbert	Unknown	Unknown	First female publisher in Nova Scotia (The Mayflower)	Nova Scotia
Cora Hind	1861	1942	Canada's first female journalist	Winnipeg (nationaal erkend)
Sarah Anne Curzon	c. 1833	1898	Co-founder of Canada's first feminist organization, editor of women's page	Toronto
Kathleen Blake "Kit" Coleman	1856	1915	First female journalist in Canada to have her own section, first accredited female war correspondent	Toronto (nationaal erkend)
Sara Jeannette Duncan	1861	1922	First woman employed full-time by the Toronto Globe	Toronto, Montreal
Robertine Barry	1863	1910	First French-Canadian female journalist	Montreal

The Evolving Landscape of Women's Journalism

Initially, women journalists were often "confined to a narrow range of specialties that catered to conventionally defined women's interests—household, fashion, and the upper classes."9 This specialized section was sometimes informally referred to as the "lace collar ghetto".8 Nevertheless, these roles were strategically important, as “the first newspaper women were hired to attract female subscribers and advertising revenue.”9 This commercial incentive inadvertently created a path for women to enter a male-dominated profession.

Despite these initial limitations, many women “eventually made their names as commercial reporters or political and even war correspondents.”9 Examples include Kit Coleman, who covered the Spanish-American War, and Faith Fenton, who reported from Klondike near the Alaskan border.8 Some even used male pseudonyms or went undercover to gain access to stories.8

The formation of professional organizations such as the Canadian Women's Press Club (CWPC) in 1904 3 was an important development. The CWPC promoted a “strong sense of community and commitment to the advancement of women” and sought to place “well-trained women professionals at the service of the public interest.”10

Prominent Early Women Journalists with B.C. and Victoria Ties

Several pioneering women journalists had important ties to British Columbia and contributed to the province’s media landscape:

• Helen Gregory MacGill (1864-1947): A highly relevant figure in British Columbia, MacGill was a “pioneering journalist, feminist, and judge.”14 She published articles in several newspapers and magazines throughout her life and worked with the St. Paul Globe (Minnesota).14 In 1902, she moved to Vancouver and “co-founded the Vancouver Women’s Press Club (1909).”3 She also published a major book in 1912, Daughters, Wives, and Mothers in British Columbia – Some Laws Affecting Them 14, which focused on legal issues for women in BC.
• Kate Simpson Hayes (1856-1945): Known by the pseudonym Mary Markwell. Hayes was a journalist who also published numerous plays, sketches, short stories, songs, and verses.3 She became women's editor of the Manitoba Free Press in 1899 and was a founder and president (1906-07) of the Canadian Women's Press Club.
• Agnes Deans Cameron (1863-1912): Cameron was born and died in Victoria, British Columbia.15 She was a multi-faceted figure: an educator, travel writer, journalist, lecturer, and adventurer. She became known as the "first white woman to reach the Arctic Ocean" and published a best-selling book, The New North (1909), describing her journey.15 She was also a member of the Canadian Women's Press Club.15
• Victoria Hayward (1876-1956): A Bermuda-born journalist and travel writer. Hayward is credited with coining the term “Canadian mosaic.”17 Her articles were widely published in Canadian periodicals, often focusing on Canadian culture. She spent “three summers in the late 1910s and early 1920s with the Doukhobors in Saskatchewan and British Columbia,” documenting and presenting their lives in articles and her 1922 travel book Romantic Canada.17

Local Journalism Initiatives by Women in Victoria

The provincial capital of Victoria was a center for specific women-led journalism initiatives. The Champion, an English-language newspaper “entirely devoted to the cause of women’s suffrage,” was founded in Victoria in 1912 by Maria Gordon Grant and Dorothy Davis.16 The newspaper existed for two years and closed in 1914, but played a vital role in the women’s suffrage movement in British Columbia.16

The Canadian Women’s Press Club (CWPC) and local initiatives such as The Champion in Victoria were not isolated efforts, but part of a broader movement. Marjory Lang's book, Women Who Made the News 9, highlights how these women "created a distinctly feminine culture within the newspaper, which cemented the increasing participation of women in public affairs." This collective action provided support, promoted professional development, and amplified women's voices.

Table 2: Pioneering female journalists with British Columbia and Victoria connections (till 1950)

Name	Year of Birth	Year of Death	Connection with BC/Victoria	Major Roles and Contributions
Agnes Deans Cameron	1863	1912	Born and died in Victoria, BC	Journalist, travel writer (The New North), first white woman to reach the Arctic Ocean
Helen Gregory MacGill	1864	1947	Moved to Vancouver in 1902, co-founder Vancouver Women's Press Club	Journalist, feminist, judge, wrote about laws affecting women in BC
Kate Simpson Hayes	1856	1945	Died on Vancouver Island, BC	Journalist, women's editor, co-founder/president CWPC
Victoria Hayward	1876	1956	Spent summers traveling and writing in BC (years 1910-1920)	Journalist, travel writer, coined the term "Canadian mosaic"
Maria Gordon Grant	Unknown	Unknown	Co-founder of The Champion in Victoria	Co-founder of a newspaper devoted to women's suffrage in Victoria
Dorothy Davis	Unknown	Unknown	Co-founder of The Champion in Victoria	Co-founder of a newspaper devoted to women's suffrage in Victoria

(*) Translated from Dutch Quotes may have been translated from English to Dutch and back, and therefore may differ somewhat from the original quote. 

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