Skull Reunited With Body of Girl Murdered in 1887

Not Mary's actual skull

Almost 130 years after Mary Tuplin was murdered, a ceremony has been held to reunite her head with her body. As bizarre as this sounds, the skull of the pregnant 17 year old Prince Edward Island woman had been separated from her skeleton body for forensic examination and was never reunited. It remained in the coroner's office over the years and eventually a local family took it home where it remained.

The murdered girl's body was discovered in the Southwest River on July 4, 1887, just a short distance from where she lived with her parents in Margate. She had been shot twice in the head and dumped in the river, her body weighted down with a heavy stone.
 
William Millman, 20, was convicted of the murder and hanged, despite the jury’s recommendation for mercy. Many local islanders believe he was innocent and the story is still told on the island.

A service was held on August 21 at the United Church cemetery in Margate, P.E.I., where Mary's skull was buried with the rest of her remains.

Read more at  Skull of murdered P.E.I. teen finally reunited with her body after 129 years 
and Mary Pickering Tuplin, 1887 murder victim, properly laid to rest

You can also read the full text of "Verbatim report of the Millman-Tuplin murder trial [microform] : Supreme Court, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, 1888"

Celebrating Sisterhood - 100th Anniversary of Canadian Women's Right to Vote

2016 is the 100th Anniversary of Women first obtaining the right to vote in Canada. Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta were the first Canadian provinces to grant women this right. Canadian women who owned land however had the right to vote as early as 1791 but that right was taken away in 1849.

It was not until 1917 that British Columbia and Ontario followed suit and granted women the right to vote. I wish I knew if either of my grandmothers, who lived in Ontario, were involved in the struggle for women's rights, or at the very least were pleased with their new-found rights! But it is not something I thought to ask about when I was a young teenager.

1918 saw Nova Scotia come on board, then New Brunswick in 1919. Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland lagged behind, not granting women the right to vote until 1922 and 1925 respectively. But the biggest and most shameful holdout was Quebec. That province did not grant women the right to vote until 1940!

I have talked before about Canada's Famous Five, that group of 5 courageous and determined women who forced Canada to recognize women as "persons" in 1929.

You can read more about women's rights in Canada at A greater sisterhood: the Women’s Rights struggle in Canada