Irene Parlby was part of the Famous Five which existed in the early part of the 20 century. She was born in England in 1868 and was the eldest in her family. Her father was a British Army Colonel, and because of his profession she lived in India for part of her childhood. She was encouraged by her father to become a doctor but she wanted to be in acting or in writing. In Canada she met and married Walter Parlby, an Oxford-educated Englishman who had come to Canada to become a farmer. He and Irene became the first settlers near the town of Alix and in 1899, their son Humphrey was born. In 1905, Alberta became a province and, in 1909, Walter Parlby became the president of the Alix local of the united Farmers of Alberta(UFA). In 1916 to 1919, Irene was president of the United Farm Woman of Alberta. In 1921, she was elected to the provincial legislature as a member of the UFA and appointed minister without portfolio in the new UFA government. The second woman in Canada to become a provincial cabinet minister, Irene studied international examples of education systems for rural areas and supported all programs which would benefit the welfare of women and children. 
 

Despite the presence of many competent and successful women in public life in Alberta, their legal right to hold these positions was challenged based on section 24 of The British North America Act which stated that women were not "persons" with rights and privileges. In 1921, the Alberta Supreme Court decided that women were qualified to hold public office but three Canadian Prime Ministers declined to name a woman to the Senate and thereby settle the same matter federally. Emily Murphy, Henrietta Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, and Irene Parlby became the five interested persons required by law to take the question to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1927. 

Irene remained in the Alberta cabinet until 1935 but also represented Canada at international gatherings of women's groups. She died in 1965 at the age 97. Irene was a very intelligent woman and will always be remembered by many women around the world. 

(www.nlc-bnc.ca)
 

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