Profiles

Gertrude Balmer Wat (1879-1973)

August 6, 2021

  • Born Gertrude Hogg in Guelph, Ontario, Gertrude started her journalism career at the WoodstockSentinelReview where she used the byline Peggy. In 1900 she married Arthur Balmer Watt and the young couple moved to Alberta in 1905. Arthur was a newspaper editor who worked with various Edmonton newspapers including the EdmontonJournal. They were staunch supporters of women’s rights and her articles on the life of western women were published in a variety of Canadian papers including TheGlobeandMail in Toronto. She also wrote many books, including AWomanInTheWest (1907) and TownandTrails (1908). In 1904 she was among the 16 women journalists who were sponsored by the Canadian Pacific Railway to travel by train to cover the St. Louis World Fair. It was while travelling on the CPR train that they founded the Canadian Women’s Press Club 




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