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// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Alice Ryan an egg-cellent person?

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alice Doheny
Portrait of Alice Doheny (née Ryan)
Born(1830-07-16)16 July 1830
Doon, County Limerick, Ireland
Died27 October 1906(1906-10-27) (aged 76)
Brockville, Ontario, Canada
Burial place
Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, Montreal, Canada
CitizenshipCanadian
MovementWomen's suffrage
SpouseMichael Doheny
ChildrenMargaret Isabel McHenry (daughter)
Hugh Doheny (son)
Michael Doheny Jr. (son)
William Doheny (son)
Patrick Doheny (son)
John Doheny (son)
Parents
  • John Patrick "J.P." Ryan (father)
  • Margaret Conway (mother)
RelativesHugh Ryan (railway magnate) (brother)
John Ryan (brother)
Edward L. Doheny (nephew)
Elinor Claire Millais (grand-niece)

Alice Doheny (née Ryan; 16 July 1830 – 27 October 1906) was an Irish-Canadian railway heiress, suffragette, sister of railway magnates The Honourable Hugh Ryan and John Ryan, aunt of oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny, and mother of heiress Margaret Isabel McHenry.[1][2][3] The daughter John Patrick "J.P." Ryan and Margaret Conway, Ryan moved with her family from Limerick, Ireland to Montreal, Canada, after her father sold Gortkelly Castle to another branch of the Ryan clan based in Tipperary.[4][5]

Background

[edit]

Born on 16 July 1830, Alice Ryan was born into the wealthy Irish-Catholic Ryan family as the daughter of John Patrick "J.P." Ryan and Margaret Ryan (née Conway); who owned Gortkelly Castle before her father sold the estate to another branch of the Ryan clan.[6]

The family immigrated post sale to Montreal, Canada, in 1841, when Ryan was eleven years old. She had two brothers: millionaire industrialists and railway magnates Hugh Ryan and John Ryan, known across Canada at the time for building some of the largest sections of the Canadian Pacific Railway.[7]

Suffragette Movement

[edit]

Alice Ryan is considered an 'elite intermediary' during the first generation of suffrage activism in Canada through her support of the Canadian Women's Suffrage Association (CWSA), previously the Toronto Woman's Literary Club (TWLC).[8][9] She was a family friend of the Attorney General of Ontario, Sir Oliver Mowat —later a pall-bearer for her brother Hugh Ryan[10]— who oversaw the 1883 committee created to urge the Toronto City Council to petition the Ontario Government to pass a bill conferring the municipal franchise upon women.[11] The committee was composed of members of the CWSA including Dr. Emily Stowe, Sarah Anne Curzon, Jessie Turnbull McEwen, Mrs. W. B. Hamilton, Mrs. Miller, and Mrs. Isabel Mackenzie (wife of William Lyon Mackenzie).[12]

Ryan reportedly appealed to Mowat on the committee's behalf and, following the committee's impassioned presentation, he formally stated that "there was no doubt that the franchise would have to be extended to women."[13] As a result of the committee's petition (which was passed by the Toronto City Council 20 to 5)[14] and Mowat's legal support, Sir John A. Macdonald introduced a bill to the Parliament of Canada that same year which stipulated granting municipal franchise to unmarried women and widows possessing the required property qualifications.[15] The bill, which Ryan argued should have also included married women, ultimately did not pass.[16]

Marriage, Children & Descendants

[edit]
Alice Ryan pictured with her only daughter Margaret Isabel Doheny.
Alice Ryan pictured with her eldest son Hugh Doheny, namesake of her brother Hugh Ryan.

Alice Ryan married land developer Michael Doheny Jr, uncle of Irish-American oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny, in 1852 with a full Roman Catholic ceremony and mass at the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal.[17][18][19] The couple had six children together: Margaret Isabel Doheny, Hugh Doheny, Michael Doheny, William Doheny, Patrick Doheny and John Doheny.

Ryan's son Hugh Doheny (b. 1863) would, like his father and uncles, become a wealthy developer; with his most profitable building project being Section III of the New Welland Ship Canal competed in 1913 for a fee of $9.5 million (the equivalent of $297 million in 2024).[20]

Ryan's only daughter, Margaret Isabel McHenry (née Doheny) (b.1860), was a primary beneficiary of her mothers' estate. She married American-Canadian William John "W.J." McHenry, a professional lacrosse player turned businessman, politician and whiskey magnate on 5 November 1885.[21][22][23][24]

Ryan's youngest son, Michael Doheny (b.1866) would, like his maternal uncles with whom he worked, go on to become a "well-known railway contractor" developing and expanding sections of the Canadian Pacific Railway, as well as the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway and the Inverness Railway in Cape Breton.[25][26] Similarly to his elder brother Hugh, the youngest Doheny developed Canadian waterways, including the Soulanges Canal along the Saint Lawrence River.[25] Michael was the first President of the Federal Hockey League, later known as the National Hockey Association (NHA).[27]

Ryan's grandson Lt.-Cmdr. Hugh Doheny (b. 1914) married Harriet Katherine Lucinda Erskine (b. 1924), daughter of Lt.-Col. Sir Thomas Erskine, 4th Baronet of Combo, and Dame Magdalen Erskine (née Anstruther).[28]

Ryan became a widow on 2 February 1886 when her husband Michael Doheny died suddenly in their Point-Saint-Charles townhouse, one of their many properties the province of Quebec.[29][30] The funeral on 4 February 1886 was attended by the Governor General of Canada, Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, and over 400 people from Canada, America and Ireland; with chief mourners including his younger brother, Patrick Doheny (father of Edward L. Doheny); Massachusetts politician, P.J. Kennedy (father of Joseph Patrick Kennedy and grandfather of President John F. Kennedy); Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, John G. Carlisle; Canadian Senator, John Costigan; and Canadian Member of Parliament, J.J. Curran.[29][31][32] Additional mourners included former Quebec Alderman and hotelier, Denis Tansey; Canadian meatpacker and financier, James Griffin; Canadian Senator, Henry Joseph Cloran; Canadian newspaper publisher Henry T. Butler.[33][34][35]

Alice Ryan and Anne Blunt, 15th Baroness Wentworth (known for buying Arabian horses from a Bedouin princess, recorded to be the daughter of Emir Fendi Al-Fayez) were distant relations by marriage and frequent companions during Ryan’s visits to Egypt.[36] In 1904, Ryan visited the Baroness at Sheykh Obeyd estate near Cairo with her sister-in-law Margaret Catherine Ryan (née Walsh), daughter Margaret Isabel McHenry, and nieces Mary Alice Ryan and Marguerite Teresa Ryan.[37][38]

Ryan's grand-niece was socialite Elinor Claire Macdonell (daughter Helen Margaret "Nellie" Ryan and railway developer Allan Ronald "A.R." Macdonell), and the wife of British artist Raoul Millais; Millais being the grandson of Pre-Raphelite painter Sir John Everett Millais.[39][40]

Ryan's husband Irish-American land developer Michael Doheny Jr, uncle of Edward L. Doheny, photographed in Schenectady, NewYork.

Inheritance

[edit]

Upon the death of her younger brother Hugh Ryan in 1899 (declared "Canada's wealthiest railroad contractor"),[41] national newspaper The Globe and Mail reported Alice Ryan received a substantial inheritance and income in his last will and testament; including his extensive landholdings in Manitoba, consisting of commercial property in Winnipeg and Portage la Prairie.[42][43][44]

Death & Burial

[edit]

Alice Ryan died on 27 October 1906 in Brockville, Ontario, with her body being transported by private train to Montreal, Quebec, where the funeral service was held at the Irish-Catholic St Ann's Church.[45][46] The requiem mass was attended by the entire extended Ryan-Doheny clan, as well as Gilded-Age society women; including her long-time friends Mrs. Mary Augusta Kennedy (wife of P. J. Kennedy), and Mrs. Mary Inez Cloran (wife of Senator Henry Joseph Cloran).[46][47][48]

Ryan was laid to rest in the prominent Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges on 29 October 1906, alongside her late husband Michael Doheny (d.1886) and her late son Patrick Doheny (d.1890).[49][45]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ National Library of Ireland (2016). "National Library of Ireland; Dublin, Ireland; Irish Catholic Parish Registers; Microfilm Number: Microfilm 02497 / 05". National Library of Ireland.
  2. ↑ Robarts (1907). Commemorative Biographical Record of the County of York, Ontario: Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and Many of the Early Settled Families, Illustrated. University of Toronto (1st ed.). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: J.H. Beers. pp. 25–27. ISBN 9780968556009.
  3. ↑ "Mrs WJ McHenry Announces the Engagement of Her Daughter Margaret Isabelle to Mr AJ McDonald". The Ottawa Citizen. 21 September 1920. p. 10.
  4. ↑ Tipperary Live, Reporter (5 July 2018). "Gortkelly Castle, extending to 72 acres, Tipperary". www.tipperarylive.ie.
  5. ↑ Stagg, Ronald J. (1990). "Ryan, Hugh". In Halpenny, Francess G. (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XII (1891–1900) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
  6. ↑ National Library of Ireland (2016). "National Library of Ireland; Dublin, Ireland; Irish Catholic Parish Registers; Microfilm Number: Microfilm 02497 / 05". National Library of Ireland.
  7. ↑ Library and Archives Canada (22 July 2013) [1861]. "Census Returns For 1861; Roll: C-1043". www.bac-lac.gc.ca. Government of Canada.
  8. ↑ "Women's Suffrage: Timeline". The Canadian Encyclopedia (online ed.). Historica Canada.
  9. ↑ Fast, Vera K. (1998). "Turnbull, Jessie (McEwen)". In Cook, Ramsay; Hamelin, Jean (eds.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XIV (1911–1920) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
  10. ↑ The Manitoba Morning Free Press (15 February 1899). "Hugh Ryan's Funeral: Impressive services held at St Michael's Cathedral -The Pallbearers". newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ The Brantford Daily Expositor (14 November 1883). "Canadian Women's Suffrage Association Meets With O. Mowat". Newspapers.com. Brantford, Ontario, Canada. p. 2.
  12. ↑ Luke, Edith M. (1895). Canadian Magazine: Woman Suffrage in Canada. Vol. 5. Canadian Magazines Limited.
  13. ↑ The Gazette (14 November 1883). "News From Toronto: Canadian Women's Suffrage Association Waited On The Local Government". Newspapers.com. Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
  14. ↑ The Hamilton Spectator (29 October 1883). "The Resolution Was Carred 20 to 5 For Women's Suffrage Oct 29, 1883". Newspapers.com. Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. p. 1.
  15. ↑ The Nellie McClung Foundation. "Timeline of Women's Suffrage in Canada". The Nellie McClung Foundation.
  16. ↑ The Gazette (24 April 1883). "The Franchise Bill". Newspapers.com. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. p. 4.
  17. ↑ nstitut Généalogique Drouin; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Drouin Collection; Author: Gabriel Drouin, Comp.
  18. ↑ Margaret Leslie Davis, Dark Side of Fortune: Triumph and Scandal in the Life of Oil Tycoon Edward L. Doheny (1998).
  19. ↑ Archives of Montreal; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1848-1928; Reel: 45
  20. ↑ The Gazette (5 September 1913). "O'Brien & Doheny: Montreal Firm Gets Big Contract". The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. p. 1.
  21. ↑ "Sportsman W.J. McHenry marries prominent young lady Margaret Isabelle Doheny". The Freeholder. Cornwall, Canada. 30 October 1885. p. 3.
  22. ↑ "Miss Margaret Doheny married to Mr W.J. McHenry". Newspapers.com. The Weekly British Whig. 1885. p. 2.
  23. ↑ "Annual Lacrosse Convention -Our National Game -W.J. McHenry". The Montreal Star. Montreal, Quebec. 11 April 1885. p. 5.
  24. ↑ "W.J. McHenry Sportsman". The Freeholder. Ontario, Canada. 18 September 1885. p. 2.
  25. 1 2 "Well-Known Railway Contractor and Sportsman Michael Doheny Dead at 59 Montreal Gazette May 10 1926". The Gazette. 10 May 1926. p. 6.
  26. ↑ "Explosions on the Canadian Pacific RR (Ryan & Doheny Contracts)". The Kingston Whig-Standard. 28 October 1884. p. 2.
  27. ↑ "Michael Doheny Obituary". Times Colonist. 10 May 1926. p. 12.
  28. ↑ The Gazette (12 June 1945). "Doheny-Erskine Wedding in London". Newspapers.com. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. p. 15.
  29. 1 2 The Gazette (5 February 1886). "The Late Mr M Doheney's Grand Funeral". The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. p. 2.
  30. ↑ "Michael Doheny Passes at Point St. Charles Estate". The Montreal Star. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 3 February 1886. p. 3.
  31. ↑ "400 Attend Funeral of Mr Michael Doheny". The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec. 4 February 1886. p. 4.
  32. ↑ "Michael Doheny's Funeral to Be Held Tomorrow". The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 3 February 1886. p. 4.
  33. ↑ "Denis Tansey - National Assembly of Québec". www.assnat.qc.ca. Archived from the original on 8 February 2026.
  34. ↑ "Memorable Manitobans: James Young Griffin (1857-1939)". www.mhs.mb.ca. Manitoba Historial Society.
  35. ↑ "Butler Cove Road is named in honour of newspaperman Henry T. Butler". www.streetsofstratford.ca. Stratford, Ontario, Canada.
  36. ↑ Blunt, Lady Anne (31 December 2002). A Pilgrimage to Nejd, The Cradle of the Arab Race. Piscataway, NJ, USA: Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-4632-0875-2.
  37. ↑ "Feb 24, 1904, page 1 - The Ottawa Journal at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com". www.newspapers.com.
  38. ↑ "Lady Anne and the Egyptian Revolution", Lady Anne Blunt in the Middle East, I.B. TAURIS, 2018, doi:10.5040/9781350987005.ch-005, ISBN 978-1-78673-971-1
  39. ↑ "Marriage notice of Helen Margaret Ryan to Allan Ronald Macdonell". The Gazette. 20 June 1892. p. 4.
  40. ↑ "Millais Marries Macdonell at Brompton Oratory". Newspapers.com. 28 April 1926. p. 8 – via The Gazette.
  41. ↑ The Kingston Whig-Standard (13 February 1899). "Death of Hugh Ryan: Canada's Wealthiest and Greatest Railway Contractor". The Kingston Whig-Standard. Kingston, Ontario, Canada. p. 4.
  42. ↑ "Mr Ryan's Will: Details of Legacies Left to Relatives". The Globe and Mail. 28 February 1899. p. 2.
  43. ↑ The Evening Star (28 February 1899). "Mr Hugh Ryan's Will: A Statement by the Solicitors". The Evening Star. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. p. 5.
  44. ↑ "Bequests of Hugh Ryan: Estate Values At Nearly One And A Half Million". The Kingston Daily News. 28 February 1899. p. 1.
  45. 1 2 The Gazette (29 October 1906). "Alice Ryan Obituary". The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. p. 3.
  46. 1 2 The Montreal Star (25 January 1906). "In Memoriam: Alice Ryan". The Montreal Star. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. p. 15.
  47. ↑ Waite, P. B. (2005). "Petty-Fitzmaurice, Henry Charles Keith, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne". In Cook, Ramsay; Bélanger, Réal (eds.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XV (1921–1930) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
  48. ↑ "Family of Senator H. J. CLoran". The Winnipeg Tribune. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. 8 February 1928. p. 5.
  49. ↑ "Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery in Montreal: Plot Number R00056". Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges.
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