Introduction
Born: January 17, 1891, Collingwood, Ontario, Canada.
Died: September 9, 1979, Willowdale, Ontario, Canada.
Buried: Trinity United Church Cemetery, Collingwood, Ontario, Canada.
Born: January 17, 1891, Collingwood, Ontario, Canada.
Died: September 9, 1979, Willowdale, Ontario, Canada.
Buried: Trinity United Church Cemetery, Collingwood, Ontario, Canada.
Edna was the daughter of Charles Adolphis Jaques and Mary Ellen Donohue, and wife of William Ernest Jamieson (married November 21, 1921).
She grew up in Briercrest, near Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. She began writing verse as a teenager, her first efforts appearing in the Moose Jaw Times.
After finishing her studies in the public schools, she moved to Calgary, where she wrote a poetic response to In Flanders Fields, which was read at the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington, DC.
This vaulted her into the public eye, and the editor of the Calgary Herald offered to pay her way to the university. But she had the travel bug, and instead went to Vancouver, where she worked in a hospital, and as a stenographer and waitress before becoming a journalist for the Vancouver Provinces.
After marriage, she and William moved to a farm near Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
She and her daughter Joyce later moved to Victoria, where she worked as a stenographer and wrote articles and poems for newspapers and magazines.
In World War II, Jaques worked in a factory for a time, and on the War Time Prices and Trade Board.
Her literary circle included Nellie McClung and Mildred Valley Thornton. McClung was instrumental in the publication of Edna’s book, My Kitchen Window.
By the time of her death, Jaques’ poetry had sold a quarter million copies.