{{Short description|Canadian politician}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = | name = Gladys Muriel Porter | honorific_suffix = MLA M.B.E. D.C.L. | birth_date = August 4, 1893 | birth_place = Sydney, Nova Scotia | death_date = {{death date and age|1967|4|30|1893|8|4}} | death_place = Kentville, Nova Scotia | office = MLA for Kings North | term_start = June 7, 1960 | term_end = April 20, 1967 | predecessor = Eric Balcom | successor = Victor Thorpe | party = Progressive Conservative | spouse = | occupation = }}
{{Quote box | quote = "It is satisfying to know that women join in this partnership, working together 'to hold fast to basic principles and values and to exert influence to preserve a democratic way of life.'" | source = Gladys Porter<br />Nova Scotia House of Assembly<br />February 8, 1961<ref name=hansard61>{{cite web|title=Hansard of February 8, 1961 (excerpt)|url=http://nslegislature.ca/demo/pdfs/0019_1961-02-08_Porter.pdf|publisher=Government of Nova Scotia|date=February 8, 1961|accessdate=November 17, 2014|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023822/http://nslegislature.ca/demo/pdfs/0019_1961-02-08_Porter.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> | width = 250px | align = right }}
'''Gladys Muriel Porter''', MBE, (née '''Richardson'''; August 4, 1893 – April 30, 1967) was the first woman in the Maritimes to be elected as Mayor, and the first female Member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.<ref name=carbert>{{cite book |last= Carbert |first= Louise Irene |title= Rural Women's Leadership in Atlantic Canada: First-Hand Perspectives on Local Public Life and Participation in Electoral Politics |publisher= University of Toronto Press |year= 2006 |url= http://www.utppublishing.com/pubstore/merchant.ihtml?pid=8812&step=4 |isbn= 0-8020-9125-3 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> She was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, the daughter of Walter Richardson and Christina Macpherson.
Porter was elected to Kentville town council in 1943. She was then elected Mayor of Kentville in 1946 and served until 1960, when she ran successfully as a Progressive Conservative to represent the provincial electoral district of Kings North.<ref name=carbert /><ref name=election60>{{cite web|title=Complete Returns of General Election for the House of Assembly 1960|url=http://electionsnovascotia.ca/sites/default/files/General%20Election%201960.pdf|publisher=Elections Nova Scotia|year=1960|accessdate=November 17, 2014|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023033/http://electionsnovascotia.ca/sites/default/files/General%20Election%201960.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Porter was re-elected to the Legislature in 1963<ref name=election63>{{cite web|title=Complete Returns of General Election for the House of Assembly 1963|url=http://electionsnovascotia.ca/sites/default/files/General%20Election%201963.pdf|publisher=Elections Nova Scotia|year=1963|accessdate=November 17, 2014|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212522/http://electionsnovascotia.ca/sites/default/files/General|url-status=dead}}</ref> and served until her death on April 30, 1967, in Kentville, Nova Scotia.<ref name=bio>{{cite web |title=Collections Canada - Canadian Women in Government - Celebrating Women's Achievements |url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/women/030001-1333-e.html |publisher=Library and Archives Canada |accessdate=November 17, 2014}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist |2}}
==External links== * [http://nslegislature.ca/demo/pdfs/0017_1960-00-00_Porter.pdf Portrait of Gladys Porter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023832/http://nslegislature.ca/demo/pdfs/0017_1960-00-00_Porter.pdf |date=2016-03-04 }} * [http://nslegislature.ca/index.php/about/female-mlas/ Nova Scotia Legislature - Frequently Asked Questions - Nova Scotia Women MLAs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106235236/http://nslegislature.ca/index.php/about/female-mlas/ |date=2014-11-06 }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Gladys Muriel}} Category:1893 births Category:1967 deaths Category:Women MLAs in Nova Scotia Category:Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia MLAs Category:Women mayors of places in Nova Scotia Category:20th-century Canadian women politicians Category:Canadian Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:20th-century mayors of places in Nova Scotia Category:20th-century members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly Category:First women legislators Category:First women mayors
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