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Edith Eliza Hancox
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Businesswoman, feminist.
Born at Wiltshire, England on 8 August 1874, she immigrated to Canada in 1904 with her first husband William Henry Chamberlain (1871-1912) and their two sons: Harry Chamberlain (1901-1972) and Arthur Chamberlain (1902-1985). In 1910, she began operating a small hardware store from their home at 1574 Logan Avenue.
Her public activism began during the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike when she became the only woman to speak at pro-strike rallies in Victoria Park. Subsequently, she gave sermons in the Labour Church, formed a branch of the Women's Labour League, and ran (unsuccessfully) as a trustee for the Winnipeg School Board. Active in the One Big Union (OBU), her advocacy led to women gaining full affiliation. She became secretary of the Winnipeg Central Council of the Unemployed. In 1923, she was a candidate for Winnipeg city council, representing the Communist Workers' Party. She led delegations to the Winnipeg City Hall and Manitoba Legislative Building, and wrote letters and articles in the OBU Bulletin and Communist Worker.
On 26 April 1913, she married William John Hancox (1880-1955) at Winnipeg and they had a daughter, Jean Hancox (c1915-2000, wife of J. Matheson and ? Everett). After leaving their home on Logan Avenue, the family lived in the Haslemere Apartments and later the Reliance Block. She was a member of Ashburn Baptist Church and Ancient Order of Foresters (Queen Victoria Circle).
She died at Winnipeg on 3 June 1954 and was buried beside her second husband in the Brookside Cemetery. She was selected posthumously by the Nellie McClung Foundation as a Manitoba Women Trailblazer.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Chamberlain Building / Bittner Block (1574 Logan Avenue, Winnipeg)
1911 Canada census [Edith Chamberlain], Automated Genealogy.
Death registration [William Henry Chamberlain], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Marriage registrations [Edith Eliza Gale Angell Chamberlain, William John Hancox], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Mrs. Hancox speaks,” Winnipeg Tribune, 9 November 1923, page 8.
Death registrations [Edith Eliza Hancox, William John Hancox], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary [Edith Eliza Hancox], Winnipeg Tribune, 4 June 1954, page 9.
“Deaths and funerals,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 June 1954, page 38.
Obituary [Arthur Chamberlain], Winnipeg Free Press, 16 November 1985, page 70.
Obituary [Jean Everett], Winnipeg Free Press, 7 June 2000.
Edith Hancox, The Nellie McClung Foundation.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 1 July 2026
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