Edna Sheard
Edna Janet Sheard nee Murphy (1900-1990) was born in Bracebridge, Ontario. Her father “ran the river” driving logs to the mill. They moved to Manitoba in 1909,then Vancouver around 1911. Her teen years were deeply affected by her father’s devotion to the Episcopalian Mission and her mother’s illness (Bright’s Disease). Her hope was to be a nurse, but after her mother’s death in 1917, her father said he couldn’t afford to look after her. She found work as a housemaid, in a biscuit factory, and volunteer nurse during the flu epidemic. In 1919, she married 31-year-old logger Charlie Martin who introduced her to communist and pro-labour ideas. The couple moved to Alberta to partner in the farm of Charlie’s brother, but it failed, and they returned to Vancouver in 1922. She joined the communist party and helped publish the B.C. Worker’s News. She left her husband in 1936 and returned to domestic and chambermaid work. She married Sidney Sheard in 1945. They had worked together at the North Vancouver shipyards – he as an electrician and Edna as his helper. Edna continued her activities with the communist party, the Women’s Labour League member, the unemployed movement and supported the Spanish war effort.