Alma Gould Dale

Alma Gould Dale
Personal details
Born	27 October 1854 Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada
Died	(1930-08-29)29 August 1930

Alma Gould Dale (1854-1930), “a legendary figure in Canada history,” founded the first monthly Quaker meeting in western Canada, at Hartney, Manitoba, in 1899. She represents the Quaker presence in Canada on one of the seventy-five panels in the Quaker Tapestry at Friends’ House, in London. On the tapestry, she is depicted driving a palomino team to a Quaker settlement in western Canada, which she drove in all weather. She was well-known as a dynamic speaker and was invited to speak in Canada, England, and New Zealand.

Life

Alma Dale was born in Uxbridge, Ontario, on October 27, 1854. She grew up in the Uxbridge Quaker community, which had been established in the early 1800s. Her parents were Joseph and Mary Gould (nee James). Her father had taken part in the Rebellion of 1837 and later represented North Ontario in the Legislative Assembly of Canada from 1854 to 1861.

She spent eleven years, from 1887 to 1898, as a minister in Uxbridge, Ontario. During this time, she organized a Mission School. In 1898, she went west as a pioneer minister. In 1899, she organized a monthly meeting at Hartney, Manitoba, under the care of the Yonge Street Quarterly Meeting. She helped to design and build the church building (later moved to Dand, Ontario, to be used by the United Church of Canada). In a diary-style description of a visit to the western provinces, Jane Zavitz-Bond says: “Alma Dale was remembered by all the older members of the meeting. She designed the church and was even up on the roof shingling.”

In 1907, Alma Dale reported her activities

During that time [half the year], I have been able to make 109 family visits, hold 60 meetings which have been attended by about 2050 persons, and have driven 1800 miles doing the work.

— Alma Dale

She also visited England on a 24 day mission to Hermonceux. A report of this visit mentions the return of “doubters, drunkards, and backsliders and doubling of attendance at various meetings.

She worked until her death at 76, on August 29, 1930. The Journal of the Canadian Friends Historical Association evaluates her strength as her “ability to arouse people’s consciousness through her abilities as a dynamic speaker. In the days before women were acknowledged as having public voices, she accepted speaking engagements in Canada, England, and New Zealand.” Bessie Dann recalled a sermon from Dale when she was visiting Norwich, taken from the Proverbs text “The spider taketh hold with her hands and is in king’s palaces.” In her diary, Gertrude Nicholson describes Alma Dale:

Alma Dale, who is a little lady with short hair and dresses rather mannishly… is a very lively and splendid speaker and tells all sorts of amusing stories…she is a great hand in managing horses…

— Gertrude Nicholson