The Courts Have Turned Women into Slaves for the Men of this World: Irene Murdoch's Quest for Justice

Resource type
Authors/contributors
Title
The Courts Have Turned Women into Slaves for the Men of this World: Irene Murdoch's Quest for Justice
Abstract
In 1973 the Supreme Court of Canada issued a ruling in Murdoch v Murdoch, denying Irene “Ginger” Murdoch an interest in the cattle ranch that she and her husband, James Alexander “Alex” Murdoch, had built together over many years. Irene performed extensive manual labour on the farm, including driving, branding, vaccinating and de-horning cattle, haying, raking, and mowing. She often did this work alone due to long, off-ranch, work-related absences by Alex. When their marriage began to break down, Irene sought to receive her ownership interest in the ranch property. However, the certificate of title to the property showed that the land belonged solely to Alex Murdoch. For Irene to receive an interest in the property it would be necessary for a court to declare that a portion of the title to the ranch was held by Alex Murdoch in trust for his wife. The principal basis for finding such a trust, her lawyer argued, was her contribution through labour to the ranch operations. That argument was rejected at trial and ultimately also by the Supreme Court of Canada, which held that under existing Canadian law no property claim was available to Irene Murdoch in the circumstances of her case. --Introduction
Book Title
Property on Trial: Canadian Cases in Context
Place
Toronto
Publisher
Published for the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History by Irwin Law
Date
2012
Pages
159-92
Language
English
ISBN
978-1-55221-296-7
Short Title
The Courts Have Turned Women into Slaves for the Men of this World
Accessed
9/9/24, 6:53 PM
Library Catalog
Google Scholar
Notes

Contents: Introduction / James Muir -- The law of property in animals, Newfoundland-style / Bruce Ziff -- Nuisance and neighbourhood in late nineteenth-century Montreal : Drysdale v Dugas in its contexts / Eric H. Reiter -- KVP : riparian resurrection in 20th century Ontario / Jamie Benidickson -- Cottages, covenants, and the Cold War : Galbraith v. Madawaska Club / Philip Girard -- "The right to discriminate" : Kenneth Bell versus Carl McKay and the Ontario Human Rights Commission / Frank Luce and Karen Schucher -- "The courts have turned women into slaves for the men of this world" : Irene Murdoch's quest for justice / Vanessa Gruben, Angela Cameron, and Angela Chaisson -- Morgan and Jacobson v Attorney General for Prince Edward Island / Margaret McCallum -- The Zoroastrian Temple in Toronto : a case study in land use regulation, Canadian-style / Eran Kaplinsky -- Manitoba Fisheries v. the Queen : the origins of Canada's de facto expropriation doctrine / Jim Phillips and Jeremy Martin -- The malling of property law? : the Toronto Eaton Centre cases, 1984-1987, and the right to exclude / Eric Tucker -- Regina v Stewart : is information property? / C. Ian Kyer -- Begging to differ : panhandling, public space, and municipal property / Nicholas Blomley -- Pirate or prophet? : Monsanto Canada Inc. v Schmeiser / Patricia L. Farnese -- A railway, a city, and the public regulation of private property : CPR v City of Vancouver / Douglas C. Harris -- Private property and the public interest : (re)telling the stories of principles, places, and parties / Mary Jane Mossman -- Select bibliography : Canadian property law histories.

Citation
Cameron, A., Gruben, V., Chaisson, A., & Osgoode Society for Legal History. (2012). The Courts Have Turned Women into Slaves for the Men of this World: Irene Murdoch’s Quest for Justice. In E. Tucker, B. H. Ziff, & J. Muir (Eds.), Property on Trial: Canadian Cases in Context (pp. 159–192). Published for the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History by Irwin Law. https://archive.org/details/propertyontrialc0000unse/page/158/mode/2up