Boulton, Edith Sarah Louisa (Nordheimer)

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Tori Smith, “BOULTON, EDITH SARAH LOUISA (Nordheimer),” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 14, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. See full biography at: https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/boulton_edith_sarah_louisa_14E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Philanthropist and imperialist; b. 1847 in Toronto and baptized 3 May 1847 in Niagara (Niagara-on-the-Lake), Upper Canada, daughter of James Boulton and Margaret Neilina Fortye; m. 15 Nov. 1871 Samuel Nordheimer in Toronto, and they had eight daughters and three sons; d. there 14 Nov. 1912.
    • As the daughter of a prominent Toronto family – her grandfather D’Arcy Boulton had been an attorney general – and the wife of a prosperous and well-known businessman, Edith Nordheimer soon occupied an élite position in Toronto society. She entertained at her lavish suburban home on Davenport Road, Glenedyth, and attended exclusive social functions. On a trip to England in 1873, she was presented to Queen Victoria. Like many upper- and middle-class women of the late 19th century, she was also involved in a variety of philanthropic organizations. An Anglican, she contributed in Toronto to the Infants’ Home, the Hillcrest Convalescent Hospital, the Ladies’ Work Depository, the Working Boys’ Home, the Children’s Aid Society, and St James’ Cathedral, and she was a governor of the Ottawa-based Victorian Order of Nurses.
    • The Federation of the Daughters of the Empire had been officially founded in Montreal in 1900. In 1901, a group of Ontario women re-established the order in Toronto with Nordheimer as president and altered its name slightly. Under Nordheimer, the IODE attempted to promote the connections between Canada and the empire, and the British nature of Canada, by forging contacts with women in other colonies and by increasing Canadians’ knowledge of the empire.
    • Under Nordheimer the IODE grew into a thriving organization of about 10,000 members with dozens of chapters across Canada. There were even scattered chapters in the United States, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Newfoundland, and India, although Nordheimer’s goal of an empire-wide organization was never realized. According to her contemporaries, she was a skilled organizer who devoted tremendous energy to the order. 
  • Third Great Granddaughter of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=7299
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/75659514/edith-nordheimer