Tilly Rolston

Frederick James Rolston

​

​

(m. 1909;died 1945)​

Tilly Rolston
Minister of Education of British Columbia
In office August 1, 1952 –October 12, 1953
Relations	Peter Rolston (grandson)
Occupation	teacher politician

Tilly Jean Rolston (née Cameron; February 23, 1887 – October 12, 1953) was a Canadian politician. She was the member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of British Columbia for Vancouver-Point Grey from 1941 to 1953, and served as minister of education under Premier W. A. C. Bennett from 1952 to 1953.

Biography

Born in Vancouver, she attended the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver Provincial Normal School. ^[1] She worked as a schoolteacher in Vancouver before marrying Frederick James Rolston in 1909; they had three children together. ^[1] She served as a director of the Pacific National Exhibition, and as a commissioner on the Vancouver Park Board from 1938 to 1946. ^{[1] [2]}

She was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia as a Conservative in the 1941 provincial election, becoming one of three MLAs representing Vancouver-Point Grey alongside Royal Maitland and James Alexander Paton, ^{[1] [3] : 198} and was re-elected in 1945 and 1949 as part of the Liberal-Conservative coalition. ^{[3] : 208, 218} During that time, she served as chairperson of the Select Standing Committee on Social Welfare, and was part of the effort that allowed margarine sold in British Columbia to be coloured yellow. ^[1] She left the coalition in March 1951 over the government's stance on hospital insurance, and sat in the legislature as an independent MLA before joining W. A. C. Bennett in the British Columbia Social Credit Party (Socred) in February 1952. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

With the Socreds forming a minority government following the watershed 1952 election, Rolston was named minister of education in the Bennett ministry, becoming the second woman cabinet minister in British Columbia, and the first woman in Canada to have a portfolio. ^{[1] [5] [7]} In that role, she brought in a new method of school finance that came to be known as the "Rolston Formula", ^[6] and was also instrumental in introducing what was effectively a sex-education program into the school curriculum. ^[1]

She lost to Liberal leader Arthur Laing in the 1953 election. ^{[3] : 253  [6]} Despite her defeat, she remained education minister until her death from cancer four months later following an operation; ^{[6] [7]} she became the first woman in British Columbia to receive a state funeral. ^[1]

Her grandson Peter Rolston served as Dewdney MLA from 1972 to 1975. ^[1]

Electoral record

v t e 1945 British Columbia general election : Vancouver-Point Grey
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	Elected
	Coalition	Royal Lethington Maitland	22,843	23.39	Y
	Coalition	James Alexander Paton	22,281	22.82	Y
	Coalition	Tilly Rolston	22,152	22.68	Y
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Albert Thomas Alsbury	9,837	10.07
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Francis James McKenzie	8,556	8.76
	Co-operative Commonwealth	George Alfred Isherwood	8,466	8.67
	Labour Progressive	Alexander Lorenzo Gordon	878	0.90
	Labour Progressive	John Goss	830	0.85
	Labour Progressive	William John Gordon Martin	764	0.78
	Social Credit Alliance	Charles Delbert Powell	625	0.64
	Democratic	William Richard Smith	423	0.43
Total valid votes			97,655	100.00
Total rejected ballots			597

v t e 1952 British Columbia general election : Vancouver-Point Grey , ballot C
Party	Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count	%
	Social Credit League	Tilly Rolston	19,236	36.90	25,749	58.75
	Liberal	George Stanley Miller	12,087	23.19	18,078	41.25
	Co-operative Commonwealth	George Alfred Isherwood	10,451	20.05
	Progressive Conservative	Hattie Pearl Steen	10,356	19.87
Total valid votes			52,130	100.00	43,827	100.00
Total rejected ballots			4,787
Note: Preferential ballot; first and final of three (3) counts only shown.

v t e 1953 British Columbia general election : Vancouver-Point Grey , ballot C
Party	Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count	%
	Liberal	Arthur Laing	17,412	34.79	22,730	39.86
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Frederick Norman Hill	9,441	18.86	12,947	22.70
	Social Credit League	Tilly Rolston	19,061	38.08	21,354	37.44
	Progressive Conservative	Thomas Frederick Orr	3,607	7.21
	Labour Progressive	Constance Marguerite Marks	338	0.67
	Christian Democratic	Mae Angelique Messner	196	0.39
Total valid votes			50,055	100.00	44,084	%100.00
Total rejected ballots			2,866
Note: Preferential ballot; first and final of five (5) counts only shown.

External links

• "Tilly Rolston". leg.bc.ca. Legislative Assembly of British Columbia . Retrieved October 18, 2024.
• Francis, Daniel, ed. (1999). Encyclopedia of British Columbia . Harbour Publishing. ISBN   1-55017-200-X.

References

1. Noakes, Taylor C. (October 20, 2022). "Tilly Rolston". thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved October 18, 2025.
2. "Board Commissioners". Vancouver Park Board . Retrieved October 18, 2025.
3. "Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871–1986" (PDF). Elections BC. pp. 198, 208, 218, 253. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
4. "A checklist of members of the Legislature of British Columbia" (PDF). Legislative Library of British Columbia. May 16, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 27, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
5. "Woman Minister With Portfolio First To Hold Such Post Here". The Gazette . Montreal. August 5, 1952. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
6. "Mrs. Tilly Rolston Dies in Hospital". Vancouver Sun . Vancouver. October 13, 1953. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
7. Bennett, Judith Antonik; Verspoor, Frederike (1989). "British Columbia Executive Council Appointments: 1871-1986" (PDF). British Columbia Legislative Library. pp. 58, 60. Retrieved October 18, 2025.