P.F. Cronin, a journalist, came to Canada in 1887 from Ireland in 1887. He first worked for the Toronto Empire and later on for the Catholic Register. Edward Blake (1833-1912) was a Canadian lawyer and politician, who became premier of Ontario in 1871 before moving on to federal politics. In 1892 he abandoned Canadian politics for British, serving as the Nationalist member for South Longford in the British House of Commons until 1907. He died in Toronto in 1912.
W.H. Davies, poet and author, was born in Wales. At the age of 22 he left Britain to seek his fortune in the United States. He spent the next five years wandering extensively in that country and he later described those adventures in his popular Autobiography of a Super Tramp. Having decided to try his luck in the Klondike gold rush, Davies lost his foot in a train accident in Ontario and returned to Wales. In 1905, at the age of 34, he began submitting his poetry for publication and soon found himself in demand, ranking Bernard Shaw among his admirers. Between 1905 and 1939 he published scores of little books of poetry, his autobiography, four novels and numerous other prose works. He married in 1923 and died, childless, in 1940.
Fawcett, Dame Millicent Garrett
Millicent Garrett was born at Aldeburgh, Suffolk on 11 June 1847 and educated at a school at Blackheath. In April 1867 she married Henry Fawcett, Professor of Economics at Cambridge and Member of Parliament. Because of her husband's blindness Millicent shared his working life even more than would normally be the case. The couple had one daughter, Philippa, born in 1868. Henry Fawcett died in 1884. Millicent Fawcett was a tireless leader in the struggle for women's suffrage, serving as president of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies from 1897 to 1918. She published her autobiography, What I Remember in 1924. She died in London on 5 August 1929.
David Gagan was born in Toronto in 1940. He grew up in Owen Sound, Ontario and completed both his B.A. and M.A. degrees in history at the University of Western Ontario. In 1969 he graduated from Duke University with a Ph.D. in history. He came to McMaster University in 1970 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of History and became a full professor in 1980. His administrative career began in 1981 as Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, a post he held until 1991. In 1992 he accepted the position of Vice-President, Academic at the University of Winnipeg. In 1996 he moved to Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. to become Vice-President, Academic. He is the author of three books as well as many articles and reviews.
David Gagan served as editor of Canada: An Historical Magazine, from its inception in 1973 until the last issue in 1976. The magazine was a joint venture by McMaster University and Holt, Rinehart and Winston of Canada to create a good non-academic Canadian history magazine. The magazine was given a three-year trial period to make itself self-supporting, and it failed. There were 12 issues in all: vol. 1 no. 1 (autumn 1973) to vol. 3, no. 4 (June 1976).
Léon Hennique was born in Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe on 4 November 1850. At the age of nine he moved to France where he received much of his formal education. He received educational training in Brest and Saint Quentin, and from 1865 to 1869 in Paris at the Jesuit school de la rue de Vaugirard. Hennique tried his hand at painting but did not find it as rewarding as writing. He was a novelist, playwright, journalist and a man of letters. His first published work appeared on 20 March 1876 in The Republic of Letters. Hennique followed the Naturalist school of thought, contributing several works to this literary movement.
Hennique was a close friend and associate of Emile Zola and the brothers Goncourt. He was a member of the Group of Médan presided over by Zola. Hennique assumed the presidency of the Goncourt academy from 1907 to 1912. He was also involved in developments in the Théatre-Libre in Paris. He was named a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 1895 and was also named an Officer of the National Order.
Robert Hughes was a Toronto, Ontario businessman and poet. His works included Rhymes for the Times and Other Times (1950) and Some Verses for My Friends (1941).
Henry James, novelist, was born in New York City on 15 April 1843. He was educated at Harvard University after spending several years abroad with his family. In 1876 James moved to London, England. A Portrait of a Lady was serialized in both the United States and Britain in 1880 and published in 1881. Several of his best novels were written later: The Wings of the Dove (1902), The Ambassadors (1903) and The Golden Bowl (1904). In 1915 James became a British subject and in 1916 was awarded the Order of Merit by George V. James died on 28 February 1916.
Charles William Jefferys was born in England in 1869. He moved with his family to Canada around 1880. Jefferys had a long career as a newspaper, magazine and book illustrator. He also taught for many years in the Department of Architecture at the University of Toronto. His most well known work is the three-volume Picture Gallery of Canadian History (1942-1950). He died in 1951.
Samuel Johnson, the English author and lexicographer, was one of the leading scholars and critics of his day.
Cosmo Gordon Lang, the son of Very Reverend John Marshall Lang, was born on 31 October 1864 and grew up in Fyvie, Aberdeenshire, the seat of his father's country parish. He was educated at Glasgow University and Balliol College, Oxford and ordained in 1890. He served as Archbishop of York, 1908-1928, and Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of All England, 1928-1942. He played a prominent role in the abdication of Edward VIII. Also an author, Lang published H.R.L. Sheppard: Himself and His Work (1937). Lang died on 5 December 1945.
C.S. Lewis was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on 29 November 1898 and educated at Oxford. He was a literary scholar, critic and novelist, fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, 1925-1954 and afterwards professor of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge. In addition to scholarly works, he wrote popular religious and moral books such as The Problem of Pain (1940).
However, he is best known as an author of children's books — most notably the Chronicles of Narnia, the most popular of which is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950). He died at The Kilns, Headington Quarry, near Oxford on 22 November 1963.
Wilmarth S. Lewis was an important American collector, particularly noted for his collection of Horace Walpole.
Michio Mamiya was born in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, on 29 June 1929. He was taught by both Hiroshi Tamura in piano and Tomojioro Ikenouchi in composition. A particular interest of his has been Japanese folk music. Thoroughly familiar with both European music as well as traditional Japanese music, he has tried to synthesize these forms of music in his compositions. In 1980, Mamiya wrote a letter in response to Anne Brydon, a fourth year undergraduate music student, detailing the personal and intellectual influences of his music.
Major Douglas Urquhart McGregor of Waterdown, Ont. was in the Royal Air Force during World War I. He was awarded the Military Cross. He later became a medical doctor and both of his sons became doctors. He died in 1953.
Henri de Montmorency was born in Chantilly, Oise to Anne de Montmorency and Madeleine of Savoy, 15 June 1534. He was the leader of the Politiques party during the French religious wars. He became the Constable of France in 1593.
Born on 2 February 1745 at Stapleton, Gloucestershire, Hannah More was a moral and religious writer. She was educated at home and then at a school her sisters had established in Bristol. In 1788 she published anonymously the first of her more serious reflections, Thoughts and Importance of the Manners of the Great to General Society. A series of writings followed which were among the most widely read books of the day. Her most popular work, Cœlebs in Search of a Wife was published in December 1809. Her works have been published in collected editions several times. She died on 7 September 1833 in Clifton.
Alfred E. Pease, second baronet of Hutton Lowcross and Pinchinthorpe, was born in 1857, the son of Sir Joseph Whitall Pease, a prominent Quaker director of mercantile enterprise and the first Quaker baronet. The younger Pease was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. From 1885 to 1982 Sir Alfred was member of parliament for York City, and from 1879 to 1902 he represented the Cleveland division of Yorkshire. He was one of the founders, and for many years president, of the Cleveland Bay Horse Society. He died in 1939.
Ezra Pound, poet, essayist, editor, and translator, was born on 30 October 1885 in Hailey, Idaho. He was educated at Hamilton College and the University of Pennyslvania. One of the great poets of the twentieth century, he lived most of his life in Europe, arriving in Italy in 1908. After World War II, he was found not mentally competent to stand trial for treason and was confined to St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, D.C. While there he wrote The Pisan Cantos (1949) which won him the Bollingen Prize. On his release in 1958 he returned to Italy. He died in Venice on 1 November 1972.
