John Drinkwater, poet, playwright, and actor was born in Leystonstone, Essex on 1 June 1882 and educated at Oxford High School. He was co-founder of an amateur dramatic society, the Pilgrim Players, in 1907. He went on to become the manager of the then fledgling Birmingham Repertory Theatre where he also acted. He is best known for a series of historical plays beginning with Abraham Lincoln. He died in London on 25 March 1937.
Morris Hayne Austin 'Boy' Drury, OBE, CD, was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec on 10 October 1896. Drury was a member of the Royal Canadian Dragoons Permanent Force when he enlisted with the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force in December 1915. Prior to enlisting Drury also had experience as a Lieutenant with the 11th Hussars and had completed one year at the Royal Military College as a cadet. After the First World War, he formed the Canadian Army Equestrian Jumping Team, which entertained spectators throughout the Great Depression. He retired from the military in 1946 and became Commandant of the Toronto Division for twenty-two years. He died in 1977.
Maureen Duffy was born on 21 October 1933 in Worthing, Sussex and educated at King's College, London. She has published in many genres but is primarily known as a novelist. Her first novel was That's How It Was (1962). "Josie" was broadcast on television in 1961.
Nora Mabel Duncan, nee Dann, was born in 1881. She published a few volumes of poetry with the North Shore Press in North Vancouver, B.C. The poems in this collection were presumably written while she was on vacation in Quebec. In 1908, she married banker Wallace Craig Duncan (1871-1937). They had two daughters in Calgary, before moving to Vancouver. She was on a train, headed west to attend her daughter's wedding when she suddenly collapsed and died.
Lawrence Durrell, novelist and poet, was born on 12 February 1912 in Julundur, India, the son of Lawrence Samuel Durrell, a British civil engineer. He was educated at the College of St. Joseph, Darjeeling, and St. Edmund's College in Canterbury. In 1939 under the auspices of the British Council, he taught at the British Institute in Athens. He became Foreign Press Service Officer at the British Information Office in Cairo in 1941 and press attaché with the same office in 1944. Through his contacts in the diplomatic service during the war, Durrell met Dudley and Mary Honor. His most well known work, The Alexandria Quartet, was started shortly after the war and published from 1957 to 1960. Durrell died on 7 November 1990 in Sommieres, France.
Cyrus Eaton was born in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1883 and educated at McMaster University, receiving a B.A. in 1905. After moving to the United States, he had a successful business career in steel, coal, railways, public utilities and agriculture. In the 1950s he agreed to finance the Pugwash conferences, named after his birthplace. The conferences brought together scientists who were trying to diminish the threat of nuclear war. In 1964 Eaton travelled to the Soviet Union and met with Nikita Khrushchev in an attempt to bring more understanding between capitalism and communism. Mr. Eaton was the recipient of many honorary degrees and awards. He died in 1979.
William John Eccles, historian, was born on 17 July 1917 in Thirsk, Yorkshire, and came to Canada as a boy. He was educated at McGill University and the Sorbonne in Paris. In 1953 he began teaching at the University of Manitoba. He moved to the University of Alberta in 1957 and the University of Toronto in 1963. He retired from the University of Toronto in 1983 and died in Toronto on October 2 1998. He was the author of Frontenac: The Courtier Governor (1959), The Canadian Frontier, 1534-1760 (1969), and France in America (1972).
Born in Donington, England on 2 August 1922, Edinborough was educated St. Catherine's College, Cambridge, B.A. 1947, M.A. (Hons. English) 1949, received Hon. LL.D. from Guelph University, 1969, and was appointed Hon. Fellow of St. John's [Anglican] College, Winnipeg, 1975. He was a writer, broadcaster, and "man of the arts". Academic career postings have included: Visiting Lecturer at the University of Lausanne, in 1947; Asst. Professor of English, 1949-1954, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont.; Visiting Professor, University of British Columbia, 1962-1963. From 1954 until 1970 he took on a variety of journalism roles: editor, Saturday Night, 1958-1962; purchased Saturday Night, and served as both President and Publisher, 1963-1970; contributing editor on culture to the Financial Post, 1970-1990; contributor to the Canadian Churchman, 1960-1989. His books include: Some Camel, Some Needle (1974); The Festivals of Canada (1981); Arnold Edinborough: an Autobiography (1991). He was an active producer of radio and television shows through EDIN Productions. In addition, he was involved in a wide variety of art and religious organizations. Edinborough died on 2 June 2006.
Jane Elliott was married to Thomas F[rederick] Elliott (1808-1880). Thomas F. Elliott was born in London in 1808 and educated at Harrow. He entered the Colonial Office and from 1835 to 1837 served as secretary to the Earl of Gosford's Commission of Inquiry in Canada. In 1833 he marrried Jane Perry, the daughter of James Perry, the owner and editor of the Morning Chronicle. The Elliotts left Canada in 1837 when he was appointed chief of the first Department of Emigration in England. Jane Elliott died in 1861.
Ralph Ellis was an active labour leader in Hamilton for more than twenty years. During that time he was employed as a machinist at the American Can Company. He was active in the CCF party, becoming president of the Hamilton West Riding Association and also running for alderman in the 1950s. In the 1960s he became involved in the crusade to make Canadian labour unions independent of American influence. This activism led to his expulsion from the Hamilton and District Labour Council in 1971 after a membership of twenty years. He went on to chair the National Committee for Independent Canadian Unions. He passed away November 16, 2008 in his 88th year.
Marian Engel, novelist, was born Marian Searle in Toronto on 24 May 1933. She was educated at McMaster University and then McGill University where she wrote her M.A. thesis, under Hugh MacLennan's supervision, on the English-Canadian novel in 1957. After teaching briefly in Montreal and at the University of Montana, she travelled in Europe, marrying fellow McMaster graduate and author, Howard Engel, in 1962. She spent a year in Cyprus and finally returned to Canada where her twin children were born. Her first published novel, No Clouds of Glory appeared in 1968 and was followed by The Honeyman Festival (1970), Monodromos (1973) and Bear (1976), for which she received the Governor General's Award for Literature. She also wrote short stories and children's books. Her last published novel was Lunatic Villas (1981). Engel died in Toronto on 16 February 1985.
Isy Esses was a member of a Jewish family with business interests in a number of different locations. He was born in Manchester, England on 21 April 1910. Isy was the director of the Unico Trading Company in Kobe, Japan and was located there from 1934 onwards and presumably earlier than that. His brothers, Abraham (Abe/Aby) and Clement, were the directors of M.I. Esses & Sons Ltd. in Dublin, Ireland – although their joint control of this firm did not begin until later into the time period covered by this fonds. For a time Abraham lived in Palestine as did his sister Gladys. The Dublin company was named after their father, Moise Isaac Esses, who had retired. He and his wife lived in West Didsbury, near Manchester. Another sister, Rachel lived with them. The senior Esses died in September 1940 in Dublin where he and his wife had moved upon retirement. Gladys married Leon M. Safdie in 1937 while Abraham got engaged to Edith Stambouli. Isy was made a director of M.I. Esses in 1941. The brothers dealt in a variety of different goods including hairpins, buttons, jewellery, china, cotton and plywood. Unico shipped goods throughout the world – to other places in Asia, Britain, the Middle East, South America, Australia, and the United States. In May 1940 the three brothers were planning to form a new company for sundries only, named Esco Ltd. Business cards were printed. Another company, Messers. Esse & Cie was operative in Aleppo. M.I. Esses & Sons Ltd. and Esco Ltd. are still in operation today.
Running the business in Japan became more difficult as World War II went on and Isy Esses found himself under a terrific strain. It was difficult to find passage out of the Far East. In addition, he had responsibilities to the business which also delayed his departure. He did not leave Japan for good until late summer 1941 getting passage on a ship on 18 August bound for Shanghai. From there he was able to get to Bombay. He then made his way to Cape Town, South Africa, leaving there on 25 October 1941 for New York. During the period from 1934 to 1941 he had left Japan from time to time to visit relatives, including his parents in West Didsbury, and conduct business. The Unico Trading Company was not re-established; instead he started a new company, Esco. He stayed in New York until 1954 when he moved to Toronto. He married Marchelle Shalom in New York on 25 March 1946. Isy Esses died on 17 February 1991 in Toronto.
Elizabeth Evans was born in Lincoln, England on 16 March 1916. She worked as a nurse for 30 years while living in England before moving to Hamilton, Ont. in 1970. Evans is her maiden name, and the name she uses in writing her poetry. Her married name is Joyce Elizabeth Crouse. Her four books of poetry are: A Mundane Magic (1986), Soft Syllables (1988) The Yin & Yang of It (1990), and A Sense of Wonder (1993).
Ronald Gilmore Everson was born on 18 November 1903 in Oshawa, Ontario to Thomas Henry Everson and Mary Elizabeth Farewell. He was educated at the University of Toronto (B.A. 1927) and Upper Canada Law School (LL.B. 1930). During his university years he was editor of the literary publication Acta Victoriana. After graduation from University (he never practiced law) he married Lorna Jean Austin (15 April 1931) and moved to a cabin in the bush near Huntsville, Ontario for five years. During this time he wrote numerous short stories and poetry but found it was not enough to pay all the bills. In 1936 he joined a public relations firm, called Johnston, Everson & Charlesworth Ltd., in Montreal and later became President (1953-1969) and Chairman of Communications (1964-1969). He started to pursue poetry more seriously in 1957 with the publication of his first book of poetry Three Dozen Poems. He authored more than a dozen books and pamphlets of poetry and was published in numerous anthologies and magazines. A number of his poems were also translated into several languages. He was a founding member of Delta and The League of Canadian Poets. Everson spent most of his life in Montreal. He moved to Burlington shortly before he passed away on 16 February 1992.
Terry Fallis is a Canadian novelist, policial satirist, and political consultant. Terrence Hugh Fallis was born in Toronto on 23 December 1959, the son of Dr. and Mrs. James Fallis (née Barbara Ham); he has a twin named Tim. In 1983 Fallis earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree from McMaster University. He also served as President of the McMaster Students Union.
After graduation, he joined future Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's full time staff for the 1984 federal Liberal Leadership campaign. He has worked as a legislative assistant for the Honourable Jean Lapierre and the Honourable Robert Nixon. From 1988-95, he was a government affairs and communications consultant with the PR firm, Hill and Knowlton, including stints as Vice President running the Ontario government affairs group and finally President of Berger & Associates, a Hill and Knowlton subsidiary. In 1995, with Joe Thornley, he co-founded Thornley Fallis, a communications consulting agency with offices in Ottawa and Toronto.
Fallis is also a novelist and political satirist. In 2007 he self-published The Best Laid Plans. It won the 2008 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, and then was published by McClelland & Stewart in September 2008. In 2010, the Waterloo Region chose The Best Laid Plans as the One Book, One Community selection. A sequel entitled The High Road was published by McClelland & Stewart in September 2010.
Fallis continues to publish highly praised and well received novels, including his 4th novel, No Relation, which also received the Leacock Medal for Humour. Further information about Fallis, including podcasts from his novels, can be obtained at his <a href="http://terryfallis.com/">website</a>.
Robin Farr was born in Vancouver in 1926. He graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1947 with a B.A. and from teacher's college in 1948. In 1950, Farr began his publishing career with Copp Clark in Toronto. In 1960, after being appointed founding Director of the McGill University Press, he moved to Montreal to head the new publishing house for the next nine years. In 1969, after a short stint at McClelland and Stewart, Farr landed at Ryerson Press, Toronto. In 1970, the Ryerson Press was sold to the American firm McGraw-Hill Ltd. Farr ended his career at the Canada Council with a key role in developing and influencing government publishing policy. For further information, see Farr's autobiographical document On Publishing Years included in the fonds.
James Anson Farrer was born in London, England, the son of Rev. Matthew Thomas Farrer and Mary Louisa Anson. He was a prolific author, writing fifty works, including Invasion and Conscription (1909).
