Canadian Portraits (Paperback)

Text extracted from opening pages of book: CANADIAN PORTRAITS C. B. C. Broadcasts Edited by R. G. JIIDDELL Department of History, University of Toronto TORONTO OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1940 COPYRIGHT, 1940 by OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Printed in Canada FOREWORD THE HISTORY of a pioneer community offers a rich field to the biographer, for by its very nature the frontier attracts unique and progressive individuals. The exacting demands of a new country can be met only by men and women with initiative and originality. The pioneer is a man who ventures out on an uncharted course, and who stakes his future on his ability to adapt himself to new and strange conditions of life. The portraits which have been sketched in this volume are drawn from three hundred years of Canadian history. They are the stories of men who, as successive generations have pressed on towards new frontiers of settlement, have built their lives into the very foundations of the country. To the beginnings of civilization in Canada they have brought the rare qualities of the pioneer strength of character, courage, the ability to improvise, confidence in the future. In the life of each one of them the spirit of adventure was ever-present, leading always to new experiments and fresh discoveries. These biographies were prepared originally as radio talks, and they were presented in a series arranged by the radio committee of the Canadian Historical Associa tion for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The subjects were selected from many different periods in Canadian history, and from the whole length and breadth of the country. They represent also a wide variety of ability and interest, and the list includes explorers, politicans, scientists, artists, teachers, a lumber king, a judge, a village bard. Many familiar names are yi CANADIAN PORTRAITS, . . j * s: /-\ m smg fef lh p rpGile of the series was to tell new stories - waiter than repeat old ones. The subjects are therefore 1 e e n whose fame has been less generally known, but who hold an undisputed place in the company of great Canadians. The authors are all authorities who have made a special study of the men whose stories they have told. Mr. Graham Spry, who writes on Brul6, is a Canadian Rhodes Scholar now resident in England. The article on Bayly is by Professor A. S. Morton, Librarian in the University of Saskatchewan and Provincial Archivist in that province, who is a well known authority on western history. The sketches of the two Nova Scotians, McCulloch and Uniacke, are, respectively, by the Provincial Archivist in Nova Scotia, Professor D. C. Harvey, and his assistant, Mr. J. S. Martell. Professor Chester New is head of the Department of History at McMaster University, and his book on Lord Durham has established him as an authority on the period during which Bidwell lived. The article on Merritt is by Dr. A. R. M. Lower, professor of History in United College, Winnipeg, whose writings on Canadian economic history are well known. The late Douglas MacKay gathered the information for his biography of Simpson when he was editor of the Hudson's Bay Company magazine, The Beaver. Dr. Charles Camsell is Deputy Minister of Mines and Resources, and he is in a very real sense a successor in office to the subject of his sketch, William Edmund Logan. The colorful biography of Glasier is by Mr. Ian Sclanders of the St. John Telegraph and Journal. Mr, Graham Mclnnes, who writes on Kane, is a noted art critic and journalist. Professor R. O. MacFarlane of the Department of History, University of Manitoba, knows thoroughly the period during which Schultz lived, and has written a number of articles on early days in Manitoba. Mr. D. A, McGregor of the Vancouver FOREWORD Vll Province is the author of the article on Begbie. Sir Ernest MacMillan is Principal of the Toronto Conservatory of Music and his biography of Lavallee is an interesting chapter in the history of Canadian cultural life. Dr. Marius Barbeau, whos