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Jean McIlwraith

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Jean McIlwraith
Jean N. McIlwraith, from a 1901 publication.
Jean N. McIlwraith, from a 1901 publication.
BornDecember 28, 1858
Hamilton, Canada West
DiedNovember 17, 1938(1938-11-17) (aged 79)
Burlington, Ontario
OccupationWriter (novelist)
NationalityCanadian
Period19th, 20th century
GenreHistorical fiction, biography

Jean Newton McIlwraith (December 28, 1858 – November 17, 1938) was a Canadian novelist and biographer. Her works include children's books, 1 opera, and historical romances, such as The Curious Career of Roderick Campbell (1901), A Diana of Quebec (1912), and Kinsmen at War (1927).[1]

Biography

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McIlwraith was born in 1858 in Hamilton, Canada West. Her parents were Mary Park and Thomas McIlwraith, a noted ornithologist.[2] She attended the Wesleyan Ladies College and studied modern literature through a correspondence program with Queen Margaret College of the University of Glasgow. From 1902 to 1919 she worked in New York City for publishing companies and achieved the position of head reader at Doubleday, Page and Co. In 1919 she returned to Canada to devote her time to writing.[3] She suffered from arteriosclerosis and died from pneumonia in Burlington, Ontario in 1938.[4]

Works

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McIlwraith published one opera and several books in the genre of romance and historical fiction. She also published numerous short stories which appeared in magazines such as Harper's, Atlantic Monthly and Cornhill Magazine.[2][3]

  • Ptarmigan, 1895 (comic opera, co-authored with John Aldous).
  • The Making of Mary, 1895 (pseud. Jean Forsyth).
  • The Span o' Life: a Tale of Louisburg and Quebec, 1899
  • Canada, 1900.
  • The Curious Case or Roderick Campbell, 1901.
  • A Diana of Quebec, 1912. A fictional account of the romantic triangle, and relationships, between Captain Robert Mathews, Miss Mary Simpson, and Horatio Nelson.
  • Kinsmen at War, 1927.

References

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  1. ^ "McIlwraith, Jean Newton (1859–1938)".
  2. ^ a b Virginia Blain; Isobel Grundy; Patrica Clements, eds. (1990). The Feminist Companion to Literature in English. United Kingdom: B.T. Batsford. pp. 691–692.
  3. ^ a b Sandra Campbell; Lorraine McMullen (1991). New Women: Short Stories by Canadian Women, 1900-1920. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press. pp. 291–292.
  4. ^ "McIlwraith, Jean Newton". Simon Fraser University. 2014.

Further reading

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  • Barber, Marilyn. "The Women Ontario welcomed: Immigrant Domestics for Ontario Homes, 1870-1930," Ontario History 72 (Sept. 1980): 148-172.
  • Wilson, Elizabeth. "Beloved Friend," Saturday Night, 17 Dec. 1938: 28.
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