Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol. 12: 1891-1900

Trevor S. Raymond is a teacher and librarian with the Peel Board of Education and editor of Canadian Holmes.

Surely there has never been a work of Canadian historical scholarship to
equal this great series, which had its origins in 1952, was formally
organized in 1959, and published its first volume in 1966. The project,
including an account of how each volume is prepared, has been described
by the Canadian Book Review Annual (see especially CBRA 1976). This
latest volume—the last to be edited by Frances Halpenny, who has been
associated with the project in various capacities from the
beginning—contains biographies by 450 contributors of 597 people who
died in the last decade of the nineteenth century. The oldest subject,
Sir Provo Wallis, died in 1892 in his 101st year, still receiving a
naval officer’s full pay; the 1813 battle between the Shannon and the
Chesapeake, which left him in command of both ships, was just the start
of his career. And Andrew Campbell was only 42 when he disappeared from
Canadian history by moving to the United States in 1895 to escape
allegations of being an abortionist.

An introductory essay concisely surveys the period; each biography is
followed by notes on sources, and a thorough general bibliography covers
35 double-columned pages. Each biography is accessible in a variety of
ways, an approach that enables researchers to investigate particular
interests. Subjects are indexed by their place of birth, by career, by
the geographical area in which their floruit years were spent, and in
some cases by race or gender. Internal cross-referencing is indicated by
asterisks. Thus, Mary Ann Shadd is listed with AUTHORS, under the
subheading “Pamphlets, essays and polemics,” as well as under the
headings BLACKS, JOURNALISTS, and WOMEN, and in the geographical index
under UNITED STATES (for place of birth), and both ONTARIO: CENTRE and
ONTARIO: SOUTH WEST for careers.

Biographies are thorough and often critical; W.J. Eccles systematically
demolishes the lifework of Francis Parkman, for example. The studies in
this book not only provide scholarly insights into a crucial era—the
years leading to and immediately following Confederation—but also tell
fascinating stories in themselves. Here a reader meets farmers and
industrialists, musicians and soldiers, rogues and explorers,
legislators and educators, travelling actors and Indian chiefs. Here are
lives of 14 early provincial premiers, some Fathers of Confederation,
and our first four prime ministers. If any one person can be said to
dominate both the era and these pages, it is, of course, our first prime
minister. The lengthy biography of Sir John A. Macdonald is a
masterpiece of lucid, comprehensive condensation, and Sir John appears
in no fewer than 130 of the 597 life stories told here.

An essential reference for students of Canadian history and a
delightful companion for the merely curious, this is a great and
wonderful book.