Edward William Thomson (1849-1924) in Canadian Singers and their Songs, 1919. Courtesy Internet Archive.
| E.W. Thomson | |
|---|---|
 Thomson in Canadian Poets (1916) | |
| Born |
Edward William Thomson February 12, 1849 Peel County, Upper Canada |
| Died |
March 5, 1924 (aged 75) Boston, Massachusetts |
| Occupation | journalist, writer |
| Language | English |
| Nationality |
 Canadian |
| Citizenship | British subject |
| Notable work(s) | The Many-Mansioned House (1909) |
| Notable award(s) | FRSL, FRSC |
| Spouse(s) | Adelaide St-Denis |
| Children | son (Bernard) |
Edward William Thomson FRSL FRSC (February 12, 1849 - March 5, 1924) was a Canadian poet, journalist, and short story writer. He was a pioneer of the short story form in Canada.[1]
Life[]
Thomson was born in Peel County, Ontario, the grandson of Edward William Thomson, a member of the York militia who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada.
When Thompson was 14, he was sent to Philadelphia to work in a mercantile office. He enlisted in the Union Army in October 1864 (at 15), and saw action during the American Civil War as a trooper in the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry.[2]
Thomson returned to Canada when discharged in August, 1865. He saw combat again the next year, at the Battle of Ridgeway during the Fenian Raids.[2]
Thomson took up civil engineering in 1867, and worked as a land surveyor from 1872 to 1878.[2] In 1873 he married Adelaide St-Denis of Pointe Fortune, Quebec. The couple had one son, Bernard.[1]
In 1878, at the invitation of publisher George Brown, he became an editorial writer for The Toronto Globe.[2] He resigned from the Globe in 1891, due to the paper's support for the Liberal Party's position of unrestricted reciprocity (free trade) with the United States.[1]
In 1891 Thomson joined the staff of The Youth's Companion, a boys' magazine published in Boston, Massachusetts, and worked there for the next 11 years.[2]
In Boston Thomson was active in promoting Canadian literary talent, such as Confederation Poet Archibald Lampman. Lampman's literary executor, Duncan Campbell Scott, later called Thomson "a prince of friends whose helpfulness was inexhaustible and whose courage often understayed Lampman's ship when it was in stress of weather."[1]
Thomson returned to Canada in 1901, but kept some ties to Boston, serving as Ottawa correspondent to the Boston Evening Transcript from 1902 until his retirement in 1923. After retiring he returned to Boston, where he died in 1924.[1]
Recognition[]
Thomson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1909, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1910.[1]
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- The Many-Mansioned House, and other poems. Toronto: William Briggs / Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1909.
- When Lincoln Died, and other poems. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1909.
Short fiction[]
- Old Man Savarin, and other stories. Toronto: William Briggs / Montreal: C.W. Coates, 1895;
- also published as Old Man Savarin Stories: Tales of Canada and Canadians. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1974.
- Between Earth and Sky, and other strange stories of deliverance. Toronto: William Briggs / Montreal: C.W. Coates, 1897; Philadelphia: A.J. Rowland, 1897.
- Selected Stories (edited by Lorraine McMullen). Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1973.
Non-fiction[]
- Canadian Sentiment for Canada, the Republic, and Great Britain: An address by E.W. Thomson, author and journalist, special correspondent Boston Transcript, Ottawa, Ont., delivered before the Intercolonial Club of Boston, May 1, 1905. Boston: E. Dunn, 1905.
Juvenile[]
- Walter Gibbs, the Young Boss, and other stories: A book for boys. Toronto: William Briggs / Montreal: C.W. Coates, 1896;
- published in U.S. as The Young Boss: A book for boys. New York : Thomas Y. Crowell, 1896.
Letters[]
- The Letters of Edward William Thomson to Archibald Lampman, 1891-1897 (edited by Arthur S. Bourinot). Ottawa: Arthur S. Bourinot, 1957.
- An Annotated Edition of the Correspondence between Archibald Lampman and Edward William Thomson, 1890-1898 (edited by Helen Lynn). Ottawa: Tecumseh, 1980. ISBN 978-0919662773
Environment (Edward William Thomson Poem)
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[3]
See also[]
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Edward William Thomson, Dictionary of Literary Biography, 2005-2006, Thomson Gale, BookRags.com, Web, Feb. 14, 2012.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 John W. Garvin, "E.W. Thomson," Canadian Poets (Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart, 1916), 158, Web, Apr. 21, 2011.
- ↑ Search results = au:Edward William Thomson, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Mar. 22, 2015.
External links[]
- Poems
- "The Canadian Rossignol in May"
- E.W. Thomson in Canadian Poets: profile & 5 poems (Thunderchild's Lament, The Mandan Priest, The Canadian Rossignol (In May), The Canadian Rossignol (In June), From 'Peter Ottawa')
- Books
- Works by E.W. Thomson at Project Gutenberg
- Edward William Thompson at Amazon.com
- About
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