Elizabeth Roberts MacDonald (, Roberts; 17 February 1864 – 8 November 1922) was a Canadian writer of poetry, children's literature, essays, and short stories. She regularly contributed articles to a number of Canadian and U.S. dailies. MacDonald was also one of the leaders of

women's suffrage in Canada Women's suffrage in Canada occurred at different times in different jurisdictions to different demographics of women. Women's right to vote began in the three prairie provinces. In 1916, suffrage was earned by women in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and ...

. She died in 1922.

Early life and education

Jane Elizabeth Gostwycke (or, "Gostwick") Roberts was born 17 February 1864, in the "Old Rectory" at

Westcock, New Brunswick Westcock is a Canadian rural community in Westmorland County, about eight kilometres southwest of Sackville. In 1866, Westcock was a farming and lumbering settlement with about 62 families, while in 1898, Westcock had 1 post office, 1 sawmill, 1 ...

. Her father was the Rev. Canon George Goodridge Roberts, Rector of

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic Canad ...

, and Canon of the Cathedral there. He was a cultivated, scholarly gentleman of old English descent. Her mother was Emma Wetmore (Bliss) Roberts. Her siblings were

Charles G. D. Roberts Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts (January 10, 1860 – November 26, 1943) was a Canadian poet and prose writer. He was one of the first Canadian authors to be internationally known. He published various works on Canadian exploration and na ...

William Carman Roberts William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conques ...

, and

Theodore Goodridge Roberts George Edwards Theodore Goodridge Roberts (July 7, 1877 – February 24, 1953) was a Canadian novelist and poet. He was the author of thirty-four novels and over one hundred published stories and poems. He was the brother of poet Charles G. D. Ro ...

("Thede") – a family remarkable for the variety and richness of their contribution to the literature of Canada. On winter evenings, the favourite gathering place was about the great centre table in the

sitting room In Western architecture, a living room, also called a lounge room (Australian English), lounge ( British English), sitting room ( British English), or drawing room, is a room for relaxing and socializing in a residential house or apartment. ...

, where the young people read aloud for each other's amusement or edification the rhymes or stories which the day had called forth. Spirited discussions frequently arose, but the utmost good humour prevailed and final decisions on most questions were sought and accepted from the parents. The informal gathering gave a training which no school or carefully planned course of study could have achieved. In summer weather the garden was the favourite meeting place, along with their cousin,

Bliss Carman William Bliss Carman (April 15, 1861 – June 8, 1929) was a Canadian poet who lived most of his life in the United States, where he achieved international fame. He was acclaimed as Canada's poet laureate during his later years. In Canada, Car ...

. It is of this scented garden that MacDonald wrote about in her book, ''Dream Verses and Others''. She was educated at the Collegiate School, Fredericton, and completed a partial course in English, French and German at the New Brunswick University.

Career

MacDonald taught for a time in the

Halifax School for the Blind The Halifax School for the Blind opened on Morris Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia as the Halifax Asylum for the Blind in 1871, the first residential school for the blind in Canada. The first superintendent of the school (1873-1923)APSEA About UsAcce ...

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

. Suffering from chronic ill health, she returned home. For many years, she was a frequent contributor to magazines. Poems of hers appeared in ''

The Century Magazine ''The Century Magazine'' was an illustrated monthly magazine first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City, which had been bought in that year by Roswell Smith and renamed by him after the Century Associat ...

'', ''The Independent'', ''

Outing Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to com ...

'', and other prominent magazines. "Voices", "The Spell of the Forest", "The House Among the Firs", "The Fire of the Frost", "White Magic", "The Signal Smokes", "Dreamhurst", "The Whispering Poplars", "Flood Tide", "Mountain-Ash", "March Wind", "Harvest", "Reassurance", "The Shepherd", and "A Madrigal" are some of her mentioned poems. A pleasing writer of short stories, chiefly of a romantic or idealistic nature, and an essayist of uncommon power, she perhaps did her best prose work in her book for children, ''Our Little Canadian Cousin'', where in attractive story-form she pictures the many-sided lives of Canadian children. In collaboration with her two brothers, William and Theodore, she was the author of ''Northland Lyrics'', 1899, where her contributions to its pages brought her great praise from verse lovers in England and in the U.S. Another poetry book of hers, ''Dream Verses and Others'', was published in 1906. In 1896, she married her cousin, Samuel Archibald Roberts MacDonald, and they removed to

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

. There, MacDonald took an active part in the Equal Suffrage movement and was the first president of the Women's Suffrage Society of

Nelson, British Columbia Nelson is a city located in the Selkirk Mountains on the West Arm of Kootenay Lake in the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Known as "The Queen City", and acknowledged for its impressive collection of restored heritage buildings f ...

. The family moved next to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Win ...

, where MacDonald was engaged as a special writer on the staff of the ''Winnipeg Telegram''. In 1915, after marital separation, she moved to

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, with her sons, Archibald G. MacDonald and Cuthbert Goodridge MacDonald (a daughter, Hilary MacDonald, survived last than a year). Elizabeth Roberts MacDonald (CANADIAN POETS, 1916)

Elizabeth Roberts MacDonald (CANADIAN POETS, 1916)

A prominent member of the Canadian Authors' Association, MacDonald also held office in many other associations with which she was connected. Among them were the Women's Press Club of Winnipeg, and later of Ottawa, the Ottawa Women's Citizen Association, the Women's Suffrage Association of Nelson, British Columbia, of which she was president, while residing there, and the Women's Suffrage Association at Winnipeg. She also held a life membership in the Women's Auxiliary of the Anglican Church. She was also at one time treasurer of the Women's Citizens' Association. In religion, she was Anglican.

Personal life

Elizabeth MacDonald died at a hospital in

, 8 November 1922, from complications following an accident when she fell in her home, breaking her hip. Like his mother, Cuthbert, went on to become a writer. Cuthbert's son, Théodore Macdonald, was a Canadian

polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...

, professor of mathematics and

human rights defender A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing cam ...

Selected works

* An unnamed collection of poems in booklet format was published by MacDonald's father, 1888 * ''Northland Lyrics'', 1899 (with William Carman Roberts and Theodore Goodridge Roberts) * ''Our Little Canadian Cousin'', 1904 * ''Dream Verses and Others'', 1906

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:MacDonald, Elizabeth Roberts 1864 births 1922 deaths 19th-century Canadian poets 19th-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century Canadian women writers Canadian children's writers Canadian essayists Canadian suffragists People from Westmorland County, New Brunswick Writers from New Brunswick