George Frederick Cameron (24 September 1854 – 17 September 1885) was a Canadian poet, lawyer, and journalist, best known for the libretto for the

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

'' Leo, the Royal Cadet''.

Life

He was born in

New Glasgow, Nova Scotia New Glasgow is a town in Pictou County, in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated on the banks of the East River of Pictou, which flows into Pictou Harbour, a sub-basin of the Northumberland Strait. The town's population was 9,471 ...

, the son of James Grant Cameron and Jessie Sutherland. He was educated in New Glasgow. He moved to Boston in April 1869. For three years he was writing on the subject of freedom, especially the struggle which was taking place in Cuba. He graduated from the

Boston University School of Law The Boston University School of Law (BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston. Established in 1872, it is the third-oldest law school in New England, after Harvard Law School and Yale Law School. Ap ...

in 1877. He worked for the law firm Dean, Butler and Abbot of Boston from 1877 to 1882. He contributed poetry to Boston periodicals, including the ''Courier'' and the ''Transcript''. In fall 1882 he enrolled in Queen's College in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

, where he won a poetry prize in 1883 for "Adelphi". He is sometimes considered one of the Confederation Poets. He married a 12-year Ella Amey on 22 August 1883. He was the editor of the ''Daily News'' in Kingston, Ontario, from March 1883 until his death of heart failure on 17 September 1885 at Millhaven, Ontario. The couple had had one daughter, Jessie Cameron Alison. George Frederick Cameron was a

war poet War poetry is poetry on the topic of war. While the term is applied especially to works of the First World War, the term can be applied to poetry about any war, including Homer's ''Iliad'', from around the 8th century BC as well as poetry of th ...

since he was a poet writing in time of and on the subject of the

Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in present-day South Africa from January to early July 1879 between forces of the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Two famous battles of the war were the Zulu victory at Battle of Isandlwana, Isandlwana and th ...

. He wrote '' Leo, the Royal Cadet''. The latter achieved over 1,700 performances between its premiere in 1889 and 1925 and has recently been revived in 2001 and 2010. In 1887 his brother, Charles L. Cameron, edited and published a selection of Cameron's poems under the title '' Lyrics on Freedom, Love and Death'' (Kingston, 1887).

Recognition

Cameron's poem "On Leaving the Coast of Nova Scotia" was included in the 1889 anthology '' Songs of the Great Dominion''. His poetry also appeared in ''A Century of Canadian Sonnets'' (1910). Cameron was declared a Person of National Historic Significance in 1946. A bronze plaque was affixed to the New Glasgow post office (since moved to the town's Dominion Building) by Historic Sites and Monuments of Canada which reads: "George Frederick Cameron, Poet and Journalist, Author of ''Lyrics of Freedom, Love and Death''. Born at New Glasgow, 24 September 1854. Died in Kingston, Ontario, 17 September 1885."

Works

* '' Leo, the Royal Cadet'', George Frederick Cameron (libretto) and Oscar Ferdinand Telgmann
'An entirely new and original military opera in four acts' (Kingston, 1889)

"Ho! Ho! My Airy Fairy Maid", "Ho! Ho! My Pretty Maid", "I met him in the far away" from ''Opera and Operetta Excerpts''
composer: Oscar Ferdinand Telgmann
"Words: George Frederick Cameron "Farewell, O Fragrant Pumpkin Pie"
from ''Leo, the Royal Cadet'', composer: Oscar Ferdinand Telgmann
"''Our Premier'' music/words by George Frederick Cameron; music by Oscar Telgmann"
Kingston, Ontario: C. J. Cameron, c. 1885 in honour of John A. Macdonald * – – * * * * – * * * * * * * Cameron, George Frederick (1960). Smith, A. J. M. (ed.). ''The Future'', p. 60, The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse

Fonds

The George F. Cameron fonds at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

consists of manuscript notebooks as well as handwritten and typewritten copies of his poetry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, George Frederick 1854 births 1885 deaths 19th-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets Boston University School of Law alumni Canadian opera librettists Sonneteers People from New Glasgow, Nova Scotia 19th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Poets from Nova Scotia