John Reade
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John Reade (November 13, 1837 – March 26, 1919) was an Irish-born
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
journalist, essayist, and poet once considered "the grand old man of
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
letters." He is best known as the literary editor of the ''
Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...
,'' a position he held for almost 50 years.


Life

John Reade was born in
Ballyshannon Ballyshannon () is a town in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located at the southern end of the county where the N3 road (Ireland), N3 from Dublin ends and the N15 road (Ireland), N15 crosses the River Erne. The town was inc ...
, Donegal,
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, in 1837, the son of Frances Smyth and Joseph Reade. He was educated at Portora School,
Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...
, and
Queen's College, Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...
. Reade immigrated to the Province of Canada with his parents in 1856, settling in
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
. Within a year he had founded and was editing ''Montreal Literary Magazine.'' In 1859, after beginning studying law, he became rector of
Lachute Lachute () is a town in southwest Quebec, Canada, northwest of Montreal, on the Rivière du Nord (Laurentides), Rivière du Nord, a tributary of the Ottawa River, and west of Mirabel International Airport, the Mirabel International Airport. It i ...
Academy, and began studying theology. He was ordained an
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
minister in 1865, and served in two parishes (
Mascouche Mascouche (; ) is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southern Quebec, Canada. The city is located on the Mascouche River within the Les Moulins Regional County Municipality and has a population of 51,183, ranking 20th among Quebec municipali ...
and Mansonville) before leaving the ministry in 1867 due to ill health. Returning to Montreal in 1868, Reade began writing for the ''Montreal Gazette''. In 1870 he became the ''Gazettes literary editor, and held that position until his death in 1919. At the ''Gazette'' Reade was best known for his weekly column, "Old and New," but he also wrote "hundreds of unsigned editorials, reviews, and articles" for the paper. In addition, he "published poems, essays, translations, or short fiction in virtually all of the major Canadian journals of his day." Reade was a Fellow of the British
Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...
, and a founding
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada Fellowship of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Canada judges to have "made remarkable contributions in the arts, the humanities and the sciences, as well as in Canadian public life" ...
in 1882. He was a member, and served as president, of both the Society of Canadian Literature and the Society for Historical Studies. He was also a member of the Société littéraire et historique de Québec.John Reade fonds (P140)
, McCord Museum of Canadian History, Web, May 1, 2011.
Eight of Reade's poems were published in the 1864 anthology, ''Selections from Canadian Poets.'' His own book, ''Merlin's Prophecy and Other Poems'' (a book "steeped in Victorian Romanticism"), appeared in
1870 Events January * January 1 ** The first edition of ''The Northern Echo'' newspaper is published in Priestgate, Darlington, England. ** Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge are completed. * January 3 – Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge be ...
. The title poem, which used the form of
Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's ...
's ''Idylls of the King,'' was a purported prophecy of contemporary Canada and the
British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
, which Reade wrote to commemorate Prince Arthur's 1869 visit to Canada. John Lesperance called it "the most perfect poem ever written in Canada." The book also included Reade's translations of
Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...
,
Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...
,
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
,
Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...
, and
Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...
. In 1881 Reade edited
Rosanna Eleanor Leprohon Rosanna Eleanor Leprohon (January 12, 1829 – September 20, 1879), born Rosanna Eleanor Mullins, was a Canadian writer and poet. She was "one of the first English-Canadian writers to depict French Canada in a way that earned the praise of, and ...
's posthumous collected poems, ''The Poetical Works of Mrs. Leprohon.'' ''Rose-Belford's Canadian Monthly and National Review'' printed Reade's long poem, "Madeleine de Vercheres," in 1878. In 1889, W.D. Lighthall selected "Madeleine" and two other Reade poems for his anthology ''
Songs of the Great Dominion ''Songs of the Great Dominion'' was a pioneering anthology of Canadian poetry published in 1889. The book's full title was ''Songs of the Great Dominion: Voices from the Forests and Waters, the Settlements and Cities of Canada''.William Douw Lighth ...
'': "Hastings," which he used to begin the book, and "The Winter Carnival." Reade, Lighthall declared, was "one of the chief figures in
Canadian literature Canadian literature is written in several languages including Canadian English, English, Canadian French, French, and various Indigenous Canadian languages. It is often divided into French- and English-language literatures, which are rooted in th ...
, and probably the sweetest poet."William Douw Lighthall,
Songs of the Great Dominion
Voices from the Forests and Waters, the Settlements and Cities of Canada'' (Walter Scott indsor Series 1889), Google Books, Web, May 1, 2011.


Recognition

Reade was appointed a charter Fellow of the
Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...
in 1882, and was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...
of Great Britain in 1896.John Reade
" Quebec History Encyclopedia, Marianopolis.edu, Web, May 1, 2011.
He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the
University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...
in 1909. ''The
Dictionary of Canadian Biography The ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'' (''DCB''; ) is a dictionary of biographical entries for individuals who have contributed to the history of Canada. The ''DCB'', which was initiated in 1959, is a collaboration between the University of Toro ...
'' notes that although Reade "was appropriately identified in his later years as 'the grand old man of Canadian letters,' his reputation has not fulfilled the dream of his friend John Boyd that 'no anthology of Canadian verse will ever be complete without a wide selection from John Reade’s work, rich as it is in content and faultless in its technique.' Despite such praise, the late-Victorian personal, political, and poetic values characteristic of Reade’s poetry and criticism led to their general disregard within a few years of his death."


Publications


Books of poetry

*''The Prophecy of Merlin and Other Poems''. Montreal: Dawson Bros., 1870. *''Madeleine de Vercheres'' (Toronto, 89–


Anthologized poems

* Eight poems, ''Selections from Canadian poets'', E.H. Dewart ed. Montreal, 1864; repr., intro. D. Lochhead, Toronto and Buffalo, N.Y., 1973. * "Hastings," "The Winter Carnival," "Madeleine de Vercheres," '' Songs of the Great Dominion: Voices from the Forests and Waters, the Settlements and Cities of Canada'', William Douw Lighthall ed. London: Walter Scott, 1891.


Prose

*"Thomas D’Arcy McGee – the poet," ''New Dominion Monthly'' (Montreal), February 1870: 12–21; *"Winty Dane’s transformation," ''New Dominion Monthly'', August 1874: 878-879. (short story) *"Canada a hundred years ago," ''Belford's Monthly Magazine'' (Toronto), 1 (1877): 621–36: *"The testimony of names of places," ''Rose-Belford's Canadian Monthly and National Review'' (Toronto), 1 (July–December 1878): 602–8; *"Great explorers before Columbus," ''Trans. Literary and Hist. Soc.'', 17 (1882–1883), 3-31; *"Lord Tennyson," ''Dominion Illustrated Monthly'' (Montreal), nd ser. 1 (February 1892–January 1893): 631–39; *"What is imperialism?" ''Canadian Magazine'', 19 (May–October 1902): 316–18.


Edited

*Rosanna Leprohon, ''The Poetical Works of Mrs. Leprohon''. Lovell, 1881.Rosanna Eleanor Leprohon
" Old Poetry, Web, May 1, 2011.
*George Murray, ''Poems.''. Montreal: E.G. O'Connor, 1912.search results: George Murray, Open Library, Web, May 15, 2011.


Fonds

Reade's papers are at the
McCord Museum The McCord Stewart Museum, formerly known as the McCord Museum of Canadian History, is a public research and teaching museum. The Museum’s Archives, Documentary Art, Dress, Fashion and Textiles, Indigenous Cultures, Material Culture and Photogr ...
of Canadian History in Montreal. Except where noted, bibliographic information courtesy ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography.''


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reade, John 1837 births 1919 deaths 19th-century British male writers 19th-century Canadian essayists 19th-century Canadian journalists 19th-century Canadian male writers 19th-century Canadian poets 19th-century Irish people Anglophone Quebec people British male essayists Canadian Anglicans Canadian literary critics Canadian male essayists Canadian male journalists Canadian male poets Canadian people of Irish descent Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Canada Irish Anglicans Irish journalists Irish poets Journalists from Montreal People from Ballyshannon Province of Canada people Poets from Montreal