William Kirby

William Kirby (1817-1906) in Canadian Singers and their Songs, 1919. Courtesy Internet Archive.

William Kirby
File:William Kirby 1817-1906.jpg
Born	13 October 1817 Yorkshire, England
Died	23 June 1906 (aged 88) Niagara, Ontario
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	Canadian
Notable work(s)	The Golden Dog
Spouse(s)	Eliza Madeline Whitmore
Children	3
Influences James LeMoine

William Kirby, (13 October 1817 - 23 June 1906) was a Canadian poet and novelist, Canadian author, best known for his classic historical novel, The Golden Dog.

Life

Kirby was born in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, one of 6 children of Charlotte (Parker) and John Kirby, a currier. His family immigrated to the United States in 1832, settling in Cincinnati, Ohio, where Kirby completed his education.

In July 1839 he came to Canada, crossing at Niagara. After visiting Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec City, he settled in the Niagara region of Ontario.

Kirby practised as a tanner until the mid-1840's, when his partner abssconded, leaving him unable to pay his debts. He then taught school in the region until 1847.

In 1847 he married Eliza Madeline Whitmore, a Loyalist descendant, with whom he had 3 children (1 of whom died in infancy.); and setttled in Niagara-on-the-Lake. He purchased the Niagara Mail, in 1850, and was its editor for more than 20 years (1850-1871).

He was made a magistrate of Lincoln county in 1856, and reeve of Niagara in 1861. In 1871 he was appointed a collector of customs at Niagara, and held the post until his retirement in 1895. He died at Niagara-on-the-Lake on June 23, 1906.

Writing

Kirby’s first full-length work was The U.E.: A tale of Upper Canada, a long narrative poem written in Spenserian stanzas. Written in 1846, the poem spoke to his political views of the time. He was unsuccessful in his attempts to have it published until 1859, when he published it himself in the Niagara Mail.

The Golden Dog

Kirby’s importance as a Canadian writer rests largely on his novel The Golden Dog. Taking 15 years to write, the historical romance was set in New France in 1748. Kirby finished writing this novel in 1873.

Although the first edition of the book was filled with errors, it was still very well received by the public and, to Kirby’s delight, rumoured to have been read by Queen Victoria. The book was described as having both good characterisation and description used to describe rural and urban locations. This novel was heavily influenced by the collection Maple Leaves, written by Quebec author James LeMoine (7 volumes, 1863-1906), which provided Kirby with the history, legends, and oral traditions needed to write his book.

The Golden Dog was initially published in English and distributed within the United States without his permission in 1877. Kirby’s publisher Lovell, Adam Wesson & Co. neglected to register the novel properly, so Kirby lost all royalties for his book. The copyright laws of the time stated all Canadian residents must register, publish, and distribute in Canada, before distributing the book elsewhere, to secure copyright protection. The book was then picked up by New York publisher Richard Worthington, and re-issued in 1878, Kirby, once again, was denied royalties.

In 1885, Kirby secured some rights when the French translation (Le Chien d’Or) was published. Copied versions of the story were, at this time, widely available, but unfortunately for Kirby, the translated version was not selling nearly as well.

Sometime later, Kirby was approached by L.C. Page, a publishing company from Boston, with an offer of publishing a revised edition of The Golden Dog. Kirby accepted this offer and revised the book, making corrections to the book in accordance with new developments in Quebec’s history.

Recognition

In 1882 Kirby was a founding member of the Royal Society of Canada.

He was the patron of the Niagara Historical Societry, founded in 1895.

The Ontario Archaeological and Historic Sites Board has placed a plaque on Kirby House, Niagara-on-the-Lake, where Kirby lived from 1857 until his death in 1906.

Publications

William Kirby

Poetry

• The U.E.: A tale of Upper Canada. Niagara: 1859.
• The Hungry Year (chapbook). Toronto: Methodist Book & Job Printing, [1878?]
• Canadian Idylls. Toronto: Hunter Rose, 1881.
• Canadian Idylls No. 4: Spring, Stoney Creek. Toronto: William Briggs, 1880.

Novel

• The Golden Dog. (New York and Montreal, 1877; Boston: L.C. Page, 1896; Toronto: Musson, 1925.

Non-fiction

• The Servos Family. Lundy's Lane Historical Society, 1893.
• Annals of Niagara. Welland, ON: printed by the Tribune for the Lundy's Lane Historical Society, 1896; Toronto: Macmillan, 1927.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• List of Canadian poets
• Timeline of Canadian poetry

References

• Lorne Pierce, William Kirby (Toronto, 1929)
• W. R. Riddell, William Kirby (Toronto, 1923)

External links

Poems

• William Kirby at PoemHunter (1 poem, "Montmorency")
• The U.E.: A tale of Upper Canada

Books

• Works by William Kirby at Project Gutenberg
• Kirby, William (1817-1906) at Internet Archive
• William Kirby at the Online Books Page
• William Kirby at Amazon.com
• Works by or about William Kirby in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

About

• William Kirby in the Encyclopædia Britannica
• William Kirby in the Canadian Encyclopedia
• Kirby, William in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography