Main entry | Weaver, Emily Poynton |
Birth place | near Manchester, England |
Birth date | 20 May 1865 |
Death place | Toronto, Ontario |
Death date | 11 March 1943 |
Identifier | 0405 |
Birth name | Emily Poynton Weaver |
Marital status | single |
Religious affiliation | Anglican |
Paid work | journalist |
Biography | Emily Poynton Weaver (1865-1943) was born in England, where she attended private schools, and came to Ontario with her parents in 1880, settling in Toronto. She also lived for a time in Halifax. A prolific writer, eventually producing over a dozen pieces of fiction, Emily supported herself primarily through journalism. Her sister, artist and illustrator Annie Elizabeth Weaver, collaborated in the production of books for children. Since most of Emily's books were issued by religious societies, one can assume that her fiction had a strong moral component. Her novel, MY LADY NELL, won a prize in 1890 from the Congregationalist Society of Boston before appearing in England in 1893. She also won one of three $200 prizes for history works which were to be considered for use in the public schools. Weaver died in Toronto in 1943. |
Honours and awards | 1st place for MY LADY NELL, Prize Story (Congregationalist Society of Boston, 1890); Award for A CANADIAN HISTORY FOR BOYS AND GIRLS, Dominion History Competition ($200) (1905) |
Residences | near Manchester, Lancashire, England (1865-); Altrincham, Cheshire, England (1871); Dumfries, Waterloo, Ontario (1881); Toronto, Ontario (1898-c1900); London, England (1901); Toronto (1912-1943); Halifax, Nova Scotia (1904-); Toronto (1911, 1943); |
Geographic regions | Ontario |
Primary genres | fiction; non-fiction; journalism |
Books | MY LADY NELL (1890); THE RABBI'S SONS (1891); SOLDIERS OF LIBERTY: A STORY OF WARS IN THE NETHERLANDS (1892); PRINCE RUPERT: OR, AFTER THE RESTORATION (1893); PRINCE RUPERT'S NAMESAKE (1894); THE RAINPROOF INVENTION (1897); THE SEARCH FOR MOLLY MARLING (c1903); BUILDERS OF THE DOMINION: MEN OF THE EAST (1904); OLD QUEBEC, THE CITY OF CHAMPLAIN (1907); THE TROUBLE MAN: OR, THE WARDS OF ST. JAMES (c1911); THE STORY OF THE COUNTIES OF ONTARIO (1913); CANADA AND THE BRITISH IMMIGRANT (1914); THE ONLY GIRL: A TALE OF 1837 (1925); SISTERS OF ST. BONIFACE (1930) |
Periodicals | CANADIAN MAGAZINE; LONDON GRAPHIC; TORONTO GLOBE |
Other publications | Anthologized in: Toronto Women's Press Club, VERSE AND REVERSE (1921, 1922) |
Organizations | Canadian Authors Association, Canadian Women's Press Club, Ontario Historical Society; Toronto Women's Historical Society |
Father's name | Richard Thomas Weaver |
Life dates of father | c1833, Chester, Cheshire, England - 31 July 1885, Oxford, Ontario; m. 1861 |
Father's note | commission agent (?); trimming manufacturer; gentleman |
Mother's name | Elizabeth Dutton Smith |
Life dates of mother | c1841, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England - 30 December 1917, Toronto, Ontario; m. 1861 |
Biographical references | 1871 England Census; 1881 Census of Canada; 1891 Census of Canada; 1901 England Census; 1911 Census of Canada; England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 |
Bibliographic references | Watters, CHECKLIST OF CANADIAN LITERATURE...1620-1960 (1970), pp. 413, 592, 745, 853, 902 |
Research references | complete |
Archival references | letter, Newton McTavish papers, North York Public Library |
Image credits | Image from H. Harrison, ed. NATIONAL REFERENCE BOOK ON CANADIAN MEN AND WOMEN, 6th ed. (Montreal, QC: Canadian Newspaper Service, 1940) |