WILLIAM WILFRED CAMPBELL

A batch of ALSs. The first from his wife Mary L. Campbell [8pp.], the other 12 from William Wilfred Campbell [over 60 pp.] and all addressed to Boyce McKenzie, or 'My Dear Cousin' from Mary. A number of the envelopes are present, some official civil service examples.

1900 - 1915. WILLIAM WILFRED CAMPBELL [c. 1860 – 1918] Canadian "Confederation Poet" and "Person of National Historic Significance." William Wilfred Campbell is to some extent largely forgotten now, although in his day he was considered the unofficial poet laureate of Canada. In his lifetime he published 10 volumes of poetry including two collected editions> 2 novels and a number of non-fiction works including supplying the text for the A&C Black Colour Book for Canada [1907]. He worked in various positions in the Canadian civil service including for the Privy Council C and the National Archives and pursued a hobby of genealogy, corresponding with Burke [of the Peerage] among others. This series of letters deal predominantly with matters relating to the claim which his cousin Boyce had on the Baronetcy of Tarbat & Royston, a branch of the McKenzie Clan and Family, which had previously been declared extinct, but which Campbell was encouraging his cousin to revive. He supplies genealogical data, descents, family folklore, etc. all in pursuit of his cousin's claim, though it would appear from the tone of the letters that Boyce McKenzie was less enthusiastic than his cousin who constantly declared that his researches were correct and declaring all his statements as 'fact.' He mentions a number of his books including 'Canada' [1907], 'Ian of the Orcades' [1907], 'A Beautiful Rebel' [1909] and 'Sagas of Vaster Britain' [1914]. He mentions several times how busy he is and that 'literature is a hard task master, & I have my official duties as well.'

Michael S. Kemp - BooksellerProfessional seller

Book number: 44399

Catalogue: Manuscript

Keywords: Manuscript