Theodore Goodridge Roberts
Encyclopedia
Theodore Goodridge Roberts (July 7, 1877 – February 24, 1953) was a Canadian novelist and poet. He was the author of thirty-four novels and over one hundred published stories and poems.
He was the brother of poet Charles G.D. Roberts
, and the father of painter Goodridge Roberts
.
, and the writers William Carman Roberts and Jane Roberts MacDonald, were his siblings.
He published his first poem in 1899, when he was eleven, in the New York Independent (where his cousin Bliss Carman
was working), and his first prose piece (a comparison of the Battle of Waterloo
and the Battle of Gettysburg
) in the Century two years later.
Roberts attended Fredericton Collegiate School, though (since school records were lost in a fire) the exact years are unknown. He later went to University of New Brunswick
(UNB), but left without graduating. He published poetry in UNB's University Magazine.
In 1897 he moved to New York City
, living with his brothers Charles and William and working at The Independent. In 1898 the magazine sent him to Cuba
, as a special correspondent, to cover the Spanish-American War
. While on the island he contacted malaria
-- he was sent back to New York and consulted specialists, who sent him back to Fredericton "to die."
An unnamed surgeon saved Roberts's life, and he was nursed back to heath by Frances Seymour Allen (whom he would subsequently marry). The next year he travelled to Newfoundland
, where he helped to found and edit The Newfoundland Magazine. He published his first book of poetry (Northand Lyrics, an anthology edited by Charles G.D. Roberts and featuring his three siblings) in 1899, and his first novel, The House of Isstens, in 1900.
In 1901 Roberts sailed on a barkentine to Brazil. In 1902 he returned to Fredericton and briefly edited a second magazine, The Kit-Bag.
Roberts married Frances Seymour Allen in November 1903, and they had a two-year honeymooon in Barbados where their first child was born. They would have four children: William Goodridge, Dorothy Mary Gostwick, Theodora Frances Bliss and Loveday (who died as an infant).
Roberts averaged three novels a year from 1908 until 1914. At that time his "many novels of adventure and romance" already enoyed a "wide popularity in English-speaking lands."
Roberts enlisted in 1914 when World War I
broke out — his entire family followed him to England. "In the summer of 1915, he was commissioned as aide-de-camp to the 12th Battalion under the command of Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook. Roberts wrote official reports and battlefield accounts and published three works in collaboration with others."
When Roberts was in Europe he left his manuscripts and papers, including work not yet published, with a Dr. Wainwright in Saint John
, who stored them in his basement. They were destroyed in the spring of 1919 when the Saint John River
flooded.
In 1929 Roberts wrote a weekly column for the Saint John
Telegraph-Journal
, "Under the Sun." From April through September 1930 he edited another small magazine, Acadie
In 1932 he undertook his last major sea cruise, sailing through the Panama Canal
to Vancouver
and back. The same year he did a cross-Canada reading tour, which "culminated with festivities in Vancouver."
Roberts moved to Toronto
in 1935, and in 1937 briefly edited another magazine, Spotlight. In 1939 he relocated to Aylmer, Quebec
, where he briefly founded another magazine, Swizzles.
He returned to New Brunswick in 1941, and in 1945 moved to Digby, Nova Scotia
, where he would die eight years later. He is buried beside Charles G.D. Roberts and Bliss Carman in Fredericton's Forest Hill Cemetery.
(DLB) says that T.G. Roberts's "poetry and fiction, staggering in sheer quantity and variety, show at their best Roberts's most enduring gifts: in his poetry a love of nature well served by a keen eye for local color and detail, a good ear for clean, clear rhythm and rhyme, and a forceful, uncluttered narrative line; and in fiction a talent for presenting his abiding perception of universal struggles between good and evil either in mythic tales of adventure or in regional stories animated by local settings, customs, and dialects."
Of the poems in his 1926 collection, The Lost Shipmate, The Encyclopedia of Literature commented: "Had this volume appeared forty years earlier it might have won for Theodore a reputation equal to that of his brother Charles or of Bliss Carman. Poems such as ‘The sandbar’ and ‘Magic’ are unmatched in Canadian poetry for a facility and clarity of image suggestive of high-realist painting.
However, much of what Roberts wrote has been forgotten with time, or has not stood the tests of time and changing fashion.
Roberts began to write Arthurian fiction in the 1920s; most of these stories, though, were published in the late 1940s and early 1950s in the fiction magazine Blue Book. Roberts planned to publish them as a collection, but died in 1953 before he could do so. In 2001 Mike Ashley
, editor of the Mammoth publishing group, brought them out under his Green Knight imprint.
A review for SFSite called the collection's writing "polished," "erudite," and "eminently readable," but "somewhat tame": "literature for the afternoon tea and crumpets crowd – in a word 'polite' Arthurian fiction." Still, it concluded, "if you're looking for something a bit more upbeat, some Arthuriana-lite, The Merriest Knight is just the book for you."
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
in 1934.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy St. Thomas University.
He was the brother of poet Charles G.D. Roberts
Charles G.D. Roberts
Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts, was a Canadian poet and prose writer who is known as the Father of Canadian Poetry. He was "almost the first Canadian author to obtain worldwide reputation and influence; he was also a tireless promoter and encourager of Canadian literature......
, and the father of painter Goodridge Roberts
Goodridge Roberts
William Goodridge Roberts was a Canadian painter known for his landscape paintings and unassuming still lifes and interiors.Goodridge Roberts was the son of poet and novelist Theodore Goodridge Roberts and Frances Seymour Allen...
.
Life
He was born George Edwards Theodore Goodridge Roberts in Fredericton, to Emma Wetmore Bliss and Anglican Rev. George Goodridge Roberts. The poet Charles G.D. RobertsCharles G.D. Roberts
Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts, was a Canadian poet and prose writer who is known as the Father of Canadian Poetry. He was "almost the first Canadian author to obtain worldwide reputation and influence; he was also a tireless promoter and encourager of Canadian literature......
, and the writers William Carman Roberts and Jane Roberts MacDonald, were his siblings.
He published his first poem in 1899, when he was eleven, in the New York Independent (where his cousin Bliss Carman
Bliss Carman
Bliss Carman FRSC was a Canadian poet who lived most of his life in the United States, where he achieved international fame. He was acclaimed as Canada's poet laureate during his later years....
was working), and his first prose piece (a comparison of the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
and the Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
) in the Century two years later.
Roberts attended Fredericton Collegiate School, though (since school records were lost in a fire) the exact years are unknown. He later went to University of New Brunswick
University of New Brunswick
The University of New Brunswick is a Canadian university located in the province of New Brunswick. UNB is the oldest English language university in Canada and among the first public universities in North America. The university has two main campuses: the original campus founded in 1785 in...
(UNB), but left without graduating. He published poetry in UNB's University Magazine.
In 1897 he moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, living with his brothers Charles and William and working at The Independent. In 1898 the magazine sent him to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, as a special correspondent, to cover the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
. While on the island he contacted malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
-- he was sent back to New York and consulted specialists, who sent him back to Fredericton "to die."
An unnamed surgeon saved Roberts's life, and he was nursed back to heath by Frances Seymour Allen (whom he would subsequently marry). The next year he travelled to Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
, where he helped to found and edit The Newfoundland Magazine. He published his first book of poetry (Northand Lyrics, an anthology edited by Charles G.D. Roberts and featuring his three siblings) in 1899, and his first novel, The House of Isstens, in 1900.
In 1901 Roberts sailed on a barkentine to Brazil. In 1902 he returned to Fredericton and briefly edited a second magazine, The Kit-Bag.
Roberts married Frances Seymour Allen in November 1903, and they had a two-year honeymooon in Barbados where their first child was born. They would have four children: William Goodridge, Dorothy Mary Gostwick, Theodora Frances Bliss and Loveday (who died as an infant).
Roberts averaged three novels a year from 1908 until 1914. At that time his "many novels of adventure and romance" already enoyed a "wide popularity in English-speaking lands."
Roberts enlisted in 1914 when World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
broke out — his entire family followed him to England. "In the summer of 1915, he was commissioned as aide-de-camp to the 12th Battalion under the command of Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook. Roberts wrote official reports and battlefield accounts and published three works in collaboration with others."
When Roberts was in Europe he left his manuscripts and papers, including work not yet published, with a Dr. Wainwright in Saint John
Saint John
Saint John or St. John usually refers to John the Apostle of the Bible.Saint John may also refer to:-People:*John the Evangelist , speculated author of the Fourth Gospel, traditionally identified with John the Apostle...
, who stored them in his basement. They were destroyed in the spring of 1919 when the Saint John River
Saint John River
The Saint John River is a river, approximately long, located principally in the Canadian province of New Brunswick but also in, and arising from the province of Quebec and the U.S. state of Maine. It forms part of the Canada – United States border in two different places along its length...
flooded.
In 1929 Roberts wrote a weekly column for the Saint John
Saint John
Saint John or St. John usually refers to John the Apostle of the Bible.Saint John may also refer to:-People:*John the Evangelist , speculated author of the Fourth Gospel, traditionally identified with John the Apostle...
Telegraph-Journal
Telegraph-Journal
The Telegraph-Journal is a daily newspaper published in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It publishes a hybrid newspaper, serving as a provincial daily while catering to the Saint John audience in its City and Sports sections. The newspaper is published by Brunswick News, owned by J. K. Irving...
, "Under the Sun." From April through September 1930 he edited another small magazine, Acadie
In 1932 he undertook his last major sea cruise, sailing through the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
and back. The same year he did a cross-Canada reading tour, which "culminated with festivities in Vancouver."
Roberts moved to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
in 1935, and in 1937 briefly edited another magazine, Spotlight. In 1939 he relocated to Aylmer, Quebec
Aylmer, Quebec
Aylmer is a former city in Quebec, Canada. It became a sector of the City of Gatineau on January 1, 2002. Located on the Ottawa River and Route 148 it is a part of the National Capital Region. The population in 2006 was 41 882 — approx. 16% of Gatineau...
, where he briefly founded another magazine, Swizzles.
He returned to New Brunswick in 1941, and in 1945 moved to Digby, Nova Scotia
Digby, Nova Scotia
Digby is a Canadian town in western Nova Scotia. It is the shiretown and largest population centre in Digby County.The town is situated on the western shore of the Annapolis Basin near the entrance to the Digby Gut which connects the basin to the Bay of Fundy.Named after Admiral Robert Digby, RN,...
, where he would die eight years later. He is buried beside Charles G.D. Roberts and Bliss Carman in Fredericton's Forest Hill Cemetery.
Writing
The Dictionary of Literary BiographyDictionary of Literary Biography
The Dictionary of Literary Biography is a specialist encyclopedia dedicated to literature. Published by Gale, the 375-volumes set covers a wide variety of literary topics, periods, and genres, with a focus on American and British literature....
(DLB) says that T.G. Roberts's "poetry and fiction, staggering in sheer quantity and variety, show at their best Roberts's most enduring gifts: in his poetry a love of nature well served by a keen eye for local color and detail, a good ear for clean, clear rhythm and rhyme, and a forceful, uncluttered narrative line; and in fiction a talent for presenting his abiding perception of universal struggles between good and evil either in mythic tales of adventure or in regional stories animated by local settings, customs, and dialects."
Of the poems in his 1926 collection, The Lost Shipmate, The Encyclopedia of Literature commented: "Had this volume appeared forty years earlier it might have won for Theodore a reputation equal to that of his brother Charles or of Bliss Carman. Poems such as ‘The sandbar’ and ‘Magic’ are unmatched in Canadian poetry for a facility and clarity of image suggestive of high-realist painting.
However, much of what Roberts wrote has been forgotten with time, or has not stood the tests of time and changing fashion.
The Merriest Knight
The writing that Roberts is most likely to be recognized for today is The Merriest Knight, his collection of Arthurian tales. This looks like the one book by Roberts currently in print - ironically, considering that it was never published as a book during Roberts's lifetime.Roberts began to write Arthurian fiction in the 1920s; most of these stories, though, were published in the late 1940s and early 1950s in the fiction magazine Blue Book. Roberts planned to publish them as a collection, but died in 1953 before he could do so. In 2001 Mike Ashley
Mike Ashley
Michael Ashley may refer to:*Mike Ashley , English millionaire owner of various sports-related shop chains and the football club Newcastle United...
, editor of the Mammoth publishing group, brought them out under his Green Knight imprint.
A review for SFSite called the collection's writing "polished," "erudite," and "eminently readable," but "somewhat tame": "literature for the afternoon tea and crumpets crowd – in a word 'polite' Arthurian fiction." Still, it concluded, "if you're looking for something a bit more upbeat, some Arthuriana-lite, The Merriest Knight is just the book for you."
Recognition
The University of New Brunswick awarded Roberts a Doctorate of literature in 1930.He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada , may also operate under the more descriptive name RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada , is the oldest association of scientists and scholars in Canada...
in 1934.
Fiction
- The House of Isstens. Boston: L.C. Page, 1900.
- Hemming the Adventurer. Boston: L.C. Page, 1904.
- Brothers in Peril: A Story of Old Newfoundland, 1905. Boston: L.C. Page & Company, 1905.
- Red Feathers: a story of remarkable adventures when the world was young. Boston: L.C. Page, 1907. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 9780771092275
- Captain Love. Boston: L.C. Page & Company, 1908.
- Flying Plover: His Stories, Told Him by Squat-by-the-Fire. Boston: L.C. Page, 1909.
- A Cavalier of Virginia: a romance. Chicago: M.A. Donohue, 1910.
- Comrades of the Trails. Boston: L.C. Page & Company, 1910.
- Love on a Smokey River. 1911.
- A Captain of Raleigh’s: a romance. Boston: L.C. Page & Company, 1911.
- A Soldier of Valley Forge. with Robert Neilson Stephens. Boston: L.C. Page, 1911.
- Blessington’s Folly. London: John Long, 1912.
- Rayton: a backwoods mystery. Boston: L.C. Page, 1912.
- The Harbor Master. Chicago: M.A. Donohue, 1913.
- Two Shall Be Born. New York: Cassell, 1913.
- The Wasp. Toronto: Bell & Cockburn, 1914.
- The Toll of the Tides. 1914.
- In the High Woods. London: John. Long, 1916.
- Forest Fugitives. Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart, 1917.
- The Islands of Adventure. London; Toronto: Hodder and Stoughton, 1918.
- Jess of the River. London : John Long, 1918.
- The Exiled Lover. London: John Long, 1919.
- Honest Fool. New York: F.A. Munsey, 1925.
- The Master of the Moosehorn and Other Backwoods Stories. London; Toronto: Hodder and Stoughton, 1919.
- Moonshine. London: Hodder and Stoughton, [1920?].
- The Lure of Piper’s Glen. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page, 1921.
- The Fighting Starkleys. George Varian illus. Boston: Page, 1922.
- Musket House. 1922.
- Tom Akerley : his adventures in the tall timber and at Gaspard's clearing on the Indian River. Boston: L.C. Page, 1923.
- Green Timber Thoroughbreds. New York: Garden City, 1924.
- The Stranger from Up-Along. Garden City, NJ: Doubleday, Page & co., 1924.
- The Red Pirogue: a tale of adventure in the Canadian wilds. Boston: L.C. Page, 1924.
- The Oxford Wizard. Garden City, NY: Garden City Pub., 1924.
- The Lost Shipmate. Toronto: Ryerson, 1926.
- The Golden Highlanders. Boston: L.C. Page, 1929.
- The Merriest Knight: The Collected Arthurian Tales of Theodore Goodridge Roberts. Mike Ashley ed. Green Knight, 2001. ISBN 978-1928999188
Non-fiction
- Patrols and Trench Raids. 1916.
- Battalion Histories. 1918.
- Thirty Canadian V.Cs 23rd April 1915 to 30th March 1918, with Robin Richards and Stuart Martin. London: Skeffington, 1918.
- Loyalists: a compilation of histories, biographies and genealogies of United empire loyalists and their descendants. Toronto: T. Goodridge Roberts, 1937.
Poetry
- Northland Lyrics, William Carman Roberts, Theodore Roberts & Elizabeth Roberts Macdonald; selected and arranged with a prologue by Charles G.D. Roberts and an epilogue by Bliss Carman. Boston: Small, Maynard & Co., 18991899 in poetry— Opening lines of Rudyard Kipling's White Man's Burden, first published this yearNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:...
. ISBN 0665125011 - Seven Poems. private, 19251925 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* T. S. Eliot joins the publishing house of Faber & Gwyer, leaves Lloyds bank....
. chapbook. - The Lost Shipmate. Toronto: Ryerson Chapbook, 19261926 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The remains of English war poet Isaac Rosenberg, killed in World War I at the age of 28 and originally buried in a mass grave, are re-interred at Bailleul Road East Cemetery, Plot V, St...
. - The Leather Bottle. Toronto: Ryerson, 19341934 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Barretts of Wimpole Street, a film directed by Sidney Franklin, with Norma Shearer as Elizabeth Barrett and Fredric March as Robert Browning; redone in 1957, less successfully*The University...
. - That Far River: Selected Poems of Theodore Goodridge Roberts. Martin Ware, ed. London, ON: Canadian Poetry Press, 1998.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy St. Thomas University.
External links
- Theodore Goodridge Roberts in Canadian Poets. - Biography & 5 poems (The Maid, The Blind Sailor, Private North, The Lost Shipmate, The Reckoning)