Theodore Goodridge Roberts
Theodore Goodridge Roberts was a prominent Canadian writer born on July 7, 1877, in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The youngest of five children, he left the University of New Brunswick to pursue farming in Stanley, New Brunswick, before embarking on a diverse life marked by travel and military service. After marrying Frances Seymour Allen in 1903, he spent time in Barbados, where their first child was born. A veteran of World War I, Roberts served in the Canadian army and later became involved in military publications. He began his writing career early, publishing poetry in various magazines and eventually founding The Newfoundland Magazine. Over his lifetime, Roberts authored approximately three dozen books, including novels and poetry that drew inspiration from his love for Canada and his travel experiences. Notable works include "The Red Feathers," which blends adventure with elements of folklore, and "The Toll of the Tides," which offers a realistic portrayal of Newfoundland life. He adopted the name Theodore Goodridge Roberts in 1913 and was recognized for his contributions to literature with an honorary doctorate from the University of New Brunswick. He passed away on February 24, 1953, in Digby, Nova Scotia, leaving behind a legacy as a versatile and engaging writer.
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Subject Terms
Theodore Goodridge Roberts
Writer
- Born: July 7, 1877
- Birthplace: Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
- Died: February 24, 1953
- Place of death: Digby, Nova Scotia, Canada
Biography
George Edward Theodore Roberts was born July 7, 1877, in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, the youngest of five children of the Reverend Goodrich Roberts, rector of Fredericton, and Edna (née Wetmore) Roberts. He attended Fredericton Collegiate School and the University of New Brunswick, but left the university to farm in Stanley, New Brunswick.
Roberts traveled throughout his life, both within Canada and abroad. Around the turn of the century, he took a memorable voyage aboard a sailing ship to South America. He and his wife Frances Seymour Allen spent two years on Barbados after their marriage in November, 1903, and the Caribbean island was the birthplace of the first of their four children. Roberts also saw service in France and England after enlisting in the Canadian army at the beginning of World War I, and was eventually put in charge of Canadian Military Publications. He later took a second long sea voyage, passing through the newly opened Panama Canal and visiting the west coast of Canada.
Several members of Roberts’s family were writers, and Roberts himself had published poetry at an early age in such magazines as The Independent, The Century, and Dominion Illustrated. He went on to become subeditor of The Independent in 1897, but left the following year to report on the Spanish-American War from Cuba. After his return he founded and edited The Newfoundland Magazine.
Roberts published his first book, The House of Isstens, in 1900, and went on to write some three dozen books of fiction and poetry drawing upon his love of Canada, his travels, his interest in history, and his experiences during the war. One of his most famous early novels was The Red Feathers: A Story of Remarkable Adventures When the World Was Young, which combines a stirring story of warfare among Native Americans with elements of fantasy and folklore. The Toll of the Tides (also published as The Harbor Master and Blessington’s Folly) focuses more realistically upon contemporary life in the province of Newfoundland. This 1913 volume also seems to be the first in which the author signed himself Theodore Goodridge Roberts, adopting a name that had been prominent through many generations of his family. Toward the end of his life Roberts indulged his interest in the Arthurian romances through a series of humorous stories about Sir Dinadan of the Round Table. He died in Digby, Nova Scotia, where he had lived for several years, on February 24, 1953.
Roberts was a member of the Royal Society of Canada, and was awarded an honorary doctor of literature (D.Litt). degree by the University of New Brunswick in 1931. His large and varied output, vigorous style, and wide-ranging interests mark him as one of the most versatile Canadian writers of his generation.