Charles George Douglas Roberts KCMG (1860 - 1943)

Born 10 Jan 1860 in Douglas, York, New Brunswick

Ancestors

Husband of May Isabelle (Fenety) Roberts — married 29 Dec 1880 in York, New Brunswick, Canada

Died 26 Nov 1943 at age 83 in Toronto, York, Ontario, Canada

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Biography

Charles Roberts KCMG is Notable.

Charles G.D. Roberts was a renowned Canadian poet (one of the Confederation Poets), a short story writer and a novelist. He published twelve volumes of verse beginning with Orion, and Other Poems, published in 1880.^[1]

Born in Douglas, New Brunswick, in 1860, he was the first-born son of Rev. George Goodrich Roberts and Emma Wetmore Bliss.^[2][3] He was educated at home, mostly by his father. When the family moved to Fredericton in 1873, Roberts attended the high school there before earning his B.A. and M.A. at the University of New Brunswick.^[4]

In 1880 he married May Isabella Fenety.^[5] They had four children: Goodridge Edward Athelstan (1882-1897),^[6] William Harris Lloyd (b. 1884),^[7] Edith (b. 1886) and Douglas (b. 1888).^[8] He married his second wife Joan Montgomery on October 28, 1943.

He died November 26, 1943, in Toronto; his ashes were buried at Forest Hill Cemetery, Fredericton.^[9]

Occupation

• 1879–1881, Principal of Chatham High School, Chatham, NB
• 1881–1883, Principal of York Street School, Fredericton, NB
• 1883-1884, Editor of The Week, Toronto, ON
• 1885-1895 Professor at University of King's College, Windsor, NS. While there, he published over 30 poems, almost an equal number of stories, primarily for juvenile readers, completed a 270-page Canadian Guide Book (1891), wrote articles, and lectured from Halifax to New York.
• 1897-1898 Freelance editor, New York, NY
• 1907-1925 In Europe. During World War One, he trained officers before joining the Canadian War Records Office.

Legacy and Honours

• Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George from King George V
• Roberts was declared a Person of National Historic Significance in 1945, and a monument to him was erected by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada in Westcock, New Brunswick, in 2005
• Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, 1893
• Elected to the United States National Institute of Arts and Letters, 1898
• Awarded an honorary LLD from the University of New Brunswick, 1906
• For his contributions to Canadian literature, Roberts was awarded the Royal Society of Canada's first Lorne Pierce Medal in 1926
• Awarded an honorary doctorate from Mount Allison University, 1942^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ Encyclopedia Britannica
2. ↑ Census of New Brunswick, 1861, Sackville, Westmorland, 208646
3. ↑ "Canada Census, 1871," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4M8-BZW : 24 October 2018), Charles Roberts in household of G G Roberts, Sackville, Westmorland, New Brunswick, Canada; citing 1871; citing National Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
4. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Charles G. D. Roberts," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_G._D._Roberts&oldid=938511360 (accessed February 13, 2020).
5. ↑ "New Brunswick Provincial Marriages 1789-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVBF-K53D : 13 March 2018), Charles G D Roberts and Mary Isabella Fenety, 29 Dec 1880; citing , York, New Brunswick, Canada, p. 55, Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton; FHL microfilm 846,414.
6. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #114704215
7. ↑ "New Brunswick Provincial Marriages 1789-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVBF-Z82W : 13 March 2018), William Harris Lloyd Roberts and Helen Hope Farguhar Balmain, 01 Jan 1908; citing , York, New Brunswick, Canada, p. 106, Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton; FHL microfilm 2,024,732.
8. ↑ New Brunswick Literary Encyclopedia
9. ↑ Sir Charles G.D. Roberts (1860-1943) on Find A Grave: Memorial #8072661 retrieved 03 September 2018
10. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Charles G. D. Roberts," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_G._D._Roberts&oldid=938511360 (accessed February 13, 2020).

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Malcolm Bliss for creating WikiTree profile Roberts-6867 through the import of Malcolm Bliss Family Tree_AutoBackup_2013-05-29_01.ged on May 29, 2013.