Beatrice Redpath
BornBeatrice Constance Peterson
(1886-06-19)June 19, 1886
Montreal, Canada
DiedFebruary 11, 1937(1937-02-11) (aged 50)
Montreal
Resting placeMount Royal Cemetery, Montreal
Occupationwriter
LanguageEnglish
NationalityCanadian
Genre
  • poetry
  • short stories
Spouse
William Redpath
​
​
(m. 1910; died 1936)​
ChildrenJ. P. Redpath
Signature

Beatrice Redpath (née Peterson; June 19, 1886 – February 11, 1937) was a Canadian poet and short story writer. As with Victoria Grace Blackburn, Louise Morey Bowman, and Wilson MacDonald, Redpath was considered a poet of Canada's "Restoration Period".[1] She was also a recipient of the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (I.O.D.E.) prize for short story. Redpath died in 1937.

Early life and education

Beatrice Constance Peterson was born in Montreal,[2] June 19, 1886. Her father was Peter Alexander Peterson, Chief Engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railway.[3] Her mother's maiden surname was Langlois. Beatrice had an older brother and an older sister. Both parents were native Canadians.[4]

Peterson was educated in private schools in her native city, until she was seventeen years old, when she moved to Goderich, Ontario, and lived there for five years.[3][4]

Career

She began seriously to write in 1905.[4]

In 1910, she married William Redpath (d. 1936), then of Montreal, and for some years, they lived in Toronto.[3] They had one son,[4] J. P. Redpath.[2]

In 1913, Redpath and other young Canadian poets and prose writers may be regarded as having begun the Second Renaissance in Canadian literature. They inaugurated, as it were, a Restoration Period in Canadian literature, with some changes in ideals of form and craftsmanship.[1] In 1915, her first book, Drawn Shutters, was published in London by John Lane. The same publisher brought out her second book, White Lilac, in 1921. Her poems include, "Earth Love", "To One Lying Dead", "Rebellion", "The Daughter of Jairus", and "My Thoughts".[4]

Redpath's main area of writing was the short story, and in it, she achieved much success. In 1923, she won the I.O.D.E. prize of $200 for the best Canadian short story.[3] For many years, she contributed her stories to periodicals in Canada, England,[2] and the U.S.[5]

Personal life

Earlier in her life, Redpath resided at St. Hilaire and at Toronto. She died at her home in Montreal, 11 February 1937.[2][5] Interment was at Mount Royal Cemetery.[6]

Reception

"When a poet belongs to no clique or côterie, nor has established a reputation, opinions come uneasily. Beatrice Red path in 'Drawn Shutters' can be commonplace in the noble contemplation of essential life: a virtue in poetry. She comes down at times to the minor level of 'The Dancer.' But ‘To One Lying Dead' is a poem of true loveliness, elegiac without dullness, eloquent without gush. Beatrice Red path feels the passions of rebellion and indignation. But to her they imply more than mere dissatisfaction and chafing. Indeed, one might make the quality of those passions the supreme test of character, certainly of poetic power. There is evidence in the volume of life lived at first hand, of the discipline of actuality that forces people either to a calm, strong normality, or to hectic agony, and disquietness of spirit. And it is because the poet soul rises to the reality of experience that her poems will not depress. Of her brief songs it may be said that they come like sunshine amid clouds, themselves noble and impressive." -T. P.'s Weekly.[4]

Awards

  • I.O.D.E. prize for short story, 1923

Selected works

  • Drawn Shutters, 1914
  • White Lilac, 1921

References

  1. 1 2 Logan, John Daniel; French, Donald Graham (1924). Highways of Canadian Literature: A Synoptic Introduction to the Literary History of Canada (English) from 1760 to 1924. McClelland & Stewart. pp. 27, 297. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "OBITUARY. MRS. B. C. REDPATH, WRITER, DIES AT 50. WIDELY KNOWN FOR SHORT STORIES IN CANADIAN AND ENGLISH JOURNALS". The Gazette. 12 February 1937. p. 9. Retrieved 17 February 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Caswell, Edward Samuel (1925). Canadian Singers and Their Songs: A Collection of Portraits, Autograph Poems and Brief Biographies. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. p. 258. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Garvin, John William (1916). Canadian Poets and Poetry. Frederick A. Stokes Company. pp. 437–42. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  5. 1 2 "MRS. BEATRICE REDPATH, CANADIAN AUTHOR, DIES". The Ottawa Citizen. 12 February 1937. p. 13. Retrieved 17 February 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "MRS. B. C. P. REDPATH DIES IN HER 51ST YEAR". The Montreal Star. 12 February 1937. p. 20. Retrieved 17 February 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
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