Brantford in Brant County, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)
Sara Jeannette Duncan 1861-1922
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 25, 2022
1. Sara Jeannette Duncan 1861-1922 Marker
(north side)
(north side)
An internationally renowned author, Duncan was raised in the adjacent house and educated locally. She taught school briefly, but then determinedly turned to journalism, gaining notice for her distinctive and witty writing style. In 1890 Duncan published her first book, A Social Departure, based on dispatches produced during a trip around the world. Following her marriage the next year, she took up residence in India where she continued to pursue a literary career. A prolific writer, Duncan published over twenty books, only one of which, The Imperialist (1904), had a Canadian setting. In this penetrating study of life in Elgin (Brantford) in the late 19th century, Duncan integrated shrewd political commentary with minute social observation, thereby gaining for herself a distinctive place in Canadian literature.
Auteur de renommée mondiale, Sara Duncan grandit dans la maison voisine et fut éduquée localement. Elle fut brièvement maîtresse d'école avant de passer au journalisme où elle fut remarquée pour son style distinctif et plein d'esprit. En 1890, Sara Duncan
this page online
Erected by Ontario Heritage Foundation, Ministry of Culture and Communications.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Communications • Women. In addition, it is included in the Canada, Ontario Heritage Foundation series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1861.
Location. 43° 8.579′ N, 80° 16.041′ W. Marker is in Brantford, Ontario, in Brant County. Marker is on West Street just north of Chatham Street, on the left when traveling north. Marker is located on the front lawn of the Sara Jeannette Duncan childhood home. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 96 West Street, Brantford ON N3T 3E7, Canada. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Sara Jeannette Duncan (here, next to this
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 25, 2022
2. Sara Jeannette Duncan 1861-1922 Marker
(south side)
(south side)
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Sara Jeannette Duncan
Also see . . .
1. Sara Jeannette Duncan.
First trained as a teacher in a normal school, she took to poetry early in life and after a brief teaching period worked as a travel writer for Canadian newspapers and a columnist for the Toronto Globe. Afterward she wrote for the Washington Post where she was put in charge of the current literature section. Later she made a journey to India and married an Anglo-Indian civil servant thereafter dividing her time between England and India. She(Submitted on February 6, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)wrote 22 works of fiction, many with international themes and settings.Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 25, 20223. Sara Jeannette Duncan 1861-1922 Marker(looking south along West Street)
2. Sara Jeannette Duncan.
In May 1885 Duncan had begun making regular contributions to the Globe under the pen-name Garth Grafton. Her column, “Other People and I,” was a precursor to “Woman’s World,” the section created in 1886 for female readers. These columns, a grab-bag of “delicious scraps,” dealt with topics as diverse as life insurance for women, mass-produced interior decor, and the popularity of gilt hairpins. Under her own signature Duncan also wrote a column for the Toronto literary periodical Week on the important intellectual issues of the day. These included the effects of Canada’s colonial position on the growth of the arts. “We are well-clad, well fed, well read. Why should we not buy our own books!” she lamented in September 1886. Her strongly defined progressive views on international copyright, women’s suffrage, and realist fiction made her work remarkable in such conservative journals as the Globe and the Post.(Submitted on February 6, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
3. The Imperialist, novel by Sara Jeannette Duncan (Toronto, 1904).
The Imperialist(Submitted on February 6, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)conducts its exploration of Canadian attitudes toward the mother country through the development of 2 romances. The novel is at once a delightful comedy of manners and a thoroughgoing analysis of Canadian society as it looks back to England, south to the US and into its own evolving idea of itself.Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 25, 20224. Sara Jeannette Duncan 1861-1922 Marker(looking west from West Street • Sara Jeannette Duncan childhood home in background)
Credits. This page was last revised on February 6, 2023. It was originally submitted on February 5, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 70 times since then and 11 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on February 6, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
