Louisa Watson Peat, born Louisa Watson Small, (1883–1953) was an Irish-born writer and lecturer.

Life and work

Born in

Keady Keady () is a village and civil parish in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is south of Armagh and near the border with the Republic of Ireland. It is situated mainly in the historic barony of Armagh with six townlands in the barony of Tirann ...

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of an ...

, Ireland, Louisa Peat attending Queens College in Belfast, and also attended the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. After graduation she worked in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, first for the

Daily Chronicle The 'Daily Chronicle' was a British newspaper that was published from 1872 to 1930 when it merged with the '' Daily News'' to become the ''News Chronicle''. Foundation The ''Daily Chronicle'' was developed by Edward Lloyd out of a local newspap ...

and later for Herbert N. Casson, managing the London office. The British Government employed Miss Small as an efficiency lecturer in 1915. Attempting to locate her cousin, John O'Donnell Watson, who was serving in a Canadian Battalion from

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, at the front during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Miss Small had advertised looking for news and received many responses, including a letter from a Canadian soldier, Harold R. Peat, who had served with the Third (Canadian) Battalion. Peat, was then recuperating from action at

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality c ...

, at the Royal Herbert Hospital,

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

. Eventually they became a couple and married. Together, they wrote ''Private Peat,'', a best-selling account of a soldier under fire during the Great War. Her memoir of this period ''Mrs. Private Peat'' was published in 1918. Harold Peat sent for Miss Small to join him in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and they were married on 24 August 1916. The Irving (?) Rossiter Family in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

assisted the bride with settling in North America. They lived in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

where two daughters were born, Louisa "Pat" Watson Peat (O'Neil), (known as artist Pat Peat O'Neil), and Julienne Michelle "Miki" Peat (Ruse). The family lived for a period in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

, Canada, where their third child, Elizabeth "Betty" Peat, was born. Betty Peat married Boleslaw Gladych. The couple lectured and toured, promoting their books. ''The Inexcusable Lie'' which was published in 1923, is a treatise against nationalism and destructive patriotism that wastes the youth of nations. During the 1920s Louisa and Harold Peat traveled around North America on the Redpath Chatauqua Circuit with their growing family. Archives at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

contain programs and advertisements of their lectures which were mainly concerned with ensuring peace and promoting democracy. In the late 1920s or early 1930s, Louisa Peat settled in Michigan City, Indiana, and worked as an editor for the women's section of the Michigan City News-Dispatch paper. In the late 1930s or early 1940s, Louisa Watson Small Peat moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to continue her writing career. During that time, she was editing and ghost writing for various authors, including Sydney Robert Montague, and Fulton Oursler. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Louisa Peat published ''Canada, New World Power'' and in 1950 ''Grandma Did It This Way, Memories of an Irish Childhood.'' Louisa Watson Small Peat died in 1953 at Hyannisport, Massachusetts.

Publications

*''Mrs. Private Peat'' (1918) *''Canada New World Power'' (1945) *''Grandma Did It This Way'' (1950) ;About Louisa Watson Peat *Brush, Philippa Mary, 1999. "This feminine invasion": Women and the workplace in Canadian magazines, 1900–1930. Edmonton: PhD Diss., University of Alberta.

References

External links

sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peat, Louisa People from Keady 1883 births 1953 deaths Alumni of the University of London Irish writers Women's page journalists