Madge Macbeth portant une étole de renard

Madge Hamilton Lyons Macbeth (November 6, 1878Some sources say 1880 – September 20, 1965) was an American-born Canadian writer.

Life and career

The daughter of Bessie Maffit and Hymen Hart Lyons, she was born Madge Hamilton Lyons in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. She attended

Hellmuth Ladies' College Hellmuth Ladies' College (founded September 1869; closed 1899) was a private college for women in London, Ontario. The college was founded by Reverend Isaac Hellmuth and was inaugurated by Prince Arthur. The college had no official connection wit ...

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

and worked on the school paper there. After graduation, she performed as a touring

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

ist in Maryland from 1899 to 1901. In 1901, she married Charles William Macbeth, a Canadian civil engineer. The couple lived in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

and then moved to

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

around 1904. Her husband died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

in 1908, leaving her with two young sons. She began writing to support her family and published her first two stories in ''Canada West'' and the ''Canadian Magazine''. She published ''The Winning Game'', her first novel, in 1910. Macbeth was a founding member of the Ottawa Little Theatre. She published a column "Over My Shoulder" in the ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...

''. She also wrote advertisements, including brochures for the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

, short stories for magazines, interviews with members of the Canadian parliament and articles on local history. She was elected president of the Canadian Authors Association in 1939, 1940 and 1941, becoming the first women head of that organization. Macbeth died in Ottawa at the age of 86.

Selected works

* ''Kleath'', novel (1917) * ''The Patterson Limit'', novel (1923) * ''The Land of Afternoon'', political satire (1924), using

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Gilbert Knox * ''Shackles'', novel (1926) * ''The Kinder Bees'', political satire (1935), writing as Gilbert Knox * ''Over My Shoulder'', memoir (1953) * ''Boulevard Career'', memoir (1957)

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macbeth, Madge 1878 births 1965 deaths 20th-century Canadian women writers Canadian women journalists Canadian columnists Canadian memoirists Canadian women columnists Canadian women memoirists American emigrants to Canada