Thomas Head Raddall (13 November 1903 – 1 April 1994) was a Canadian writer of history and historical fiction.
[Thomas Head Raddall's]
entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia
''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage.
Available f ...
Early life
Raddall was born in
Hythe, Kent, England in 1903, the son of an Army officer, also named
Thomas Head Raddall
Thomas Head Raddall (13 November 1903 – 1 April 1994) was a Canadian writer of history and historical fiction.[Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...]
, where his father had taken a training position with the
Canadian Militia. The elder Raddall then saw active service during
the First World War and was killed in action at
Amiens
Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
in August 1918.
Raddall attended Chebucto School in
Halifax until 6 December 1917, when the school was converted into a temporary morgue in the wake of the
Halifax Explosion
On the morning of 6 December 1917, the French cargo ship collided with the Norwegian vessel in the waters of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The ''Mont-Blanc'', laden with high explosives, caught fire and exploded, devastating the Richmond ...
. The Raddall family survived the explosion and Raddall wrote about it in his memoirs, ''In My Time''.
At the age of fifteen, Raddall trained at the
Canadian School of Telegraphy in
Halifax and shortly thereafter started working at the age of 18 as a marine telegraph operator for the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company.
Raddall's first job was as a wireless operator on seagoing ships, including the
CS ''Mackay-Bennett'', and stationed on land at
Camperdown Signal Station and at isolated wireless posts such as
Sable Island
Sable Island (french: île de Sable, literally "island of sand") is a small Canadian island situated southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and about southeast of the closest point of mainland Nova Scotia in the North Atlantic Ocean. The island ...
. He later took a job as a clerk at a pulp and paper mill in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
, Nova Scotia, where he began his writing career. There, Raddall came in contact with the master American swindler and fugitive from justice,
Leo Koretz
Leopold Koretz (1879–1925) was an American lawyer and stockbroker who ran an elaborate Ponzi scheme in Chicago, called the "Bayano oil fraud," which garnered an estimated $30 million (about $450 million today) from dozens of investors in Chicago ...
, who was using the alias, Lou Keyte.
Career as a writer
Raddall was a prolific, award-winning writer. He received
Governor General's Awards
The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields.
The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...
for three of his books, ''The Pied Piper of Dipper Creek'' (
1943
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured.
* January 4 ...
), ''Halifax, Warden of the North'' (
1948) and ''The Path of Destiny'' (
1957
1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...
). He was made an Officer of the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the cen ...
in 1971.
Raddall is best known for his historical fiction, but he also published numerous non-fictional historical works. His interest in historical research grew when he was stationed at historical locations as a wireless operator, and he received crucial encouragement and assistance from
Harry Piers
Harry Piers (1870–1940) was a Canadian historian. He was a long-serving and influential historian and curator at the Nova Scotia Museum in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Piers was born on February 12, 1870, in Halifax.
He became the second curator of ...
, Curator of the
Nova Scotia Museum
Nova Scotia Museum (NSM) is the corporate name for the 28 museums across Nova Scotia, Canada, and is part of the province's tourism infrastructure. The organization manages more than 200 historic buildings, living history sites, vessels, and speci ...
, who became his mentor.
[Thomas Raddall, ''In My Time'' McClellend and Steward (1976 ), p. 116] Raddall's early works included studies of privateering, civic and marine history, and Canada during the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
. His history of Halifax, ''Warden of the North'', remains influential.
Historical preservation and restoration
Raddall worked with the Queens County Historical Society, the Historic Sites Advisory Council of Nova Scotia, and the
Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada
National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as bein ...
. He played a role in preserving the diary of
Simeon Perkins
Colonel Simeon Perkins (February 24, 1735 – May 9, 1812) was a Nova Scotia militia leader, merchant, diarist and politician. Perkins led the defence of Liverpool from attacks during the American Revolution, French Revolutionary Wars and the Nap ...
, an early colonial document published in three volumes (the fourth has yet to be published) between 1948 and 1978 by the Champlain Society, and edited by
Harold Innis
Harold Adams Innis (November 5, 1894 – November 9, 1952) was a Canadian professor of political economy at the University of Toronto and the author of seminal works on media, communication theory, and Canadian economic history. He helped deve ...
,
D. C. Harvey and C. B. Ferguson. Raddall helped to restore and preserve Perkins House Museum, a colonial house built by Simeon Perkins that is now a part of the
Nova Scotia Museum
Nova Scotia Museum (NSM) is the corporate name for the 28 museums across Nova Scotia, Canada, and is part of the province's tourism infrastructure. The organization manages more than 200 historic buildings, living history sites, vessels, and speci ...
system.
Legacy
An exact replica of Raddall's study, furnished with his possessions, is on view at the Thomas Raddall Research Centre, administered by the Queens County Historical Society, of which Raddall was a founding member in 1929.
His correspondence is housed at the
Dalhousie University Archives, which also runs the Thomas Raddall Electronic Archive Project, currently digitizing his published and unpublished writings.
[Thomas Head Raddall Digital Collection]
The
Thomas Head Raddall Award is a literary award administered for the best work of adult fiction published in the previous year by a writer from Canada's Atlantic provinces.
The
Thomas Raddall Provincial Park
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
is a park in Nova Scotia named for Raddall.
Bibliography
*''At the Tide's Turn and Other Stories''
*''The Cape Breton Giant and Other Writings''
*''Courage in the Storm''
*''The Dreamers''
*''The Governor's Lady'' - 1960
*''Footsteps on Old Floors: True Tales of Mystery'' - 1968
*''Halifax, Warden of the North'' - 1948; revised edition - 1971
*''Hangman's Beach''
*''His Majesty's Yankees'' - 1942
*''In My Time: A Memoir'' - 1976
*''The Markland Sagas, With a Discussion of Their Relation to Nova Scotia''
*''The Mersey Story''
*''A Muster of Arms and Other Stories''
*''The Nymph and the Lamp'' - 1950
*''Path of Destiny: Canada From the British Conquest to Home Rule'' - 1957
*''A Pictorial Guide to Historic Nova Scotia, Featuring Louisbourg, Peggy's Cove, Sable Island''
*''The Pied Piper of Dipper Creek and Other Tales''
*''Pride's Fancy'' - 1948
*''Roger Sudden'' - 1946
*''The Rover: The Story of a Canadian Privateer'' - 1958
*''The Saga of the "Rover"''
*''Son of the Hawk'' - 1950
*''Tambour and Other Stories''
*''This Is Nova Scotia, Canada's Ocean Playground''
*''Tidefall'' - 1953
*''The Wedding Gift and Other Stories''
** , in ''Kanadische Erzähler der Gegenwart.'' Hgg. Armin Arnold, Walter E. Riedel. Manesse, Zürich 1967, 1986, p 11 – 38
*''West Novas: A History of the West Nova Scotia Regiment''
*''The Wings of Night'' - 1957
References
External links
Thomas Raddall Electronic Archive Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raddall, Thomas Head
1903 births
1994 deaths
Canadian historical novelists
Canadian male novelists
Members of the United Church of Canada
Writers from Nova Scotia
Officers of the Order of Canada
British emigrants to Canada
People from Hythe, Kent
People from Queens County, Nova Scotia
Governor General's Award-winning fiction writers
Governor General's Award-winning non-fiction writers
20th-century Canadian novelists
20th-century Canadian historians
20th-century Canadian male writers
Canadian male non-fiction writers