William Alexander Fraser (24 March 1859 — 9 November 1933) was a Canadian writer.
[David Skene-Melvin. Crime where the Nights are Long: Canadian Stories of Crime, Adventure, and Terror from the Golden Age of Storytelling - 1998 : / р. 12](_blank)
Fraser was born at
River John
River John is a river in Nova Scotia. Draining the extreme western part of Pictou County, it flows into Amet Sound on the Northumberland Strait at River John, a village which takes its name from the river. The Miꞌkmaq name is Kajeboogwek ("flow ...
in
Pictou County,
Nova Scotia of Scots parents.
William moved to the United States to study. Until the age of 14, he studied in
New York City and
Boston. Then he returned to Canada, where he began to live with his uncle in
Elgin County in Southwestern Ontario. In Canada, Fraser became an engineer and was involved in the development of the first oil wells in Western Ontario.
He also engaged in early petroleum prospecting in Alberta.
Then he went to Asia for 7 years to search for oil. William lived and worked in
Burma and
India. He met the writer
Rudyard Kipling. They were friends for the rest of his life. In 1889 he married Jessie Maud Barber.
Returning to his homeland, Fraser spent 6 years searching for oil in Western Canada for the Canadian government. He sank the first well at Pelican Falls, Alberta.
Fraser later searched for precious metals in the
Cobalt District of Northern Ontario. The illness forced Fraser to quit his job as a geologist.
He moved to
Georgetown, where he lived for many years.
In the last years of his life, Fraser settled in
Toronto, where he died in his residence in his seventy-fifth year.
Fraser is the author of 250 short stories. The short stories of Bulldog Carney are set in and around Edmonton, Alberta in the pre-WWI years.
One of his favorite topics was the description of animal life.
Fraser came up with the idea of introducing the
Silver Cross for mothers whose sons had died in the First World War.
Works
The Eye of a God and Other Tales of East and West. New York: 1899, Doubleday & McClureMooswa & Others of the Boundaries. New York: 1900, Charles Scribner's SonsThe Outcasts. New York: 1901, Charles Scribner's SonsThoroughbreds. Toronto: George N. Morang, 1902. Horse-racing mystery.ref>
The Blood Lilies. Toronto: Briggs, 1903.Brave Hearts. New York: Scribner's, 1904. Horse-racing mystery.The Sa'-zada tales. New York, C. Scribner's sons, 1905Thirteen Men. New York: Appleton, 1906.The Lone Furrow. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1907.
The Three Sapphires. Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart, 1918.Bulldog Carney. Toronto: McClelland fit Stewart. 1919.
Red Meekins. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. 1921. Set in the Cobalt District oí Northern Ontario.Caste. Toronto: Doran. 1922.* Delihah Plays the Ponies. Toronto: Musson, 1927. Horse-racing mystery.
* Sorrow and Old Friends. Philadelphia: H. Altemus, 1987.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, William Alexander
1859 births
1933 deaths
20th-century Canadian writers
Canadian oilmen