William Canton
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William Canton (27 October 1845 – 2 May 1926) was a British poet, journalist and writer, now best known for his contributions to
children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...
. These include his series of three books, beginning with ''The Invisible Playmate'', written for his daughter Winifred Vida (1891-1901). The book was read by the late nineteenth century English novelist
George Gissing George Robert Gissing (; 22 November 1857 – 28 December 1903) was an English novelist, who published 23 novels between 1880 and 1903. His best-known works have reappeared in modern editions. They include ''The Nether World'' (1889), ''New Grub ...
on New Year's Eve 1895. In his lifetime Canton was known for his use of recent archeological evidence of prehistory in his poetry.


Life

He was born at Chusan in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
to a
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
family of civil servants. His childhood was spent mostly in Jamaica. He studied for the priesthood at
Douai School Douai School was a public (independent) school run by the Douai Abbey Benedictine community at Woolhampton, England, until it closed in 1999. History 1615–1818 The monastic community was founded in Paris in 1615 and moved to Douai aft ...
and later in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, but eventually abandoned the priesthood as a vocation to become a teacher and writer. He later left the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
to become a
protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
. He worked as a journalist in London and
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, where he became editor of the ''Glasgow Weekly Herald'' and later a leader-writer for the ''
Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...
''.Guy Canton, ''The Poems of William Canton'', Harrap, 1927, pp. 5-8 In 1891 Canton moved to London, where he worked for the religious book and magazine publisher W. Isbister, later being appointed as editor of the ''
Sunday Review Sunday Review is the opinion section of ''The New York Times''. It contains columns by a number of regular contributors (such as David Brooks and Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American economist, who is Dis ...
'' and the ''
Sunday Magazine A Sunday magazine is a publication inserted into a Sunday newspaper. It also has been known as a Sunday supplement, Sunday newspaper magazine or Sunday magazine section. Traditionally, the articles in these magazines cover a wide range of subject ...
'' . He also contributed articles and poems to ''
Good Words ''Good Words'' was a 19th-century monthly periodical established in the United Kingdom in 1860 by the Scottish publisher Alexander Strahan. Its first editor was Norman Macleod. After his death in 1872, it was edited by his brother, Donald Macleod, ...
''. In 1901 Canton's daughter Winifred died suddenly at the age of 10. He resigned from Isbister and took up the offer to write the official history of the
Bible Society A Bible society is a non-profit organization, usually nondenominational in makeup, devoted to translating, publishing, and distributing the Bible at affordable prices. In recent years they also are increasingly involved in advocating its credibi ...
, which he hoped would comfort him. The nine volume history took five years to complete. He also published literature about Winifred: ''The Invisible Playmate'', recollections of his daughter, ''W.V.: Her Book'' and ''Rhymes About a Little Woman''. Canton completed his history in 1910, after which he devoted himself to children's literature and historical works, including ''The Bible and the Anglo-Saxon People'' (1914) ''The Bible Story'' (1915).


Poetry

Canton's early poetry was highly regarded in his lifetime for its attempt to represent in verse recent scientific theories, especially Darwinism, which he addressed in his poem ''Through the Ages'' (1879).
Thomas Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The storie ...
supported Canton's attempts to introduce scientific terminology into verse. The Sanskritist
Max Müller Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born philologist and Orientalist, who lived and studied in Britain for most of his life. He was one of the founders of the western academic disciplines of Indian ...
also praised Canton's works, writing that "I look upon them as equal to
Matthew Arnold Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the celebrated headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, lite ...
's poems, and having been an old friend and sincere admirer of Arnold, I could give no higher praise".
Walter Pater Walter Horatio Pater (4 August 1839 – 30 July 1894) was an English essayist, art critic and literary critic, and fiction writer, regarded as one of the great stylists. His first and most often reprinted book, ''Studies in the History of the Re ...
, wrote to Canton that he gave expression to "primeval, pre-adamite, or pre-historic subjects...you have certainly made their poetic side your own". Canton's later work was more religious in emphasis, but his output almost ceased after the death of his daughter. In 1913 Canton began a new religious poem ''The Mask of Veronica'', but it was unfinished at his death.


Quotations

:And our lineage was hoary ere Eve's apple tree grew green; ::For the Bee, whose drowsy humming ::Was prophetic of Man's coming, :Lies in gem-like tomb of amber, buried in the Miocene. (''Through the Ages'') What year was it that blew
The Aryan's wicker-work canoe
Which brought the shell to English land?
What prehistoric man or woman's hand,
With what intent, consigned it to this grave —
The barrow set in sound of the Ancient World's last wave? (''An Indian Cowrie found in a Cornish barrow at Land's End'')


Works

*''A Lost Epic and other poems'' (1887) *''The fairy princess, and other poems'' *''The Invisible Playmate: A Story of the Unseen'' (1894) *''W. V. Her Book'' (1896) *''W. V's Golden Legend'' (1898) *''A Child's Book of Saints'' 1907 (1898) *''Children's sayings'' : edited with a digression on the small people (1900) *''In memory of W. V.'' (1901) *''The Comrades'' (1902) poems *''A history of the British and Foreign Bible Society'', 5 vols (1904-1910). *''The Bible and the Anglo-Saxon People'' (1914) *''Poems'' (1927, Harrap) *''A Child's Book of Warriors'' (1912) illustrated by
Herbert Cole Herbert Cole (1867–1930) was an English book illustrator and portrait artist. Cole was influenced by Walter Crane and Sir Edward Burne-Jones. He illustrated a range of books published by various notable publishers. He illustrated the John Lan ...


References

*''Poems of Today'' (1915), p. xix of biographical notes to later editions.


External links

* *
''W. V. Her Book and Various Verses''
an
''W. V.'s Golden Legend''
from the
Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature The Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature in the Department of Special and Area Studies Collections at the University of Florida's George A. Smathers Libraries contains more than 130,000 books and serials published in Great Britain a ...

William Canton poems at the Baldwin Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canton, William 1845 births 1926 deaths British poets British Protestants British children's writers Victorian poets British male poets