Alexander Fraser Pirie
Encyclopedia
Alexander Fraser Pirie (October 1, 1849 – August 15, 1903) was a Canadian journalist
and newspaper editor.
Pirie was born in Guelph
, Upper Canada
, to George Pirie
(1799–1870), a native of Aberdeen
, Scotland. His mother was Jane Booth (1825–1895), born in Lonmay Aberdeenshire
to a family from Noss
Island in the Shetland Islands.
George Pirie emigrated to Upper Canada with a group of Aberdeen merchants and businessmen. The family arrived in 1838 and joined the Bon Accord settlement located in the vicinity of Elora
. He arrived with his first wife, Mary Robieson, and their children. She died not long after her settlement in Canada, and Mr. Pirie married Miss Jane Booth.
In 1848, George Pirie became the publisher of the Guelph Herald newspaper after his attempt at farming in the Bon Accord community. The farm was sold and the family moved to Guelph
where he ran the Guelph Herald publishing and printing office on Wyndham Street. The elder Pirie was a staunch conservative and Scottish Canadian poet.
As a young man, Alexander Fraser Pirie assisted at his father's newspaper office. The paper struggled to maintain circulation and relied upon job printing work. Imprint magazine later described these early days in a profile of Pirie:
At 21 years of age, after his father's death in 1870, Pirie became publisher of The Herald. During this time he took on the numerous duties of a local newspaper which included the issuing of marriage licenses. At this time he received a letter from John A. Macdonald
authorizing him as the local agent for these licenses. However, Pirie had a great desire to work as a journalist in a larger city, and two years later moved on to Toronto
. In 1924, The Herald was absorbed by the Guelph Mercury
.
By 1874, Pirie was working at The Toronto Sun as a columnist. From a circa 1876 article:
A caricature of Pirie as the "Sun Skit Urchin" appeared in Grip magazine at this time. Grip magazine was Canada's version of the satirical British magazine Punch
. While Pirie was also a contributor to Grip, these contributions were submitted anonymously. He also penned several articles for Saturday Night
. "Rambles About Rimouski" was a story of the history of Rimouski, Quebec
.
Pirie was a popular editorial columnist, as well as social figure and public speaker. During the 1870s, he lived with his mother and other family members on Mutual Street in Toronto. This house, now demolished, was in the vicinity of where Ryerson University
now stands. He was in demand as a public speaker, and known for his use of political humour. Throughout his years in Toronto Pirie was present at many of the city's social events, such as an 1885 reading by Robert Kirkland Kernighan
. His speaking engagements ranged from reviews of his European travels to speeches in support of Liberal political candidates.
Pirie was accepted as a Mason
on September 1, 1875 at the Grand Lodge
at Hamilton
, Ontario. This would have enhanced many social connections in Victorian era
Toronto.
In 1876, Pirie joined the Toronto Telegram
. He was best known as the second editor of the Telegram, a role he held until 1888. The Telegram was founded in 1876 by John Ross Robertson
as a paper devoted to Toronto's interests, and, as Robertson described it, devoted to "today's news to-day"
Pirie spent his first year at the Telegram working under the historian John Charles Dent
. After that he took on the role of editor which he held until 1888.
A 1923 review of the history of Toronto newspapers commented on Pirie's time at the Telegram: "Then came Mr. A. F. Pirie, one of the wittiest and most companionable of men, whose paragraphs, straight-flung and barbed at the point, enlarged public interest in the enterprise".
In 1886, Pirie participated in a literary debate relating to Canada's role in North America and her relationship with the United States. Articles under the heading "Canadian Prospects and Politics" were submitted to The North American Review for the January 1886 issue (Volume 142, Issue 350) by the Marquis of Lorne and A. F. Pirie with a brief note from Sir John A. Macdonald. A. F. Pirie, pp. 45-49.
In February 1893, Pirie was elected president of the Canadian Press Association. In this capacity he spoke on behalf of Canadian interests at the World Press Conference in Chicago
, Illinois
. In a May 29, 1893 article from the Toronto Mail, "Good Words for Canada - Plain Talk at the Press Convention", it was reported that Canada had the "honor of closing the proceedings of the ninth annual convention of the National Editorial Association" with the last address delivered by A. F. Pirie. Mr. Pirie also represented the Canadian Press Association at the World's Press Congress. The reporter felt that "He said some good words for Canada, reminding his hearers that there were a hundred thousand Canadians in Chicago alone..." Also, that Pirie had noted the role women had been taking in the press congress and stated that as the public journals were made for men and women, ..."there seemed to be no good reason that women as well as men should not bear a part in making them". Finally, he made a strong plea for closer trade relations between the U.S. and Canada: "...holding it to be a shame and an outrage that Canadian workmen should be shut out of the United States, and Canadian products subjected to a high duty, after all the Canadians had done for the United States at the time of the civil war, when 40,000 took up arms for the union, and all that Canadians in the States are still doing in building up that country". He appealed to the journalists of America for fair play for Canada.
Pirie's work attracted many admirers. Imprint magazine, in profiling the new President of the Canadian Press Association wrote in reference to his 1889 William Notman
portrait which was published within the article: "The portrait does not do justice to its subject: to do so it would require to be a "speaking likeness", for our friend is just as handy with his tongue as he is with his pen - he is a born orator as well as journalist." Commenting on his career, Imprint noted: "Mr. Pirie is a writer of great versatility, a capital speaker, one of the best-natured men in the profession, and publishes a model country weekly..."; and on his popularity: "He is one of the most popular of our Canadian journalists, a believer in his country and its future, and is a good representative of the men who make Canadian newspapers."
He married Hester Emma McCausland (1858–1901) in Toronto on June 12, 1889 at her father's home on Jarvis Street. Miss McCausland's father Joseph McCausland had been in Toronto since the 1820s and was a native of Armagh
, Ireland, and founder of a successful Toronto stained glass window firm. The newly married couple moved to Montreal where Pirie briefly worked as an Editor at the Montreal Star. At this time, they were photographed by Canada's top portrait photographer William Notman. By 1889, they returned to Dundas, Ontario and purchased a home on Sydenham Street that they named "Sydenham Lodge". Four children were born in Dundas during the 1890s - Russell Fraser, Elsie Gowan, Jean Booth and Goldwin McCausland. In recent years, this home was used for the filming of one episode in Season Six of The West Wing
.
In 1895, Pirie lost his mother, Jane (Booth) Pirie, who fell ill after a visit to Dundas from her Toronto home. Jane Pirie had actively assisted in her husband's publishing and printing business in Guelph, and in the 1890s had drafted an account of her travels to Western Canada which Mr. Pirie published in the Dundas Banner.
Pirie was interested in politics and during the Parliamentary session of 1888 he had represented the Montreal Star in the press gallery
at Ottawa.
In the Provincial General Election of 1898, Pirie had received a Reform nomination as a candidate for North Wentworth. This was not successful, and afterwards he worked for the Liberal Party of Canada, often appearing as a public speaker, or editing work destined for publication. He appeared in Brantford, Ontario
on behalf of the Hon. William Paterson for the election of 1900. At that time, the audience rose to its feet in a standing ovation. Pirie began his speech noting that his reputation as a humorist preceded him, however, in this case, he had some serious issues to cover.
Pirie's wife died of pneumonia in 1901 after a brief illness. She was only 43 years old. After this time, Pirie's health broke down and he limited his public engagements. He continued some of his work for the Liberal Party of Canada
and public speaking engagements. According to newspaper accounts after his death, his relatives noted that he began to stay indoors for much of the time. His cousin, Robinson Pirie of Hamilton, began to visit him to urge him to get out. In 1901, he attended a conference for the Canadian Press Association held in Charlottetown, P.E.I. Pirie wrote to his sister-in-law in Toronto (Mrs. Boyce Thompson) that many events had lost their lustre. He wrote that he made a regular visit to his wife's grave on Sundays.
In July 1903, Pirie visited relatives in Brandon
, Manitoba
in conjunction with some work for the Liberal party. Relatives hoped that this trip might improve his state of mind. After his return to Dundas, he died at home on August 15, 1903. This event shocked the community. In a letter preserved at the Whitehern museum archives, Mrs. McQuesten wrote to her son Rev. Calvin McQuesten in Montreal about the event. M. B. McQuesten letter August 14, 1903
Pirie's pallbearers included John Ross Robertson
of the Toronto Telegram. He was buried in Grove Cemetery next to his wife. Four children were left without parents. The children's guardian was their paternal aunt, Ada L. Murdoch, who had been assisting Pirie since the death of her sister-in-law. Murdoch had no children of her own and was no longer living with her husband, Walpole Murdoch, also a newspaper editor.
Pirie's youngest son, Goldwin McCausland Pirie (1894–1915), died of wounds received at the Second Battle of Ypres
during the First World War. A Private, in the 1st Battalion, Western Ontario Regiment, he sent several articles back to Dundas for publication in the Dundas Star. Although not a writer, the younger Pirie wrote his articles with a humorous bent in the tradition of his father. Four Letters from Valcartier Camp, 1914
In 1918, The Hamilton Review published an article on Pirie by Sir John Willison (of The Globe) who had been profiling political and public personalities from Canada's past. He wrote:
Toronto Star - August 10, 11, 14, 15, 17, 1903.
Toronto Evening Telegram - August 17, 1903.
Globe (Toronto) - August 10, 11, 13, 17, 1903
Hamilton Spectator - August 10, 11, 12, 13, 1903.
Burlington Gazette - August 12, 1903, pg. 2 & 4. August 19, 1903.
Dundas Banner - August 20, 1903.
Calgary Herald - August 17, 1903.
The Brandon Daily Sun - August 10, 1903. Link to Original August 17, 1903.Link to Original August 21, 1903. Link to Original
Other articles:
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and newspaper editor.
Pirie was born in Guelph
Guelph
Guelph is a city in Ontario, Canada.Guelph may also refer to:* Guelph , consisting of the City of Guelph, Ontario* Guelph , as the above* University of Guelph, in the same city...
, Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
, to George Pirie
George Pirie
George Pirie was a Canadian newspaper publisher.He emigrated to Canada from Aberdeen, Scotland. His father, also George Pirie, was a prominent Aberdeen merchant and ship owner. His mother was Katherine Mitchell Pirie, a daughter of the Rev. Thomas Mitchell, of the parish of Tarves, Aberdeenshire...
(1799–1870), a native of Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, Scotland. His mother was Jane Booth (1825–1895), born in Lonmay Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...
to a family from Noss
Noss
Noss is a small, previously inhabited island in Shetland, Scotland. It is a sheep farm and has been a National Nature Reserve since 1955.-Geography:...
Island in the Shetland Islands.
George Pirie emigrated to Upper Canada with a group of Aberdeen merchants and businessmen. The family arrived in 1838 and joined the Bon Accord settlement located in the vicinity of Elora
Elora, Ontario
Elora is a community in the township of Centre Wellington, Wellington County, Ontario, Canada. It is well known for its 19th-century limestone architecture, its artistic community and the geographically significant Elora Gorge.-History:...
. He arrived with his first wife, Mary Robieson, and their children. She died not long after her settlement in Canada, and Mr. Pirie married Miss Jane Booth.
In 1848, George Pirie became the publisher of the Guelph Herald newspaper after his attempt at farming in the Bon Accord community. The farm was sold and the family moved to Guelph
Guelph
Guelph is a city in Ontario, Canada.Guelph may also refer to:* Guelph , consisting of the City of Guelph, Ontario* Guelph , as the above* University of Guelph, in the same city...
where he ran the Guelph Herald publishing and printing office on Wyndham Street. The elder Pirie was a staunch conservative and Scottish Canadian poet.
As a young man, Alexander Fraser Pirie assisted at his father's newspaper office. The paper struggled to maintain circulation and relied upon job printing work. Imprint magazine later described these early days in a profile of Pirie:
"He first saw the light of publication day in his father's office, the Guelph Herald, in 1849, and was brought up to the sound of the mallet and planer, the hammering of wooden quoins in the chases and the incessant cry of "Color!" on the part of the man who pulled the lever of the Washington press. The principal event of his early life was stirring the glue and molasses over a hot fire when the foreman decided to cast a new roller, the making of a new roller being at that time regarded as an epoch in the history of all well-regulated country printing offices."
At 21 years of age, after his father's death in 1870, Pirie became publisher of The Herald. During this time he took on the numerous duties of a local newspaper which included the issuing of marriage licenses. At this time he received a letter from John A. Macdonald
John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , QC was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, his political career spanned almost half a century...
authorizing him as the local agent for these licenses. However, Pirie had a great desire to work as a journalist in a larger city, and two years later moved on to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. In 1924, The Herald was absorbed by the Guelph Mercury
Guelph Mercury
The Guelph Mercury is an English language newspaper published in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It publishes a mix of community, national and international news and is owned by the Torstar Corporation. The newspaper, in many incarnations, has been a part of the community since 1854...
.
By 1874, Pirie was working at The Toronto Sun as a columnist. From a circa 1876 article:
"The Sun...still retains one of the most fertile humorists in Canada in the person of Mr. Alexander Pirie, commonly known as the "Sun Skit Urchin". This gentleman, who is still very young, finds plenty of work for the scissors of his contemporaries in a daily column of "Sun Skits." They abound in reckless humor, sparing no one, and have just the pleasant bitterness of a dry curacoa. They have now flowed forth in an uninterrupted stream for nearly two years, and neither the supply nor quality shows any signs of falling off".
A caricature of Pirie as the "Sun Skit Urchin" appeared in Grip magazine at this time. Grip magazine was Canada's version of the satirical British magazine Punch
Punch (magazine)
Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...
. While Pirie was also a contributor to Grip, these contributions were submitted anonymously. He also penned several articles for Saturday Night
Saturday Night (magazine)
Saturday Night was a Canadian general interest magazine. It was founded in Toronto, Ontario in 1887.The publication was first established as a weekly broadsheet newspaper about public affairs and the arts, which was later expanded into a general interest magazine. The editor, Edmund E. Sheppard,...
. "Rambles About Rimouski" was a story of the history of Rimouski, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
Pirie was a popular editorial columnist, as well as social figure and public speaker. During the 1870s, he lived with his mother and other family members on Mutual Street in Toronto. This house, now demolished, was in the vicinity of where Ryerson University
Ryerson University
Ryerson University is a public research university located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its urban campus is adjacent to Yonge-Dundas Square located at the busiest intersection in Downtown Toronto. The majority of its buildings are in the blocks northeast of the square in Toronto's Garden...
now stands. He was in demand as a public speaker, and known for his use of political humour. Throughout his years in Toronto Pirie was present at many of the city's social events, such as an 1885 reading by Robert Kirkland Kernighan
Robert Kirkland Kernighan
Robert Kirkland Kernighan was a Canadian poet, journalist, and farmer. Born at Rushdale Farm, Rockton, Ontario, he apprenticed as a journalist on the Hamilton Spectator staff. In about 1876 the paper printed his first poetry. Kernighan lived in Western Canada for a while working for the Winnipeg Sun...
. His speaking engagements ranged from reviews of his European travels to speeches in support of Liberal political candidates.
Pirie was accepted as a Mason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
on September 1, 1875 at the Grand Lodge
Grand Lodge
A Grand Lodge, or "Grand Orient", is the usual governing body of "Craft", or "Blue Lodge", Freemasonry in a particular jurisdiction. The first Masonic Grand Lodge was established in England in 1717 as the Premier Grand Lodge of England....
at Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
, Ontario. This would have enhanced many social connections in Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
Toronto.
In 1876, Pirie joined the Toronto Telegram
Toronto Telegram
The Toronto Evening Telegram was a conservative, broadsheet afternoon newspaper published in Toronto from 1876 to 1971. It had a reputation for supporting the Conservative Party at both the federal and provincial level. The paper competed with the liberal Toronto Star...
. He was best known as the second editor of the Telegram, a role he held until 1888. The Telegram was founded in 1876 by John Ross Robertson
John Ross Robertson
John Ross Robertson was a Canadian newspaper publisher, politician, and philanthropist in Toronto, Ontario....
as a paper devoted to Toronto's interests, and, as Robertson described it, devoted to "today's news to-day"
Pirie spent his first year at the Telegram working under the historian John Charles Dent
John Charles Dent
John Charles Dent was a Canadian journalist, author and historian.He was born in Kendal, Westmorland, England. Shortly after his birth, his family emigrated to Canada West....
. After that he took on the role of editor which he held until 1888.
A 1923 review of the history of Toronto newspapers commented on Pirie's time at the Telegram: "Then came Mr. A. F. Pirie, one of the wittiest and most companionable of men, whose paragraphs, straight-flung and barbed at the point, enlarged public interest in the enterprise".
In 1886, Pirie participated in a literary debate relating to Canada's role in North America and her relationship with the United States. Articles under the heading "Canadian Prospects and Politics" were submitted to The North American Review for the January 1886 issue (Volume 142, Issue 350) by the Marquis of Lorne and A. F. Pirie with a brief note from Sir John A. Macdonald. A. F. Pirie, pp. 45-49.
In February 1893, Pirie was elected president of the Canadian Press Association. In this capacity he spoke on behalf of Canadian interests at the World Press Conference in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. In a May 29, 1893 article from the Toronto Mail, "Good Words for Canada - Plain Talk at the Press Convention", it was reported that Canada had the "honor of closing the proceedings of the ninth annual convention of the National Editorial Association" with the last address delivered by A. F. Pirie. Mr. Pirie also represented the Canadian Press Association at the World's Press Congress. The reporter felt that "He said some good words for Canada, reminding his hearers that there were a hundred thousand Canadians in Chicago alone..." Also, that Pirie had noted the role women had been taking in the press congress and stated that as the public journals were made for men and women, ..."there seemed to be no good reason that women as well as men should not bear a part in making them". Finally, he made a strong plea for closer trade relations between the U.S. and Canada: "...holding it to be a shame and an outrage that Canadian workmen should be shut out of the United States, and Canadian products subjected to a high duty, after all the Canadians had done for the United States at the time of the civil war, when 40,000 took up arms for the union, and all that Canadians in the States are still doing in building up that country". He appealed to the journalists of America for fair play for Canada.
Pirie's work attracted many admirers. Imprint magazine, in profiling the new President of the Canadian Press Association wrote in reference to his 1889 William Notman
William Notman
William Notman was a Canadian photographer and businessman.Notman was born in Paisley, Scotland in 1826, the same year in which photography was born in France. William Notman moved to Montreal in 1856. An amateur photographer, he quickly established a flourishing professional photography studio on...
portrait which was published within the article: "The portrait does not do justice to its subject: to do so it would require to be a "speaking likeness", for our friend is just as handy with his tongue as he is with his pen - he is a born orator as well as journalist." Commenting on his career, Imprint noted: "Mr. Pirie is a writer of great versatility, a capital speaker, one of the best-natured men in the profession, and publishes a model country weekly..."; and on his popularity: "He is one of the most popular of our Canadian journalists, a believer in his country and its future, and is a good representative of the men who make Canadian newspapers."
He married Hester Emma McCausland (1858–1901) in Toronto on June 12, 1889 at her father's home on Jarvis Street. Miss McCausland's father Joseph McCausland had been in Toronto since the 1820s and was a native of Armagh
Armagh
Armagh is a large settlement in Northern Ireland, and the county town of County Armagh. It is a site of historical importance for both Celtic paganism and Christianity and is the seat, for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland, of the Archbishop of Armagh...
, Ireland, and founder of a successful Toronto stained glass window firm. The newly married couple moved to Montreal where Pirie briefly worked as an Editor at the Montreal Star. At this time, they were photographed by Canada's top portrait photographer William Notman. By 1889, they returned to Dundas, Ontario and purchased a home on Sydenham Street that they named "Sydenham Lodge". Four children were born in Dundas during the 1890s - Russell Fraser, Elsie Gowan, Jean Booth and Goldwin McCausland. In recent years, this home was used for the filming of one episode in Season Six of The West Wing
The West Wing (TV series)
The West Wing is an American television serial drama created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999 to May 14, 2006...
.
In 1895, Pirie lost his mother, Jane (Booth) Pirie, who fell ill after a visit to Dundas from her Toronto home. Jane Pirie had actively assisted in her husband's publishing and printing business in Guelph, and in the 1890s had drafted an account of her travels to Western Canada which Mr. Pirie published in the Dundas Banner.
Pirie was interested in politics and during the Parliamentary session of 1888 he had represented the Montreal Star in the press gallery
Press gallery
The press gallery is the part of a parliament, or other legislative body, where political journalists are allowed to sit or gather to observe and then report speeches and events...
at Ottawa.
In the Provincial General Election of 1898, Pirie had received a Reform nomination as a candidate for North Wentworth. This was not successful, and afterwards he worked for the Liberal Party of Canada, often appearing as a public speaker, or editing work destined for publication. He appeared in Brantford, Ontario
Brantford, Ontario
Brantford is a city located on the Grand River in Southern Ontario, Canada. While geographically surrounded by the County of Brant, the city is politically independent...
on behalf of the Hon. William Paterson for the election of 1900. At that time, the audience rose to its feet in a standing ovation. Pirie began his speech noting that his reputation as a humorist preceded him, however, in this case, he had some serious issues to cover.
Pirie's wife died of pneumonia in 1901 after a brief illness. She was only 43 years old. After this time, Pirie's health broke down and he limited his public engagements. He continued some of his work for the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
and public speaking engagements. According to newspaper accounts after his death, his relatives noted that he began to stay indoors for much of the time. His cousin, Robinson Pirie of Hamilton, began to visit him to urge him to get out. In 1901, he attended a conference for the Canadian Press Association held in Charlottetown, P.E.I. Pirie wrote to his sister-in-law in Toronto (Mrs. Boyce Thompson) that many events had lost their lustre. He wrote that he made a regular visit to his wife's grave on Sundays.
In July 1903, Pirie visited relatives in Brandon
Brandon, Manitoba
Brandon is the second largest city in Manitoba, Canada, and is located in the southwestern area of the province. Brandon is the largest city in the Westman region of Manitoba. The city is located along the Assiniboine River. Spruce Woods Provincial Park and CFB Shilo are a relatively short distance...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
in conjunction with some work for the Liberal party. Relatives hoped that this trip might improve his state of mind. After his return to Dundas, he died at home on August 15, 1903. This event shocked the community. In a letter preserved at the Whitehern museum archives, Mrs. McQuesten wrote to her son Rev. Calvin McQuesten in Montreal about the event. M. B. McQuesten letter August 14, 1903
Pirie's pallbearers included John Ross Robertson
John Ross Robertson
John Ross Robertson was a Canadian newspaper publisher, politician, and philanthropist in Toronto, Ontario....
of the Toronto Telegram. He was buried in Grove Cemetery next to his wife. Four children were left without parents. The children's guardian was their paternal aunt, Ada L. Murdoch, who had been assisting Pirie since the death of her sister-in-law. Murdoch had no children of her own and was no longer living with her husband, Walpole Murdoch, also a newspaper editor.
Pirie's youngest son, Goldwin McCausland Pirie (1894–1915), died of wounds received at the Second Battle of Ypres
Second Battle of Ypres
The Second Battle of Ypres was the first time Germany used poison gas on a large scale on the Western Front in the First World War and the first time a former colonial force pushed back a major European power on European soil, which occurred in the battle of St...
during the First World War. A Private, in the 1st Battalion, Western Ontario Regiment, he sent several articles back to Dundas for publication in the Dundas Star. Although not a writer, the younger Pirie wrote his articles with a humorous bent in the tradition of his father. Four Letters from Valcartier Camp, 1914
In 1918, The Hamilton Review published an article on Pirie by Sir John Willison (of The Globe) who had been profiling political and public personalities from Canada's past. He wrote:
"But Mr. Pirie was more than a jester. He had qualities of heart and mind which were seldom revealed and only to those who had his affection and confidence. These were few, for beneath an apparent openness and spontaneity there was a reserve which was not easily penetrated. He got much out of life, but not all that he desired. Happy but often anxious and foreboding...when I think of Pirie I recall what was said of Shelley: 'He passed through life like a strange bird upon a great journey, singing always of the paradise to which he was travelling, and suddenly lost from the sight of men in the midst of his song.'"
Sources & further reading
- The Macmillan Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Fourth edition. Edited by W. Stewart Wallace. Revised, enlarged, and updated by W.A. McKay. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1978.
- The Canadian Men and Women of the Time. First edition. Edited by Henry James Morgan. Toronto: Wm. Briggs, 1898. A. F. Pirie: pg. 822.
- Toronto: Past and Present / A Handbook of the City. C. Pelham Mulvany (Toronto: W. E. Caiger Publisher, 1884). A. F. Pirie (on his role as editor of the Telegram): pp. 123, 218. Toronto Evening Telegram history: pp. 193–194.
- The Municipality of Toronto / A History. Volume I. Toronto, 1923. "The Newspapers of Toronto". Mr. Pirie's role at the Evening Telegram is discussed on pg. 426.
- "Canadian Prospects and Politics". The North American Review. January 1886 (Volume 142, Issue 350). Articles by the Marquis of Lorne and A. F. Pirie with a brief note from Sir John A. Macdonald. A. F. Pirie, pp. 45-49.
- Imprint. Toronto & Winnipeg, June 1893 Vol. 1, No. 2. Publication of A. F. Pirie's speech at the 9th annual convention of the National Editorial Association at Chicago on May 7, 1893.
- Imprint. Toronto & Winnipeg, July-August 1893 Issue. Vol. 1, No. 3. Profile of Mr. Pirie as the new President of the Canadian Press Association.
- "Good Words for Canada - Plain Talk at the Press Convention". Toronto Mail, May 29, 1893.
- "Reminiscences of Late A. F. Pirie". Author: Sir John Willison for The Hamilton Review, June 14, 1918. Originally published in the Canadian Magazine.
Newspaper articles
The following are a list of articles that report on Mr. Pirie up to the week before his death, or consist of his obituary.Toronto Star - August 10, 11, 14, 15, 17, 1903.
Toronto Evening Telegram - August 17, 1903.
Globe (Toronto) - August 10, 11, 13, 17, 1903
Hamilton Spectator - August 10, 11, 12, 13, 1903.
Burlington Gazette - August 12, 1903, pg. 2 & 4. August 19, 1903.
Dundas Banner - August 20, 1903.
Calgary Herald - August 17, 1903.
The Brandon Daily Sun - August 10, 1903. Link to Original August 17, 1903.Link to Original August 21, 1903. Link to Original
Other articles:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Khan_lecture_Toronto_1885.jpgPirie attends Toronto reading by Robert Kirkland KernighanRobert Kirkland KernighanRobert Kirkland Kernighan was a Canadian poet, journalist, and farmer. Born at Rushdale Farm, Rockton, Ontario, he apprenticed as a journalist on the Hamilton Spectator staff. In about 1876 the paper printed his first poetry. Kernighan lived in Western Canada for a while working for the Winnipeg Sun...
in 1885]
Correspondence
Private Collection (M. I. Pirie):- A. F. Pirie to R. Fraser Pirie: August 3, 1900.
- A. F. Pirie to Ida (McCausland)Thompson: August 12, 1901, September 30, 1902 and May 2, 1903.
- Re: Charlottetown Press Conference: December 19, 1901.
- A. F. Pirie to Boyce Thompson: February 14, 1901.
- Whitehern Archives, Hamilton, Ontario holds 3 letters referring to Mr. Pirie: W5063 TO [REV.] CALVIN MCQUESTEN from his sister Hilda McQuesten (1903/8/10). W5074 TO [REV.] CALVIN MCQUESTEN from his mother, Mary Baker McQuesten (1903/8/14). W5078 - TO [REV.] CALVIN MCQUESTEN from his mother, Mary Baker McQuesten (1903/8/18)
External links
- A. F. Pirie's literary debate with the Marquis of Lorne in the North American Review, January 1886
- A. F. Pirie - Find A Grave entry.
- Family listing on 1901 Canadian Census.
- Household listing on 1901 Canadian Census.
- Shetland Island Family History Database.
- Dictionary of Canadian Biography: John Ross Robertson