 |
Charles William Gordon fonds, 1860-1937
MSS 56, PC 76
6.25 m of textual records and graphic materials
Charles Gordon was born in Glengarry County, Ontario. His father
was a Scottish Presbyterian minister who came to Canada to preach
to the Scottish settlement near Sherbrook in the Eastern Townships
of Quebec. Gordon graduated from the University of Toronto and then
attended Knox College. He began his church work as a missionary
in Southern Manitoba and was ordained in Calgary in 1890. In 1894
he came to Winnipeg to the pulpit of St. Stephen's where he remained
to the end of his ministerial career. Gordon began his writing career
in 1896 with a short story for the Presbyterian paper The Westminster
Magazine. When he wrote his first book Black Rock: A Tale
of the Selkirks, he introduced his pen-name "Connor". By the
time he wrote The Sky Pilot (1899), he had established
his name in literary circles. He also wrote The Man From Glengarry
(1901), Glengarry School Days (1901). The Prospector
(1904), The Life of James Robertson (1908) and The
Foreigner (1909). In total Gordon wrote over thirty novels,
five million copies of which were sold around the world.
Donated by the Gordon family in three instalments, 1969, 1987 and
1997
This collection contains all of his known literary manuscripts,
his ministry records, his papers, writings and maps as a chaplain
in the Canadian army in World War I, his papers as a labour negotiator
in many Winnipeg labour disputes before and after the war and various
personal papers including those as Moderator of the Presbyterian
Church. His literary papers consist of original manuscripts, publishers'
correspondence, and abundant fan mail. The photographs are mainly
of Gordon, the family cottage at Lake of the Woods, and some pictures
of his ministry
Open to all researchers
Finding
aid available
Finding aid available in published form, see For God, King,
Pen & Country. (Winnipeg: The University of Manitoba, 1990)
|
|
|
