George Stewart
1848-1906

George Stewart Jr. was born 26 November 1848 in New York City. At the age of three, Stewart's parents moved to London, Ontario, where he was educated in the public school system until 1859. His family later moved to Saint John, New Brunswick. Stewart attended Upper Canada College where he received a diploma as a druggist and chemist. He pursued this occupation for only a few short years before deciding to enter journalism. While still a youth Stewart was the founder of The Stamp Collector's Monthly Gazette in 1865, shortly followed by Stewart's Literary Quarterly Magazine (1867–1872). Stewart also became the editor of the Saint John Daily News, then the literary editor of the Weekly Watchman, and editor-in-chief of Quebec's Daily Chronicle. Throughout his life he regularly contributed to Canadian magazines and criticism by writing a series of articles focused on history, biography, and literature. In addition to articles, Stewart was also the author of several books, including The Story of the Great Fire in St. John, N.B.: June 20th, 1877 (1877), Canada Under the Administration of the Earl of Dufferin (1878), Evenings in a Library (1879), Emerson the Thinker (1879), Alcott the Concord Mystic (1880), and Essays from Reviews (1892 and 1893). Stewart also contributed to encyclopedias, literary journals, societies, and associations. His awards and academic honours include officer of the Academy of France, and an LLD (McGill), Lit D (Laval University), DCL (University of Bishop's College), DCL (Kings College), a member of the Literary Congress of Europe, fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, London, and a member of the Prince Society of Boston.  He was the only Canadian member in the International Literary Congress of Europe in 1879. Stewart died in Quebec City on 26 February 1906 at the age of fifty-eight.

Source

Irvine, Jessica. "George Stewart." New Brunswick Literary Encyclopedia, Winter 2010. Accessed 8 May 2023.

Predominant New Brunswick Residences:

Saint John

Archival Material

General Archival Note

During the late nineteenth century, George Stewart, Jr. collected numerous autographed photographs from actors and singers while writing reviews for newspapers in Quebec City and Saint John, New Brunswick.  These can be found at the University of Calgary Archives & Special Collections.  Manuscripts related to George Stewart can be found in the collections listed below.

  • Location
    Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library Baldwin Room
    Date Range of Material
    1877-1884
    Extent

    85 letters

    Scope and Content Note

    85 A.L.S. [correspondence] received by Stewart from W. D. Howells, Matthew Arnold, John Bright, Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, W. C. Bryant, Henry W. Longfellow, Francis Parkman, O. W. Holmes, Charles Lindsey, Charles G. D. Roberts, and others. June 4, 1877-Nov. 24, 1884. Bd. with portraits. George Stewart, Canadian journalist and author, was for many years editor of the Quebec Daily Chronicle.

  • Location
    Mount Allison University Library Special Collections Winthrop Pickard Bell Collection of Acadiana
    Retrieval Number
    1-40
    Date Range of Material
    1871-1902
Headshot of George Stewart
Picture Caption
Credit

Courtesy of Musée McCord Museum via Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Montreal, QC, 1891 Wm. Notman & Son, 1891.

See the New Brunswick Literary Encyclopedia entry.

Bibliography Items

Displaying 1 - 1 of 1
Stewart, George. Story of the Great Fire in St. John, N.B., June 20th, 1877. Toronto, ON: Belford Brothers, 1877, 273 pp. [ book ]
Collection(s): Religion