William Albert Hickman

1877-1957

William Albert (W.A.) Hickman was born on the 22 December 1877, in Dorchester, New Brunswick. Hickman attended the Pictou Academy in Nova Scotia from 1893 to 1896, after which he attended the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Upon graduating from Harvard with a S.B. cum laude in June of 1899, Hickman obtained the position of “Agent General for New Brunswick” or “New Brunswick Government Commissioner” and was stationed in London, England. In 1903, Hickman had finished working for the New Brunswick government and undertook work for the Dominion of Canada in presenting lectures on New Brunswick throughout Great Britain. After delivering approximately seventy-five lectures, Hickman returned to Pictou and conducted extensive research into the people and landscapes of western Canada. This research was published by the Royal Canadian Institute as "The Canadian West and Northwest" (January 1903). Hickman's novel, The Sacrifice of the Shannon, was published by the Frederick A. Stokes Company of New York in 1903. He also published Canadian Nights in 1914, and short stories and novelettes in The Century and other US magazines. Hickman died in Boston, Massachusetts on the 10 September 1957.

Predominant New Brunswick Residences:

Dorchester

Archival Material

• William Albert Hickman fonds
  ⌄
  Location

  Saint Mary's University Archives

  Website/Catalogue Record

  View Archival Record

  Retrieval Number

  2001.001.01

  Date Range of Material

  1861-1949, predominant 1893-1915

  Extent

  1.9 m of textual records and 105 photographs

  Scope and Content Note

  Fonds consists of records accumulated by W.A. Hickman that trace his life from the Pictou Academy in 1896 to Harvard in 1897, to London England in 1901, and back to Pictou, Nova Scotia in 1903. The majority of the fonds consists of textual records documenting Hickman's life up until 1915, as well as over one hundred photographs of various individuals and boats. The records have been divided into the following series: Series 1: Personal correspondence. Series 2: New Brunswick Government Commissioner records. Series 3: Speedboats - textual records. Series 4: Photographs of boats. Series 5: Business correspondence. Series 6: W. A. Hickman - general records. Series 7: Photographs. Series 8: Purves family records.