|
Ganaraska Forest
-
Conservation History -
|
George M. Wrong - Canada's Great
Historian
George MacKinnon Wrong
(1860-1948)
Professor George Wrong played a key role in the development of the historical profession in
English-speaking Canada. He remains
one of the most prolific authors on Canadian history.
“During
this time his achievements far outshone
those of any Canadian historian of his time.”
The Life and Work of
George M. Wrong,
The Canadian Historical Review, Vol. XXIX,
No. 3 by W.S. Wallace, September, 1948
|
George MacKinnon Wrong
(1860-1948)
"Born in Gravesend, Upper Canada,
Wrong graduated from ... the University of Toronto where, in
1895, he became the first Professor of Modern History.
A believer in the historian's moral duty to interpret the
past for society's present needs, he viewed Canadian history
in terms of the country's British and French origins, and
the American presence. As a teacher, administrator, writer
and a moving force in the early days of the Canadian
Historical Association, he helped to provide an intellectual
base for a developing Canadian nationality."
Excerpt from historic plaque
Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada
|
Indirectly, Prof. Wrong also
had an influential role in the success of
the Ganaraska project both as V.B. Blake's
uncle and as a nearby resident with an
estate on the Ganaraska River.
"After
all, history is life itself."
George M. Wrong
Blake's
most influential mentor
Wrong was
also V.B. Blake's
closest uncle and most influential
mentor. In Blake’s
own words:
“My interest in the past is possibly partly due to
the fact that I grew up in close contact with the Wrong family… G.M. Wrong
married my father’s only sister and lived next door to us on Jarvis Street
and at Murray Bay. Even after my father’s death we saw a great deal of
them. They were fond of my Mother, brother and sisters and always very kind
to me, even when this called for a saintly tolerance. After 1916 I used to
haunt the old house George bought at Canton and was often at their house in
Toronto. It was hardly possible to sit constantly at that table and not
learn a great deal.”
Letter from
Verschoyle
Blake to Dr. George Stanley, History Professor, Royal Military College,
Kingston dated February 21, 1957, courtesy of Elisabeth Bacque
In September, 1886
George McKinnon Wrong married Sophia Hume Blake, the eldest daughter of Edward Blake,
Premier of Ontario (1871 to 1872) and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada
(1880 to 1887)
and Frances Margaret Cronyn. For Wrong, this marriage signalled his entry into high society.
The Wrongs had residences in Toronto at 467 Jarvis
Street and later at 73 Walmer Road in Toronto. The Blakes were not far away.
After the death
of Edward Blake, George MacKinnon and his wife
Sophia acquired a country property at Canton north of Port Hope that included a large pond, a
miller’s house and Durham House.
Nearby, the Blake Family acquired
a country property (VBB named Ardfree) in 1926, on the 9th Concession of Hope Twp.
Both properties
were located on large ponds and connected by
the Ganaraska River.
There was a
special and unusually close bond between Prof. Wrong and his
young nephew, Vers (V.B. Blake. Both men
also shared
the tragic loss of close family members.
As a young boy of 5 yrs., V.B.
Blake lost his father, Edward F. Blake (Ned) to leukemia. (Blake’s father
was the brother of G.M. Wrong’s wife, Sophia).
Harold Verschoyle Wrong (1891-1916) was the son of
George and Sophia Wrong. During WW I, Harold was rejected by the Canadian
Army for an eye-related medical condition - he then enlisted with the British
Army.
In June of 1915, Gerald
Blake followed
Professor Wrong’s son, Harold Verschoyle Wrong and also enlisted with the
British service. (Gerald Blake (1892-1916)
was the only brother of VBB.)
As cousins and as close friends (both young men were
alumni of Ridley College and attended the University of Toronto together),
Gerald and Harold had made the
supreme sacrifice. In 1916, they lost their lives fighting at Thiepval –
Battle of Somme.
G.M. Wrong
had lost his son, Harold
Verschoyle
Wrong (1891-1916) in WW1.
VBB lost his only brother, Gerald Blake, in the same battle.
VBB also lost his father at a very young age -
related to Wrong's wife. These losses
almost certainly propelled G. M. Wrong into
assuming a more fatherly role toward his young nephew - an influence which
would follow Blake for his life.
Background - G.M. Wrong
In 1894, Professor Wrong was appointed Professor and head of the
Department of History at the University of Toronto where he
remained until his retirement in 1927. He was recognized as a
superb lecturer and introduced Canadian history into the curriculum.
In 1897, Wrong founded the
Review of Historical Publications Relating to Canada, predecessor to the
Canadian Historical Review. In 1904, he founded the
University of Toronto
Historical Club, with its dominant interest in public affairs.
In 1905 he helped found the
Champlain Society, was its editorial secretary until 1922 and
its president from 1924-1928. In 1944 he was elected an honorary member of the
American
Historical Association, the third person to receive that honour.
Wrong was elected to the
Royal Society of Canada in 1908.
An anglophile and an imperialist, he was also founding member of the
Round Table movement in Canada. He was also the founding editor of the
Canadian Historical Review from 1920 to 1927.
Besides several textbooks on British and Canadian history,
G.M. Wrong was the author of The Crusade of 1383
(1892),
The Earl of Elgin (1906), A Canadian Manor and its Seigneurs (1908),
The Fall of Canada (1914), Washington and his Comrades in Arms
(1921),
The United States and Canada: A Political Study (1921); The Rise and Fall of New France
(1928), Canada and the American Revolution
(1935) and
The Canadians (1938). He edited for the Champlain Society Sagard's Long Journey to the Country of the Hurons
(1939). Wrong was also co-editor of
The Chronicles of Canada (32 volumes, 1914-16).
George MacKinnon
Wrong is recognized as a National Historic Person of Canada.
Plaque-
Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada
George MacKinnon Wrong
Noteworthy connections
Wrong influenced a generation of students
including William Lyon MacKenzie King, Canada's longstanding Prime Minister (3 terms)
and Chales Vincent Massey, Canada's Governor
General.
In the summer of 1929 George Wrong offered to sell the rights
to the mill and dam to his former pupil, Vincent Massey. No agreement was
reached until the early 1930s, when MacKinnon suffered financially from the
stock market crash. A deal was reached and Vincent Massey erected a residence
here named Batterwood. Wrong and Massey became neighbors.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were guests of Vincent
Massey in 1959 and stayed at Massey’s estate named Batterwood
north of Port Hope.
home
Researcher: M. Martin
c2014
|
