Stephen Butler Leacock

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Stephen Leacock was born in Swanmore, Hampshire, England on December 30th 1869. At 6 years old Stephen's family moved to Canada, settling on a farm in Egypt, Ontario, just by the shores of Lake Simcoe. While the family had very much liked where they were in England, the farm in George Town of York Country hadn't been a big success and Leacock's father suffered from alcoholism and became a violent alcoholic towards his family and friends.

Stephen Leacock (Drew It)

Stephen Leacock was always very intelligent. He was sent to the elite private school of Upper Canada College in Toronto. There, Stephen was always top of his class and so popular he was chosen as head boy. His father left Stephen and his family in 1887 and never returned. That same year, seventeen year-old Stephen Butler Leacock started at University College at the University of Toronto, where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity. But Leacock could not resume the following year because he was having financial difficulties.

Leacock left university to earn money as a schoolteacher - a job he hated with a passion - at Strathroy, Uxbridge in Toronto. As a teacher at Upper Canada College, he was unable to attend classes at the University of Toronto and in 1891; he was earning his degree through part-time studies. It was during this period that his first writing was published in The Varsity, a campus newspaper.

Stephen Leacock Portrait (Drew It)

Academic and Political Life

Leacock became discouraged with his past years. In 1899 Leacock began graduate studies at the University of Chicago where he had received a decorate in political science and political economy. Leacock moved from Chicago, Illinois to Montreal, Quebec where he became a lecturer and long-time acting head of the political economy department at McGill University.

Leacock was closely connected with Sir Arthur Currie, former commander of the Canadian Corps in the Great War and principal of McGill from 1919 until his death in 1933. Currie had been a student observing Leacock's practice teaching in Strathroy in 1888. In 1936, Leacock was forced to retire by the McGill board of Governors.

Leacock was both a Social Conservative as well as a Partisan Conservative. He opposed women's rights and disliked non-Anglo-Saxon immigration. However, Leacock was a supporter of social welfare legislation. He was a champion of the British Empire, and went on lecture tours to further the cause.

Although Stephen Leacock was considered a federal candidate for his party, it didn't worsen to invite the author, lecturer and maverick to stand for election. Nevertheless, he would stump for local candidates at his summer home.

Literary Life

Early in Leacock's career, Leacock turned to fiction, humor and short reports to add and ultimately succeed his regular income. His stories first published in magazines in Canada and the United States and later in "novel" form became very popular around the world. It was said that in 1911, that more people had heard of Stephen Leacock than Canada itself. Also between the years of 1915 and 1925, Leacock was the most popular humorist in the English-speaking world.

During the summer months, Stephen lived at Old Brewery Bay in Orillia, across Lake Simcoe from where he had been raised. The cottage is now a museum and Nation Historic Site.

Stephen was a respected humorist writer. He attended 3 Universities to complete his education and now has an award named after him in his honour: The Stephen Leacock Award. Stephen had written over 60 books and lived for 75 years and made the most of everyday. He had a six cent stamp made with his picture on it and a memorial at his birthplace in England. Stephen has a mountain named after him and numerous buildings. Stephen was a humorist, essayist, teacher, political economist and historian. Stephen Butler Leacock, will be remembered forever.