I9OI-2 TRANSACTIONS. II 



was "St. Ursula's Convent," i. a mediocre story, belonging 

 to the same general type which became so prolific and popular 

 many years after in the hands of writers like "Ouida" and 

 '' The Duchess". The novel was published anonymously, 

 but it subsequently appeared that the author was Mrs. Julia 

 Catherine Hart, a native of Fredericton, New Brunswick, and 

 who was living in Kingston, Upper Canada, at the time her 

 novel was published. Mrs. Hart subsequently wrote a second 

 book, a tale of Indian warfare and intrigue, entitled 

 " Tonnewonte." 2 



Major John Richardson, who may be regarded as the 

 father o: the historical novel in Canada, was born near 

 Niagara Falls, Upper Canada, in 1797. He served in the war 

 of 1812 and was taken prisoner, afterwards joining the British 

 Legion in Spain, where he gathered material for one of his 

 tales. In 1838 he returned to Canada, and devoted himself 

 to literature and journalism. One of his romances, " Jack 

 Brag in Spain", appeared in the New Era^ or Canadian 

 Chronicle^ a newspaper which he had establshed at Brockville 

 in 1840. His first book, however, appeared some years before 

 this, "Ecarte, or the Salons of Paris", a novel published at 

 New York in 1829, in two volumes. This was followed, in 

 1833, by his most important work, " Wacousta, or the Pro- 

 phecy," a tale of Pontiac's war and of the seige of Detroit. 

 Many of the scenes are laid in and around his boyhood home 

 at Amherstburg. "Wacousta" was very favourably reviewed 



1 St. Ursula's Convent, or. The Nun of Canada, containing scenes 

 from Real Life In two volumes. Kingston, Upper Canada : Printed 

 by Hugh C Thompson, 1824, pf.. 101, 132. 



2. Tonnewonte, the adopted son of America. A tale, containing 

 scenes from Real Life. By an American. Published for the trade. 

 Exeter— B. H. Madei, 1831. pp 312. 



M. Phileas (4agnon, the well-known French-Canadian blibliograph- 

 er, has an interesting paper in the Transactions of the Royal Society of 

 Canada, Vol. VL Second Series, 1900-1901, entitled: " Le premier 

 roman canadien de sujef par un auteur canadien et imprirae en 

 Canada." In this paper he gives a full description of these two early 

 Canadian novels, and a sketch of their author, Mrs. Hart, (formerly 

 Miss Julia Catherine Beckwith), who was born at Fredericton in 1796, 

 and died in 1869. 



Mrs Hart also wrote a third story, "Edith," which however was 

 never piiljlished. 



