Augustus Bridle
{{short description|British home child and founder of The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Augustus Bridle
| alt =
| image = File:Augustus Bridle, founder of the Toronto Arts and Letters Club (I0014632).jpg
| caption = Portrait taken in 1929, from the M.O. Hammond fonds held at the Archives of Ontario.
| birth_name = Augustus John Bridle
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1868|3|4|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Cann, England, UK
| death_date = {{death date and age|1952|12|21|1868|3|4|df=yes}}
| death_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| nationality = British Canadian
| other_names =
| occupation = Writer, critic, editor
| years_active =
| known_for = Founder of The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto
| notable_works =
| children = 3, including Paul Augustus Bridle
}}
Augustus Bridle (4 March 1868 – 21 December 1952) was a Canadian journalist and author.
Biography
Bridle was born in the village of Cann in southern England. In 1878 he was part of the British home child program and was sent to Canada in 1878 by National Children's Home (now known as Action for Children).{{cite web |url=https://www.britishhomechildrenregistry.com/Person/bhcInfo/37859 |title=Augustus Bridle |date=2016 |website=British Home Child Registry |publisher=BHCARA |access-date=17 December 2020}} After working on Ontario farms as a young boy, he went on to study at the University of Toronto, where he graduated with a gold medal in classics.{{cite web |title=Augustus Bridle |url=https://canadianbritishhomechildren.weebly.com/augustus-bridle |date=Spring 2018 |website=British Home Children in Canada |publisher=British Home Children Advocacy and Research Association |accessdate=22 November 2020}}
He began his career in journalism with the Edmonton Bulletin while living at Edmonton, Alberta from 1900 to 1901. He returned to Ontario in 1901, where he continued in newspaper work as a writer, first for the Stratford Herald and later for the Toronto News.{{cite news |date=22 December 1952 |title=Noted Critic of Music, Art: Augustus Bridle, 83, Dies |work=Toronto Daily Star |location=Toronto, Ontario, Canada |page=1,4}} In 1908 he became the associate editor of the Canadian Courier, a national weekly magazine published in Toronto, continuing in this position until 1916 when he became editor.{{cite news |date=22 December 1952|title=Toronto Critic Succumbs to Injury in Accident |work=The Ottawa Citizen|location=Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |page=14}} He later joined the staff of the Toronto Daily Star in 1922, and served the newspaper for 30 years as music critic, book reviewer, and film and drama editor.{{cite news |date=22 December 1952 |title=Mr. Bridle's Contributions |work=Toronto Daily Star |location=Toronto, Ontario, Canada |page=6}}{{cite web |author=Maud Maclean |date=19 June 2007 |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/augustus-bridle-emc |title=Augustus Bridle |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica Canada |accessdate=22 November 2020}}
In 1908, he became the founding member of The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto, which was noted as being a meeting place for the members of the Group of Seven.{{cite web |url=https://www.artsandlettersclub.ca/index.cfm?pagepath=About_Us/History&id=13557 |title=Some interesting Club history |date=2015 |website=Arts and Letters Club Toronto |publisher=Arts and Letters Club |access-date=20 December 2020 |quote=On a blustery March night in 1908, a group of writers, musicians, architects, academics and supporters of the arts, encouraged by Augustus Bridle, a journalist covering the arts beat, met above a downtown restaurant to found an organization committed to championing of the arts in English-speaking Canada: The Arts & Letters Club of Toronto.}}{{cite news |date=24 December 1952 |title=Special Music Played at Augustus Bridle Rites |work=Toronto Daily Star |location=Toronto, Ontario, Canada |page=15}}
Bridle was the author of several books, including A Backwoods Christmas (Toronto 1910), Sons of Canada (Toronto 1916), Masques of Ottawa (Toronto 1921), Hansen: A Novel of Canadianization (Toronto 1924), and The Story of the Club (Toronto 1945).
Works
- A Backwoods Christmas, (1910)
- Sons Of Canada, (1916)
- The Masques Of Ottawa, (1921) [written as: Domino]
- Hansen: A Novel Of Canadianization, (1924)
- The Story Of The Club, (1945) (Arts and Letters Club of Toronto)
- The Old 24th Of May
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{FadedPage|id=Bridle, Augustus|name=Augustus Bridle|author=yes}}
- {{Gutenberg author |id=9629}}
- {{Internet Archive author |sname=Augustus Bridle}}
- [https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/CollectionSearch/Pages/record.aspx?app=fonandcol&IdNumber=99106&new=-8585819752945881907 Fonds at Collections Canada]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridle, Augustus}}
Category:British emigrants to Canada
Category:Canadian male journalists
Category:Canadian male novelists
Category:Canadian male non-fiction writers
Category:Journalists from Toronto