William C. Borrett

{{Short description|Nova Scotia radio pioneer and author}}{{Infobox person

| honorific_prefix = Major

| name = William Coates Borrett

| honorific_suffix = VD

| birth_date = April 24, 1894

| birth_place = Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada

| death_date = 1983 (age 89)

| burial_place = Fairview Lawn Cemetery

| nationality = Canadian

| education = Cowbridge Grammar School in Wales

| occupation = military officer, author, radio broadcaster

| known_for = Founder of Nova Scotia's first radio station, CHNS-FM

| spouse = Muriel Hazel Bauld (m. 1917)

| parents = Walter John Borrett (father), Ethel Mary Coates (mother)

| awards = Medallion for preservation of Nova Scotia history (1950)

}}

William Coates Borrett (April 24, 1894 – 1983){{Cite web|date=August 9, 1918|title=BORRETT, WILLIAM COATES|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/CollectionSearch/Pages/record.aspx?app=pffww&IdNumber=53332&new=-8585635630727422892|access-date=November 27, 2021|website=Library and Archives Canada}} was an author, radio broadcasting pioneer, and member of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War I. On June 7, 1917, he married at the age of 23 to 28-year-old Muriel Hazel Bauld{{Efn|Some official sources list her as Muriel Hazen Bauld. However, William's application to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force lists her as Muriel Hazel Bauld.|name=a}} in Halifax, Nova Scotia.{{Cite web|date=June 7, 1917|title=William C. Borreth and Muriel H. Bauld married in 1917 at Halifax County|url=https://archives.novascotia.ca/vital-statistics/marriage/?ID=156181|access-date=November 27, 2021|website=Nova Scotia Archives – Nova Scotia Births, Marriages, and Deaths}} His marriage certificate lists him as a member of the Church of England and his occupation as a military officer. He founded Nova Scotia's first radio station, CHNS-FM on May 12, 1926, which was broadcast from the Carleton Hotel in Halifax.{{Cite web|title=CHNS-FM {{!}} History of Canadian Broadcasting|url=https://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listing_and_histories/radio/chns-fm|access-date=November 27, 2021|website=History of Canadian Broadcasting}} For more than 18 years his station aired a series called "Tales Told Under the Old Town Clock" which featured stories about Nova Scotia's history. In 1942, he published these stories through Ryerson Press under the same name.{{Cite news|last=Graham|first=Kathleen|date=May 4, 1957|title=Tales Retold the Old Town Clock, By William Coates Borrett; Ryerson, $4.|work=The Leader-Post|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ua1UAAAAIBAJ&dq=william+coates+borrett&pg=PA14|access-date=November 27, 2021}} On August 14, 1950, at a reception to mark 201 years since the founding of Halifax, Borrett was awarded a medallion for his historical books and radio program that preserved Nova Scotia and Halifax history.{{Cite news|date=August 14, 1950|title=Halifax Celebrations Mark 201st Birthday|work=The Montreal Gazette|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4YEtAAAAIBAJ&dq=william+coates+borrett&pg=PA28|access-date=November 27, 2021}}

Relationship with Hank Snow

In 1933 while Borrett was the managing director of CHNS-FM, a young Hank Snow sent a letter to the radio station seeking an audition. On March 14, 1933, Borrett responded to Snow in a letter, informing the singer that the artists who performed on his station were paid by the sponsors of the station's programs and that he would not be able to offer Snow an audition unless a sponsor requested him. Reluctant to accept this response, Snow gathered savings and traveled to Halifax, contacting the station while there. He was given an appointment to meet Borrett, but was instead met by Cecil Landry, the station engineer and announcer for CHNS, who gave him an audition on the spot.{{Cite book|last=Snow|first=Hank|url=https://archive.org/details/hanksnowstory00snow/page/116/mode/2up|title=The Hank Snow Story|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=1994|isbn=9780252020896|pages=117–136|language=English}}{{Cite book|last=Oickle|first=Vernon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w3EnEAAAQBAJ|title=I'm Movin' On, The Life and Legacy of Hank Snow|publisher=Nimbus Publishing|year=2014|isbn=9781771081412|language=English|format=Ebook}} Borrett later claimed that Snow was the first musician he paid, giving Hank $15 a week to come on air.

Bibliography

Borrett authored a number of books in his lifetime. The following is a list of his published works.

Tales Told Under the Old Town Clock (1942)
More Tales Told Under the Old Town Clock (1943)

Notes

References

External links

[https://billiongraves.com/grave/William-Coates-Borrett/10125676 Grave site of Major William Coates Borrett]
[https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1921&op=pdf&id=e002909700 Borrett in the 1921 Canadian Census]

Category:1894 births

Category:1983 deaths

Category:People from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

Category:Writers from Halifax, Nova Scotia

Category:20th-century Canadian writers