Mary Woodworth Lorton Daryn Wright Canada's Early Women Writers Canadian Writing Research Collaboratory Born digital English Born digital Life writing Biography Bibliography Mary Woodworth Lorton (1899-1971)
Image from the back cover of Mary Woodworth Lorton, Verses in Writing (Hantsport; NS: Lancelot; 1984).

A contributor of many poems to the Canadian Poetry Magazine, Mary Woodworth Lorton seems to have spent most of her life in Nova Scotia.

 11 October 1899, Milford, NS 5 January 1971, unknown place Name at birth: Mary Inez Woodworth Alternate names: Mary I. Woodworth Mary Inez Lorton Mrs. James Lorton

Entry written by Daryn Wright

 Mary Woodworth Lorton (1899-1971)

Mary Inez Woodworth, known to her family as "May," was born in Milford, NS, on 11 October 1899 to James Henry Woodworth (1863-1934) and Ann Eliza McCurdy (1871-1957). In 1941, she married James Victor Lorton (b. c1884), a widower with two children; Mary and James had no children together.

Mary's first publications appears to have been in the 1930s, when three of her poems were printed in the Canadian Poetry Magazine: Reprieve (April 1936), Storm (October 1937), and The Garden (April 1938).During the 1940s, Mary was part of a poetry group organized by Donald G. French, which included Pádraig Ó Broin (1908-1967), Dallas Banister, and Reba Hudson. She continued to published her work in Canadian Poetry Magazine: Linger, O Harshest Season of the Year, Far Waters, and Spring on the Shubenacadie appeared in the 1940 and 1941 issues, respectively. In 1937, she won first place in a Lyric Poem Competition held by the Montreal branch of the Canadian Authors Association for her poem In April ... Now. She received an honourable mention for her poem With You for a poetry contest held by the Association's Ottawa Branch in 1946. Mary's work was also included in Profile: A Chapbook of Canadian Verse, a collection compiled by the Canadian Authors Association and published in 1946.

Mary died 5 January 1971. Her only book, Verses in Writing, was published posthumously in 1984 by Lancelot Press, based in Hantsport, NS.

 Published Texts Poetry Verses in Writing (Hantsport, NS: Lancelot, 1984) Periodical Contributions Canadian Poetry Magazine (Toronto) Montreal Poetry Year Book (1937) Other Publications Anthologized in: Canadian Authors Association. Profile: A Chapbook of Canadian Verse. 1946. Ed. Poetry Craft Group of the Ottawa Branch Canadian Authors Association (Ottawa, ON: Poetry Craft Group, 1946). Rhodenizer, Vernon B., and Sister Maura, eds. Nova Scotia Book of Verse, vol. 1 (Halifax, NS: Nova Scotia Centre, Poetry Society of England, 1949). Contributed to: Canadian Authors Association. Profile: A Chapbook of Canadian Verse (Ottawa, ON: Poetry Craft Group, 1946) Family and Relationships Father: James Henry Woodworth (11 May 1863 – 4 September 1934)

Farmer James Henry Woodworth was born in Milford, NS, on 11 May 1863 to Paul Woodworth (1812-1876) and Mary Ann Ross (1825-1900). He married Ann Eliza McCurdy (1871-1957) in 1897 and they had seven daughters and five sons. James died of heart disease on 4 September 1934 in Hants, NS.

 Mother: Ann Eliza McCurdy (2 July 1871 – 7 March 1957)

Ann Eliza McCurdy was born in Billy, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, on 2 July 1871. Her parents were John McCurdy (1844-1923) and Anna Elizabeth Atcheson. Ann married James Henry Woodworth (1863-1934) in 1897 and they had seven daughters and five sons together. She died of heart disease on 7 March 1957 in Hants, NS.

 Siblings Elizabeth Atchison Woodworth (b. 25 April 1898): m. Matthew McCurdy (1889-1971) Agnes Winnifred Woodworth (19 May 1901 – 7 August 1984): m. Harry Chapman Lewis (d. 1978) James Henry Woodworth (5 May 1902 – 21 October 1911) Jane Evelyn Woodworth (14 July 1903 – 18 October 1939) John Ernest Woodworth (11 September 1904 – 23 January 1973): m. Hazel Viola McKenzie (1909-1961) Ann Matilda Woodworth (b. 21 October 1905): m. Ernest Leslie Wallace (1901-1967) Frederick Paul Woodworth (8 January 1907 – 16 October 1988): m. Dorothy Hilma Forsythe (b. 1909) Florence Eva Woodworth (8 October 1908 – 26 January 1988): m. Francis Stratham (d. 1982) Herbert Edwin Woodworth (11 December 1910 – 15 February 1912) Edwin James Woodworth (21 July 1912 – 2 January 1981): m. Isabel Matilda Hartlen (1911-1993) Edith Irene Woodworth (29 August 1914 – 5 September 1988): m. George Ambrose MacDonald (1910-2004) Spouse: James Victor Lorton (b. c1884) Marriage: 1941, unknown place

James Victor Lorton was born to James Lorton and Ellen Lum around 1884 in Middlesex, England. He first married Helen Davis (c1887-1924) in 1912, with whom he had two children. After she died in 1924, James married Mary Inez Woodworth (1899-1971).

 Other children Victor James Lorton (step-son) (b. 29 May 1913) Constance Lorton (step-daughter) (1916 – 1 November 1935) Residences

Milford, NS

 Awards

1st place for In April ... Now, Lyric Poem Competition, Montreal Poetry Yearbook Contest (Canadian Authors Association, 1937)

Honourable mention for With You, Poetry Contest (Canadian Authors Association, Ottawa Branch, 1946)

 Employment and Volunteer Activities Memberships

Canadian Authors Association

Donald G. French Poetry Group (c1940)

 Archival Holdings Ó Broin (Pádraig) Papers (Byrne, J. Patrick, 1908-1967 ), Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON Published Resources 1921 Census of Canada. England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915. England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915. Nova Scotia, Canada, Births, 1836-1910. Nova Scotia, Canada, Deaths, 1864-1877, 1890-1960. Nova Scotia Roots. Roots Web. Web. 11 June 2015. Ontario, Canada Births, 1869-1913. Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1938 and Deaths Overseas, 1939-1947. Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1801-1928.