Grace Blackburn Linnea McNally Katie Gillespie Canada's Early Women Writers Canadian Writing Research Collaboratory Born digital object, initially housed by the Simon Fraser University library English Born digital Life writing Biography Bibliography Grace Blackburn (1865-1928)
Image from John. W. Garvin, ed., Canadian Poets, 2nd ed. (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1926).

Born into a newspaper family, Grace Blackburn became a prominent journalist.

 17 April 1865, Quebec City, QC 4 March 1928, London, ON Name at birth: Victoria Grace Blackburn Alternate names: "Fanfan" Note

This author's life has been researched earlier for inclusion in the <XREF URL="http://digital.lib.sfu.ca/ceww-collection" RESP="KME">Canada's Early Women Writers</XREF> project at Simon Fraser University. Information in this entry therefore may not be comprehensive, but has been verified.

Entry revised by Linnea McNally and Katie Gillespie

 Grace Blackburn (1865-1928)

The London Free Press was the Blackburn family enterprise, to which most of Joseph Blackburn's children contributed. The family's fifth daughter and sixth child, Victoria Grace Blackburn, or "Grace," attended girls' schools in London, ON, and then Hellmuth Ladies' College. For several years she taught in Minnesota, then spent a year as the principal of the Diocesan School in Indianapolis, sending occasional pieces to the London Free Press from 1894 onward. In 1900, she came home to join the staff, and wrote literary and dramatic criticism under the pen-name "Fan-Fan." While journalism occupied most of her time, Grace also studied theatre and dramatic criticism in New York, and literature in England from 1906 to 1909. On her return to Canada, she helped found the London branch of the Canadian Women's Press Club in 1910, for which she later served as president (1918-1919). She became an editorial writer for the Free Press, and from 1918 to 1928 acted as assistant managing editor.

The First World War formed the theme of many of Grace's poems, such as Christ in Flanders (c1916), and her novel, The Man Child, which was published posthumously in 1930. In addition to her poetry and journalism, she wrote at least two plays: the drama Seal of Confession and a satire, The Little Gray. In 1924, Grace wrote a biography of Arthur Stringer for Ryerson Press's Makers of Canadian Literature series, but the volume was never published; Arthur Stringer's biography was ultimately included in the series in 1941, authored by Victor Laurison and co-published by Bobbs-Merrill Press in the US. On the lecture circuit, her feminist Chant of the Woman was popular. Grace Blackburn died of cancer in 1928 and was buried at Woodland Cemetery in London, ON.

For a more detailed biography, see her entry in the <XREF URL="http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/blackburn_victoria_grace_15E.html" RESP="KME">Dictionary of Canadian Biography</XREF>.

 Published Texts Fiction The Man Child (Ottawa, ON: Graphic, 1930) Poetry Fanfan's Poetry: The Collected Poetical Works of Victoria Grace Blackburn, ed. E.H. Jones (London, ON: U of Western Ontario P, 1967) Periodical Contributions Canadian Bookman (Montreal, QC) London Free Press (London, ON) Massey's Magazine (Toronto) Other Publications Anthologized in: Garvin, John W., ed. <XREF URL="https://archive.org/details/canadianpoemsofg00garvuoft" RESP="KME">Canadian Poems of the Great War</XREF> (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1918). Garvin, John W., ed. <XREF URL="https://archive.org/details/canadianpoets00garv" RESP="KME">Canadian Poets</XREF>, 1st ed. (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1916). Garvin, John W., ed. Canadian Poets, 2nd ed. (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1926). Other Artistic Productions Speeches

Chant of the Woman

 Plays

Seal of Confession

The Little Gray

 Family and Relationships Father: Josiah Blackburn (6 March 1823 – 11 November 1890)

Born in London, England in 1823, Josiah was proprietor and editor of the London Free Press. He married Grace's mother, Emme or Emma Jane, in 1851. After her death in 1885, he married Marion Aglia. He died in Garland, AR, in 1890.

 Mother: Emme Delamere (or Delemere), or Emma Jane (Delamore) (c1832 – 14 February 1885)

The exact name of Grace Blackburn's mother is not certain: she was either Emme or Emma Jane, with the surname of Delamere, Delemere, or Delamore. She was born in Toronto in the 1930s, married Josiah Blackburn in 1851, and died in London, ON, on Valentines Day in 1885.

 Religion Anglican Residences

England (1906-1909)

Faribault, MN (c1897-c1899)

Indianapolis, IN (c1899)

London, ON (1871, 1881, 1891, 1900-, c1911-1928))

New York, NY (c1903-c1906)

 Education

Hellmuth Ladies' College (London, ON)

 Awards Employment and Volunteer Activities Employment

Assistant managing editor, London Free Press (1918-1928)

Journalist

Literary and drama critic

Principal (Diocesan School of Northern Indiana, Indianapolis, IN) (c1899)

Schoolteacher (Faribault, MN) (c1897-c1899)

Unpaid and volunteer activities

Founder and president, Women's Canadian Club (1918-1919)

President, London Women's Press Club (1921-1923)

Memberships

Canadian Women's Press Club

Women's Canadian Club

London Women's Press Club

 Tangential Information

Grace Blackburn was the cousin of author Kathleen Blackburn (1866-1949).

 Archival Holdings John Willison fonds, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, ON (correspondence) Madge Macbeth fonds, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, ON (letter to Madge Macbeth) Ryerson Press Textual Records, Archives and Special Collections, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON (publishing agreement for Arthur Stringer biography) University of Western Ontario Library, London, ON (plays, Seal of Confession and The Little Gray, and a typescript of Fanfan's Poetry: The Collected Poetical Works of Victoria Grace Blackburn) William Arthur Deacon papers, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON (correspondence) Published Resources 1871 Census of Canada. 1881 Census of Canada. 1891 Census of Canada. 1901 Census of Canada. 1911 Census of Canada. Fee, Margery. <XREF URL="http://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/bsc/article/view/17579" RESP="KME">Lorne Pierce, Ryerson Press, and The Makers of Canadian Literature Series</XREF>. Papers of The Bibliographical Society of Canada 24.1 (1985): 51-69. Garvin, John W. Grace Blackburn. <XREF URL="https://archive.org/details/canadianpoets00garv" RESP="KME">Canadian Poets</XREF>, 1st ed. (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1916): 383-88. Moran, Rodger J. Victoria Grace Blackburn. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Web. 20 March 2017. Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1936 and Deaths Overseas, 1939-1947. Reaney, James Stewart. <XREF URL="http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/blackburn_victoria_grace_15E.html" RESP="KME">Blackburn, Victoria Grace</XREF>. Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Web. 19 March 2017. Watters, R.E. Checklist of Canadian Literature and Background Materials, 1620-1960 (Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1972): 249.