Frederick Niven | |
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| Born | (1878-03-31)March 31, 1878 Valparaiso, Chile |
| Died | January 30, 1944(1944-01-30) (aged 65) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Occupation | Journalist, writer |
| Nationality | Scottish-Canadian |
| Period | 20th century |
| Genres | Fiction, poetry, journalism |
Frederick John Niven, (March 31, 1878 – January 30, 1944) was a Canadian novelist of Scottish heritage. A prolific author, he produced over thirty works of fiction, an autobiography, poetry, essays, and pieces of journalism.[1]
Niven was born inValparaiso,Chile on 31 March 1878, the youngest of three children.[2] His father manufactured sewedmuslin, while his mother was aCalvinist born inCalcutta.[3][4] When he reached school age, he accompanied his mother to Scotland. He was educated at Hutcheson's Grammar School,Glasgow,[1] where his heart trouble prevented him from swimming.[5] First employed in his father's factory, he later worked as a librarian in Glasgow andEdinburgh, and also had employment in a jewelry shop.[1] He attended theGlasgow School of Art during the evening for two years.[3] On the advice of a doctor, in his late teens Niven moved to the drier climate of theOkanagan Valley inBritish Columbia.[6] He worked on a railroad nearSavona and dug ditches inVancouver.[7] When he was twenty years old, he spent a summer tramping in southern British Columbia, later portrayed inWild Honey.[8][9] His return to Scotland was aboard a cattleboat from Montreal, a setting recreated inS. S. Glory (1915).[7]
After his arrival, he contributed western sketches to theGlasgow Weekly Herald, and later, toThe Pall Mall Magazine, eventually becoming a journalist.[3][10] His first novel,Lost Cabin Mine (1908), was aWestern published serially inThe Popular Magazine.[11] His second,The Island of Providence (1910), a historical romance of 17th centuryDevon, contained scenes replete with pirates and buccaneers.[12] His first foray into realistically depicting Scottish life wasA Wilderness of Monkeys (1911).[13]
In 1911, Niven married Mary Pauline Thorne-Quelch, a journalist fifteen years his junior. In 1912 and 1913 the couple spent several months travelling in Western Canada prior to returning toLondon beforeWWI.[14][15] Niven was rejected for military service due to his heart condition. He spent the war working for the Ministry of Food and the War Office.[14] This period, the years 1913 to 1920, was most productive, and included the publication ofJustice of the Peace (1914), which many, including his wife, consider to be his finest novel.[16][17] His first volume of poetry,Maple Leaf Songs, appeared in 1917.[18]
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In 1920, Niven and his wife settled permanently on Willow Point, nearNelson, British Columbia, on the shores ofKootenay Lake.[19] Starting in this decade, Niven traveled extensively, learning sign language from theBlackfoot people atCalgary,[20] and also went farther abroad, toSouth America,[1] theYukon, andHawaii.[18] The year 1923 saw the publication of the WesternThe Wolfer, a novel Niven described as written partly for fun and partly for money.[21] He produced articles forCanadian Magazine,The Dalhousie Review, andSaturday Night.[18] He now solely lived by his writing.[22] In 1927, he publishedWild Honey (UKQueer Fellowes), an account of hobo life, which the writerCharles Lillard later described as one of three best early novels of British Columbia.[23] Two years later, he put forth a pair of non-fiction books,The Story of Alexander Selkirk, andCanada West, a historical account of western Canada.[18] One disadvantage of living in British Columbia was that his reputation in England began to decline.[20]
The 1930s witnessed some of Niven's best Scottish novels, includingThe Three Marys (1930),The Paisley Shawl (1931), and theStaff at Simson's (1937).[24] The first novel in his Canadian historical trilogy,The Flying Years, appeared in 1935.[1] He collaborated with the artistWalter J. Phillips to produceColour in the Canadian Rockies (1937).[13] Niven published in 1938 a series of autobiographical essays entitledColoured Spectacles.[25] His trilogy continued withMine Inheritance (1940), and the posthumously publishedThe Transplanted (1944).[1]
Due to repeated heart attacks, Niven first moved to Nelson, and in 1943 to Vancouver. He died there on January 10, 1944.[26] He is buried in Nelson, British Columbia. In 1946 his headstone was provided by the City of Glasgow, and the memorial tablet by theCanadian Authors Association.[27] The Frederick Niven Literary Award, given for outstanding contribution to literature by a Scot, is named after him.[28]
The Canadian literary criticNorthrop Frye considered Niven to be a "writer of brilliant promise".[29] He was reviewed favourably byHugh Walpole,Christopher Morley,Rebecca West, andKatherine Mansfield.[16] However, he never reached the top echelon of either Scottish or Canadian authors.[30] His first novels were influenced byRobert Louis Stevenson and the hero ofpenny dreadfuls,Deadwood Dick.[14] The quality of his works varied greatly, several being nothing more thanpotboilers.[14] Niven's literary reputation rested mainly on his early novelThe Justice of the Peace.[17] His Scottish novels are thought to be superior to his Canadian ones.[16][31] The criticEdward McCourt ascribed this to Niven's emigration to Canada in middle age, and imperfect assimilation of the mores of his new home.[32]
Niven was a careful stylist, and his writing showed qualities of wit, humanity, and intelligence.[33] His ability to write memorable poetic descriptions has been remarked upon.[34][35] The plots in his Scottish novels are not well developed, relying rather on an evocation of character and atmosphere.[36] Despite the diligent sourcing of historical data, Niven's Canadian trilogy is marred by frequently wooden characters.[37] One noted structural defect inThe Flying Years is the too rapid passage of time, making it seem episodic.[34][38] The latter novel is the only one of Niven's works to be included in theNew Canadian Library series.[39]
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