Stephen Butler Leacock 1869-1944

Stephen Leacock 1869-1944

and

The Old Brewery Bay

There are five plaques about this gentleman.
The first three are in one location in the County of Simcoe.
The fourth is in the County of York.
The fifth is in the Country of Great Britain.
All can be seen on this page.

Photos by contributor Wayne Adam - Posted January, 2010

Photo Source - Wikipedia

Plaque Location

The County of Simcoe
The City of Orillia
Beside the parking lot, at the northern end of Leacock Lane
1.28 km from the intersection of Atherley Road and Highway 12
via Atherley Road, Forest Avenue North
Museum Drive and Leacock Lane

Coordinates: N 44 36.503 W 79 23.622

Plaque Text

Born in England, Leacock was educated at Upper Canada College and at the Universities of Toronto and Chicago. He spent the greater part of his career at McGill, teaching and publishing in the fields of history and political science. It is, however, as a humorist that he is chiefly known and among a considerable volume of writings, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (1912) is the work that assured him a reputation throughout the English speaking world. The peculiar charm of his work lies in the evocation, through exaggeration and the identification of incongruities, of the humour of ordinary people in commonplace situations.

Photos by contributor Wayne Adam - Posted January, 2010

Plaque Text

Economist-Historian-Humorist. Stephen Leacock, born in England and brought up near Lake Simcoe, was educated at Upper Canada College and the Universities of Toronto and Chicago. He taught at Upper Canada College for some years and in the Department of Economics and Political Science at McGill University from 1901 to 1936. Literary Lapse, the first of his many humorous works, appeared in 1910. Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, published in 1912, became a classic. Leacock's genius in applying "exaggeration and incongruous juxtaposition to ordinary people in every day situations" gained for him world-wide reputation.

Photo by contributor Wayne Adam - Posted January, 2010

Photo Source - Wikimedia

Plaque Text

This property on Lake Couchiching, which Stephen Leacock purchased in 1908 and named "The Old Brewery Bay", was a source of creativity and happiness for Canada's most celebrated humorist. Here, he absorbed the impressions which inspired his masterpiece, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, and indulged his passions for fishing, sailing, mixed farming, and hosting family and friends. His personality and his status as a world renowned author and academic are reflected in the present residence, whose construction in 1928 recycled components of a previous cottage which stood closer to the lake.

Photos by contributor Wayne Adam - Posted October, 2011

Photo Source - Canadian Heritage Gallery

Plaque Location

The Region of York
The Town of Georgina
In Sutton, in front of a church at the intersection of
Hedge Road and Park Road, 2.8 km north of Highway 48

Coordinates: N 44 19.872 W 79 19.951

Plaque Text

This internationally-known author and humorist is buried in the churchyard. Born in Swanmore, Hampshire, England, Leacock came with his family to this township in 1876. Graduating from the University of Toronto in 1891, he taught at Upper Canada College and, in 1901, began lecturing in political science at McGill University, heading that department, 1908-1936. Though Leacock wrote extensively on political science, economics and history, he achieved his greatest distinction as a humorist. Some of his best work, essentially Canadian in character and spirit, may be found in "Literary Lapses", "Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town" and "Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich". Leacock's many humorous books, in English and in translation, have won world-wide recognition.

Photos by contributor Anonymous - Posted May, 2007

Plaque Location

England
Hampshire
At the Leacock House in Swanmore

Coordinates: N 50 56.667 W 01 10.870

Plaque Text

This internationally-known author and humorist was born here December 30, 1869, and, at the age of six, emigrated with his family to Ontario. Graduating from the University of Toronto in 1891, he taught at Upper Canada College and, in 1901, began lecturing in political science at McGill University, heading that department, 1908-1936. Though Leacock wrote extensively on political science, economics and history, he achieved his greatest distinction as a humorist. Some of his best work, essentially Canadian in character and spirit, may be found in "Literary Lapses", "Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town" and "Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich". Leacock's many humorous books, in English and in translation, have won world-wide recognition.

Related Toronto plaque
Upper Canada College

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Posted June 19, 2010
I didn't know that the Ontario government had any historic plaques in Britain! Very interesting!

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