Lucy Maud (L.M.) Montgomery was born on November 30, 1874 in Clifton, Prince Edward Island. Her mother, Clara Woolner Macneill, died of tuberculosis when Montgomery was almost two years old. Her father, Hugh John Montgomery, left her in the care of her maternal grandparents and moved west to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. He began a new family there while Montgomery remained in Prince Edward Island.
Montgomery’s grandparents, Alexander and Lucy Woolner Macneill, lived in Cavendish. She had two imaginary friends growing up and loved being outside in nature. From a young age, Montgomery was interested in writing poetry and started journalling when she was nine.
In 1893, Montgomery studied at Prince of Wales College in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and began a brief teaching career upon graduating in 1894. She took a teaching hiatus for a year in 1895 to 1896 to study at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. During this time, she was still writing and received payment for her work for the first time while studying at Dalhousie.
Montgomery returned to teaching until 1898 when her grandfather passed away suddenly. She returned to Cavendish and lived there with her grandmother for thirteen years. She split her time between taking care of her grandmother and following her literary and journalistic pursuits. She submitted poems, stories and serials to magazines across North America and Britain. Although it was a slow process with many rejections, she began to bring in a modest income from her writing by 1903.
Her first novel, Anne of Green Gables, would face many rejections from publishers in 1905. Montgomery put the manuscript in a hat box for 2 years before she sent it to publishers for a second chance in 1907. The Page Company of Boston, Massachusetts accepted the manuscript and in 1908, the very first story of Anne Shirley was published and welcomed into the hearts of readers. It was an immediate success. 19,000 copies were sold in its first five months.
L.M. Montgomery’s first two novels, Anne of Green Gables (1908) and Anne of Avonlea (1909). From the L.M. Montgomery Institute, University of Prince Edward Island. Click on the image for more details.
Montgomery’s grandmother passed away in 1911. Shortly after, Montgomery’s secret almost-six-year engagement to Reverend Ewan Macdonald came to a finale with their marriage on July 5, 1911. The newlyweds moved to Leaskdale, Ontario. Macdonald was the minister in the Presbyterian Church there. While living in Leaskdale, Montgomery gave birth to their three sons, Chester, Hugh and Stuart. Unfortunately, Hugh was still born; a loss that impacted Montgomery for the rest of her life. In 1926, the family moved to Norval where Macdonald had taken up a new dual position as minister at the Norval Presbyterian Church and Union Presbyterian Church outside of Georgetown. They remained until 1935, when Macdonald resigned. They moved to Toronto, Ontario.
Throughout all these years, Montgomery continued to write and publish novels, short stories and poems. She became the first Canadian woman to be a member of the Royal Society of Arts and Letters in 1923. She was also named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1935. Her works have been translated into over 30 languages.
Although all but one of her twenty novels would be set in Prince Edward Island, Montgomery would never live again on her beloved island. She passed away in Toronto on April 24, 1942 and was buried in the Cavendish Cemetery, back in Prince Edward Island.
Her work has continued to inspire generations of readers and find acclaim around the world.
Lucy Maud Montgomery. “L.M. Montgomery” is a trademark of Heirs of L.M. Montgomery Inc. Library and Archives Canada, C-011299. Click on the image for more details.
