author
Charles Roger
b. 1819
An early historian of Canada, he wrote with the energy of a journalist and the curiosity of someone trying to make sense of a young country’s past. His best-known work traces Canada’s growth from its earliest periods into the 19th century.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Dundee, Scotland, on April 14, 1819, Charles Roger was a historian and journalist who became one of the earlier writers to attempt a broad narrative history of Canada. He studied at St Andrews before turning to journalism and literary work.
Roger moved through several newspaper and editorial roles in British North America. He is remembered chiefly for The Rise of Canada, from Barbarism to Wealth and Civilization (1856), a substantial historical work that reflects both his ambition and his interest in explaining Canada’s development to contemporary readers.
Sources on his later life are uncertain. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography describes him as a minor but interesting figure in early Canadian historical writing and notes that he may have died in 1878. No suitable verified portrait image was found from the pages reviewed, so no profile image is included.