author
John Charles Dent
1841–1888
A lively 19th-century Canadian journalist and historian, he helped make the country’s political past readable and memorable for ordinary readers. His books ranged from major works of history to shorter sketches and even a collection of weird tales published near the end of his life.
4 Audiobooks
The Story of the Upper Canadian Rebellion, Volume 1
by John Charles Dent
The Gerrard Street Mystery and Other Weird Tales
by John Charles Dent
The Canadian Portrait Gallery - Volume 3 (of 4)
by John Charles Dent
Canadian Notabilities, Volume 1
by John Charles Dent
About the author
Born in Kendal, England, on November 8, 1841, he came to Canada West as a small child and was educated there. He studied law in Brantford and qualified as an attorney in 1865, but writing soon became the center of his career.
He worked in journalism in both England and North America before settling into freelance writing in Toronto. Best remembered as a historian and man of letters, he wrote extensively about Canadian public life and history, including The Last Forty Years: Canada Since the Union of 1841, The Story of the Upper Canadian Rebellion, and the illustrated Canadian Portrait Gallery, for which he wrote most of the biographical sketches.
Contemporaries admired his ability to make history engaging rather than dry. He died in Toronto on September 27, 1888, leaving behind a body of work that helped shape popular writing about Canada’s early political and cultural past.