author
John Price-Brown
1844–1938
An English-born Canadian doctor turned novelist, he brought a physician’s eye for detail to historical fiction about early Ontario and Canada. After losing his sight later in life, he continued writing and left behind a body of work shaped by perseverance as much as imagination.
1 Audiobook
In the Van; or, The Builders
by John Price-Brown
About the author
Born in Manchester in 1844 and brought to Upper Canada as a child, John Price-Brown trained as a physician at the University of Toronto and became a specialist in diseases of the nose and throat. He was also associated with Toronto Western Hospital, reflecting a medical career that ran alongside his literary one.
Price-Brown first published medical work, then moved into fiction and became known for historical novels set in Canada’s past, including In the Van; or, The Builders. Archive and library records describe him as a short story writer as well as a novelist, with much of his fiction drawing on early Ontario history.
A striking part of his story is that he reportedly lost his sight around 1918 but continued to write afterward. He died in 1938, remembered as a writer who combined professional discipline, historical interest, and remarkable determination.