Sara Jeannette Duncan

Born in Brantford, Ontario, in 1861, she built an unusually bold career first as a journalist and then as a novelist. Sources agree that she worked for major Canadian newspapers in the 1880s, and the Canadian Encyclopedia notes that she was the first woman employed full time by the Toronto Globe.

After marrying Everard Cotes in 1890, she lived in India and later England, experiences that shaped much of her fiction and travel writing. She published widely under her own name and also as Mrs. Everard Cotes and Garth Grafton, producing more than 20 books.

She is especially remembered for her lively social observation and for The Imperialist (1904), a novel often singled out for its portrait of Canadian political life. Parks Canada describes her as a pioneering journalist who challenged social and political norms, and her work still stands out for its intelligence, humor, and international perspective.