author
Sir Arthur G. (Arthur George) Doughty
1860–1936
A key builder of Canada’s national archives, this English-born historian and civil servant spent decades gathering the documents that helped preserve the country’s early story. He also wrote and edited major historical works, bringing Canada’s past to a wider public.
1 Audiobook
The Acadian Exiles : a Chronicle of the Land of Evangeline
by Sir Arthur G. (Arthur George) Doughty
About the author
Born in Maidenhead, England, on March 22, 1860, Arthur George Doughty moved to Canada in 1886. After early work in Quebec, including service as librarian to the Legislative Assembly, he became Dominion Archivist in the early 1900s and went on to shape the Public Archives of Canada into a much larger and more ambitious institution.
Doughty believed archives should do more than store official papers. He worked to collect many kinds of records and saw them as a way to build historical understanding for both scholars and the general public. His long tenure made him one of the central figures in preserving Canada’s documentary heritage.
Alongside his archival work, he was an active historian and editor. He helped publish important historical records and was closely involved with large projects such as Canada and Its Provinces. Knighted for his public service, he died in Ottawa on December 1, 1936.