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• Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) •

Read about Montgomery through the years 1874-1900. Be sure to look for special links such as e-texts and The Wreck of the Marco Polo (1892)! Proper bibliographies are listed below the timeline.

1874 Nov. 30:

Lucy Maud Montgomery ("Maud") born at Clifton, Prince Edward Island, to parents Clara (née Macneill) and Hugh John Montgomery.

1876 Sept. 14:

Maud's mother dies at the age of twenty-three. Maud goes to live with grandparents Alexander and Lucy Woolner Macneill.

1881

Maud starts school in a one-room schoolhouse in Cavendish. Her father visits the West.

1882

Hugh Montgomery begins to work for a Saskatchewan company, spending part of his time as that company's agent in P.E.I. Maud remains with her grandparents. Strong associations are built with Montgomery relations and Campbell cousins at Park Corner, Clifton. Summer: Maud acquires playmates in Wellington and David Nelson, boarding with the Macneills while attending school

1883

The Marco Polo, a fast packet ship, is wrecked off Cavendish. The captain and crew board with the Macneills while awaiting insurance payments.

1884

Hugh John Montgomery settles permanently in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

1887 April:

Montgomery marries his second wife, Mary Ann McRae, age twenty-four, in Ontario. The new couple live first in Battleford, Saskatchewan.

1888

Kate Montgomery, Maud's half-sister, is born (date uncertain). Late summer: Hattie Gordon comes to teach at the Cavendish school, remaining as schoolmistress until 1892.

1890

Maud's father sends for her from Prince Albert. She travels across the continent with her paternal grandfather, Senator Donald Montgomery. August 16: She arrives in Prince Albert. November 26: Maud's first publication, a poem, "On Cape Le Force," based on a local P.E.I. story, is published in the Charlottetown Daily Patriot. Winter 1890-91: Maud attends high school in Prince Albert; her teacher, John Mustard, flirts with her.

1891-92

Winter-spring: Maud spends the winter in Park Corner, giving music lessons to cousins. A friendship develops with her cousin "Frede" (Frederica Campbell).

1892 August:

Maud publishes a poem, "The Wreck of the Marco Polo," (click to view) in the Charlottetown Daily Patriot. She enrolls in the Cavendish School to study for her entrance examinations for Prince of Wales College.

1893 July:

Maud takes her entrance examinations in Charlottetown, ranking fifth in a list of 264 candidates. September: Her poem "A Violet's Spell" is accepted by The Ladies' World of New York, "Paid" by two subscriptions to the magazine. Another half-brother, Hugh Carlyle (Carl), is born this year.

1893-94

Maud enters the second-year program at the Prince of Wales College, taking two years of work in one year and studying for her teacher's license.

1894

Maud completes her examinations, with an honour certificate, and leads her year in English drama, English literature, agriculture, and school management. June 9: She delivers a graduate essay, "Portia -- A Study," at the commencement exercises in the Charlottetown Opera House. She receives a second-class certificate as a teacher and takes a post at a one-room school in Bideford, P.E.I.

1895 July 23:

Maud receives a first-class license for teaching. September: She enters Dalhousie College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for a self-designed course in English literature under Dr. Archibald MacMechan. She boards at Halifax Ladies' College.

1896 February:

Montgomery receives her first payment for fiction, $5 for the story "Our Charivari," by "Maud Cavendish," in Golden Days. March: She is paid $12 for the poem "Fisher Lassies," published in Youth's Companion. April: Her article on women's education, "A Girl's Place at Dalhousie College," is published in the Halifax Herald.

1896-97

Montgomery teaches school at Belmont, Lot 16, P.E.I.

1897 June 8:

Montgomery becomes engaged to Edwin Simpson of Belmont, a second cousin studying for the Baptist ministry.

1897-98

"The year of mad passion": Montgomery teaches at Lower Bedeque, boarding with the Leard family. She falls in love with Herman Leard but thinks him "unworthy." She publishes nineteen short stories and fourteen poems in 1897-98.

1898 March:

Montgomery breaks off her engagement with Edwin Simpson. March 5: Her grandfather Alexander Macneill dies. Montgomery gives up teaching and lives with her grandmother Macneill at Cavendish, assisting her in the capacity as postmistress (1898-1901).

1899 June 30:

Herman Leard dies.

1899-1900

The first version of A Golden Carol is written. Unpublished, this book was repeatedly rejected and later burned.

Bibliography/Reference: Montgomery, Lucy Maud, Wendy E. Barry, Margaret Anne Doody and Mary E. Doody Jones. The Annotated Anne of Green Gables. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1997.
McCabe, Kevin and Alexandra Heilbron. The Lucy Maud Montgomery Album. Markham, ON: Fitzhenry and Whiteside Limited, 1999.

Last updated: December 25, 2005
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1874 Nov. 30:	Lucy Maud Montgomery ("Maud") born at Clifton, Prince Edward Island, to parents Clara (née Macneill) and Hugh John Montgomery.
1876 Sept. 14:	Maud's mother dies at the age of twenty-three. Maud goes to live with grandparents Alexander and Lucy Woolner Macneill.
1881	Maud starts school in a one-room schoolhouse in Cavendish. Her father visits the West.
1882	Hugh Montgomery begins to work for a Saskatchewan company, spending part of his time as that company's agent in P.E.I. Maud remains with her grandparents. Strong associations are built with Montgomery relations and Campbell cousins at Park Corner, Clifton. Summer: Maud acquires playmates in Wellington and David Nelson, boarding with the Macneills while attending school
1883	The Marco Polo, a fast packet ship, is wrecked off Cavendish. The captain and crew board with the Macneills while awaiting insurance payments.
1884	Hugh John Montgomery settles permanently in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
1887 April:	Montgomery marries his second wife, Mary Ann McRae, age twenty-four, in Ontario. The new couple live first in Battleford, Saskatchewan.
1888	Kate Montgomery, Maud's half-sister, is born (date uncertain). Late summer: Hattie Gordon comes to teach at the Cavendish school, remaining as schoolmistress until 1892.
1890	Maud's father sends for her from Prince Albert. She travels across the continent with her paternal grandfather, Senator Donald Montgomery. August 16: She arrives in Prince Albert. November 26: Maud's first publication, a poem, "On Cape Le Force," based on a local P.E.I. story, is published in the Charlottetown Daily Patriot. Winter 1890-91: Maud attends high school in Prince Albert; her teacher, John Mustard, flirts with her.
1891-92	Winter-spring: Maud spends the winter in Park Corner, giving music lessons to cousins. A friendship develops with her cousin "Frede" (Frederica Campbell).
1892 August:	Maud publishes a poem, "The Wreck of the Marco Polo," (click to view) in the Charlottetown Daily Patriot. She enrolls in the Cavendish School to study for her entrance examinations for Prince of Wales College.
1893 July:	Maud takes her entrance examinations in Charlottetown, ranking fifth in a list of 264 candidates. September: Her poem "A Violet's Spell" is accepted by The Ladies' World of New York, "Paid" by two subscriptions to the magazine. Another half-brother, Hugh Carlyle (Carl), is born this year.
1893-94	Maud enters the second-year program at the Prince of Wales College, taking two years of work in one year and studying for her teacher's license.
1894	Maud completes her examinations, with an honour certificate, and leads her year in English drama, English literature, agriculture, and school management. June 9: She delivers a graduate essay, "Portia -- A Study," at the commencement exercises in the Charlottetown Opera House. She receives a second-class certificate as a teacher and takes a post at a one-room school in Bideford, P.E.I.
1895 July 23:	Maud receives a first-class license for teaching. September: She enters Dalhousie College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for a self-designed course in English literature under Dr. Archibald MacMechan. She boards at Halifax Ladies' College.
1896 February:	Montgomery receives her first payment for fiction, $5 for the story "Our Charivari," by "Maud Cavendish," in Golden Days. March: She is paid $12 for the poem "Fisher Lassies," published in Youth's Companion. April: Her article on women's education, "A Girl's Place at Dalhousie College," is published in the Halifax Herald.
1896-97	Montgomery teaches school at Belmont, Lot 16, P.E.I.
1897 June 8:	Montgomery becomes engaged to Edwin Simpson of Belmont, a second cousin studying for the Baptist ministry.
1897-98	"The year of mad passion": Montgomery teaches at Lower Bedeque, boarding with the Leard family. She falls in love with Herman Leard but thinks him "unworthy." She publishes nineteen short stories and fourteen poems in 1897-98.
1898 March:	Montgomery breaks off her engagement with Edwin Simpson. March 5: Her grandfather Alexander Macneill dies. Montgomery gives up teaching and lives with her grandmother Macneill at Cavendish, assisting her in the capacity as postmistress (1898-1901).
1899 June 30:	Herman Leard dies.
1899-1900	The first version of A Golden Carol is written. Unpublished, this book was repeatedly rejected and later burned.