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Brief Chronology |
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1869 |
Stephen Butler Leacock is born on December 30 in Swanmore, Hampshire, England. |
| 1876 |
The Leacock family emigrates to Canada and settles on a farm near the south shore area of Lake Simcoe, Ontario. |
| 1882 |
Enters Upper Canada College, Toronto. |
| 1887 |
Peter Leacock (Stephen's father) leaves his family.
Stephen Leacock graduates as Head Boy from Upper Canada College. Enters the University of Toronto and completes two years in one. Studies modern and classical languages as well as literature. For financial reasons, leaves at the end of the first year. |
| 1888 |
Takes a three-month training course at the Stathroy Collegiate Institute in western Ontario, to qualify for teaching high school.
Finds a teaching position as a modern language teacher at Uxbridge High School, Uxbridge, Ontario, eighteen miles from the Leacock family farm. |
| 1889 |
Offered a position as language master at Upper Canada College. Teaches there from February 1889 to July 1899. Returns to the University of Toronto, on a part-time basis. |
| 1891 |
Receives his honours B.A. from the University of Toronto. |
| 1894 |
Publishes his first humorous writing in the Toronto humor magazine, Grip.
Reads The Theory of the Leisure Class, by Thorstein Veblen, a professor at the University of Chicago. |
| 1899 |
Enters the graduate program at the University of Chicago in economics and political science. |
| 1900 |
Marries Beatrix (Trix) Hamilton.
Appointed sessional lecturer at McGill University in economics and political science. |
| 1903 |
Receives his Ph.D. in political science and political economy. Upon his graduation, he is appointed as a full-time assistant professor at McGill University. |
| 1905 |
Begins public speaking primarily on the subject of the unity of the British Empire. |
| 1906 |
Publishes his first book, Elements of Political Science, a standard university textbook for 20 years. |
| 1907 |
Taking a leave of absence of one year from McGill University, Leacock begins a speaking tour of the British Empire to promote imperial unity under the auspices of the Cecil Rhodes Trust. |
| 1908 |
Buys 33 acres of waterfront property a few miles from Orillia. He calls this property The Old Brewery Bay.
Appointed William Dow Professor of Political Economy and chairman of the Department of Economics and Political Science at McGill University. He holds this position till his retirement 30 years later.
With a group of colleagues, Leacock helps found the University Club of Montreal. |
| 1910 |
Publishes his first book of humor, Literary Lapses, from a compilation of previous publications in magazines. |
| 1911 |
Follows up his success with the publication of Nonsense Novels. |
| 1912 |
Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town is published. |
| 1913 |
With the help of Dr. J.C. Hemmeon (a departmental associate), Leacock founds the Political Economy Club. |
| 1914 |
Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich is published. |
| 1915 |
Leacock's only child, Stephen Lushington Leacock, is born on August 19. |
| 1920 |
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice is published. |
| 1921 |
Leacock is a founding member of the Canadian Authors' Association. |
| 1925 |
Leacock's wife (Trix) dies of cancer on December 14. |
| 1928 |
The cottage at Old Brewery Bay is demolished and Leacock replaces it with a 19-room house which includes a wine cellar and a billiard room. |
| 1932 |
His biography of Mark Twain, Mark Twain, is published. |
| 1933 |
His biography of Charles Dickens, Charles Dickens, His Life and Work, is published. |
| 1934 |
Agnes Leacock (Stephen's mother) dies. |
| 1935 |
Humor: Its Theory and Technique is published. |
| 1936 |
Because of compulsory retirement at McGill University, Leacock retires from teaching on May 31.
Goes on his last speaking tour in the West of Canada. |
| 1937 |
My Discovery of the West: A Discussion of East and West in Canada, is published and wins the Governor General's Award. |
| 1940 |
Stephen Leacock Jr. graduates with a B.A. from McGill University.
Peter Leacock (Stephen's father) dies. |
| 1944 |
Stephen Leacock dies of throat cancer on March 28 in Toronto. |
| 1945 |
Two of Leacock's books are published posthumously: Last Leaves and While There Is Time: The Case Against Social Catastrophe. |
| 1946 |
His unfinished autobiography, The Boy I Left Behind Me, is published. |
| 1997 |
Ninety-four years after its submission to the University of Chicago, Leacock's Ph.D. dissertation "The Doctrine of Laissez-faire" is published by the University of Toronto Press. |
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