Hugh Watt, Meaford Monitor publisher, two holograph letters
Date Published: 1873
Binding: No binding
Two holograph letters written to Mr. Hyde Clark, London England.
1) 1873, Nov. 10th, Flat 9-3/4 x 7-7/8 inches, folded to 4-7/8 x 7-7/8 inches (was folded smaller. Small blind embossed logo in the top left corner. 4pp with 3 written pages. Referred to friend suggestion to write him (Frederick Clarke) and sending him a couple of Meaford Monitor newspapers and asking in return if he would send to Watt papers and newspapers of a society Clark belongs to.
2) No date, Thursday 6 March, 9 x 7 inches folded to 4-1/2 x 7 inches (was folded smaller). On letterhead with address printed in black of 107 St. George's Square S.W. 4pp with 2 written pages. Thanking him for his letter sent.
Dr. Watt prior to becoming a doctor was co-owner-editor with brother John, of the Fergus, Ontario News-Record until 1868. He was editor/owner of a Meaford, Ontario, newspaper from 1868 to until 1881 and is credited with "stirring up local politicians to make application for Meaford to attain full status as a town." In 1877 Hugh Watt had arranged for a co-owner of the Monitor to become editor while he was away studying. Watt sold his interest in the Meaford Monitor newspaper in 1881. Dr. Watt was a pioneer doctor in Barkerville BC, 1882-1895. While in Barkerville he served as a Cariboo MLA. In 1897 he moved to Fort Steele. He was a mainstay for the Fort Steele Diamond Jubilee Hospital and also known as Doctor for the Kootenay Indians. During his time at Fort Steele he was surgeon to CPR mining camps and Quarantine Officer for the Fort Steele Mining District. He was a great believer in the potential of coal from the Fernie area, traveling to Minnesota to promote its use to railway magnate Jim Hill. He also served on the Boards of Trade for Fort Steele and Elko. His first wife, Mary, died in Ontario in 1888. He had two sons, Herbert Lorne, a corporate lawyer in Toronto, and Alfred Tennyson, medical chief at William Head near Victoria. He married a second time in Trail, B.C., to Alice Clark Nicholson, a widow. They moved to Elko in 1912. He died at the age of 76 after an attack of paralysis. His sons predeceased him.
Item #7921
$115.00 USD
$155.37 CAD