Sara Jeannette Duncan

Who was Sara Jeannette Duncan?

Sara Jeannette Duncan, was a Canadian author and journalist. She was the daughter of Charles Duncan of Brantford, Ontario. She was born in Brantford, Ontario in 1862. She was educated at the Collegiate Institute in Brantford, Ontario. Duncan first worked there as a schoolteacher before taking up writing journalism as a full-time occupation.

In 1883, Duncan made history as the first woman to be hired as a professional journalist in Canada, taking a regular position at the Toronto Globe, now the Globe and Mail. At the Globe, as Garth Grafton, she interviewed Emily Pauline Johnson, a former schoolmate from Brantford.

She took her first position as a member of the editorial staff at the Washington Post in 1885. On her return to Canada she became the parliamentary correspondent in Ottawa, Ontario of the Montreal Star.

She wrote essays known as Saunterings for The Week. Her column at the Toronto Globe and other publications, was under the pseudonym Garth and pen name, Garth Grafton.

Duncan's mannered and ironic writing style can be compared to contemporary satirists such as Stephen Leacock and Thomas Carlyle.

She was called Sara Jeannette Cotes after her marriage to Everard Cotes M.A., of the Indian Civil Service, in Calcutta, on 6 December 1890, but is most often referred to by her maiden name. Everard Cotes later became editor of a Calcutta newspaper.