Thomas Chandler Haliburton

Born in Windsor, Haliburton’s fame rests not upon his service as a legislator and jurist but upon his humorous writings. The Clockmaker; or, The Sayings and Doings of Samuel Slick… (1836), which first appeared in Howe’s Novascotian, won him international acclaim. Other works of humour followed but failed to reach quite the distinction of the first. Emigrating to England in 1856 he was made an honorary doctor of Oxford and sat in the House of Commons from 1859 until his death. He loved England and her institutions but the North American in him sometimes thought it all “plaguey dull”.

La renommé de Haliburton, né à Windsor, repose sur ses écrits humoristiques beaucoup plus que sur sa carrière de législateur et de juriste. Son Sam Slick étendit sa réputation à l’extérieur du pays. Il s’établit en Angleterre 1836, reçut un doctorat honorifique d’Oxford et se fit élire au parlement de Westminster. Malgré son attachement à la Grande-Bretagne, il conserva jusqu’à sa mort la nostalgie de son pays d’origine.