Agnes Ethelwyn Wetherald fonds RG 84

Wetherald was born in 1857 as the sixth child out of an eventual eleven. Although born in Rockwood, Ontario, she spent most of her life in Fenwick (Pelham Township), Ontario, where she died in 1940. Wetherald used her surroundings as her inspiration and focused on nature. She has been coined a nature poet and journalist. Wetherald received her education at both the Friends boarding school in Union Springs, N.Y. and at Pickering College in Pickering, Ontario. After her schooling she wrote numerous articles for the Toronto Globe under the pen name Bel Thistelwaite, derived from her Grandmother’s name. These articles led to a position as Women’s editor of the Globe and later she was part of the Advertiser’s editorial staff in London, Ontario. Wetherald continued writing after she was finished with the papers and published six volumes of poetry between 1895 and 1931. Her work was not only known amongst school children, but also attracted the attention of Earl Grey, Governor-General of Canada in 1907 and Sir Wilfred Laurier, Prime Minster of Canada in 1911. In 1921 she published a book entitled Tree Top Morning, which she dedicated to her daughter Dorothy Rungeling who also became an author. Recently Rungeling published Life and works of Ethelwyn Wetherald 1857-1940 : with a selection of her poems and articles about her mother.