William Canton

William Canton (27 October 1845 – 2 May 1926) was a British poet, journalist and writer, now best known for his contributions to children's literature. These include his series of three books, beginning with The Invisible Playmate, written for his daughter Winifred Vida (1891-1901). The book was read by the late nineteenth century English novelist George Gissing on New Year's Eve 1895. In his lifetime Canton was known for his use of recent archaeological evidence of prehistory in his poetry.

Life William Canton was born at Chusan in China on 27 October 1845, to a Catholic family of civil servants. His childhood was spent mostly in Jamaica. He studied for the priesthood at Douai School and later in Paris, but eventually abandoned the priesthood as a vocation to become a teacher and writer. He later left the Roman Catholic Church to become a Protestant. He worked as a journalist in London and Glasgow, where he became editor of the Glasgow Weekly Herald and later a leader-writer for the Glasgow Herald.

He married Emma Moore in 1874, and they had one daughter, who died in 1877. Emma died in 1880, and he remarried to Annie Elizabeth Taylor in 1882. They had a son and a daughter together.

Poetry Canton's early poetry was highly regarded in his lifetime for its attempt to represent in verse recent scientific theories, especially Darwinism, which he addressed in his poem Through the Ages (1879). Thomas Huxley supported Canton's attempts to introduce scientific terminology into verse. The Sanskritist Max Müller also praised Canton's works, writing that "I look upon them as equal to Matthew Arnold's poems, and having been an old friend and sincere admirer of Arnold, I could give no higher praise". Walter Pater, wrote to Canton that he gave expression to "primeval, pre-adamite, or pre-historic subjects...you have certainly made their poetic side your own". 1907 (1898) Children's sayings : edited with a digression on the small people (1900) In memory of W. V. (1901) The Comrades (1902) poems A history of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 5 vols (1904-1910). The Bible and the Anglo-Saxon People (1914) Poems (1927, Harrap) A Child's Book of Warriors (1912) illustrated by Herbert Cole