John Murray Gibbon

John Murray Gibbon (12 April 1875 – 2 July 1952) was a Scottish-Canadian writer and cultural promoter. He was born in Ceylon on 12 April 1875 the second son of William Duff Gibbon a tea planter and Katherine née Murray. Gibbon was educated at Aberdeen, Oxford and Göttingen universities. He immigrated to Canada in 1913 to work for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). In 1921, he became founding president of the Canadian Authors Association.

A long-time enthusiast of folk culture, Gibbon organized the CPR Festivals; a series of folk and crafts festivals sponsored by the CPR.^[1] With Sir Ernest MacMillan, he published the four-volume French Canadian Folk Songs (1928). Histories he wrote included Scots in Canada (1911), Steel of Empire: The Romantic History of the Canadian Pacific (1935), Canadian Mosaic (1938) and two histories of nursing. He also wrote several novels.

Gibbon's work was to have a major impact on the creation of a bilingual, multicultural, national culture. Canadian Mosaic influenced the adoption of the concept of a "cultural mosaic" in the Canadian government's multiculturalism policies.^[2] Additionally, Gibbon had a keen interest in horseback riding in the Canadian Rockies and was the founder of the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies. (www.trailridevacations.com) in 1923. He was secretary-treasurer of the club for over 30 years. He died at Montreal, Quebec.

Source:^[3]

• John Murray Gibbon at The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Meister, Daniel R (2021). The Racial Mosaic: A Pre-History of Canadian Multiculturalism. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 9780228008712.
• Keillor, E (2006). Music in Canada: Capturing Landscape and Diversity. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 9780773530126.

• Four Seasons: a Canadian Song Cycle for voice and piano at University of Toronto Canadian Sheet Music Collection
• Prince Charlie and Flora, a ballad opera: Libretto at University of Toronto Canadian Sheet Music Collection