True Davidson - Early Life

Early Life

Davidson was born in Hudson, Quebec, in 1901. Her father, John Wilson Davidson was a Methodist minister. Her mother Mary Elfeda Pomeroy was the daughter of a Methodist minister. She had a younger sister named Marsh.

In 1917, she attended Victoria College (now part of the University of Toronto) when it was still in Cobourg, Ontario, starting at the age of 16. She earned her B.A. there and then went to the Regina Normal School where she obtained a teaching certificate. She taught English and History in Strasbourg, Saskatchewan and Brandon, Manitoba. In 1923, she returned to university in 1923 and received her M.A.. After that she taught history at Havergal College in Toronto.

Davidson wrote children’s books and for a time worked for textbook publisher J.M. Dent and Sons as a salesperson, the first female publishing sales representative in Canada, visiting school boards across the country. She left J.M. Dent in 1930 and spent a year attempting to survive as a writer. During this time she wrote articles for The Globe and Mail and Chatelaine magazine. In 1931 she was hired by William Perkins Bull to coordinate the publication of a 12 volume edition of Canadiana. She worked on the project for seven years. By the time it was completed she was in charge of a staff of 70 researchers.

In 1940, she moved with her parents to Streetsville, Ontario. During the move she was in a motor vehicle accident that left her father seriously injured. He died four days later. Left destitute and caring for her invalid mother, she performed odd writing jobs until in April 1941, she was appointed Clerk and Treasurer of the Village of Streetsville. She was replacing someone who had gone overseas to fight in World War II.