Lucy Maud Montgomery

She is known to have indulged in various romantic relationships all through her life. It was due to her appealing personality and highly fashionable slim looks that she gained the attention of young men.

Her first ever relationship was when she was 14 years old with Nate Lockhart, a Cavendish boy. For her the relationship was a humorous affair and ended with the rejection of his marriage proposal.

In the early 1890s, she lured Mr John A Mustard and Will Pritchard towards herself. Lured by her beauty, both became her suitors. While Mustard wooed her by his religious knowledge, Pritchard proved to be a charming friend. While both of them were serious for her, her love for them was temporary. As such, she rejected both their proposal for marriage.

Lucy Maud Montgomery was born to Clara Woolner Macneill Montgomery and Hugh John Montgomery in Clifton. Tragedy struck the Montgomery household when her mother expired due to tuberculosis.

After the death of her mother, she was taken care of by her maternal parents whom her father had given her custody to. Her childhood years were lonely, given the fact that she did not have many friends to talk to. It was then that she built an imaginary world of her own that led to her creative pursuits.

She attained much of her preliminary education from Cavendish. In 1890, her first ever work was published in The Daily Patriot, a Charlottetown paper titled, ‘On Cape LeForce’

Completing studies in 1893, she went on to attend Prince of Wales College in Charlottetown to attain her teacher’s license. Interestingly, she completed the two-year course in a single year and obtained her teaching certificate.

From 1895 to 1896, she studied literature at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Finishing her literature studies at Dalhousie University, she took up the job of a teacher at various island schools. Though she did not much enjoy the profession, she was happy that it allowed her the time to indulge in creative writing.

Since 1897, numerous short stories penned by her started getting published in various magazines and newspapers. From 1897 to 1907, around 100 of her short stories were published, starting with ‘A Case of Trespass’.

For nine months, from 1901 to 1902, she worked in Halifax as a substitute proofreader for the newspapers Morning Chronicle and The Daily Echo. Eventually in 1902, she moved to live with her grandmother.

From 1908 to 1922, she continued to pen short stories of which about 30 stories were published. Her last ever short story was published in 1922 titled ‘The Tryst of the White Lady’.

In 1908, she published her first book, ‘Anne of Green Gables’. The book received wide appreciation and established her reputation as a writer. The success of her first book led her to write many more books, including a series of sequels with Anne as the central character.

She was the first female in Canada to be named as a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in England. She was later invested in the Order of the British Empire in 1935.

In 1943, the government of Canada designated her as the Person of national Historic Significance

Her house of Leaskdale Manse in Ontario and the area surrounding Green Gables and her Cavendish home in Prince Edward Island have both been designated National Historic Sites of Canada. A national park was established near Mongomery's home in Cavendish in honour of her works.

Her works have been reprinted in movies, television shows and cartoons.

The Canada Postage department issued an 8¢ postage stamp on May 15, 1975 titled, ‘Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables’.