Joyce Hemlow: Burney Scholar and McGill Professor
Joyce Hemlow (31 July 1906 – 3 September 2001) was a Canadian professor and accomplished writer. She became best known for her scholarly work on the novelist Frances Burney, particularly her award-winning book The History of Fanny Burney.
Early Life and Education
Hemlow was born on July 31, 1906 in Liscomb, Nova Scotia, the daughter of William and Rosalinda (Redmond) Hemlow. She studied at Queen’s University, earning a B.A. in 1941 and an M.A. in 1942. After serving as a travelling fellow of Queen’s until 1943, she became a fellow of the Canadian Federation of University Women in 1943. She then pursued further study at Radcliffe College in the United States, where she completed an A.M. in 1944 and a PhD in 1948.
Career and Achievements
Hemlow began teaching English literature at McGill University in 1945, a position she held for most of her career. In 1965, she was appointed the Greenshields Professor of English Language and Literature at McGill. Beyond the classroom, she served on the Humanities Research Council of Canada from 1957 to 1961. Her scholarly focus centered on the Burney family, with particular emphasis on the novelist Frances Burney.
Notable Events and Milestones
In 1951, Hemlow received a Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. The following year, in the summer of 1954, she was named a Nuffield Fellow. Her most significant scholarly achievement was The History of Fanny Burney, a work that established her reputation as a leading authority on the author. A collection of her papers documenting her teaching activities is held at McGill University.
Awards and Honors
Hemlow’s scholarship earned her three major literary prizes. The History of Fanny Burney received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Governor General’s Award for Academic Non-Fiction in 1958, and the Rose Mary Crawshay Prize. She was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Additional Resources
Readers seeking more detailed information about Joyce Hemlow’s life, academic career, and contributions to Burney scholarship can consult her Wikipedia biography and the archival papers held at McGill University, which offer further insight into her scholarly work and institutional role.
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