Sir Gilbert Parker, 1st Baronet

Sir Horatio Gilbert George Parker, 1st Baronet PC (November 23, 1862Fact|date=April 2008 – September 6, 1932), known as Gilbert Parker, Canadian novelist and British politician, was born at Camden East, Addington, Ontario, the son of Captain J. Parker, R.A.

He was educated at Ottawa and at University of Trinity College. Parker started as a teacher at the Ontario School for the deaf and dumb (in Belleville, Ontario). From there he went on to lecture at Trinity College. In 1886 he went to Australia, and became for a while associate editor of the "Sydney Morning Herald". He also traveled extensively in the Pacific, Europe, Asia, Egypt, the South Sea Islands and subsequently in northern Canada. In the early nineties he began to make a growing reputation in London as a writer of romantic fiction.

The best of his novels are those in which he first took for his subject the history and life of the French Canadians; and his permanent literary reputation rests on the fine quality, descriptive and dramatic, of his Canadian stories. "Pierre and his People" (1892) was followed by "Mrs. Falchion" (1893), "The Trail of the Sword" (1894), "When Valmond came to Pontiac" (1895), "An Adventurer of Icy North" (1895), and "The Seats of the Mighty" (1896, dramatized in 1897). "The Seats of the Mighty" was a historical novel depicting the English conquest of Quebec with James Wolfe and the Marquis de Montcalm as two of the characters. "The Lane that had no Turning" (1900) contains some of his best work. In "The Battle of the Strong" (1898) he broke new ground, laying his scene in the Channel Islands. His chief later books were "The Right of Way" (1901), "Donovan Pasha" (1902), "The Ladder of Swords" (1904), "The Weavers" (1907), "Northern Lights" (1909) and "The Judgment House" (1913). Parker had three that made it into the top 10 on the annual list of bestselling novels in the United States two of which were on it for two years in a row.

In 1895 he married Miss Amy VanTine of New York, a wealthy heiress, daughter of Ashley VanTine. His Canadian connection and his experience in Australia and elsewhere had made him a strong Imperialist in politics, and from that time he began to devote himself in large measure to a political career. He still kept up his literary work, but some of the books last mentioned cannot compare with those by which he made his name. He was elected to the British House of Commons as a Conservative member for Gravesend and remained MP until 1918.

He was knighted in 1902 for his service to Canadian literature, and in succeeding years continually strengthened his position in the party, particularly by his energetic work on behalf of Tariff Reform and Imperial Preference. During World War I he organized British publicity toward the United States. He was created a baronet on 21 June 1915 and appointed as a Privy Councillor in 1916.

In May 1905, Parker publicly claimed to have seen a "vision" of fellow house member, Sir Frederick Rasch, despite the fact that Rasch had passed on, of an illness at his home.

On September 26, 1932 he was buried in Belleville, Ontario. One of the honorary pallbearers was then Prime Minister of Canada, Richard Bedford Bennett.

Role in World War I propaganda

Parker played a crucial and significant role in British propaganda during World War I. Due to his strategic marriage to Amy VanTine, reputation as a writer, and social status among the American people, he had established many friendships with influential Americans in all professions. September 2, 1914, Parker was chosen by Charles Masterman and the British government to head the subdivision of Wellington House that was responsible for American propaganda. He was unpaid and had no formal title for this role. His goal was to convince America to support the British cause in the war. He worked with the theory that the British cause could not be accomplished through “violent wooing,” but must instead be efforts of “gentle and modest courtship.”

His activities at the beginning of World War I included performing a long analysis of the American press and establishing a mailing list based on the American "Who’s Who". His mailing list including 260,000 influential Americans as well as public libraries, Y.M.C.A.’s, Universities, Colleges, clubs, and newspapers. He sent propaganda literature that was generated by Wellington House to those on his mailing list, but the letters only carried Parker’s name, never mentioning Wellington House or the British government. Each publication he sent had a personal letter enclosed in order to portray him as an English patriot performing his duty. His objective was to gain the trust of Americans by appearing friendly and honest. He wrote in a tone that suggested he was a supporter of the British cause, but desired to promote international understanding, and that he was open to hearing all viewpoints. This tactic convinced many Americans that their role in the war was important, and many sympathized with the British cause as a result of his efforts.

Parker also issued a weekly or bi-weekly report to the British cabinet on the state of American opinion concerning the war. One of his assistants read sixty American newspapers a day in order to get a feel for American public opinion to assist with the reports. Parker provided news stories to 555 American newspapers, many which were parts of syndicates. He also arranged for important British public figures to be interviewed by American newspapers, including the Prime Minister, Edward Grey, Henry James, and Lord Cromer.

Parker continued his propaganda efforts up until the year the United States entered the war, 1917. At the beginning of 1917, he visited the United States to meet with Americans he had been corresponding with. On February 3, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson made a speech during Parker's visit that severed diplomatic ties with Germany. The U.S. had almost declared war and Parker believed that he had fulfilled his responsibilities. Later that same day, he resigned from his position at Wellington House. He reasoned that his resignation was due to his failing health. All of Wellington House’s activities were kept in complete secrecy. This increased the credibility of their publications, because they could not be traced back to any official sources. Parker’s letters concealed their connection and origin with the British government, and his American contacts never realized they were being manipulated. Today his influence on the First World War and America’s entry into it is often overlooked, even by seemingly comprehensive propaganda analysis. Some Americans recognized Parker’s successful, manipulative propaganda efforts towards the U.S. after his 1918 article, “The United States and the War” was published. The article gave his testimony of his wartime activity in the United States. American reaction to this article was negative. As Upton Sinclair comments, “I am one of the hundred and ten million suckers who swallowed the hook of the British official propaganda, conducted by an eminent bourgeois novelist, Gilbert Parker, who was afterwards knighted for what he did to me.”

References

*Messenger, Gary. "British Propaganda and the state in the First World War." Manchester University Press: New York, 1992.
*Millis, Walter. "Road to War." Houghton Miffflin Company: New York, 1935.
*Parker, Gilbert. "The United States and the War." "Harper's," 136:521-531, March, 1918.
*Peterson, H. C. "Propaganda for War." University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK, 1939.
*Squires, James. "British Propaganda at Home and in the United States." Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA, 1935.
*" Toronto Star", Sept. 27, 1932, "The Times", September 7th, 1932, 14b
*Wilke, Jurgen, ed. "Propaganda in the 20th Century" Hampton Press, Inc.:Cresskill, NJ, 1998.

External links

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* [http://www.waynecook.com/alennox-addington.html Plaque in Honour of Sir Gilbert Parker (Plaque #25)]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9C01E4DC113DEE32A25755C2A9609C946397D6CF New York Times article reporting on the Coronation Honours in which he was knighted]
* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0006088 Sir Gilbert Parker's] entry in [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=HomePage&Params=A1 The Canadian Encyclopedia]