William Stewart Wallace

William Stewart Wallace, librarian, editor, historian (born 23 June 1884 in Georgetown, ON; died 11 March 1970 in Toronto, ON). Wallace was educated at Toronto and Oxford and served in the First World War as a major in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, battalion adjutant and commanding officer of Khaki College (see Khaki University), Shorncliffe. He became assistant librarian at the University of Toronto in 1920 and was librarian 1923-54. He was general editor of the university program of scholarly publishing 1923-32 and, though he served in a number of capacities in library affairs and teaching, he spent the greater part of his time editing and writing.

Wallace was the first editor of the Canadian Historical Review (1920-30) and made it the chief vehicle for historians in English Canada. He was editor of the Champlain Society 1923-43 and honorary editor of the Royal Society of Canada 1937-45. His The Dictionary of Canadian Biography (1926) was enlarged in 1945 and revised under the title The Macmillan Dictionary of Canadian Biography (1963). He was general editor and wrote most of the articles for the Encyclopedia of Canada (6 vols, 1935-37). These reference works were of inestimable value in Canadian studies.

In all, Wallace published more than 30 books and hundreds of articles. After retiring at age 70, he was proprietor of Dora Hood's Book Room. He was distinguished and honoured in both of his fields and in his own mind drew no distinction between them.