Finally settling in British Columbia where she became known as a nature writer and local activist, Gillian Joan Douglas published her poetry in scores of magazines as well as producing several volumes of verse and of non-fiction.
Entry written by Carole Gerson
Gillian Joan Coldham Douglas was the only child of lawyer William Douglas (c1864-1916) and socialite Eleanor Constance Coldham (c1873-1907). She was born and raised in Toronto, ON, where she enjoyed a privileged childhood, marred only by the death of her mother in 1907 when she was seven, and of her beloved, indulgent father in 1916. She attended a private school near her family home on Madison Avenue in Toronto, and began to write stories and organize plays when very young. Inspired by the heroic literature she enjoyed, at the age of seven she contributed her first poem to the children’s page of the
At the age of eighteen, she declared her independence by doing volunteer farm work, thereby initiating the sense of connection with nature and the land that would animate much of her later life. She then took a stenography course, and at the age of nineteen was hired as a reporter for the
Little is known of her second marriage, to Charles Norman Haldenby, which took place in Toronto on 27 July 1929, even though her first marriage had not yet been dissolved. Shortly after the wedding this relationship ended when Slim (whom Gilean had thought dead) turned up, looking for his wife. Gilean obtained a proper divorce from Slim before her third marriage, to Swiss-born chemical engineer Eric Altherr, in Chicago, IL, in August 1933. During this short-lived marriage that ended in 1937, Gilean suffered a miscarriage that left her unable to have children. She then entered a relationship with Ted Geppert who, like her, was legally married to someone else. The couple headed west, creating a new home base at a cabin beside the Coquihalla River, northeast of Hope, BC. She lived there from 1939 until the cabin burned down in May 1947, with the loss of much of her writing and records of her publications. Much of her nature writing was inspired by these years of wilderness life, which continued in a different context when she moved to Cortes Island, off the west coast of British Columbia, in 1949 with her fourth husband, Philip Major, who took the name of Douglas. This marriage lasted four years; separating in 1953, they officially divorced in 1955.
For the rest of her life, Gilean lived on her property, “Channel Rock,” on Cortes Island, where she was active in many aspects of community life and observing weather for the federal government. She continued to publish copious poetry and journalism, mostly in periodicals but issuing books as well, beginning in the 1950s. Her first volume of collected poems,
Born in Woodstock, ON, into a family that claimed descent from Sir Robert Douglas (1694-1770), William Douglas became a successful lawyer and Queen’s Counsel in Toronto, ON. On 17 December 1898, at the age of 34, he married Eleanor Coldham (c1873-1907); their only child, Gillian (1900-1993), was born on 1 February 1900. Following his wife’s death in 1907, he lavished attention on his daughter, giving her all the affection and material comfort that a child could desire, taking her on frequent travels and fostering her love of books and reading. A heavy drinker, he died unexpectedly from a heart attack on 9 January 1916.
Known as “Nellie,” Eleanor Coldham came from an elite family in Toledo, OH. She was 25 years old when she married William Murray Douglas (c1864-1916), on 17 December 1898 in Toronto, where she enjoyed an active social life. Her daughter Gillian (1900-1993), their only child, was just 7 when Nellie died of an unidentified illness in 1907.
When Gilean Douglas (1900-1993) met Cecil “Slim” Rhodes Douglas, he was using the surname Thomas, which he said was the name of his adoptive parents. Born in Britain, he claimed to be “the illegitimate son of an actress and a musician.” He met Gilean in the summer of 1921, while she was vacationing in Niagara, ON, and he was employed on a Hydro project. They were engaged that Christmas and married on 17 February 1922. His mechanical skills proved useful to keeping their vehicles in order during the couple’s years on the road from 1922 to 1924. They separated on 24 December 1924, and their divorce was finalized on 17 August 1933.
A bond salesman, Charles Norman Haldenby married Gilean Douglas (1900-1993) on 27 July 1929 in St. Thomas Church in Toronto, ON. The relationship was short-lived; the marriage was invalid because Gilean was not legally divorced from her first husband, Slim Douglas. On both his enlistment papers in July of 1916 and his marriage to Clara Emily Yeomans in 1939, Charles listed himself as a “student.”
Born in Switzerland, Eric Altherr was a chemical engineer working for a mining company in northern Ontario. He married Gilean Douglas (1900-1993) in Chicago, IL, on 28 August 1933; they separated in 1937, and divorced on 24 June 1942.
In 1945, Gilean Douglas (1900-1993) met Philip Major, an army officer who was married with two teenaged children.
Glen Mawr private school, Toronto, ON
Advertising
Farm work
Journalism
Wartime volunteer farm work
Weather observer, Cortes Island, BC, for the Canadian government
Women’s institutes, membership on provincial and national boards
National Association of Pen Women
Women’s Auxiliary of the Anglican Church