Davies, Robertson (1913-1995), was a Canadian novelist, playwright, and journalist. His first three novels—called the Salterton trilogy—are social comedies examining the eccentricities of a small Ontario university town. They are Tempest-Tost (1951), Leaven of Malice (1954), and A Mixture of Frailties (1958). In the three novels known as the Deptford trilogy, Davies explored the relationship between magic, religion, and psychology. These novels are Fifth Business (1970), The Manticore (1972), and World of Wonders (1975). The Cornish trilogy is still more absorbed in Canadian history and exotic lore. These novels are The Rebel Angels (1982), What’s Bred in the Bone (1985), and The Lyre of Orpheus (1988). Davies also wrote the novels Murther & Walking Spirits (1991) and The Cunning Man (1994).
William Robertson Davies was born in Thamesville, Ontario, and was educated in Canada and England. He worked in England as an actor, stage manager, and drama teacher. He later wrote critical studies in drama history and several plays. His best-known plays include Eros at Breakfast (1949), Fortune, My Foe (1949), and At My Heart’s Core (1950).
In 1942, Davies became editor of the Peterborough (Ontario) Examiner. He wrote a syndicated column of witty observations on small-town American and Canadian life. Selections from this column were collected in The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks (1985). A collection of Davies’s speeches and lectures was published as One Half of Robertson Davies (1978). From 1963 to 1981, Davies served as master of Massey College for graduate students at the University of Toronto.
