Cord and Creese - James De Mille (ePub)

(the family used DeMill, but he wrote under De Mille, and used this name after 1865), author and professor; b. at Saint John, N.B., probably on 23 Aug. 1833, third child of loyalists Nathan Smith DeMill and Elizabeth Budd; d. at Halifax, N.S., 28 Jan. 1880, at the age of 47.

Nathan DeMill was a prosperous merchant, ship-owner, and lumberman in Saint John, N.B. He was a man of strong principles and a strict abstainer, called "cold-water DeMill" by his contemporaries. He left the Church of England to become a Baptist, and was active on the board of governors of Acadia College which was chartered in 1841. James De Mille and his brothers were educated at Horton Academy, Wolfville, before continuing at Acadia. Their adventures at the academy, real or imaginary, form the substance of an excellent set of boys' books, The "B.O.W.C." Series. Taking place in and around Minas Basin or celebrating great Maritime events such as the Miramichi fire, these adventures of the Brothers of the White Cross were published between 1869 and 1873.

James matriculated at Acadia College in 1849. The following year he and his elder brother Elisha Budd DeMill set off on a year's travel, going by boat to Boston, overland to Quebec, and there boarding one of their father's ships for England. They went on a walking trip in England and Scotland, crossed to France, and spent several months in Italy. The experiences of this year profoundly affected James - most of his many novels reflect a knowledge of places, people, and languages not his own - and left him with a lifelong love of Italy.