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Lucy Maud Montgomery, Canada's most successful author ever, was born in Clifton (now New London), Prince Edward Island, Canada on November 30th, 1874. Maud (she preferred being called Maud over Lucy) had a rough life as a child. Her mother, Clara Woolner Macneill, died of tuberculosis before Maud turned two. Not long after that, Maud's father, Hugh John Montgomery, moved to Saskatchewan to find work. Maud was left to be raised by her mother's parents, Lucy Woolner and Alexander Marquis Macneill, in Cavendish. Maud's grandparents were very strict, and Maud's childhood was not a very happy one. There were no children of her age nearby, so she spent most of her time dreaming, writing and reading. Her grandparent's ran the village post office, and Maud would help out when needed.

In 1890, when Maud was 15, she traveled out to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan with her grandfather, Senator Donald Montgomery. The trip took two weeks by train. Although Maud was happy to see her dad again, she didn't quite get along with her new stepmother.

While in Prince Albert, Maud spent a great deal of time writing. She mailed one of her poems, "On Cape Leforce", back home to PEI to The Daily Patriot, a Charlottetown newspaper. It was weeks before she had heard anything. On November 26, 1890, her father had come home with a copy of the Patriot which had published her poem! "It was the first sweet bubble on the cup of success and of course it intoxicated me."

In August of 1891, Maud decided to move back to PEI. Although she found it difficult to move away from her father and friends she had made, she just couldn't get along with her stepmother.

Maud wanted to become a teacher. She had hoped her grandfather would pay for her college, but he had refused. Her grandparents decided to help her father with the college fees, and after placing 5th out of 264 students in her entrance exam, Maud was ready to start college.

In the fall of 1893, Maud headed to Charlottetown where she would attend Prince of Wales College. She completed her classes, usually done in two years, in one year, and graduated in 1894. Soon after she started teaching at a school in Bideford, just west of Cavendish.

After saving some money from her teaching, and some money from her grandmother, Maud returned to school in 1895. She studied English at Dalhousie University in Halifax for one year. Although she couldn't afford to go for more than one year, Maud felt it was very much worth it.

Maud began teaching again in 1896. She was given a teaching job in Belmont by her second cousin, Edward Simpson. Ed eventually fell in love with Maud, and although Maud did not love him back, they became secretly engaged. Ed found Maud a better job in Lower Bedeque in 1897. It was here that Maud fell in love with Herman Leard. She broke up with Ed. In March 1898, Maud's grandfather died, so she moved back to Cavendish to be with her grandmother. Maud would only see Herman once more before he would die of the flu in 1899.

Maud spent her time writing for the next few years. In 1901, Maud got a job as a proofreader for the Daily Echo in Halifax. She tried to keep up on writing her poems and stories after work to help supplement her income, but she found she was just too tired to do this. She began writing her stories at work, and many of her works were being published. The job at the newspaper ended in 1902 when Maud decided to return to Cavendish to take care of her Grandmother.

In 1903, Maud earned $500 from her writing, more than many men earned at that time. She wasn't happy with her works though. She felt her stories were not the best she could do. She referred to them as "Potboilers", because they kept enough food in the pots on the stove for her and her grandmother.

At this point, Maud was now running the post office. She would mail out her manuscripts without anyone knowing, and would receive returned manuscripts without anyone seeing. Many of Maud's manuscripts would be rejected, but Maud wouldn't give up. She would mail a rejected manuscript to another publisher, and many times, after going from one publisher to another, her manuscript would be accepted. Maud soon discovered what types of stories the publishers would pay for. She would sit down and write even when she didn't really want to. She began to wonder if she could even write a book.

Maud, in 1905, decided she was going to write a story. She started digging through old notes and came across one she had written years before: "Elderly couple apply to orphan asylum for a boy. By mistake a girl is sent."

Maud thought about how she could write this as a story. She even came up with the name Anne. She knew Anne would have to be spelled with an "e" because she hated when people spelled her name "Maude". She even knew that Anne would have to have red hair. A boy she once knew had red hair, and she remembred having fun teasing him about it. Maud was also determined to give Anne a good home, since Maud felt she never really belonged in her grandparents home. Maud really liked her neighbor's house ( which was actually her grandfather's cousins David and Margaret Macneill) with its green gables. Maud called it "Green Gables".

This was the beginning of Anne of Green Gables. Maud would would write in the kitchen or her bedroom. During the day when she was busy doing chores, she would be thinking of plots and storylines, and would write in the evening. It was on the first evening that she began writing, and only after writing a few paragraphs, that Ewen Macdonald, a local minister, came to visit. She didn't get any more writing done that night.

After writing for five months, Maud was finally done with her book. She quickly typed up the manuscript, and mailed it off to a publisher. Not long later it was mailed back to her. She ended up mailing her manuscript to five publishers, all of whom rejected it. She eventually gave up and put the manuscript into a drawer and forgot about it. A few months later, Maud stumbled upon the manuscript and re-read it. She again was excited, and decided to try it again. This time she mailed it to an American publisher, L.C. Page & Company. To her surprise, the book was accepted. On June 20, 1908, Maud received her very first published copy of Anne of Green Gables in the mail. The world was about to be introduced to L.M. Montgomery.

Anne was very successful, and Maud was soon earning royalties from her publisher fit for a Queen. Her first royalty check was for $1,730, enough to buy several houses in PEI. In 1910, her royalty check was for $7,000. At that time, the average worker in PEI earned $300 a year! Maud's publisher had insisted she write a second book about Anne. Anne of Avonlea was quickly written to satisfy her publisher.

Remember Ewen Macdonald, whom she had met in 1905? Well, she had secretly been seeing Ewen for almost five years, and on October 12 of 1906 they had become engaged. Maud knew she couldn't Marry Ewen until her grandmother died, though. Ewan was a minister at a church some distance from Cavendish, and then studied in Scotland for a year. On his return, he became minister for churches in Leaskdale and Zephyr, Ontario. Maud and Ewen saw very little of each other. On March 5, 1911, Maud's grandmother died of Pneumonia. Although Maud found it difficult to live with her grandmother, she loved her dearly.

Maud was now free to Marry Ewen, however. They wed on July 5, 1911. They spent their honeymoon in Scotland and England. Upon their return, Lucy moved to the Manse in Leaskdale. For the rest of her life, Maud lived in Ontario.

Maud continued to write, and 11 of her novels were written while she lived in Leaskdale. After being married for a year, Maud gave birth to her first son Chester. A second son, Hugh, was stillborn in 1914. This devastated Maud, but her spirits lifted when Stuart was born in 1915.

In 1926, Ewen left the church in Leaskdale to become a minister at the Presbyterian churches in Norval and Union, Ontario, about 50 miles from Leaskdale. Maud grew to love Norval, and there she wrote six books including Emily's Quest and Pat of Silver Bush. Here she also penned her only two books meant for adults, The Blue Castle and A Tangled Web.

In March of 1935, Ewen retired and Maud bought them a house in Toronto along the Humber River. This was the first house Maud lived in that was owned. All of the Manses she had lived in were owned by the churches. She named her home "Journey's End" because she had hoped she would never have to move again. She never did.

In the last several years, Ewen's health had been declining. When Ewen and Maud were in Norvall, Ewen was suffering from sleeplessness, headaches and depression. Maud covered for Ewen so well, not even her maids knew he was ill. The last few years of Maud's life were difficult. Ewen was becoming more ill, and World War II had started in 1939. She feared for her son's lives as they fought the war. Maud's own health started to decline in 1941. Lucy Maud Montgomery died on April 24, 1941. She was buried in Cavendish, PEI where she grew up.

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