Date Published:
July 2005

L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

Adam Shortt

Shortt, Adam (1859-1931), economist and historian, was born at Kilworth, near London, Ontario, on November 24, 1859, the son of George Shortt and Mary Shields. He was educated at Queen's University, Kingston (B.A., 1883; M.A., 1884; LL.D., 1911), and he studied at Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities. In 1885 he was appointed assistant professor of philosophy in Queen's University ; and in 1892 he became professor of political science. In 1908 he resigned to become a civil service commissioner at Ottawa, and he continued in this position until 1918. He was then appointed chairman of the Board of Historical Publications of the Public Archives of Canada. He died at Ottawa on January 14, 1931. He was created a C.M.G. in 1911; and in 1906 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He was an outstanding authority on the economic history of Canada, and was the author of Imperial preferential trade from a Canadian point of view (Toronto, 1904), Lord Sydenham (Toronto, Makers of Canada, 1908; 2nd ed., 1926), and many valuable papers on the history of Canadian banking contributed to the Journal of the Canadian Bankers' Association. He edited Documents relating to Canadian currency, exchange, and finance during the French period (2 vols., Ottawa, 1926) ; and he was co-editor with A. G. Doughty of Canada and its provinces (23 vols., Toronto, 1914), and of Documents relating to the constitutional history of Canada, 1759-1791 (Ottawa, 1907; new and revised ed., 2 vols., 1918).

Source: W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. V, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 401p., p. 396.