====== Mar, Rupert ====== (//fl//. late 19th century, early 20th century), entertainer. Born in London, England. He was born 6 Nov. 1872 by the date he gave on army enlistment, but the Charlottenburgh Township Assessment Roll reports him as 55 in 1919, which would yield a date of birth c. 1864. The name Mar may have been a stage name that he came to use as his real name. He is remembered as having claimed privately in GC that his father was the Earl of Mar. Rupert Mar is said to have been in Sir Edward Irving’s acting company during Irving’s last tour of North America in 1904. “Returning to Canada in 1908, Mr. Mar took up farming in Glengarry county, which pursuit he continued till his enlistment in 1915,…” (//Montreal Gazette// 28 Nov. 1919, cited //Cornwall Freeholder// 4 Dec. 1919) At about the beginning of his residence in GC, Rupert Mar was employed by Harry Bowen (see Joshua C. Bowen) of Fraserfield. In 1913 Rupert Mar bought a farm in the area of Munroes Mills and Martintown. Registry Office records show it was a 200-acre property on Lots 28 and 29, 7th Concession of Charlottenburgh Township. Mar also gave concerts in the GC area. Privately, the people of his neighbourhood, whether standing nearby or listening to his fine voice from a long distance, appreciated hearing him reciting and rehearsing. (Grant, MacRae) He was married, with two children. His wife Amy, was born in London, Eng., and was believed to have been a chorus performer in London. Her father’s name was John Barslett. Amy died 30 Dec. 1914 at the age of 39 during Mar’s years in GC, with the place of death registered as Martintown. On the evening of the day of her funeral, 31 Dec. 1914, Rupert Mar gave a concert in Maxville. (//Cornwall Freeholder// 7 Jan. 1915 ) From this incident it may be suspected that Mar was not merely a dedicated professional, but lacked money. Mrs Mar was buried at the North Branch Cemetery, but there appears to be no gravestone. Though not a young man, whatever his exact age, Rupert Mar joined the army in April 1915. Perhaps because of his age, he did not remain an active soldier, but while remaining officially in the service he gave war charity concerts, many of them for the Red Cross, in Britain throughout the war. His military file shows that at the end of 1918 he was given by his military superiors the required official permission to marry. Probably no marriage followed, unless he was married under a name other than Mar. He returned to Canada, and to GC, in 1919. (//Cornwall Freeholder// 4 & 11 Dec. 1919, Lanken) He gave concerts in GC in 1920, but in the same year he sold his farm to Charles William Cresswell (see D.T. Cresswell), and at that point Rupert Mar passes out of GC history. Rhodes Grant mentions a belief that Rupert Mar was given a knighthood for his war work, but research has refuted this belief without uncovering evidence of his receiving any other high-ranking decoration. His son Harold, who was born in London, Eng., on 3 June 1899 (if the date he gave on his army enlistment was correct), joined the army in 1915 shortly after his father and served through the war. On joining up, Harold gave his occupation as “Farm Help.” In the spring of 1918 it was reported that Harold had been at the front without furlough for 2-1/2 years. (//Cornwall Freeholder// 4 April 1918) (In fact, his military file shows a limited amount of leave in Britain.) He survived the war to be discharged in 1919 at the general demobilization, but his later career is not known. Rupert Mar also had a daughter, who is said to have later lived in New York City. Rupert Mar and his son stated their religion on enlistment in 1915 as Church of England. Rupert Mar was one of the most unusual and exotic people to live in early 20th-century GC. It would seem from Rhodes Grant’s recollections that he was well regarded by the local people, impatient though they sometimes showed themselves to be of outsiders. Rhodes Grant recollected that he wrote poems and articles, which were looked forward to by the local people. Only one example has been found, a poem called “A Canadian Winter Idyll” on Canadian winter landscapes, printed in the Cornwall //Freeholder// 21 Feb. 1913, and repr. //Glengarry Life// 1994. It is not clear from the content whether the poem is set in GC or not, or whether it was written there. If it was a GC poem, an argument could be made for its being the best GC poem. It is simple and unpretentious, and while open to the charge of being clichéd in terms of the conventions of its time, it has a haunting quality as it evokes the dramatic landscapes of winter Canada that sets it aside from the general run of Canadian nature poetry of the time. Despite considerable inquiry, no documentary evidence has been turned up for Rupert Mar’s life before he settled in GC or after 1920. ---- Marion MacRae, “Munroes Mills” (with recollections of Mar), //Glengarry Life// No. 33 (1994) and Dane Lanken, “Rupert Mar, Poet and Actor,” same issue * Dane Lanken, “More on Rupert Mar,” //Glengarry Life// No. 34 (1995) * Ont. death registration of wife * Grant, ii, 146, 161(Assessment Roll) * NAC, military files of Rupert Mar and his son Harold * Veterans Affairs, 4 Nov. 1997, report no record of Mar, father and son, after 1920 * inquiry in vital records, Eng., (names Mar, Marr, Marks) has proved unsuccessful so far * for the Mar surname, cf the only entry for it in the //ODict//, that for Norman René del Mar (1919-1994) * has temporarily left theatrical life for rural life (Martintown column); offers instruction in performing, singing (advert.), //Cornwall Freeholder// 15 Jan. 1914 * //Cornwall Standard //18 March 1915 (“the celebrated entertainer, from London, England”) * letter from Mar, //Cornwall Freeholder// 1 Feb. 1917 * said to be about to return to Canada, //CF //4 April 1918 * item on Mar from //The Canadian Sapper//, in //CF //11 April 1918) * tribute from Sussex, Eng., to Rupert Mar, //CF //24 April 1918 [<6>]