Oliver Goldsmith (Canadian poet)

Oliver Goldsmith (1794–1861) was a Canadian poet born in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. In 1822, he wrote some verses for an amateur theatre in Halifax.^[1] He is best known for The Rising Village, which appeared in 1825. It was at once the first book-length poem published by a native English-Canadian and the first book-length publication in England by a Canadian poet.^[2] Furthermore, his Autobiography is the first autobiography of a native Canadian writer.^[3] He is not to be confused with his great-uncle Oliver Goldsmith, to whose celebrated poem The Deserted Village The Rising Village is a response.

In 1944, his name was added by the Canadian Government to its list of Persons of National Historic Significance.^[4]