The Earl of Aberdeen - John Campbell Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen and Temair
7th Governor General of Canada
Term:
1893-1898
Born:
August 3, 1847 Edinburgh, Scotland
Died:
March 3, 1934 Tarland, Scotland
Lord Aberdeen had been a Liberal Member of the House of Lords for 23 years when he became Governor General in 1893. He had little administrative experience in that time. He briefly held the position of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland (1886), a position he returned to from 1905-15, but he came to the position of Governor General with an enthusiasm for social activism.
Both Lord and Lady Aberdeen believed that their positions demanded social responsibility. In her years in Canada, Lady Aberdeen established the Canadian branch of the Boys Brigade, the Victorian Order of Nurses (1897), the Ottawa Maternity Hospital, and the Ottawa YMCA. She is also remembered as the founder of the National Council of Women (1893), an organization established to promote the interests of women and children. She also organized relief efforts for famine victims and took part in the prison reform movement.
During his five year term, Aberdeen worked with four different Prime Ministers. Sir John Thompson died shortly after Lord Aberdeen assumed office. Sir MacKenzie Bowell was forced to resign because of a conflict with his cabinet. Sir Charles Tupper, another short-lived Conservative Prime Minister, tried to make political appointments after his defeat at the polls in 1896. Lord Aberdeen withheld approval on the appointments as he was entitled to do, however, his decision created a controversy and cost him Tupper's friendship. Sir Wilfrid Laurier took Office in 1896.
Lord Aberdeen returned to England in 1898. In addition to serving as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the subsequent years, he was elected Lord Rector of St. Andrews University in 1913. In 1916, he was created the Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair and Earl of Haddo.
