Lord Tweedsmuir - John Buchan, Baron Tweedsmuir of Elsfield
15th Governor General of Canada
Term:
1935-1940
Born:
August 26, 1875 Perth, Scotland
Died:
February 11, 1940 Montreal, Quebec
Lord Tweedsmuir was the son of a Scottish clergyman, and as such, was the first non-aristocratic Governor General of Canada. He was created Baron of Tweedsmuir on his appointment to the position of Governor General in 1935.
Tweedsmuir had been an administrator in South Africa (1901-03), a tax lawyer, a journalist, an intelligence officer, a literary advisor to publishers (1906-29), and a Member of the British Parliament (1927-35) before coming to Canada. But his real passion was writing. Tweedsmuir was an author. Before becoming Governor General he had published six books. Shortly after arriving in Canada one of his books, Thirty-Nine Steps (1915), was made into a movie by Alfred Hitchcock. Another of his books, Lord Minto (1924), was the biography of an earlier Governor General of Canada. This book displayed an understanding for the constitutional responsibilities of the Office he would one day assume.
Although the Office had changed substantially by the time Tweedsmuir came to it, he embraced it with enthusiasm. He loved Canada and, as other Governor Generals, he travelled the country from coast to coast. Lord Tweedsmuir was the first Governor General to travel to the Canadian Arctic.
While he was Governor General, he promoted national unity and urged Canadians to put aside the religious and racial prejudices which divided them. He and his wife, Lady Tweedsmuir, also promoted writing generally, and Canadian writing specifically. He was appointed the Honourary President of the Canadian Authors' Association (1936), and in 1937, he established the Governor General's Literary Awards. He also took part in the Royal Visit of 1937, which marked the first time a reigning British monarch, King George VI, visited Canada.
In his capacity as Governor General, Tweedsmuir worked with Prime Minister King and American President Roosevelt to try and find a peaceful resolution to conflicts in Europe. The outbreak of World War II put a strain on his already delicate health. Tweedsmuir's term was to have ended in November of 1940, but in February of that year, he died suddenly as the result of a fall. He was the first Governor General of Canada to die in Office.
