John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll
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The Marquess of Lorne, later 9th Duke of Argyll |
John George Edward Henry Douglas Sutherland Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll (Stafford House,
London August 6,
1845 -
May 2,
1914 Kent House,
Cowes), usually better known by his courtesy title of
Marquess of Lorne by which he was known before 1900, was
Governor General of Canada. He is now remembered primarily for the place names bestowed on Canadian geography in honour of his wife, for his metrical paraphrase of Psalm 121, "Unto the hills around do I lift up" and for the frequency with which the name "Lorne" is given to male children in Canada, a custom unknown elsewhere.
As the eldest son of
George Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll and Elizabeth Georgiana Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, daughter of
George Granville Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland, Lord Lorne held the courtesy title of Marquess of Lorne and was heir to the title of Duke of Argyll from 21 months until he was 54. He received an excellent education at
Edinburgh Academy,
Eton,
St. Andrews and
Cambridge. For ten years before coming to
Canada, the Duke represented
Argyllshire as a
Liberal member of Parliament in the
British House of Commons.
When the Marquess of Lorne's appointment was announced, there was great excitement throughout Canada. For the first time,
Rideau Hall would have a royal resident –
Queen Victoria's fourth daughter,
Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, had married the marquess on
March 21,
1871. The Canadian Prime Minister relaxed his busy campaign schedule to prepare for her arrival and to organize a special carriage and corps of guards to protect the princess.
During the Marquess of Lorne's term of office, the recession plaguing the Canadian economy ended and Sir
John A. Macdonald returned as Prime Minister. Canada was experiencing a renewal of optimism and an upswing of nationalism.
At age 33, the Marquess of Lorne was Canada's youngest Governor General, but he was not too young to handle the marginal demands of his post. He and Princess Louise made many lasting contributions to Canadian society especially in the arts and sciences. They encouraged the establishment of the
Royal Society of Canada, the
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and the
National Gallery of Canada, even selecting some of its first paintings. In addition to acting as a patron of arts and letters in Canada, the Marquess was the author of many books of prose and poetry. His writings show a deep appreciation of Canada's physical beauty.
Throughout his term of office, the Marquess of Lorne was intensely interested in Canada and Canadians. He travelled throughout the country encouraging the establishment of numerous institutions, and met with members of Canada's
First Nations and with other Canadians from all walks of life. At Rideau Hall, he and Princess Louise hosted many social functions, including numerous
skating and tobogganing parties as well as balls, dinners and State occasions.
Princess Louise was an accomplished writer, sculptor and artist – she painted well in both oils and water colours. A door she painted with sprigs of apple blossoms can still be seen in the Monck wing corridor at
Rideau Hall. She gave the name
Regina (which is
Latin for Queen) to the capital of
Saskatchewan, and both the district of Alberta in the
Northwest Territories (later the province of
Alberta) and
Lake Louise in that district were named after her. Although she was often unwell, she was a compassionate woman who, during an epidemic of
scarlet fever, personally nursed the sick.
Princess Louise returned to England in
1881 and the Marquess of Lorne followed two years later in
1883. The Marquess of Lorne was Governor and constable of
Windsor Castle from
1892 to
1914, and he sat as MP for
Manchester South from
1895 until the death of his father on
April 24,
1900, when he became the 9th Duke of Argyll. He and Princess Louise lived at
Kensington Palace until his death in
1914.
The marriage was not a happy one. Lorne is rumored to have been bisexual, if not largely homosexual in predisposition, and certainly he had close friendships with several known homosexuals such as the author
Horatio Brown and artist Lord
Ronald Gower. Legend has it that Princess Louise bricked up a window in
Kensington Palace to stop Lorne's nighttime 'cruising' for soldiers in the park. More importantly, Lorne was an associate and confidant of the handsome but dissolute homosexual
Frank Shackleton, (brother of the explorer Sir
Ernest Shackleton), who was a key suspect in the theft of the
Irish Crown Jewels. Shackleton was to defraud Lord Ronald Gower of money, and there is clear evidence that official investigation of the theft of the Crown Jewels was suppressed. It has been suggested that this is because authorities became aware of the Lorne connection to Shackleton.
Princess Louise died on
December 3,
1939, at the age of 91.
*
Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online*
Website of the Governor General of Canada''
*
Free ebook of id=John_Douglas_Sutherland_Campbell at
Project Gutenberg
