It was on this date in 1952 that Vincent Massey made history after being sworn-in as Canada’s Governor General, the first Canadian to serve as the Monarch’s representative in Canada. From one of Canada’s wealthiest families, Massey had served as High Commissioner for Canada to the United Kingdom and was earlier the first-ever Canadian Ambassador to the United States.At Rideau Hall, where he served as Governor General until 1959 – he was succeeded by Georges Vanier – he worked tirelessly to promote the arts and to Canadianize his Vice Regal post. Massey became the first – and so far, only – Governor General to address the U.S. Congress. Upon leaving office he continued to serve as a patron of Canadian arts and passed into history in late 1967.[caption id="attachment_543268" align="aligncenter" width="502"]
Vincent Massey (GG of Canada)[/caption]Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.
Vincent Massey (GG of Canada)[/caption]Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.