Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
Prince Arthur | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Duke of Connaught and Strathearn | |||||
10th Governor General of Canada | |||||
In office 13 October 1911 – 11 November 1916 | |||||
Monarch | George V | ||||
Prime Minister | |||||
Preceded by | The Earl Grey | ||||
Succeeded by | The Duke of Devonshire | ||||
Born | Buckingham Palace, London, England | 1 May 1850||||
Died | 16 January 1942 Bagshot Park, Surrey, England | (aged 91)||||
Burial | 23 January 1942 | ||||
Spouse | |||||
Issue | |||||
| |||||
Fenian Raids
Anglo-Egyptian War | |||||
Awards | Volunteer Officers' Decoration Territorial Decoration |
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (Arthur William Patrick Albert; 1 May 1850 – 16 January 1942) was the seventh child and third son of
Arthur was educated by private tutors before entering the
After the end of his viceregal tenure, Arthur returned to the United Kingdom and performed various royal duties there and in Ireland, while also again taking up military duties. Though he retired from public life in 1928, he continued to make his presence known in the army well into the Second World War, before his death in 1942. He was Queen Victoria's last surviving son.
Early life
Arthur was born at
Military career
It was at an early age that Arthur developed an interest in the army, and in 1866 he followed through on his military ambitions by enrolling at the
In Canada, Arthur, as an officer with the
Arthur made an impression on many in Canada. He was given on 1 October 1869 the title Chief of the Six Nations by the Iroquois of the Grand River Reserve in Ontario and the name Kavakoudge (meaning the sun flying from east to west under the guidance of the Great Spirit), enabling him to sit in the tribe's councils and vote on matters of tribe governance. As he became the 51st chief on the council, his appointment broke the centuries-old tradition that there should only be 50 chiefs of the Six Nations.[10] Of the Prince, Lady Lisgar, wife of then Governor General of Canada Lord Lisgar, noted in a letter to Victoria that Canadians seemed hopeful Prince Arthur would one day return as governor general.[11]
Arthur was promoted to the honorary rank of colonel on 14 June 1871,[12] substantive lieutenant-colonel in 1876,[3] colonel on 29 May 1880 and,[13] on 1 April 13 years later, was made a general.[3] He gained military experience as Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay Army from December 1886 to March 1890.[14] He went on to be General officer commanding Southern District, at Portsmouth, from September 1890[15][16] to 1893.[17] The Prince had hoped to succeed his first cousin once-removed, the elderly Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, as Commander-in-chief of the Forces, upon the latter's forced retirement in 1895. But this desire was denied to Arthur, and instead he was given, between 1893[18] and 1898, command of the Aldershot District Command.[15] He was appointed
On 26 June 1902 he was promoted to the post of field marshal, and thereafter served in various important positions, including Commander-in-Chief, Ireland, from January 1900[20] to 1904, with the dual position of commander of the Third Army Corps from October 1901,[21] and Inspector-General of the Forces, between 1904 and 1907.
For a brief period of time, after the
Peerage, marriage, and family
On his mother's birthday (24 May) in 1874, Arthur was created a royal peer, being titled as the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and Earl of Sussex.[23] Some years later, Arthur came into the direct line of succession to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in Germany, upon the death in 1899 of his nephew, Prince Alfred of Edinburgh, the only son of his elder brother, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh. He decided, however, to renounce his own and his son's succession rights to the duchy, which then passed to his other nephew, Prince Charles Edward, the posthumous son of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany.[24]
At
Royal duties
Alongside his military career, the Duke continued to undertake royal duties beyond, or only vaguely associated with, the army. He also represented the monarchy throughout the Empire. On the return from a posting in India, he again, this time with his wife, toured Canada in 1890, stopping in all major cities across the country.[10] He also toured Canada in 1906.[26] In January 1903, the Duke and Duchess represented the new King Edward VII at the 1903 Delhi Durbar to celebrate his accession. On their way to India, the couple passed through Egypt where the Duke opened the Aswan dam on 10 December 1902.[27]
In 1910, Arthur travelled aboard the Union-Castle Line ship Balmoral Castle to South Africa, to open the first parliament of the newly formed Union of South Africa,[28] and in Johannesburg on 30 November he laid a commemorative stone at the Rand Regiments Memorial, dedicated to the British soldiers that died during the Second Boer War.[29]
Prince Arthur was a
Governor General of Canada
It was announced on 6 March 1911 that King
To Canada, Arthur brought with him his wife and his youngest daughter, the latter of whom would become an extremely popular figure with Canadians. The Governor General and his viceregal family travelled throughout the country, performing such constitutional and ceremonial tasks as opening parliament in 1911 (for which Arthur wore his field marshal's uniform and the Duchess of Connaught wore the gown she had worn at the King's coronation earlier that year) and,[31] in 1917, laying at the newly rebuilt Centre Block on Parliament Hill the same cornerstone his older brother, the late King Edward VII, had set on 1 September 1860, when the original building was under construction. The family crossed the country a number of times and the Governor General made another trip to the United States in 1912, when he met with President William Howard Taft.[32]
When in Ottawa, Connaught maintained a routine of four days each week at his office on Parliament Hill and held small, private receptions for members of all political parties and dignitaries. The Duke learned to ice skate and hosted skating parties at his official residence— Rideau Hall— to which the Connaughts made many physical improvements during Arthur's term as governor general. The royal family also took to camping and other outdoor sports, such as hunting and fishing.[33]
In 1914, the First World War broke out, with Canadians called to arms against
His term as Canada's Governor General ended in 1916.
Following the war, Arthur commissioned in memory of Canada's fallen a stained glass window which is located in St. Bartholomew's Church, Ottawa, which the family attended regularly.
Later life
After his years in Canada, the Duke held no similar public offices but undertook a number of public engagements. In 1920, he travelled to South Africa to open
The Duke also returned to military service and continued well into the Second World War,[40] where he was seen as a grandfather figure by aspiring recruits. The Duchess, who had been ill during their years at Rideau Hall, had died in March 1917, and Arthur mostly withdrew from public life in 1928; his last formal engagement was the opening of the Connaught Gardens in Sidmouth, Devon, on 3 November 1934.
Death
Prince Arthur died on 16 January 1942 at Bagshot Park, at the age of 91 years, 8 months and 16 days, the same age as his elder sister, Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, who had died two years and one month before. A funeral service for the Duke was held at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on 23 January, after which his body was placed temporarily in the Royal Vault beneath the chapel.[41] He was reburied on 19 March 1942 in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore.[42] He was Queen Victoria's last surviving son.[43] His will was sealed in Llandudno after his death in 1942. His estate was valued at £150,677 (or £4.9 million in 2022 when adjusted for inflation).[44]
Titles, styles, honours and arms
As a member of the royal family and having been a viceroy, Prince Arthur held a number of titles and styles during his life. He was also the recipient of many honours, both domestic and foreign. He was an active member of the military, eventually reaching the rank of
Arms
(The previous version with the coat of arms of the Royal House of Saxony inescutcheon.) |
Issue
Image | Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Princess Margaret of Connaught | 15 January 1882 | 1 May 1920 | married, 15 June 1905, Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden; had issue (including Ingrid, Queen of Denmark ).
| |
Prince Arthur of Connaught | 13 January 1883 | 12 September 1938 | married, 15 October 1913, Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife; had issue. | |
Princess Patricia of Connaught | 17 March 1886 | 12 January 1974 | married, 27 February 1919, Captain Sir Alexander Ramsay, renouncing her title and becoming Lady Patricia Ramsay; had issue. |
Ancestry
Ancestors of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn Countess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf (= 9) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
See also
Named in his honour:
- Port Arthur, a former city in Northern Ontario
- Connaught, a neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Connaught Drive, Singapore
- Connaught Place, New Delhi, the commercial centre of India's capital, the epicentre of the imperial Lutyens' Delhi
- Connaught Place, London, at the south end of Edgware Road, very close to the Marble Arch and Hyde Park
- Connaught Road, Hong Kong, a major thoroughfare on the north shore of Hong Kong Island.
- Connaught Square, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island[47]
- Rue Prince-Arthur , a street in Montreal which is partly a pedestrian mall.
Notes
References
- ^ "Ireland". The Times. 8 January 1900.
- ^ "No. 21108". The London Gazette. 26 June 1850. p. 1807.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-55488-800-9.
- ISBN 978-0-7432-3657-7.
- ^ "No. 23391". The London Gazette. 19 June 1868. p. 3431.
- ^ "No. 23436". The London Gazette. 30 October 1868. p. 5467.
- ^ "No. 23522". The London Gazette. 3 August 1869. p. 4313.
- ^ a b Bousfield & Toffoli 2010, p. 81
- ^ Bousfield & Toffoli 2010, p. 82
- ^ a b Bousfield & Toffoli 2010, p. 83
- ISBN 978-0-7735-0310-6.
- ^ "No. 23751". The London Gazette. 30 June 1871. p. 3006.
- ^ "No. 24849". The London Gazette. 29 May 1880. p. 3269.
- ^ India Office (1819). The India List and India Office List. London: Harrison. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ a b "Army Commands" (PDF). Retrieved 21 November 2015.
- ^ "No. 26084". The London Gazette. 2 September 1890. p. 4775.
- ^ "No. 26458". The London Gazette. 14 November 1893. p. 6356.
- ^ "No. 26446". The London Gazette. 3 October 1893. p. 5554.
- ^ Army List, various dates.
- ^ "No. 27154". The London Gazette. 16 January 1900. p. 289.
- ^ "No. 27360". The London Gazette. 1 October 1901. p. 6400.
- ^ Athensjournals (PDF). Athens. p. - 7.
- ^ "No. 24098". The London Gazette. 26 May 1874. p. 2779.
- ^ "House Laws of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha". Heraldica.org.
- ISBN 978-0-470-04439-1.
- ^ Edmonton Bulletin, 9 March 1906
- ^ "Court News". The Times. No. 36936. London. 27 November 1902. p. 10.
- ^ Cox, Martin. "Union-Castle Line – A brief Company History". Maritime Matters. Archived from the original on 17 September 2008. Retrieved 28 September 2008.
- ^ "The Anglo-Boer War Memorial at the Museum of Military History". The All at Sea Network. Archived from the original on 18 September 2008. Retrieved 28 September 2008.
- ^ a b Office of the Governor General of Canada. "Governor General > Former Governors General > Field Marshal His Royal Highness the Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn". Queen's Printer for Canada. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
- ^ a b Bousfield & Toffoli 2010, p. 85
- ^ Bousfield & Toffoli 2010, p. 86
- ^ Bousfield & Toffoli 2010, p. 87
- ^ "History – Past Royal Connections". Cape Town Highlanders Website (Unofficial). Archived from the original on 8 October 2007. Retrieved 28 August 2008.
- ISBN 978-0-7735-0310-6.
- ^ Borden, Robert (1 January 1969). Memoires. Vol. 1. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. pp. 601–602.
- ^ Drive, Chapman's Peak. "History". Chapmans Peak Drive. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ Harrison, Brian, ed. (2004), "Arthur, Prince, first duke of Connaught and Strathearn", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, vol. I, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ISBN 978-1-447-98533-4.
- ^ Bell, Edward (4 June 1939), Letter to Mrs. E.I.J. Bell, The Letter Repository, archived from the original on 6 January 2009, retrieved 25 April 2010
- ^ "The Late Duke of Connaught". The Times. No. 49189. London. 20 March 1942. p. 7.
- ^ "Royal Burials in the Chapel since 1805". College of St George - Windsor Castle. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- New York Times. 17 January 1942. p. 8.
- ^ Evans, Rob; Pegg, David (18 July 2022). "£187m of Windsor family wealth hidden in secret royal wills". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
- ^ "British Royalty Cadency". Heraldica. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
- ISBN 1-85605-469-1.
- ^ "60 Richmond Street / Connaught Square". Canada's Historic Places. Parks Canada. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
External links
- Works by or about Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn at Internet Archive
- "Archival material relating to Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn". UK National Archives.
- Portraits of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn at the National Portrait Gallery, London
- 8 May 1915, newspaper coverage of the Duke of Connaught's appearance at McGill University Convocation. Archived 13 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- Scouting Round the World, John S. Wilson, first edition, Blandford Press 1959 p. 81