HomeNationsCanadaGovernors-GeneralLorne, marquess of
Lorne, marquess of

John George Edward Henry Douglas Sutherland Campbell

b. 6 Aug 1845, Stafford House, St. James's, Westminster, London
d. 2 May 1914, Kent House, Cowes, Isle of Wight

Title: Governor General in and over the Dominion of Canada = Gouverneur Général dans et sur la Puissance du Canada
Term: 25 Nov 1878 - 23 Oct 1883
Chronology: 5 Oct 1878, appointed by Commission under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet [1]
  25 Nov 1878, oath of allegiance, oath of office and oath of Keeper of the Great Seal of Canada taken, Chamber of the House of Assembly, Province House, Halifax, Nova Scotia [1]
  23 Oct 1883, termination of appointment with the installation of a successor
Names/titles: Styled: Marquess of Lorne (courtesy title until 1900); 19th Lord Campbell (Scotland), 18th Lord Lorne (Scotland), 18th Earl of Argyll (Scotland), 12th Baron of Kintyre (Scotland), 29th Baron of Lochow, 11th Baronet (Scotland), 9th Duke of Argyll, Marquess of Kintyre and Lorne, Earl of Campbell and Cowall, Viscount of Lochow and Glenyla, Lord of Inverary, Mull, Morvern, and Tirie (Scotland), 5th Baron Sundridge, of Coomb Bank, Co. Kent (Great Britain), 5th Baron Hamilton, of Hameldon, Co. Leicester (Great Britain), 2nd Duke of Argyll (UK) [all peerages inherited 24 Apr 1900]
Biography:

The eldest son of the 8th Duke of Argyll, John Campbell held the courtesy title of Marquess of Lorne until he succeeded his father in 1900. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy, Eton, St. Andrews and Cambridge. Private secretary to his father, the Secretary of State for India (1868-1871), Lorne represented Argyllshire as a Liberal in the House of Commons (1868-1878). Lorne's appointment to the office of Governor General of Canada in 1878, at age 33, had much to do with his marriage (21 Mar 1871) to Princess Louise, Queen Victoria's fourth daughter, and the British government's attempt to enhance the prestige of the queen's representative in Ottawa. However, Lorne's practice of referring problems to Britain overriding Canadian authority caused severe criticism in the beginning of his term. Lorne helped to reconcile British Columbia to Confederation and supported the Canadian government's efforts to establish a Canadian High Commissioner to the UK, though it reduced his own viceregal authority. In 1882, the Fenians, a secret society founded to assist the Irish independence movement, made several threats against the Governor General and Princess Louise, but their plans were never fulfilled. A devoted patron of the arts and letters, Lorne founded the Royal Society of Canada in 1882 and the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1880, a precursor to the National Gallery of Canada. When he returned to England, Lorne became Governor and constable of Windsor Castle (1892-1914), and he sat again as a member of the House of Commons from 1895 until he succeeded to the dukedom in 1900.


[1] The Canada Gazette. No. 22. Ottawa, Saturday, November 30, 1878. PP. 621-622.
[2] The Canadian encyclopedia: year 2000 edition. McClelland & Stewart Inc., Toronto.
  Image: photograph, Bibliothèque et Archives Canada / C-013227 (ca 1878 - 1883)