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A highly successful
novelist and historian, John Buchan was
the first of his profession to become
Governor General of Canada. A man of
many talents, he was also a lawyer, a
diplomat, a war correspondent, a
publisher and a member of the House of
Commons for the Scottish Universities
seat. Born in
Perth, Scotland, August 26th, 1975, the
son of a clergyman, Buchan enjoyed a
distinguished academic career. But he
was first and foremost a writer and
prior to coming to Canada, he had earned
an enviable reputation as an author. He
is known for such mystery novels as "The
Dancing Floor", and "The Thirty-nine
Steps" which was made into a highly
successful motion picture.
On his appointment as
Governor General in 1935, he became
Baron Tweedsmuir, taking his name for
the ancestral home in Scotland, the
scene of many happy boyhood memories.
While in office, he
travelled widely and frequently across
Canada and undertook the longest single
trip of any Governor General to date,
travelling 12,000 miles across Canada,
down the Mackenzie River to the Arctic
Circle and deep into isolated
communities along the North Pacific
coast of B.C..
In 1936 he was made
Honorary President of the Canadian
Authors' Association and he instituted
the annual Governor General's awards for
Canadian literature. Though many of his
predecessors had visited American
Presidents informally, in 1937 Lord
Tweedsmuir paid the first state visit to
the White House. He was the guest of the
Roosevelts and addressed the U.S.
Senate. Poor health forced him to
undergo medical treatment in England
from August to October 1938, following
which he resumed his vice-regal duties.
In 1939 he entertained King George VI
and Queen Elizabeth during their
historic tour of Canada and he United
States.
His term of office was
to expire in November 1940, but he died
on February 11th in a Montreal hospital
while undergoing surgery for a head
injury sustained in a fall. He was
accorded a state funeral in Ottawa and
his ashes were returned to his homeland.
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