While it is true that, on balance, the role of Governor General has made more of an impact on Canadian society than that of their spouse, this has not always been the case. Ishbel Maria Gordon, more commonly known as Lady Aberdeen, came to Rideau Hall with her husband (Lord Aberdeen, or George Hamilton-Gordon) in 1893. The family was not without Canadian connections, having purchased property in British Columbia following a tour of Canada in 1890.[1] Lord Aberdeen was also a rising star within imperial circles of governance, having previously held the post of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland before the sudden fall of Gladstone’s first government.[2] When Gladstone returned to power he offered Lord Aberdeen his choice of post, and Aberdeen chose Canada, which was scheduled to be vacated by the Stanleys (of Stanley Cup fame) in 1893.[3]

It did not take long after arriving for the Aberdeens, and particularly Lady Aberdeen, to make a mark. Both husband and wife believed it was their role to promote social welfare and unity between classes and religious groups across Canada; as a result, they tried their best to mix religious denominations and turn normal class relations on their heads. A household club, modelled on a similar club on their British estate, was established at Rideau Hall in which their servants could take part in various activities meant to better their minds (a very Victorian form of progressivism) and were treated as equals to the Aberdeens at dinner on Thursdays (which scandalised Ottawa society).[4]

Lady Aberdeen, for her part, became the founding president of the National Council of Women of Canada, an organization whose international counterpart she had also taken a leading role in.[5] She “believed that women represented an enormous, unused capacity in Canada, and that they would be a civilizing force in an untamed country.”[6] Naturally, these views did not endear her to the local establishment, and she was never truly welcome in their midst. Nonetheless, she carried on; she helped to found the Ottawa YMCA, tried to promote Canadian history through a series of historical balls, and formed the Victorian Order of Nurses, an institute dedicated to providing care for the sick in their own homes, over the objection of the leading medical minds of Canada.[7] This last in particular would be among her greatest legacies, and marked an important turning point in the history of Canadian healthcare. She was not without personal accomplishments either; she was the first woman to address convocation at the University of Chicago following her receipt of an honorary degree from that institution, and subsequently received an honorary degree from Queens.[8]

Long after her exit from Canada in 1898, Lady Aberdeen was remembered. She kept up friendships with various important Canadians, including Wilfrid Laurier and William Lyon Mackezie King (whom she and her husband coincidentally met in Toronto); she also visited the country several more times before her death in 1939.[9] Not all of her efforts were successful (of her and her husband’s repeated attempts to unify religious denominations, it was often pointed out that the sole result was the annoyance of both denominations they had tried to please), but more were than were not. She remains today one of the most important Viceregal Consort in Canadian history (one who may as well have held the title of Governess General), and a woman who, in her own time, reshaped Canadian society for the better.

One of the later Governor Generals, Lord Grey, was similar to Lady Aberdeen in one respect: her unfailing energy. To find out more about him, read part three of this series.

References:

1 Hubbard, R.H. Rideau Hall: An illustrated History of Government House, Ottawa, from Victorian times to the present day. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 1977. 73.

2 Hubbard, R.H. Rideau Hall: An illustrated History of Government House, Ottawa, from Victorian times to the present day. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 1977. 74.

3 Hubbard, R.H. Rideau Hall: An illustrated History of Government House, Ottawa, from Victorian times to the present day. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 1977. 73.

4 Hubbard, R.H. Rideau Hall: An illustrated History of Government House, Ottawa, from Victorian times to the present day. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 1977. 77.

5 Canadian Encyclopedia. “Lady Aberdeen.” Last modified July 2015.

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ishbel-gordon-lady-aberdeen/

6 Canadian Encyclopedia. “Lady Aberdeen.” Last modified July 2015.

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ishbel-gordon-lady-aberdeen/

7 Canadian Encyclopedia. “Lady Aberdeen.” Last modified July 2015.

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ishbel-gordon-lady-aberdeen/

8 Hubbard, R.H. Rideau Hall: An illustrated History of Government House, Ottawa, from Victorian times to the present day. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 1977. 87-8.

9 Hubbard, R.H. Rideau Hall: An illustrated History of Government House, Ottawa, from Victorian times to the present day. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 1977. 92.

All Images: Images Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.