The Duke of Connaught was a prince, the last son of Queen Victoria and the tenth governor general of Canada. The first member of the Royal family to hold the post, he was appointed in 1911 and served until 1916.
In September 1915, Governor-General Prince Arthur the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn visited Vernon, BC; he can be seen on horseback in this picture from the Royal British Columbia Museum.
The Duke of Connaught was familiar with Canada long before he was posted here as head of state. In 1870 he served in the Royal Marines in Montreal took part in suppressing the Red River uprising.
In 1890, he travelled across Canada en route home from India, and Port Arthur in Ontario was named in his honour. (In 1970 this city was amalgamated with Fort William under the name of Thunder Bay. This city is now the western terminus of the Great-Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway. Formerly it was home to a fur trading fort of the North West Company. Before that, it was the territory of the Ojibwe (Anishnabe) nation.
Prince Arthur the Duke of Connaught was a Freemason. Between 1901 and 1939 he served as Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England.
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