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| Honorific-prefix | The Right Honourable |
|---|---|
| Name | Charles Vincent Massey |
| Honorific-suffix | PC, CH, CC, CD, FRSC(hon) |
| Smallimage | VincentMassey.jpg |
| Imagesize | 160px |
| Order | 18th |
| Office | Governor General of Canada |
| Term start | February 28, 1952 |
| Term end | September 15, 1959 |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Predecessor | The Viscount Alexander of Tunis |
| Successor | Georges Vanier |
| Primeminister | Louis St. Laurent John Diefenbaker |
| Office2 | More... |
| Birth date | February 20, 1887 |
| Birth place | Toronto, Ontario |
| Death date | December 30, 1967 |
| Death place | London, United Kingdom |
| Spouse | Alice Massey |
| Children | Lionel Chester Hart Massey (1916-1965) Hart Parkin Vincent Massey II (1918-1996) |
| Profession | Diplomat |
| Religion | Methodist/United, then Anglican |
| Signature | Vincent Massey Signature.svg |
Charles Vincent Massey Massey was, however, entitled to far more letters; his 1948 autobiography On Being Canadian lists him as: CH, DCL, LLD(hon), FRSC. The department of Veterans Affairs page on the Canadian Forces Decoration mentions that Massey was the first governor general to be awarded the medal upon taking office, which entitled him to utilize the post-nominal letters CD. The same page lists him as "The Right Honourable Vincent Massey, CC, CH, GCJ, CD," although this listing in inconsistent with the accepted Canadian/Commonwealth Order of precedence.|group=n|name=Pnoms}} (February 20, 1887 December 30, 1967) was a Canadian lawyer and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 18th since Canadian Confederation.
Massey was born into an influential Toronto family and was educated in Ontario and England, obtaining a degree in law and befriending future prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King while studying at the University of Oxford. He was commissioned into the military in 1917 for the remainder of the First World War, and after a brief stint in the Canadian Cabinet began his diplomatic career, serving in envoys to the United States and United Kingdom. Upon his return to Canada in 1946, Massey headed a royal commission on the arts between 1949 and 1951, which resulted in the Massey Report, and subsequently the establishment of the National Library of Canada and the Canada Council of the Arts, amongst other grant-giving agencies. He was in 1952 appointed as governor general by George VI, king of Canada, on the recommendation of Prime Minister of Canada Louis St. Laurent, to replace the Viscount Alexander of Tunis as viceroy, and he occupied the post until succeeded by Georges Vanier in 1959. Massey was the first Canadian-born individual to serve as Canada's governor general and he proved to be a successful transition for the office away from occupants who had consistently been both members of the peerage and born overseas.
On September 16, 1925, Massey was sworn into the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, giving him the accordant style of The Honourable; however, as a former governor general of Canada, Massey was entitled to be styled for life with the superior form of The Right Honourable. He subsequently continued his philanthropic work and founded Massey College at the University of Toronto and the Massey Lectures before he died on December 30, 1967.
Massey was raised in the family's mansion at 519 Jarvis Street, and educated at St. Andrew's College, in Aurora, Ontario, before enrolling in University College in the University of Toronto (UofT), though his family had close ties to Victoria College. There, he joined the Kappa Alpha Society, and through that fraternity met his long-time friend, and future prime minister of Canada, William Lyon Mackenzie King. After passing matriculation in 1910 with his Bachelor of Arts degree in history and English, Massey then went on to continue his education at Balliol College at the University of Oxford, earning his Master of Arts in history. In 1913, he returned to Toronto and became the first Dean of Men at the Victoria University residence his father had recently donated, Burwash Hall, as well as a lecturer on modern history at the college.
Feeling since his time as an undergraduate at UofT that the institution lacked a facility where its 4,000 students could engage in extracurricular activities, in 1911 Massey donated $16,290 to augment the money students had already raised for building a student centre,
Once again a civilian, Massey started in 1921 as president of his father's business, while simultaneously pursuing philanthropic interests, mostly in arts and education, such as his collecting paintings and sculpture through his Massey Foundation, which he established in 1918. By the next year, UofT's social and athletic facility was complete and dedicated in memory of Massey's grandfather, Hart Massey, as Hart House; there, while he headed Massey-Harris Co., Massey participated as an amateur actor and director in the building's theatre.|group=n|name=Comic}}]]
Later in 1926, on November 25, Governor General the Marquess of Willingdon, acted on Mackenzie King's advice to appoint Massey as the first Canadian Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States for His Majesty's Government in Canada, making Massey Canada's first ever envoy with full diplomatic credentials to a foreign capital. and the credentials of the first Canadian mission to the United States were received on November 7, 1918. However, governmental capitals within the British Empire, and later the Commonwealth of Nations, were not considered foreign, and Canadian diplomats received by foreign governments were not considered of a diplomatic rank above chargé d'affaires.|group=n|name=Dip}} Despite this first in international relations, Massey's time in Washington, D.C., was free of notable events, and he returned to Canada in mid-1930, as Mackenzie King had put his name forward for appointment as high commissioner to the United Kingdom. But, merely five days after Massey relinquished his posting to Washington, Mackenzie King's Liberal Party was defeated in the federal election, seeing Richard Bennett appointed as prime minister. The new premier objected to Massey as the government's representative to the UK, on the grounds that, as a former Liberal minister, Massey did not enjoy the political confidence of the new Conservative government that was needed by the individual occupying the position.
Starting in 1932, Massey took on the job of president of the National Liberal Federation of Canada until, abdication of Edward VIII in favour of his younger brother, Prince Albert, Duke of York.
Throughout his time as high commissioner, Massey used his connections to bring to Canada House a litany of personalities from "the highest quarters." Though these allegations were historically challenged as exaggerations, Irving Abella and Harold Troper claimed in their book that Massey was an enthusiastic supporter of the Munich Agreement, and worked with Ernest Lapointe to put obstacles in the way of Jewish refugees attempting to immigrate to Canada. However, Canadian immigration policy at the time favoured trained farmers, which excluded most Jews, who were largely city dwellers, and the Cabinet of Mackenzie King was already resistant to changes in the law.|group=n|name=Fugees}} Seven decades later, these accusations against Massey resulted in a campaign in Windsor, Ontario, to rename a high school that had originally been named in his honour.
Nevertheless, Massey was a Canadian and British patriot, and worked not only to maximize Canada's war effort once World War II broke out, but also concurrently served through 1936 as the Canadian delegate to the League of Nations, between 1941 and 1945 as a trustee of the National and Tate Galleries, and additionally as chair of the Tate's board of governors from 1943 to 1945. Though, Massey was honoured for all this work by being inducted in 1946 by King George VI into the Order of the Companions of Honour, upon his return to Canada Massey continued in the same fields. He sat as chair of the National Gallery of Canada from 1948 to 1952, and was selected as Chancellor of the University of Toronto between 1948 and 1953.
There was, though, some commentary about the soon-to-be representative of the new queen. The notion of a Canadian-born governor general, and one also not elevated to the peerage, was viewed as somewhat controversial by traditionalists. Massey, thus, was to be a compromise: while it was known he was closely associated with the Liberal Party, having been the group's chairman during the 1930s, the Governor General-Designate was a commoner Canadian by birth but he also embodied loyalty, dignity, and formality, as expected from a viceroy. Massey stated that for his role as governor general, he for inspiration looked to one of his predecessors, and a man Massey had known for decades, the Baron Tweedsmuir, whom Massey said he "greatly admired" and had "learnt much from" his tenure as governor general.
Life ran a profile piece on Massey, in which the Marquess of Salisbury described Massey as an elegant individual citing Massey's Oxford schooling and tailored clothing as illustrations and thoroughly Canadian, though noting that "Vincent's a fine chap, but he does make one feel like a bit of a savage." and that it was his task as viceroy to act as a link between the people and the monarch.
On February 26, 1952, Massey was sworn in as governor general of Canada in a ceremony in the Senate chamber, where he was presented with the Canadian Forces Decoration (subsequently given to all governors general upon taking office). However, Massey's first months as the viceroy were muted, due to the ongoing 16 week period of official mourning. It was not until the coronation of Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953 that Massey was called upon to take charge of any national celebration. For the occasion, he revived the use of the state carriage when he rode in it, with an accompanying guard of Royal Canadian Mounted Police, from the royal and viceroyal residence of Rideau Hall to Parliament Hill, where he introduced to the gathered crowd the Queen's coronation speech, broadcast around the world via radio. He also gave a silver spoon to each child born on that day. He also hosted a number of foreign heads of state, including United States president Dwight D. Eisenhower on November 13, 1953. As a return gesture, Massey was invited by Eisenhower to Washington, D.C., where, on May 4, 1954, he addressed a joint session of the United States Congress. inhabitant of Frobisher Bay]]
It was Massey's intent as governor general to work to unite Canada's diverse cultures. He travelled across the country, using any and all available transportation, including canoe and dog sled, and delivered speeches promoting bilingualism, some 20 years before it became an official national policy. Along with the usual ceremonial duties undertaken by a viceroy, such as opening in 1955 the new home of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, the Governor General toured the Canadian arctic extensively, journeying to such places as Frobisher Bay and Hall Beach in the Northwest Territories, meeting with local Inuit residents, participating in their activities, and watching their performances. During his governor generalship, Massey also became Upper Canada College, donating funds and his time to the school and seeing a number of spaces there named in his honour in return. As part of his effort to unify Canadians, it was Massey's desire to see established an entirely Canadian honours system. Though such a thing was never realised during his viceregal tenure, he helped lay the groundwork for the system that would be implemented by his successor, and in 1967, just months before his death, Massey was inducted as one of the first companions of the Order of Canada. In this vein, he created awards for artistic endeavours, such as the Governor General's Medals in Architecture, and promoted the concept of an annual, national arts festival, which eventually led to the founding of the National Arts Centre. Further, Massey initiated in 1954 the Governor General's Gold Medal for the Institute of Chartered Accountants, as well as in 1959 the Massey Medal, for excellence in geographic endeavours for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. While Hart House continued as one of the recipients of Massey's attention and funds, Massey also expanded the scope of his donations to U of T with the establishment in 1963 of Massey College, to which Massey's protegé Robertson Davies was appointed as the college's first master. In 1961, the Massey Lectures were also initiated, conceived as a focus on important contemporary issues by leading thinkers, and they remain considered as the most important public lecture series in Canada. PC, CH, CC, CD, BA Tor, MA Oxon, LLD(hc) BC, LLD(hc) Queen's, LLD(hc) Sask, DCL(hc), FRSC(hon)
;Appointments 1946 December 30, 1967: Companion of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) September 16, 1925 December 30, 1967: Member of the King's Privy Council for Canada (PC) February 28, 1952 1955: Knight of Justice, Prior, and Chief Officer in Canada of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (KStJ)
;Medals 1935: King George V Silver Jubilee Medal 1937: King George VI Coronation Medal February 28, 1952: Canadian Forces Decoration (CD) 1953: Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal 1967: Canadian Centennial Medal
;Awards July 22, 1960: Royal Victorian Chain May 13, 1955: University of Saskatchewan, Doctor of Laws (LLD) May 18, 1954: University of British Columbia, Doctor of Laws (LLD)
;Buildings : Vincent Massey Theatre (later Massey Theatre), New Westminster : Massey Building, Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston
;Schools in Toronto]] : Vincent Massey Junior High School, Calgary : Vincent Massey School, Medicine Hat : Vincent Massey High School, Brandon : Vincent Massey Collegiate, Winnipeg : Vincent Massey Elementary School, St. Andrews : Vincent Massey Public School, Bowmanville : Vincent Massey Public School, Cornwall (closed) : Vincent Massey Collegiate Institute, Etobicoke (closed) : Vincent Massey Public School, Etobicoke : Vincent Massey Public School, Etobicoke (closed) : Vincent Massey School, Hamilton : Vincent Massey Public School, North Bay : Vincent Massey Public School, Oshawa : Vincent Massey Public School, Ottawa : Vincent Massey School, Ottawa : Massey College, University of Toronto, Toronto : Vincent Massey Secondary School, Windsor : Vincent Massey Collegiate, Montreal : Vincent Massey Elementary School, Saint-Hubert : Vincent Massey Community School, Prince Albert : Ecole Massey School, Regina : Vincent Massey School, Saskatoon : Vincent Massey Public School, Saskatoon
;Events : Massey Lectures, University of Alberta
| Notes | By the time he was serving as the Canadian Minister to the United States, Massey was granted a coat of arms by the College of Arms, in London, United Kingdom. These were reworked by Alan Beddoe, and after the end of Massey's viceregal service, he was granted an augmentation of honour by Queen Elizabeth II. |
|---|---|
| Year adopted | December 18, 1927 December 11, 1963 (augmentation) |
| Crest | Out of an Antique Crown Or, a Bull's Head Sable, armed Gold, charged on the neck with a Lozenge Argent, thereon a Fleur de Lis also Sable. |
| Escutcheon | Argent, on a Chevron Sable between three Lozenges of the last, each charged with a Fleur de Lis of the first, three Stags' Heads erased Or. |
| Motto | DUM TERAR PROSUM ('Do Good While on Earth') |
| Other elements | On the escutcheon a Canton Azure, a representation of the Crest of Canada as an honourable augmentation. |
1959}}
Category:Governors General of Canada Category:Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Category:Chancellors of the University of Toronto Category:Canadian ambassadors to the United States Category:Canadian High Commissioners to the United Kingdom Category:Liberal Party of Canada candidates in the 1925 Canadian federal election Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Category:University of Toronto alumni Category:Canadian Anglicans Category:Converts to Anglicanism Category:Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Category:Companions of the Order of Canada Category:Recipients of the Royal Victorian Chain Category:Bailiffs Grand Cross of the Order of St John Category:1887 births Category:1967 deaths Category:People from Northumberland County, Ontario Category:Canadian monarchists Category:National Historic Persons of Canada Category:The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada
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