Prince Arthur of Connaught
Lady Patricia Ramsay
HRH The Prince Arthur
House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Buckingham Palace, London
Buckingham Palace, London
Bagshot Park, Surrey
| Prince Arthur | |
|---|---|
| Duke of Connaught and Strathearn | |
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| The Duke of Connaught, 1915 | |
| Duke of Connaught and Strathearn | |
| Successor | Prince Alastair, Duke of Connaught |
| Spouse | Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia |
| Issue | |
| Princess Margaret, Crown Princess of Sweden Prince Arthur of Connaught Lady Patricia Ramsay |
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| Full name | |
| Arthur William Patrick Albert | |
| Titles and styles | |
| HRH The Duke of Connaught HRH The Prince Arthur |
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| Royal house | House of Windsor House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha |
| Father | Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha |
| Mother | Victoria |
| Born | 1 May 1850 Buckingham Palace, London |
| Baptised | 22 June 1850 Buckingham Palace, London |
| Died | January 16, 1942 (aged 91) Bagshot Park, Surrey |
| Burial | Frogmore Mausoleum |
| Occupation | Governor General of Canada |
The Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (Arthur William Patrick Albert; 1 May 1850 – 16 January 1942) was a member of the British Royal Family, a son of Queen Victoria. Arthur served as the Governor General of Canada from 1911 to 1916. He was created Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and Earl of Sussex in 1874.
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Arthur was born on 1 May 1850 at Buckingham Palace. His mother was Queen Victoria, the reigning British monarch. His father was Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. As a son of the Sovereign, he was styled His Royal Highness The Prince Arthur from birth. The Prince was baptised in the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace on 22 June 1850 by The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr John Bird Sumner. His godparents were The Crown Prince of Prussia (later Kaiser Wilhelm I), Princess Bernard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and The Duke of Wellington (with whom he shared his birthday and after whom he was named). It is reported that he was his mother's favourite child.[1]
Like his elder brothers, he received his early education from tutors. Prince Arthur became interested in the army at an early age. In 1866, he entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and received a commission as a lieutenant in the Corps of Royal Engineers two years later. He later transferred to the Royal Regiment of Artillery and then to the Rifle Brigade.
Arthur had a long and distinguished career in the British Army that included service in South Africa, Canada, Ireland, Egypt in 1882 and in India from 1886 to 1890. On 1 April 1893, he was promoted to the rank of general. Arthur had hoped to succeed his first cousin once-removed, the elderly Duke of Cambridge, as commander-in-chief of the British Army, upon the latter's forced retirement in 1895. However, this was denied to him. Instead, he held command in the southern district of Aldershot from 1893 to 1898. Arthur became a Field Marshal on 26 June 1902. He served in various important positions thereafter, as Commander-in-Chief in Ireland (1900-1904); Inspector-General of the Forces (1904–1907) and as Governor General of Canada (1911–1916).
In 1910 Arthur traveled to South Africa onboard the Union-Castle Line ship Balmoral Castle to open the first parliament of the newly formed Union of South Africa.[2] On November 30, 1910 in Johannesburg he laid a commemorative stone at the Rand Regiments Memorial, a memorial dedicated to the British soldiers that died during the Second Boer War.[3]
From 1912 until his death in 1942, Auther was Colonel-in-Chief of the Cape Town Highlanders Regiment.[4]
Prince Arthur was created Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, and Earl of Sussex on 24 May 1874.[5]
On 13 March 1879, Arthur married Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, the daughter of Prince Friedrich of Prussia and a grand-niece of the German Emperor Wilhelm I, at St. George's Chapel, Windsor. They had three children;
The Duke and Duchess of Connaught acquired Bagshot Park in Surrey as their country home and after 1900 used Clarence House as their London residence.
When his brother was obliged to resign the office upon his accession as Edward VII, Prince Arthur was elected Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England, and was annually reelected 37 times until 1939, when he was nearly 90.
In 1899, Arthur came into direct line of succession to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in Germany, upon the death of his nephew, the only son of his elder brother, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh. He decided, however, to renounce his own and his son's succession rights to the duchy, which then passed to his nephew, Prince Charles Edward, the posthumous son of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany.
| British Royalty |
|---|
| House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha |
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| Descendants of Victoria & Albert |
| Victoria, Princess Royal |
| Edward VII |
| Princess Alice |
| Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha |
| Princess Helena |
| Princess Louise |
| Arthur, Duke of Connaught |
| Leopold, Duke of Albany |
| Princess Beatrice |
On 6 March 1911[6], the British government appointed Arthur to the post of Governor General of Canada. During Arthur's term of office as governor general, Sir Robert Borden was Prime Minister and Canada was making steady progress in its transformation from British colony to independent nation. Governors General however, were still appointed by the British, and Arthur was the first member of the British Royal Family to serve in the post (though his sister Princess Louise had been the wife of a previous Governor General, Lord Lorne), helping to strengthen ties between the British monarchy and Canada.
Arthur travelled to Canada, with his wife, the Duchess of Connaught, and his youngest daughter, Princess Patricia. They lived together at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, and travelled extensively throughout Canada. Arthur served as liaison between the British government and Canada during World War I. He re-laid the cornerstone of the burned-out federal parliament building in 1917. The stone had been set in the original building by Prince Albert Edward (later Edward VII) in 1860. Both the Duchess and Princess became popular figures in Canadian society. The Connaughts also made many improvements to Rideau Hall during the Arthur's term as Governor General.
In 1914, World War I broke out, with Canadians called to arms against Germany and Austria-Hungary. The Connaughts remained in Canada at the beginning of the war. Arthur emphasized the need for military training and readiness for Canadian troops departing for war, and gave his name to Connaught Cup for the Royal North West Mounted Police, to encourage pistol marksmanship for recruits. He was active in auxiliary war services and charities and conducted hospital visits, while the Duchess of Connaught worked for the Red Cross and other organizations to support the war cause. She was also Colonel-in-Chief of the Duchess of Connaught's Own Irish Canadian Rangers battalion, one of the regiments in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Their daughter, Princess Patricia of Connaught, also lent her name and support to the raising of a new Canadian army regiment — Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.
Following the war, Arthur commissioned a stained glass window in their memory which is located in St. Bartholomew's Church next to Rideau Hall, which the family attended regularly.
After his term at Rideau Hall, the Duke of Connaught returned to military service and continued well into World War II[7] where he was seen as a grandfather figure by aspiring recruits. The Duchess, who had been ill during their years at Rideau Hall, died in March 1917. The Duke withdrew from public life in 1928, and died 14 years later at Bagshot Park in 1942, at the age of 91. At the time of his death he was the last living son of Queen Victoria. He also had outlived two of his three children. He was succeeded (briefly) in his dukedom by his grandson, Alastair Windsor, the son of Prince Arthur and his wife, Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, a granddaughter of Edward VII.
As president of the Boy Scouts Association and one of Lord Baden-Powell's friends and admirers, he performed the official opening of the 3rd World Scout Jamboree at Arrowe Park.
(Incomplete Listing) General Service Medal with 'FENIAN RAID 1870' Clasp (1870) Egypt Medal with 'TEL-EL-KEBIR' Clasp (1882) Order of the Majidi 2nd class (1882) 1914 Star British War Medal (1918) Victory Medal (1918) Queen Victoria Silver Jubilee Medal (1887) with Bar (1897) King Edward VII Coronation Medal (1902) King George V Coronation Medal (1911) King George V Silver Jubilee Medal (1935) King George VI Coronation Medal (1937) Volunteer Decoration (1892) Territorial Decoration (1934)
Prince Arthur was granted a coat of arms with his dukedom — as a child of a British sovereign, the Duke bore the royal arms, with an inescutcheon of Saxony (for his father), and a difference of a label argent, of three points, the first and third bearing fleurs-de-lys azure, and the central a cross gules. In 1917, the inescutcheon was dropped by royal warrant from George V.[9]
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Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
Cadet branch of the House of Wettin
Born: 1 May 1850 Died: 16 January 1942 |
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| German royalty | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hereditary Prince Alfred |
Heir to Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as heir presumptive 6 February 1899 – 15 July 1899 |
Succeeded by The Duke of Albany |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by The Earl Grey |
Governor-General of Canada 1911 – 1916 |
Succeeded by The Duke of Devonshire |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by The Lord Roberts of Kandahar |
Commander-in-Chief, Ireland 1900 – 1904 |
Succeeded by The Lord Grenfell |
| Freemasonry offices | ||
| Preceded by Edward, Prince of Wales later became King Edward VII |
Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England 1901 – 1939 |
Succeeded by Prince George, Duke of Kent |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by Edward, Prince of Wales later became King Edward VII |
Great Master of the Order of the Bath 1901 – 1942 |
Succeeded by Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Duke of Connaught and Strathearn 1874 – 1942 |
Succeeded by Alastair Windsor |
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