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Lady Aberdeen was involved in every facet of Ottawa life during her five years in Canada. From hosting a historic fancy dress ball on the carpets of the House of Commons to starting poverty-relief organizations in the city, Lady Aberdeen used her status as the Governor General’s wife to launch herself into volunteering.
“The solution to all life’s difficulties can be put into one word: service,” she said to an audience of young women at Rideau Hall in 1898. She emphasized this message throughout her time in Ottawa by creating organizations and institutions that still serve our community. Historian James Noolan writes in his book, Governor’s General at Play, that even today people “would endorse many of the changes and improvements made to Ottawa after 1898 partially (due) to the efforts of the Aberdeens.”
***
Ishbel Marie Majoribanks was born in 1857 to Sir Dudley Coutts Marjoribanks, a Scottish Member of Parliament and wealthy landowner, and Isabella Weir Hoggs, daughter of wealthy Irish merchants. The future Lady Aberdeen, influenced by her father’s involvement in the Catholic Church, developed a passion for community service.
Majoribanks met her future husband, John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen, at age 14 and after a six-year friendship, the two married in 1877. They were inseparable, yet Lady Aberdeen was still able to carve her own path as a leader, first in Scotland, then in Canada.
“They were a power couple … similar to the Clintons, and were very much in love,” says Xavier Gelinas, political conservation historian at the Canadian Museum of History. “Lord Aberdeen was shy, timid and would often follow the lead of his wife, this dynamic voice in Ottawa.”
Lord Aberdeen was appointed Governor General in 1893 and the family uprooted to Ottawa – though not necessarily with enthusiasm. Lady Aberdeen, like many at the time, had an unfavourable opinion of the lumber-city-turned-capital. “Ottawa means exile emphasized, accompanied with a feeling of helplessness,” she wrote in her journals. “Happily, Ottawa does not mean Canada, nor does it represent Canada.”
Lord and Lady Aberdeen and family. L. to R. – standing: Dudley Gordon, Lord Aberdeen, Haddo Gordon and Archie Gordon – seated: Marjorie Gordon and Lady Aberdeen.
Lord Aberdeen’s mandate as Governor General came at a time of unprecedented challenge: the divisions created by the Manitoba School Question; the quick succession of four prime ministers; and the accessibility of French language rights in Canada.
To bridge gaps, the Aberdeens tried to reach out to all Canadians. In their joint memoir, We Twa, they explained their desire to establish semi-permanent homes in each provincial capital “to better reach the people.” That, along with their fluent French, allowed Lord and Lady Aberdeen to be recognized across the cultural divide.
Lady Aberdeen, founder of the National Council of Women and Victorian Order of Nurses.
Although Lady Aberdeen counselled her husband on tough political decisions, she extended her role past that of a Governor General’s wife. She was a feminist at heart.
Lady Aberdeen created or helped found several key institutions for women in the city, including the maternity ward at the Ottawa Hospital, the Ottawa Council for Women and the Victorian Order of Nurses based in the nation’s capital. She brought women’s issues to the world stage as president of the International Council of Women.
Edeltraud Neal, past president of the Ottawa Council of Women, believes that Aberdeen’s voice was crucial to the women’s movement in the city.
“Aberdeen was a master on how to bring people together – she realized that the women’s movement had to include housewives, churchwomen, artists,” Neal says. “Creating the council rallied all women around a common cause.”
The Aberdeens were also avid supporters of the arts. Upon arrival, Lady Aberdeen promptly sponsored the Women’s Art Association of Canada. In 1898, she was surprised by members of the House of Commons with a gift of Royal Duchon China, decorated with Canadian landscapes, for her dedication to the arts in Canada, and she became the first woman to address parliamentarians on their turf.
Governor General Lord Aberdeen and Lady Aberdeen among their guests during court dance held in the Senate Chamber 14 Feb. 1896
“The scenes depicted will be a constant living memory of the surroundings intimately connected with those various Canadian homes which have become so dear to us,” she said in her spontaneous thank-you speech to the House of Commons.
The couple also supported the arts inside Rideau Hall itself. The Aberdeens hosted private plays for the Household Club, an informal organization created for the Governor General’s staff.
These productions would become family affairs. The Aberdeens’ daughter, Marjorie, wrote in her memoir that her mother believed acting would give family members “a training in the art of public speaking” to better contribute to their communities.
Aberdeen also connected to a smaller group she created: the May Court Club of Ottawa, a women’s group dedicated to serving the community through volunteer service. “Our dear May Queen girls have made a great different in our feelings towards Ottawa,” Aberdeen wrote as she departed Canada in 1898. “Through them we have come so much nearer to the people.”
According to Nancy Pyper, president of the May Court Club of Ottawa, Aberdeen’s legacy lives on today in the club’s membership. “In many ways, the mandate (community service) of the May Court Club has not changed since Lady Aberdeen’s time,” she said. “We want to keep her name at the forefront of our minds.”
During Lady Aberdeen’s time, the May Court Club was a driving voice behind the creation of the maternity ward at the Ottawa Hospital, and the first branch of the Ottawa Public Library. The club continues to “provide service, either through volunteer activities or monetary grants to the community,” according to its website. At the club’s meetings, Pyper wears a locket around her neck, gifted by Lady Aberdeen to the first May Court Club president.
The Earl of Aberdeen looking at Lady Aberdeen on horseback.
Other parts of Ottawa-Gatineau continue to honour her memory. The Lady Aberdeen Bridge was renamed in her honour to mark a harrowing episode: Her carriage fell through the early spring ice into the Gatineau River and she was rescued by local Gatineau residents.
Lady Aberdeen continued to identify herself as Canadian long after she left the country at the end of her husband’s mandate in 1898. In Ireland, where her spouse served as Lord Lieutenant, she again launched herself into service, in the health care sector. She remained president of the International Council of Women until 1936, and petitioned for female eldership in the Church of Scotland. She suffered a stroke on April 18, 1939 and passed away shortly after.
Photos: Capital Builder Lady Aberdeen
Lady Aberdeen never forgot about Canada. “I have been a Canadian for many years, and I shall always be Canadian,” she wrote in her journals.
Anna Desmarais is a Canada 150 apprentice for the Ottawa Citizen.
Lady Aberdeen at a glance:
• Born 1857 in London; died 1939 in Aberdeen
• Vice-regal consort to Governor General John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen, from 1893 until 1898
• Organized or helped found the National Council of Women in Canada, Women’s Art Association of Canada, Victorian Order of Nurses
• First woman to address the House of Commons
• Received an honorary degree from Queen’s University in 1897
Source: The Canadian Encyclopedia
查看原文...
“The solution to all life’s difficulties can be put into one word: service,” she said to an audience of young women at Rideau Hall in 1898. She emphasized this message throughout her time in Ottawa by creating organizations and institutions that still serve our community. Historian James Noolan writes in his book, Governor’s General at Play, that even today people “would endorse many of the changes and improvements made to Ottawa after 1898 partially (due) to the efforts of the Aberdeens.”
***
Ishbel Marie Majoribanks was born in 1857 to Sir Dudley Coutts Marjoribanks, a Scottish Member of Parliament and wealthy landowner, and Isabella Weir Hoggs, daughter of wealthy Irish merchants. The future Lady Aberdeen, influenced by her father’s involvement in the Catholic Church, developed a passion for community service.
Majoribanks met her future husband, John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen, at age 14 and after a six-year friendship, the two married in 1877. They were inseparable, yet Lady Aberdeen was still able to carve her own path as a leader, first in Scotland, then in Canada.
“They were a power couple … similar to the Clintons, and were very much in love,” says Xavier Gelinas, political conservation historian at the Canadian Museum of History. “Lord Aberdeen was shy, timid and would often follow the lead of his wife, this dynamic voice in Ottawa.”
Lord Aberdeen was appointed Governor General in 1893 and the family uprooted to Ottawa – though not necessarily with enthusiasm. Lady Aberdeen, like many at the time, had an unfavourable opinion of the lumber-city-turned-capital. “Ottawa means exile emphasized, accompanied with a feeling of helplessness,” she wrote in her journals. “Happily, Ottawa does not mean Canada, nor does it represent Canada.”
Lord and Lady Aberdeen and family. L. to R. – standing: Dudley Gordon, Lord Aberdeen, Haddo Gordon and Archie Gordon – seated: Marjorie Gordon and Lady Aberdeen.
Lord Aberdeen’s mandate as Governor General came at a time of unprecedented challenge: the divisions created by the Manitoba School Question; the quick succession of four prime ministers; and the accessibility of French language rights in Canada.
To bridge gaps, the Aberdeens tried to reach out to all Canadians. In their joint memoir, We Twa, they explained their desire to establish semi-permanent homes in each provincial capital “to better reach the people.” That, along with their fluent French, allowed Lord and Lady Aberdeen to be recognized across the cultural divide.
Lady Aberdeen, founder of the National Council of Women and Victorian Order of Nurses.
Although Lady Aberdeen counselled her husband on tough political decisions, she extended her role past that of a Governor General’s wife. She was a feminist at heart.
Lady Aberdeen created or helped found several key institutions for women in the city, including the maternity ward at the Ottawa Hospital, the Ottawa Council for Women and the Victorian Order of Nurses based in the nation’s capital. She brought women’s issues to the world stage as president of the International Council of Women.
Edeltraud Neal, past president of the Ottawa Council of Women, believes that Aberdeen’s voice was crucial to the women’s movement in the city.
“Aberdeen was a master on how to bring people together – she realized that the women’s movement had to include housewives, churchwomen, artists,” Neal says. “Creating the council rallied all women around a common cause.”
The Aberdeens were also avid supporters of the arts. Upon arrival, Lady Aberdeen promptly sponsored the Women’s Art Association of Canada. In 1898, she was surprised by members of the House of Commons with a gift of Royal Duchon China, decorated with Canadian landscapes, for her dedication to the arts in Canada, and she became the first woman to address parliamentarians on their turf.
Governor General Lord Aberdeen and Lady Aberdeen among their guests during court dance held in the Senate Chamber 14 Feb. 1896
“The scenes depicted will be a constant living memory of the surroundings intimately connected with those various Canadian homes which have become so dear to us,” she said in her spontaneous thank-you speech to the House of Commons.
The couple also supported the arts inside Rideau Hall itself. The Aberdeens hosted private plays for the Household Club, an informal organization created for the Governor General’s staff.
These productions would become family affairs. The Aberdeens’ daughter, Marjorie, wrote in her memoir that her mother believed acting would give family members “a training in the art of public speaking” to better contribute to their communities.
Aberdeen also connected to a smaller group she created: the May Court Club of Ottawa, a women’s group dedicated to serving the community through volunteer service. “Our dear May Queen girls have made a great different in our feelings towards Ottawa,” Aberdeen wrote as she departed Canada in 1898. “Through them we have come so much nearer to the people.”
According to Nancy Pyper, president of the May Court Club of Ottawa, Aberdeen’s legacy lives on today in the club’s membership. “In many ways, the mandate (community service) of the May Court Club has not changed since Lady Aberdeen’s time,” she said. “We want to keep her name at the forefront of our minds.”
During Lady Aberdeen’s time, the May Court Club was a driving voice behind the creation of the maternity ward at the Ottawa Hospital, and the first branch of the Ottawa Public Library. The club continues to “provide service, either through volunteer activities or monetary grants to the community,” according to its website. At the club’s meetings, Pyper wears a locket around her neck, gifted by Lady Aberdeen to the first May Court Club president.
The Earl of Aberdeen looking at Lady Aberdeen on horseback.
Other parts of Ottawa-Gatineau continue to honour her memory. The Lady Aberdeen Bridge was renamed in her honour to mark a harrowing episode: Her carriage fell through the early spring ice into the Gatineau River and she was rescued by local Gatineau residents.
Lady Aberdeen continued to identify herself as Canadian long after she left the country at the end of her husband’s mandate in 1898. In Ireland, where her spouse served as Lord Lieutenant, she again launched herself into service, in the health care sector. She remained president of the International Council of Women until 1936, and petitioned for female eldership in the Church of Scotland. She suffered a stroke on April 18, 1939 and passed away shortly after.
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Photos: Capital Builder Lady Aberdeen
Lady Aberdeen was a friend of Lady Agnes Macdonald, the wife of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald. /Postmedia
Lady Aberdeen (née Ishbel Marjoribanks) and her children at Rideau Hall. L. to R.: Dudley Gordon, Marjorie Gordon, Haddo Gordon (on sleigh), Lady Aberdeen, and Archie Gordon. Library and Archives Canada
Lord and Lady Aberdeen and family. L. to R. - standing: Dudley Gordon, Lord Aberdeen, Haddo Gordon and Archie Gordon - seated: Marjorie Gordon and Lady Aberdeen. Library and Archives Canada
Lord and Lady Aberdeen and family. L. to R. - standing: Dudley Gordon, Lord Aberdeen, Haddo Gordon and Archie Gordon - seated: Marjorie Gordon and Lady Aberdeen. National Library and Archives; MIKAN 3423567
Lady Aberdeen at C.P.R. (Canadian Pacific Railway) Station. Library and Archives Canada
Lady Aberdeen Bridge--pedestrian sidewalk Pat McGrath/CanWest Global
Governor General Lord Aberdeen and Lady Aberdeen among their guests during court dance held in the Senate Chamber 14 Feb. 1896 Samuel J. Jarvis/Library and Archives Canada / PA-126878
1897 Countess of Aberdeen Invitation Card
Lady Aberdeen, founder of the National Council of Women and Victorian Order of Nurses. National Archives of Canada,/PA22760
1897 Aberdeen Invitation Card
Lady Aberdeen at C.P.R. (Canadian Pacific Railway) Station. : National Library and Archives; MIKAN 3401354
The Earl of Aberdeen looking at Lady Aberdeen on horseback. National Library and Archives; MIKAN 3422921
The Earl of Aberdeen and Lady Aberdeen visiting Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Lady Laurier. National Library and Archives; MIKAN 3194421
Lady Aberdeen never forgot about Canada. “I have been a Canadian for many years, and I shall always be Canadian,” she wrote in her journals.
Anna Desmarais is a Canada 150 apprentice for the Ottawa Citizen.
Lady Aberdeen at a glance:
• Born 1857 in London; died 1939 in Aberdeen
• Vice-regal consort to Governor General John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen, from 1893 until 1898
• Organized or helped found the National Council of Women in Canada, Women’s Art Association of Canada, Victorian Order of Nurses
• First woman to address the House of Commons
• Received an honorary degree from Queen’s University in 1897
Source: The Canadian Encyclopedia
查看原文...
