December 12, 1894 is the day we political junkies annually honour what was, perhaps, the greatest political death in Canadian history (unless you were him of course!). Minutes after being sworn-in as a member of the Imperial Privy Council at Windsor Castle itself, by Queen Victoria personally to boot, our fourth Prime Minister, Sir John Thompson, departed for that great House of Commons in the sky after suffering a massive heart attack.
He was only 49.
Imagine that; you are a Victorian-era Canadian Prime Minister, and you pass into history at the very heart of the British Empire, Windsor Castle.
Her Majesty, after personally laying a wreath of mourning on her Canadian First Minister’s coffin, had the Royal train take Thompson’s body to Portsmouth for the journey back to Canada. She had a mighty ship of the Royal Navy, HMS Blenheim, painted black and as the ship and our fallen Prime Minister left harbour, HMS Victory, Nelson’s flagship, fired a salute.
It was a remarkable send-off. The kind a Victorian could hardly dream of.
In any other country these events and Thompson’s entire life story would by now have been made into a movie. A h, but not in Canada. A funny bunch we Canadians truly are.
I’ve long felt a plaque in honour should be placed by our own Queen today, should be placed at Windsor Castle’s in Thompson’s honour. Stay tuned!
And before signing off, it also important to note that it was also on this day in 2003, that my friend the Rt. Hon. Paul Martin became Prime Minister. So, happy anniversary to Mr. Martin, a man who has long supported my efforts in the field of political history. I owe him a great deal.
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also proudly served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.
Her Majesty, after personally laying a wreath of mourning on her Canadian First Minister’s coffin, had the Royal train take Thompson’s body to Portsmouth for the journey back to Canada. She had a mighty ship of the Royal Navy, HMS Blenheim, painted black and as the ship and our fallen Prime Minister left harbour, HMS Victory, Nelson’s flagship, fired a salute.
It was a remarkable send-off. The kind a Victorian could hardly dream of.
In any other country these events and Thompson’s entire life story would by now have been made into a movie. A h, but not in Canada. A funny bunch we Canadians truly are.
I’ve long felt a plaque in honour should be placed by our own Queen today, should be placed at Windsor Castle’s in Thompson’s honour. Stay tuned!
And before signing off, it also important to note that it was also on this day in 2003, that my friend the Rt. Hon. Paul Martin became Prime Minister. So, happy anniversary to Mr. Martin, a man who has long supported my efforts in the field of political history. I owe him a great deal.
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also proudly served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel. Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.