Lord Monck (1867-1868)

Canada's first Governor General was Sir Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck, a graduate in law who served in Britain's Parliament as a Junior Lord of the Treasury.

Lord Monck had originally been posted as Governor General of all of Britain's provinces in North America, in 1861. He assumed the new position of Governor General of Canada when Ontario and Quebec joined New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to form the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867. At the first session of Parliament the following November, His Excellency stated in the Speech from the Throne: "Your new nationality enters on its course backed by the moral support… and the most ardent good wishes of the Mother Country."

Lord Monck left Canada in 1868 and returned to his native Ireland, leaving a proud legacy as a champion of Confederation and a tireless promoter of Canadian unity. Sir John A. Macdonald wrote: "I like him amazingly and shall be very sorry when he leaves, as he has been a very prudent and efficient administrator of public affairs." Lord Monck died in 1894.

Arms: Gules a chevron between three lions' heads erased Argent

Crest (shown above the coronet of a Viscount): A dragon passant wings elevated Sable

Supporters: Dexter, a dragon; sinister, a lion, both Argent and holding in the forepaw a branch of laurel resting on the shoulder fructed proper