Questions of Honoar: Canadian Government Policy Towards Titular Honours fkom Macdondd to Bennett by Christopher Pad McCreery A Thesis submitted to the Department of History in conformity with requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Queen's University Kingston, Ontario, Caaada September, 1999 Q Christopher Paul McCreery National birary Biblioth&quenationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliagraphiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaON KIAON4 OIEawaON K1AON4 Canada Cariada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde melicence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive pennettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliotheqe nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distriiute or sell reproduire, preter, distn'buer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/fih, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format ekctronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriete du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts fkom it Ni Ia these ai des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent &re imprimes reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation- Abstract This thesis examines the Canadian government's policy towards British tituiar honours and their bestowal upon residents of Canada, c. 1867-1935. In the following thesis, I will employ primary documents to undertake an original study of the early development of government policy towards titular honours. The evolution and development of the Canadian government's policy will be examined in the context of increasing Canadian autonomy within the British Empire/Commonwealth- The incidents that prompted the development of a Canadian made formal policy will also be discussed. Finally, I will examine the national origin, religious, provincial, political and occupation characteristics ofthe 20 1 residents of Canada who were awarded knighthoods for services rendered to Canada. iii Acknowledgments This thesis is dedicated to Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir Frederick Banting: one heIped to shape a nation, the other shaped the lives of countless millions who he saved They are the two greatest knights this country has known, Much thanks is owed to my family for their perseverance and support throughout this entire project. The patience, understanding and guidance of my advisor, Ian McKay, has been of the utmost importance. To him I offer my most sincere thanks and admiration: without his assistance this thesis would have not been possible. Thanks is owed to the Queen's University Archives, and in particular George Henderson, who provided me with a seemingly endless supply of help. I might also add Ross Cameron, who slaved to put away the 541 Prime Ministerial microfilm reels that 1examined. I would also like to express appreciation to my fellow graduate students, especially those select few who attended the now infamous "R.B. Bennett Midnight Memorial Picnic." My findings that the 'Wickle Resolution" is inaptly named and does not necessarily preclude Canadians fiom becoming peers of knights doubtless has W.F. Nickle spinning in his grave. To add insult to injury, this thesis was largely written in Nickle's backyard -- for Watson Hall at Queen's is located just behind the spacious "Grey House" Nickle once called home. In apologizing to Nickle's spirit, I might also add my expression of respect for his life and work - which, whatever else one might, say, brought questions of honour to the front of centre of Canadian public We. AUSPICIUM MELONORIS EVI Table of Contents .- Abstract 11 - - - Acknowledgments u1 Table of Contents iv List of Charts vi List of Figures vii Prologue: W.F. Nickle and the "Philosophy of Titles" 1 Chapter One: British and Canadian Honours: A General Overview 19 Chapter Two: Canadian Honours: A Statistical Overview 41 Chapter Three: Honours and Patronage in the Age of Macdonald and Laurier 61 Chapter Four: Border and the Crisis of War 83 Chapter Five: The Nickle Resolution in Parliament and the Report of the Specid Committee on Honours and Titles Chapter Six: Mer the Nickle Resolution: Honours Under Mieghen, King and Bennett Chapter Seven: Canadian Honours After Bennett Bibliography Appendices Appendix 1 Table of Precedence for British Orders, Decorations and Medals, c. 1935 Appendix 2 Post-Confederation Canadian Knighthoods: Number of Awards Appendix 3 Number of Awards per Annum Appendix 4 Number of Awards per Term in Office compared to Time in Office Appendix 5 Awards/Occupational Comparison Appendix 6 Census Data Appendix 7 Vital Statistics of Canadian Knights Appendix 8 Awards made during the Macdonald Administration Appendix 9 Awards made during the Mackende Administration Appendix 10 Awards made during the Abbott Administration Appendix 11 Awards made during the Thompson Administration Appendix 12 Awards made during the Bowell Administration Appendix 13 Awards made during the Tupper Administration Appendix 14 Awards made during the Laurier Administration Appendix 15 Awards made during the Borden Administration (Conservative) Appendix 16 Awards made during the Borden Administration (Unionist) Appendix 17 Awards made during the Bennett Administration Appendix 18 Wormation about Post-Confederation Canadian Knighthoods and Peerages Appendix 19 Post-Confederation Canadian Knighthoods Appendix 20 Total Canadian Peerages: Statistical Analysis Appendix 2 1 Peerages awarded to Canadians Appendix 22 Report of the Special Committee on Honours and Titles, I4 May 19 19 Appendix 23 Honours and Awards to Residents of Newfoundland Vita List of Charts [Charts Between Pages 44 and 451 Chart 1: Occupation at Time of Award Chart 2: National Origin Chart 3: Religion: Total Population and Knights Chart 4: Religion: Elite and Knights Chart 5: Area of Origin Chart 6: Place of Birth Chart 7: Award by Province of Affiliation Chart 8: Politicd Affiliation List of Figures Figure 1: Evolution of Canadian Honours Policy petween Pages 25 and 261 Figure 2: Laurier at the Jubilee petween Pages 71 and 721 Prologue: W.F. Nickle and the Vhilosophy of Title "You call them toys; know that by these toys people are led."' Ottawa, 8 April 1918. The political atmosphere was charged with the Great War and its unprecedented demands on Canadian society. Conscription, war profiteering, the proposed income tax, and the enforcement of labour discipline were the leading questions of the day. There was a sense of urgency in the air, and the Union Government - itseIfa noveI bipartisan indication of the political revolution effected by the war conditions - had a f5.d.l and pressing agenda. Into this situation walked 48-year-old William Folger Nickle, KC., a relatively obscure Conservative-Unionist federal M.P. from Kingston.' He did not cut an imposing figure; one historian describes him as "a small spare man, with an abrupt and caustic manner and domineering disposition.'" After a career in municipal and provincial politics, Nickle had arrived at the House of Commons as a result of the 19 1 1 Dominion election, part of a general wave of Conservatives replacing Liberals in Ontario. He was a dficult, unpredictable and irascible man. He could not be counted on to follow the party line. In 1914, Nickle opposed legislation that would have continued to guarantee the bonds of the Canadian Northern Railway and thereby save it fiom bankruptcy. Years afterwards, the bitterness of his attack on his own government's ' Napoleon on the awarding of prizes and honours, as cited by Ernest Lapoihe in the NickIe Debate: House of Commons, Debar., 8 April 19 18, p.505. He was born on 3 1 December 1869 to middle-class Scottish Presbyterian parents, and graduated hmKingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute; hesubsequentiy attended Queen's UniversityandOsgoode Hall, He was called to the bar in 1895, and became zt Queen's Counciior in 1898, He served as a Kingston alderman hm1905 to 1909 and as Mayor in 1909, and sat in the Ontario Legislature fiom 1908 to 191 I, Gibson. Queen 's University, Volume I1 (KingsZon: McGill-Queen's University Press, I983), p.46. proposal would be remembered, not fondly, by fellow Conservatives? In later years, he figwd as a resolute foe of the Ontario Conservative government on the question of the enforcement of the Ontario Temperance Act; Nickle was the son of a distiller, but, perhaps because of his own family's difliculties with alcoholism, a firm advocate of prohibition? He was "not a good Tory," it wodd be later said? On the question of honours and titles, Nickle had passionate convictions. Jumping the gun on his own leader Sir Roberr Borden, who had hoped to deal with the issue circumspectly without a public parliamentary debate, Nickle, perhaps motivated by the difficulties of his ulma rnater in securing titled men to serve on its governing bodies and in its adminishation, stood as a private member to introduce a resolution fiom the House of Commons to Hik Majesty on the question of hereditary titles. That, in the opinion of this House, an Address should be presented to His Most Excellent Majesty the King in the following words: -- To the King's Most Excellent Majesty, Most Gracious Sovereign, -- We, Your Majesty's most duWand loyal subjects, the House of Commons of Canada in Parliament assembled, humbly approach Your Majesty praying that your Majesty hereafter may be graciously pleased to refiain fkom conferring any hereditary titles upon Your subjects domiciled or living in Canada, or any title or honour that will be held or can be used by, or which will confer any title or honour upon any person other than the person in recognition of whose services the honour or title has been conferred- All of which we humbly pray You.Majesty to take into Your favorable and "SeeNationat ArchivesofCmada mNACJ,MG 26 I, Meighen Papers, p.6?269, RH, Smith to Arthur Meipjm, 6November lE6- See Peter Oliver, Howard Fergrrson- Ontario Tory Voronto: University ofloronto Press, 1977)- p.