Lady Susan "Susie" Charlotte Grosvenor, Baroness Tweedsmuir

Susan Buchan, Baroness Tweedsmuir

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Susan Buchan, Baroness Tweedsmuir (née Susan Charlotte Grosvenor) (1883–1977) was the wife of author and Governor General of Canada John Buchan. He was created Baron Tweedsmuir in 1935 in somewhat controversial circumstances when the Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King nominated him to King George V as Governor General but in a political environment of eschewing British peers in that office specifically asked that Buchan not be elevated to the peerage. The King declined such request and insisted that governors general must be peers.

They married on July 15, 1907. She was a daughter of The Honourable Norman de L'Aigle Grosvenor (son of the first Lord Ebury) by his wife Caroline Susan Theodora Stuart-Wortley (a granddaughter of the first Lord Wharncliffe), and thus a cousin of the Dukes of Westminster.

The Buchans had four children, two of whom would spend most of their lives in Canada.

Susan Buchan's time as Vicereine of Canada -- she is certainly more fondly remembered as Mrs John Buchan than under the dubious latterly cobbled-together title of Lady Tweedsmuir -- is remembered for her energetic relief work. Her library project of gathering books in Eastern Canada for impoverished western communities and sending train carloads of them west was the foundation of public libraries across the prairies. Her work for literacy in western Canada will never be forgotten and she is the lasting heroine in Canada of the Great Depression.

For many years Canadian high schools set John Buchan's novels as prescribed texts: undoubtedly this was entirely as a result of Susan Buchan's contribution to Canadian literacy.

Susan Buchan, Baroness Tweedsmuir (née Susan Charlotte Grosvenor) (1882–1977) was the wife of author John Buchan. Between 1935 and 1940 she was viceregal consort of Canada while her husband was the governor general. She was also the author of several novels, children's books, and biographies, some of which were published under the name Susan Tweedsmuir.

Susan was a daughter of the Honourable Norman de L'Aigle Grosvenor (son of the first Lord Ebury) and his wife Caroline Susan Theodora Stuart-Wortley (a granddaughter of the first Lord Wharncliffe), and thus a cousin of the Dukes of Westminster. She married John Buchan on 15 July 1907, and became the Baroness Tweedsmuir (known as Lady Tweedsmuir) when he was created Baron Tweedsmuir in 1935. The Buchans had four children, two of whom would spend most of their lives in Canada.

Susan Buchan's time as Vicereine of Canada is remembered for her energetic relief work. Her library project of gathering books in Eastern Canada for impoverished western communities and sending train carloads of them west was the foundation of public libraries across the prairies. Her work for literacy in western Canada is still remembered and she is a heroine in Canada of the Great Depression. Her interest in literary education influenced the establishment of the Governor General's Awards, for many years Canada's primary literary awards, and the library at Rideau Hall.

Bibliography

The Sword of State: Wellington after Waterloo (1928)

Jim and the Dragon (1929)

Lady Louisa Stuart: Her Memories and Portraits (1932)

The Vision at the Inn: A Play in One Act (1933)

Funeral March of a Marionette: Charlotte of Albany (1935)

The Scent of Water (1937)

Mice on Horseback (1940)

Canada in The British Commonwealth in Pictures series (1941)

The Cat's Grandmother (1942)

The Silver Ball (1944)

John Buchan by His Wife and Friends (1947)

The Rainbow through the Rain (1950)

The Lilac and the Rose (1952)

The Freedom of the Garden (1952)

A Winter Bouquet (1954)

Cousin Harriet (1957)

Dashbury Park (1959)

A Stone in the Pool (1961)

The Edwardian Lady (1966)