Massey, Vincent (1887-1967), was the first Canadian-born governor general of Canada. He served in this position from 1952 to 1959. All previous governors general had come from Britain. Massey traveled extensively in Canada, promoting a feeling of national identity among Canada’s French- and English-speaking citizens.
Charles Vincent Massey was born on Feb. 20, 1887, in Toronto. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto and a master’s degree from Balliol College of Oxford University. Massey was a history lecturer at the university from 1913 to 1915. From 1921 to 1925, he was president of the family’s Massey-Harris Company, which manufactured farm machinery.
In 1926, Massey joined the Canadian delegation at the Imperial Conference in London. Canada’s independent status in the British Commonwealth of Nations, as the British Empire then became known, was recognized at this conference. Massey served as Canada’s first minister to the United States from 1926 to 1930. From 1935 to 1946, he was High Commissioner for Canada in Britain.
In 1949, the Canadian government made Massey chairman of the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences. The commission’s work led to increased government financial aid to help promote the arts and sciences. Massey served as chancellor of the University of Toronto from 1947 to 1953. In 1961, he founded Massey College, a graduate college of the university. Massey published several volumes of his speeches. He also wrote an autobiography, What’s Past Is Prologue (1963). Massey died on Dec. 30, 1967.
