Vice-Regal Saint: A Castle Fit For A King
DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR when British children were being evacuated to Canada (and the United States) in the scores and thousands, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, famously said that her children would not go because "they would never leave without me, I would never leave without their father, and he would never leave." The popular decision to stay and endure the London Blitz allowed the Royal Family to look EastEnders in the eye, but it meant that the new stately home purchased outright for them in 1940 by His Majesty's Dominion Government, was never to be. Hatley Castle, the picturesque medieval tudor built between 1906 and 1911 by Sir James Dunsmuir in the outskirts of Victoria, British Columbia, almost became an official royal residence. (click to enlarge top photo)
From Royal Residence to Royal Roads
Yours truly remembers it as the tri-service Royal Roads Military College, which was my two-year feeder prior to attending RMC. But the spirit of Royal Roads was that of the old Royal Naval College of Canada, which trained hundreds of reserve and regular naval officers throughout the 1940s for the fast expanding Royal Canadian Navy. Sadly, the military college closed its doors in 1995, when it became Royal Roads University.
It's difficult to describe the beauty of the waterfront castle with its manicured gardens and fields. The photos, as stunning as they are, still don't do it justice. Missing is the forest smell, the garden breeze and the sheer royal majesty of the place. All I'll say is that it was like a piece of England. A piece of England fit for royalty.
Beaverbrook
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7 comments:
I used to cycle past Pevensey castle when I lived in E. Sussex and always took pride in its windows. Originally vertical to accomodate bows, several hundred years later they were given a horizontal addition making them appear as crosses cut into the rock. This was to accomodate the Canadians' more advanced weaponry during the last war...
Remarkable. Very uncanny. Great to see the best of old England recreated in fine old Canada.
I'm intrigued as to where you found information on the castle being purchased as a residence for HM King George VI and his family. None of the websites associated with the site or university make mention of this point.
I know - sad isn't it. This to me is the central historical fact of Royal Roads, yet nary a mention. It was told to me during my indoctrination to Roads as a gentleman cadet in the 1980s. The last of the Dunsmuir family passed away in 1937, and the government purchased it for a mere $75,000! in 1940. Once it became clear that the Royals would not be coming, the government immediately converted the premises into HMCS Royal Roads as a reserve training establishment. This quickly evolved into the Royal Naval College of Canada; the whole place reeks of navy tradition from the Neptune Stairs to the Quarter Deck, to the Nelson inscription: "duty is the great business of a sea officer; all private considerations must give way to it no matter how painful they are" ...the spirit of the place will be missed.
I'm afraid the only place where you'll probably find it is the Crown itself. I did some digging and came up with this 2004 speech at Royal Roads by the Lieutenant Governor of BC:
Problems with the link...you need to click on the below date for some reason?
Or copy and past this:
http://www.ltgov.bc.ca/whatsnew/sp/sp_may07_2004.htm
Fascinating! Thank you.
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