Freeman Freeman-Thomas

Received education at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge; served as aide-de-camp of the Governor of Victoria, Australia (1895-1898); was elected a Liberal member of the U.K. Parliament where he represented Hastings (1900-1906) and Bodmin (1906-1910); appointed one of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury (Dec 1905 - Feb 1906); appointed Lord-in-Waiting to the King George V (1911); served as governor of the Indian provinces of Bombay (1913-1918) and Madras (1919-1924), Willingdon was governor general of Canada (1926-1931) and viceroy of India (1931-1936). The British Conservative government did not favour Willingdon as a suitable candidate to be Canadian governor general, claiming that he had less general ability, knowledge of affairs and public appeal than others. But King George V, whom Willingdon had served both as lord-in-waiting and tennis partner, intervened to request that his name be included on the list sent to Canada, and Canadian Prime Minister King promptly chose Willingdon, a fellow Liberal. He was the first governor general to act solely as the king's agent and the first to visit the U.S. in his capacity as head of state. He initiated the Willingdon Arts Competitions for excellence in music, literature, painting and sculpture, and privately worried about the "peaceful penetration" into Canada of American media and economic influences.