Lord Gilbert John Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, fourth Earl of Minto (1845-1914), is remembered in Canadian history for several reasons. As military secretary to Lord Lansdowne (Governor General of Canada from 1883 to 1885), and as Chief of Staff to Major General Frederick Middleton, Minto helped defeat Louis Riel during the Riel Rebellion of 1885, when Métis natives in Saskatchewan tried to establish a sovereign nation. Minto was offered but declined command of the NWMP, returning to England for a period of time. He is shown here in a c. 1898 tobacco advertising card, tastefully embellished with a Union Jack, after becoming Goveror General of Canada.

He was well thought of by a lady who wrote to Ottawa asking for Minto’s autograph. In reply on 21 February 1902 and on Government House stationery, the Governor General’s Secretary obliged. To the right, Lord and Lady Minto are seen skiing in Canada with some of their children in 1905, in an unknown location. Minto is the fourth person from the left, wearing a Hudson’s Bay Co. coat in the distinctive fur trade point blanket style for which the company is known. His autograph is below.

Lord Minto’s strong interest in preserving the Canadian heritage led to creation of Canada’s National Archives, and he championed the teaching of more history in Canadian schools, national park creation and conservation of natural resources. He advocated purchase of the Plains of Abraham in Quebec and refused to sign an order allowing road construction through the Quebec Citadel’s walls. He supported Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic and Guglielmo Marconi’s wireless telegraphy experiments. He and his wife, Lady Mary Caroline Minto (1858-1940), founded the Minto Skating Club in Ottawa in 1904, which has produced many renowned ice skaters, including Olympic medalists.

Always interested in lacrosse, Lord Minto presented the silver Minto Cup to the Canadian Lacrosse Association (CLA) in 1901 as the senior national championship award. Here’s a scarce 1910 real-photo postcard by noted New Westminster, British Columbia photographer W. T. Cooksley showing the New Westminster lacrosse team, the Salmonbellies, when they successfully defended the Minto Cup in July 1910, beating Montreal 23-9 in New Westminster. This was a two-game, total-point series, with the Salmonbellies winning the first game 10-4 on Saturday, 16 July, and the second game 13-5 the following Saturday, 23 July. Remarkably, the Salmonbellies dominated the Minto Cup senior competition for 21 of the 29 years in which the cup was contested. (Competition was suspended during World War I.) In 1934, the CLA decided that, as of 1937, the cup would be awarded to the national junior men’s champion.

Leaving for England in November 1904, he wrote: “ …our life in Canada is over and it has been a great wrench parting from so many friends and leaving a country which I love…” His dream of returning to Canada to build a home in the Rockies near the Bow River was never realized. The Minto name was memorialized in Canada in the usual manner of naming schools, hospitals and ships after him; the 1909 postcard of a racehorse named “Lord Minto,” seen above, is a somewhat more unusual popular culture tribute to Minto, demonstrating the degree to which his name had become a part of the Canadian collective consciousness. Below is a real-photo postcard, photographed by Scott of Calashiels, Scotland, showing Minto’s funeral procession. Learn more about Lady Minto’s efforts to improve Canadian health care via the Lady Minto Hospital Fund on the North Bay page.