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Charles Kingsmill
Admiral Sir Charles Edmund Kingsmill, CMG (7 July 1855 – 15 July 1935) was a Canadian-born naval officer and the first director of the Department of the Naval Service of Canada. After retiring from a career in the Royal Navy, he played a prominent role in the establishment of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in 1910. Along with Rear-Admiral Walter Hose, he is considered the father of the Royal Canadian Navy.
Kingsmill was born at Guelph, Canada West (now Ontario) in 1855. He was the son of John Juchereau Kingsmill, Crown Attorney for Wellington County, and Ellen Diana Grange. He was educated at Upper Canada College in Toronto.
In 1870, at age 14, Kingsmill joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman. He was promoted sub-lieutenant in 1875, lieutenant in 1877, commander in 1891, and captain in 1898. During his career in the Royal Navy, he commanded HM Ships Goldfinch (1890–1891), Blenheim (1895), Archer (1895–1898), Gibraltar (1900), Mildura (1900–1903), Resolution, Majestic (1905–1906), and Dominion.[citation needed]
Mildura served on the Australia Station in these years. During Kingsmill's command of the ship, she was part of the naval escort for the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (later King George V and Queen Mary) to New Zealand aboard the chartered Royal liner HMS Ophir during 1901. The following year, he was with HMS Royal Arthur (flagship) and HMS Pylades, visiting Norfolk Island in July, Suva, Fiji in August, and Tonga in September.
Kingsmill was given command of the battleship Dominion after her launching in 1905. Dominion ran aground in Chaleur Bay on 16 or 19 August 1906, while on a good-will tour of the Canadian Atlantic coast. In his March 1907 court-martial, Kingsmill was severely reprimanded for "grave neglect of duty" (not being on the bridge at the time) and given command of the older battleship HMS Repulse.
In 1908, Kingsmill retired from the Royal Navy and returned to Canada. He was appointed honorary aide-de-camp to His Excellency the Governor-General in 1909. At the behest of then prime minister Wilfrid Laurier, he accepted the post of director of the Marine Service in the Department of Marine and Fisheries under then Minister of Marine and Fisheries Louis-Philippe Brodeur. The appointment predetermined his eventual appointment as rear-admiral RCN and director of the Naval Service of Canada upon the formation of the RCN on 4 May 1910. By 1914, at the beginning of World War I, the new navy's fleet consisted of two old cruisers and a collection of converted civilian and commercial vessels.
Kingsmill was promoted to admiral on the Royal Navy's retired list in 1917. He was made a knight bachelor in 1918. He was awarded for outstanding services as the Director of Naval Services of Canada 1910–1921.
Kingsmill retired on 31 December 1921. He maintained a summer home on Grindstone Island, in Big Rideau Lake, near Portland, Ontario, where he loved to sail. His guests included the Duke of Devonshire, Governor General of Canada from 1916 to 1921; Sir William MacKenzie, railway entrepreneur; and Neville Chamberlain, later Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937–1940. When he died at Grindstone Island on 15 July 1935, a "huge flotilla of boats brought him in from the island"
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Charles Kingsmill
Admiral Sir Charles Edmund Kingsmill, CMG (7 July 1855 – 15 July 1935) was a Canadian-born naval officer and the first director of the Department of the Naval Service of Canada. After retiring from a career in the Royal Navy, he played a prominent role in the establishment of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in 1910. Along with Rear-Admiral Walter Hose, he is considered the father of the Royal Canadian Navy.
Kingsmill was born at Guelph, Canada West (now Ontario) in 1855. He was the son of John Juchereau Kingsmill, Crown Attorney for Wellington County, and Ellen Diana Grange. He was educated at Upper Canada College in Toronto.
In 1870, at age 14, Kingsmill joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman. He was promoted sub-lieutenant in 1875, lieutenant in 1877, commander in 1891, and captain in 1898. During his career in the Royal Navy, he commanded HM Ships Goldfinch (1890–1891), Blenheim (1895), Archer (1895–1898), Gibraltar (1900), Mildura (1900–1903), Resolution, Majestic (1905–1906), and Dominion.[citation needed]
Mildura served on the Australia Station in these years. During Kingsmill's command of the ship, she was part of the naval escort for the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (later King George V and Queen Mary) to New Zealand aboard the chartered Royal liner HMS Ophir during 1901. The following year, he was with HMS Royal Arthur (flagship) and HMS Pylades, visiting Norfolk Island in July, Suva, Fiji in August, and Tonga in September.
Kingsmill was given command of the battleship Dominion after her launching in 1905. Dominion ran aground in Chaleur Bay on 16 or 19 August 1906, while on a good-will tour of the Canadian Atlantic coast. In his March 1907 court-martial, Kingsmill was severely reprimanded for "grave neglect of duty" (not being on the bridge at the time) and given command of the older battleship HMS Repulse.
In 1908, Kingsmill retired from the Royal Navy and returned to Canada. He was appointed honorary aide-de-camp to His Excellency the Governor-General in 1909. At the behest of then prime minister Wilfrid Laurier, he accepted the post of director of the Marine Service in the Department of Marine and Fisheries under then Minister of Marine and Fisheries Louis-Philippe Brodeur. The appointment predetermined his eventual appointment as rear-admiral RCN and director of the Naval Service of Canada upon the formation of the RCN on 4 May 1910. By 1914, at the beginning of World War I, the new navy's fleet consisted of two old cruisers and a collection of converted civilian and commercial vessels.
Kingsmill was promoted to admiral on the Royal Navy's retired list in 1917. He was made a knight bachelor in 1918. He was awarded for outstanding services as the Director of Naval Services of Canada 1910–1921.
Kingsmill retired on 31 December 1921. He maintained a summer home on Grindstone Island, in Big Rideau Lake, near Portland, Ontario, where he loved to sail. His guests included the Duke of Devonshire, Governor General of Canada from 1916 to 1921; Sir William MacKenzie, railway entrepreneur; and Neville Chamberlain, later Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937–1940. When he died at Grindstone Island on 15 July 1935, a "huge flotilla of boats brought him in from the island"