Governor General of Canada's Childless Marriage

Previously published in Examiner
Part one of the Viscount Charles Stanley Monck series

To learn more about Canadian or Quebec politics, both McGill University and Concordia University in Montreal offer wonderful political science degrees, that you may want to look into.

For further reading, Montreal's Concordia University has a wonderful women's studies program at the Simone do Beauvoir Institute

A history of the evolution of Canada is important to the understanding of the role of a governor general. We will look at four male governors at four different periods of Quebec and Canadian history. They mark the stage for governor generals. These men made decisions primarily on behalf of men. Women's issues were really not considered with any semblance of respect before the 20th century. The actions of these governors affected the lives of women and that is why they are chosen as a preamble before our women governor generals will be discussed.

We now are setting the tone for the three female Governor Generals of Canada, two of which were from Montreal Quebec. The duties of a governor general is to represent the ruling British Monarch in Canada. The governor general carries out administrative duties and also celebratory or festive activities.

Viscount Charles Stanley Monck: Last Governor General Before the Confederation in Canada

The next evolution in the period of governor generals of Canada occurred during the period just prior to confederation. At that time from 1831 - 1867, Canada was often called the Province of Canada. The Province of Canada ended when Canada became a nation in 1867.

Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck, was the last governor general of the Province of Canada and the first governor general of the nation of Canada. It is for this reason that he is mentioned in the series on women's issues. He will be the last male governor general we will cover before starting on the three women governor generals of Canada.

Charles Monck married his uncle's daughter and therefore his first cousin. The marriage did not bear any living children. The blood lines were too close. The couple Charles and Lady Elizabeth Louise Mary Monck had four children who died. As a woman one can only imagine the heartbreak that Elizabeth had gone through in her life. She surely wanted her children. In those days, when they married in 1844, the medical community still was not aware of the problems that could occur from first cousin childbearing.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Monck,_4th_Viscount_Monck