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Doughty, "Tour of the Prince of Wales in Canada", Manuscript, Arthur G. Doughty fonds (MG 30 D26, Volume 13), LAC, ca. 1922.
A typed manuscript with annotations entitled “Tour of the Prince of Wales in Canada”, written by Doughty as per the information stamped on the spine of the bound volume. The manuscript consisted of 56 numbered pages. On the first page of the text, numbered 1, was written the full title of the manuscript “Tour of the Prince of Wales in Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans”. The date of the Tour was 1919, but it is not clear if the text was written in the same year or later.
There was a publication, Notes on the history of Canada, prepared for the visit of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, Ottawa: J. de Labroquerie Taché, 1919, which was written prior to the visit as a reference book which placed Canada, the visit, and places on the itinerary within historical context. Comparison of the manuscript to the published book revealed that there is no relation between the two, as the “Tour of the Prince of Wales” was written after the 1919 visit as a souvenir of the visit. There are, however, some commonalities, between the two, in that there were several points of history in the Notes on the History of Canada that were also covered in the Tour of the Prince of Wales in Canada; and in some instances, the wording to describe these points was the same or very similar.
The manuscript opens with the historical context of previous royal tours to Canada, beginning in the 1700s to 1916 to make the point that the connection between the Dominion and the monarchy has been intimate, and to emphasize the importance of the 1919 tour. The main topic was the Prince of Wales 1919 visit to Canada, with personal observations and notes by AGD. The itinerary was used as the underlying structure of the text, for the historical context of each destination, and descriptions of the various events.
For example, for Ottawa (pp. 14-19), AGD provided a brief history of the Ottawa River from early explorations to establishing Ottawa as the seat of government in 1856 and the laying of the corner-stone of the Parliament Building in 1860, by the Prince of Wales, afterwards King Edward VII. He then elaborated on the events that took place during the visit including the ceremony for the laying the cornerstone of the Central Tower of the Parliament Buildings by the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII.
The manuscript’s text was clearly written as a memoir of the occasion expressing the views of AGD with handwritten annotations throughout. There are no illustrations in this bound manuscript.
Manuscript entitled “Tour of the Prince of Wales in Canada” in the Arthur G. Doughty fonds (MG 30 D26, Volume 13) held by LAC was reviewed; select images are pictured above.
