1st July 2017: "Viscount R.B Bennett - Canada Day"

The gravestone with a Government of Canada marker in front of the porch at St Michael’s Church signposts the final resting place of Richard Bedford Bennett who became Prime Minister of Canada before retiring to Mickleham where he died a week before his 77th birthday.

On July 1st Canada celebrates its 150th birthday as a nation and to highlight Mickleham’s links with that country, the village has been asked to declare that date as “Viscount R.B Bennett-Canada Day”.

And in common with other communities around the world who enjoy proud connections with Canada, Mickleham has been invited to submit items for the Canada 150 Time Capsule which will not be opened until 3017.

At their meeting on May 10th, Mickleham Parish Council gave its enthusiastic support to the idea of a commemorative day and are seeking ideas from residents both as to what could be staged on the day itself and what should be included in the time capsule.

Viscount Bennett, whose ancestors on his father’s side were English, is credited with shaping Canada into the country it is today. He had the misfortune of ascending to the role as Prime Minister during the Great Depression but was far-sighted and founded the Bank of Canada, the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission as well as laying the ground for the national air transport system. He was also very generous to those citizens experiencing hardship and later estimated that between 1927-37 he had personally donated well over 2.3 million dollars.

After defeat in the 1935 election, he retired to Mickleham three years later, a move influenced by the friendship he had established with Ontario-born Lord Beaverbrook, the press baron, who came to live at nearby Cherkley Court. He was the first and only former Canadian Prime Minister to be elevated to the peerage as Viscount Bennett of Mickleham and of Calgary and Hopewell in Canada. In 1947 he died of a heart attack in the bath at his home at Juniper Hall in Mickleham.

Many years later, just before the year 2000, his former home city in Quebec asked that Viscount Bennett be repatriated to Canada but although nothing had been specified in his will, there was a powerful lobby in this country, led by Lady Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook’s daughter-in-law, declaring that his wish was to be buried in Mickleham and they won the day.

Suggestions for what could take place on July 1st and what appropriate items could be put in the time capsule should be emailed to Mickleham Parish Councillor Andrew ‘Mac’ McNaughton, who was born in Canada, at mac@rymack.com or to the Parish Council Clerk at trevor.haylett9@gmail.com.