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Correspondence, between King George VI and Susan Buchan
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Date(s)
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12 Feb. 1940 (Creation)
- Creator
- Tweedsmuir, Susan Charlotte Buchan
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Feb. 1940 (Creation)
- Creator
- King George VI
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Feb. 1940 (Receipt)
- Recipient
- Tweedsmuir, Susan Charlotte Buchan
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1940 (Receipt)
- Recipient
- King George VI
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2 telegrams ; 19 x 21.5 cm or smaller
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George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death on 6 February 1952. He became known as a symbol of British determination to win the Second World War against Germany.
Known as "Bertie" among his family and close friends, George VI was born in the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria, and was named after his great-grandfather Albert, Prince Consort. As the second son of King George V, he was not expected to inherit the throne, and spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Edward. He attended naval college as a teenager, and served in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force during the First World War. In 1920, he was made Duke of York. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. In the mid-1920s, he had speech therapy for a stammer, which he never fully overcame.
George's elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII upon the death of their father in 1936. However, Edward was forced to choose between the crown and marriage to divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. Edward abdicated to marry Simpson, and George ascended the throne as the third monarch of the House of Windsor.
From 1939, the British Empire and Commonwealth – except Ireland – declared war on Nazi Germany. War with Italy and Japan followed in 1940 and 1941, respectively. The king and his family remained in London during the Blitz and his popularity soared as he shared the hardships of the common people. Britain and its allies were victorious in 1945, but the British Empire declined. Ireland had largely broken away, followed by independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. George relinquished the title of Emperor of India in June 1948 and instead adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth. He was beset by smoking-related health problems in the later years of his reign. On his death, he was succeeded by his daughter, Elizabeth II.
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Susan Charlotte Buchan, Baroness Tweedsmuir (née Grosvenor; 20 April 1882 – 21 March 1977) was a British writer and the wife of author John Buchan. Between 1935 and 1940 she was viceregal consort of Canada while her husband was the governor general. She was also the author of several novels, children's books, and biographies, some of which were published under the name Susan Tweedsmuir.
Susan was a daughter of Norman de L'Aigle Grosvenor (son of the first Lord Ebury) and his wife Caroline Susan Theodora Stuart-Wortley (a granddaughter of the first Lord Wharncliffe), and a cousin of the Dukes of Westminster. She married John Buchan on 15 July 1907, and became the Baroness Tweedsmuir (known as Lady Tweedsmuir) when he was created Baron Tweedsmuir in 1935. The Buchans had four children, Alice, John, William, and Alastair, two of whom would spend most of their lives in Canada.
Her time as Vicereine of Canada is remembered for her energetic relief work. Her library project of gathering books in Eastern Canada for impoverished western communities and sending train carloads of them west was the foundation for many public libraries across the prairies.
Her interest in literary education influenced the establishment of the Governor General's Awards, for many years Canada's primary literary awards, and the library at Rideau Hall. Following her husband's death she returned to Britain, where she wrote several more novels, a series of memoirs, and a biography of her husband.
She died at Burford, near Oxford, in 1977 and was buried beside her husband in the churchyard at Elsfield.
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Item consists of two telegrams in correspondence, concerning the death of John Buchan.
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- English
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Final
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Full