Lilias Evva Massey (formerly Van Buskirk; ;"Mrs. Lionel Massey Leads Busy Social Life". ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

'', May 14, 1954. 1918 – January 19, 1997) was a Canadian dignitary, who served as

châtelain Châtelain was originally the French title for the keeper of a castle.Abraham Rees Ebers, "CASTELLAIN", in: The Cyclopædia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature' (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1819), vol. 6. H ...

e of

Rideau Hall Rideau Hall (officially Government House) is the official residence of the governor general of Canada, the representative of the monarch of Canada. Located in Ottawa, the Capital city, capital of the country, on a estate at 1 Sussex Drive, th ...

during her father-in-law

Vincent Massey Charles Vincent Massey (February 20, 1887December 30, 1967) was a Canadian diplomat and statesman who served as the 18th governor general of Canada from 1952 to 1959. Massey was the first governor general of Canada who was born in Canada. Mas ...

's term as

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada () is the federal representative of the . The monarch of Canada is also sovereign and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and resides in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the Advice (constitutional la ...

. Vincent Massey was a

widower A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died and has usually not remarried. The male form, "widower", is first attested in the 14th century, by the 19th century supplanting "widow" with reference to men. The adjective for ...

whose wife

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

died 18 months before his appointment as Governor General. Lilias, who was married to Vincent and Alice Massey's son, Lionel, is to date the only person to have served as the official host or hostess of Rideau Hall who was not the Governor General's spouse. Due to the conventions of formal address that were used in the 1950s, she may also be referred to in some references as "Mrs. Lionel Massey" rather than by her own given name. However, she was not given the honorary style of

Her Excellency Excellency is an honorific style (manner of address), style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder ...

,"Girl Who Grew Up Around Corner Rideau 'First Lady'". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', May 10, 1952. which is normally given to a Governor General's spouse, nor was she inducted into the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

Background

The daughter of businessman and politician T. Franklin Ahearn, she was raised in Ottawa just a few blocks from Rideau Hall at 7 Rideau Gate. She worked as an ambulance driver for the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

during World War II before marrying Lionel Massey in 1946. She had previously been married to

Flying Officer Flying officer (Fg Offr or F/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Flying officer is immediately ...

Douglas Byrd Van Buskirk, a

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

pilot who died in combat in 1941. The Masseys resided in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and Canton, and briefly in London, England, until Vincent Massey was appointed as Governor General in 1952. Being the spouse of a Governor General is an important public role in its own right, thus Vincent Massey's status as a widower necessitated the appointment of an acting châtelaine, and Lilias Massey was selected for the role. Lionel Massey simultaneously served as Secretary to the Governor General of Canada."Warm Wet Welcome: Governor-General Greeted by Downpour on Visit to President Eisenhower". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', May 4, 1954.

Châtelaine

As châtelaine, Massey's duties included hosting visiting dignitaries at Rideau Hall, and accompanying the Governor General on his official state visits and public appearances. During her term as châtelaine, Lionel and Lilias Massey maintained their primary residence at Rideau Cottage on the grounds of

, while also sometimes returning to Batterwood House, the Masseys' private family home in Canton, for weekends and vacations. In 1953, she accompanied Vincent Massey as Canada's official representatives at the coronation of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

, and later hosted a state visit to Ottawa by

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

. In 1954, the Masseys in turn undertook a state visit to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and later hosted

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...

at Rideau Hall. In 1955, they hosted Mary, Princess Royal at Rideau Hall. In 1956, she accompanied Vincent Massey on a tour of the

Canadian Arctic Northern Canada (), colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada, variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories a ...

, during which she became the first woman ever to fly over the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

. Upon the end of the tour, she briefly fell ill and was taken to hospital in

The Pas, Manitoba The Pas ( , ) is a town in Manitoba, Canada, at the confluence of the Pasquia River and the Saskatchewan River and surrounded by the unorganized Northern Region of the province. It is approximately northwest of the provincial capital, Winni ...

. As of that trip, she had accompanied Vincent Massey on all but two of his 86 official trips across Canada. In 1957, she was the official presenter of the Lady Tweedsmuir Cup, a women's

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...

championship trophy named for Susan Buchan, Baroness Tweedsmuir, to the winning Royal Montreal Curling Club."Mrs. Lionel Massey Presents Tweedsmuir Cup". ''

Ottawa Journal The ''Ottawa Journal'' was a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, from 1885 to 1980. It was founded in 1885 by A. Woodburn as the ''Ottawa Evening Journal''. Its first editor was John Wesley Dafoe who came from the ...

'', February 2, 1957. Other dignitaries she hosted at Rideau Hall included

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

Queen Juliana Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was List of monarchs of the Netherlands, Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Duke ...

and

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

."OBITUARY -- LILIAS EVVA MASSEY: Governor General's daughter-in-law was official hostess at Rideau Hall". ''

'', January 22, 1997.

Later life

After Vincent Massey stepped down as Governor General, Lionel and Lilias returned to Batterwood House. Following Lionel's death in 1965, Lilias returned to Ottawa, where she lived until her death in 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Massey, Lilias 1918 births 1997 deaths Canadian viceregal consorts Canadian socialites People from Northumberland County, Ontario Lilias Massey 20th-century Canadian women civil servants Canadian political hostesses Civil servants from Ottawa