View source for Aylesworth Bowen Perry

{{Other uses|Perry (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox military person
| image         = Aylesworth Bowen Perry.jpg
| honorific_prefix = Major-General
| name          = Aylesworth Bowen Perry
| honorific_suffix = CMG
| rank          = Commissioner; Major-General
| branch        = [[North-West Mounted Police]], [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]]
| commands      = [[Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police]]
| family        = 
| nickname      = 
| allegiance    = [[Canada]]
| birth_date    = August 21, 1860
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1956|2|14|1860|8|21}}
| birth_place   = Violet, near [[Napanee, Ontario]], Canada
| death_place   = [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], Canada
| serviceyears  = 1882-1923
| laterwork     = 
| awards        = [[Order of St. Michael and St. George]] Honorary Aide-de-camp
}}

'''Aylesworth Bowen Perry''', [[Order of St Michael and St George|CMG]] (August 21, 1860 – February 14, 1956) served as the sixth [[Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police]], from August 1, 1900, to March 31, 1923.<ref name="d.scribd.com">{{cite web|title=R.G. MacBeth Project Gutenberg EBook of "Policing the Plains: Being the Real-Life Record of the Famous North-West Mounted Police"|url=http://d.scribd.com/docs/10nkl6ombkbtn5ganonf.pdf|publisher=D.scribd.com|accessdate=21 December 2014}}</ref>

==Early life==

Aylesworth Perry was born at Violet, near Napanee, Ontario, on August 21, 1860. His father William Perry was a Justice of the Peace, deputy-reeve, and member of the Lennox and Addington County Council. William Perry operated a flour mill and sawmill on Mill Creek in Violet and approximately half of his acres was under cultivation. William Perry married Eleanor Fraser in 1848. Eleanor Fraser was the daughter of [[Isaac Fraser]], a magistrate, a militia colonel, and a onetime member of the Legislative Council. He attended high school in Napanee in 1876. He was educated as part of the first class at the [[Royal Military College of Canada]] in [[Kingston, Ontario]], student #13, one of the "Old Eighteen." 

Since cadets received their numbers based on their standings in the entrance examinations, he was 13 of 18. At fifteen, he was one of the youngest students at RMC. He graduated at the top of his class receiving the Governor-General's gold and silver medals.<ref>{{cite web|title=Old 18 Bios, Royal Military Colleges Club Foundation, Kingston|url=http://www.rmcclubfoundation.ca/English/PDFs/Old18Bios.pdf|publisher=Rmcclunfoundation.ca|accessdate=21 December 2014}}{{dead link|date=April 2016}}</ref> He received a commission and was gazetted as a lieutenant in the Royal Engineers of the Imperial British Army. A serious accident prevented him from attending the convocation ceremonies. The Commandant of [[Royal Military College of Canada]] secured a six-month healing period before Perry reported to the Royal Engineers in England.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://qschooner.com/abperrybio.html|title=Beauty of Schooners|publisher=Qschooner.com|accessdate=21 December 2014}}</ref>

==Career==

He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the [[Royal Engineers]].<ref name="d.scribd.com"/> When the Royal Engineer's medical staff determined that Perry's leg was not yet properly healed, his commanding officer advised him to return to Canada. He subsequently resigned his commission. He worked as a surveyor in what is now northern [[Ontario, Canada|Ontario]].  From 1881 to 1882 Perry worked with the [[Geological Survey of Canada]] in [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], as a librarian.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sst.rncan.gc.ca/cist/150/hist_long_e.php |title=Aylesworth Perry at the Geological Survey of Canada |publisher=Sst.rncan.gc.ca |accessdate=21 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706182248/http://sst.rncan.gc.ca/cist/150/hist_long_e.php |archivedate=July 6, 2011 }}</ref>

On January 24, 1882, he was appointed an inspector in the [[North-West Mounted Police]]. During the [[North-West Rebellion]] of 1885, he was appointed a major in the Canadian Militia, and received command of the second section of the Alberta Field Force. He led a march from [[Calgary, Alberta]], to [[Edmonton]], Alberta. While crossing the Red Deer River, he nearly died landing a tow rope attached to the raft carrying a field gun. Following the rebellion, he was appointed superintendent of the Prince Albert district, on August 1, 1885.

Since game was disappearing and the incoming of the railways was rendering useless the occupation of freighting on the prairie he recommended that the Métis earn a living through farming, "The mass of the half-breed population must therefore turn their attention to other methods of making a living. They have no alternative: farming must become their occupation in earnest. The English and Scotch half-breeds have already done this successfully; but very few of French descent have yet made any real attempt at it."<ref name="d.scribd.com"/> Perry continued, "As farming is the inevitable pursuit of the French half-breeds, all who are friendly to them should agree in urging and encouraging them to remain on their present holdings, so that they may at once face their destiny and ultimately obtain the position of a self-supporting people. They should be treated with patience and aided generously, remembering that it is not easy for white men possessing all the advantages of education and civilization to change their occupation. Can the half-breed hunter or freighter be expected to be more apt in adapting himself to change? It would be an astonishing thing if they quietly and quickly adapted themselves to the work of a farm on which success is only obtained by hard, patient and continuous labour."<ref name="d.scribd.com"/> He concluded, "There is a tendency on the part of some to regard the problem of the future of these people as insolvable. Knowing their many sterling qualities I cannot despair, but believe their descendants will be prosperous and desirable citizens of our North-West Territory."<ref name="d.scribd.com"/> As Superintendent, in command of the Prince Albert district in 1888, he praised the work of the missionaries amongst the Indians, "The hope of improvement in the Indian lies in the training of the rising generation, and it is to be hoped that before long the children will be taken in hand."<ref name="d.scribd.com"/>

[[File:Groupnine-nwmp-regina.jpg|thumb|right|Group of nine taken in the square of the North-West Mounted Police Barracks, 1889 at Regina (Saskatchewan) Poundmaker, Big Bear, Big Bear's son, Father Andre, Father Conchin, Chief Stewart, Capt. Deane, Mr. Robertson, and the court interpreter]]

He was in command at the Depot, Regina, from 1889 to 1897. While in Regina, he qualified in law and was called to the Bar of the North-West Territories.

In 1897, he was given command of the Calgary district. A contingent under his command travelled to [[London, England]], for [[Queen Victoria]]'s [[Diamond Jubilee]] in 1897. He created a new North-West Mounted Police post at [[Vancouver]]. He was placed in command of the police in the [[Yukon]] in 1899. "When R.G. Beth remarked to me that it was generally looked on as rather a dangerous thing to let a body of men loose amid the temptations of a strange city, Perry replied: 'That has no bearing on these men, even though there was a saloon on every corner. Every man feels that the honour and good name of the force depend on his individual conduct, and so he can be trusted.{{'"}}<ref name="d.scribd.com"/> 

He was appointed Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police from August 1, 1900, and served until his retirement on April 1, 1923. He served for nearly 23 years in office, and was the longest-serving commissioner of the RCMP. He found it difficult to get convictions in local courts for cattle-killers, mail-robbers and others since jurymen and others sympathized with the accused "I regret that convictions for the serious crimes were not secured against the guilty parties. Evidence was produced for the defence which could well be doubted. Not only has this case produced sympathy for crime, but in other cases, it has been plainly manifested. Petitions have been forwarded to lessen the penalties where laws of the country have wilfully and knowingly been broken. So notorious has this become, that it has disheartened us in attempting to secure criminal convictions. There seems to be an absurd idea that the dismissal of a charge means a snub to the Mounted Police, whereas it strikes home at the root of society and threatens the lives and property of the very men who jeer and flaunt."<ref name="d.scribd.com"/>

[[File:Nwmp 1900.jpg|thumb|left|North-West Mounted Police (now [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police|RCMP]]) officers, [[Yukon]], 1900, wearing the famous scarlet uniform that includes a flat-brimmed Stetson hat.]]

As commissioner, he organized a [[secret service]] for intelligence gathering, instituted annual training classes, increased pay rates, revised regulations related to marriage, formed two squadrons to fight in the [[First World War]] and approved changes to the uniform, with perhaps the formal adoption of the [[Stetson hat]] in 1901 being the most noted. 

Nevertheless, after the Prince Albert mail was held up near Humboldt, the first stage robbery ever accomplished in the territories, Perry and his detachments landed the robber, a man named Garnett, who was given a long-term sentence in the penitentiary.

[[King Edward VII]] added the title "Royal" to the North-West Mounted Police in 1904 when Perry was in command. 

In 1909, the following appeared in the London Gazette Supplementary:
"Chancery of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, Downing Street, 9th November 1909 - The King has graciously pleased to give direction for the following appointment to the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George: - To be a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order, Aylesworth Perry, Commissioner of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police, Dominion of Canada."<ref name="qschooner.com">{{cite web|title=Aylesworth Bowen Perry |url=http://qschooner.com/famouscousins.html|publisher=Qschooner.com|accessdate=21 December 2014}}</ref>

In 1911, he commanded a contingent of [[North-West Mounted Police|Royal North-West Mounted Police]] which took part in the Empire Celebrations in England, at the time of the [[Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary]].

The future of the force was in doubt. The departures to serve overseas during [[World War I]], weakened the force. The creation of provincial police forces in [[Alberta]] and [[Saskatchewan]] reduced the force's responsibilities.<ref name="qschooner.com"/>

[[File:Postcard RCMP Police.jpg|upright|thumb|right|RCMP postcard circa 1920]]

The force controlled postwar unrest. Perry was a principal adviser to the government during the [[Winnipeg General Strike]] in 1919. 
After the war, he reorganized the force as the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]]. By modernizing the force's equipment and methods, he transformed the frontier police to a modern national police force. In 1919, he worked out the details of the force's expansion and the move of its headquarters. The Force absorbed the [[Dominion Police]], extended police services throughout Canada and moved headquarters from [[Regina, Saskatchewan]], to [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]]. The Force emerged as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1920.

By February 1, 1920, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were operating throughout Canada. Perry retired from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1923. He was conferred the equivalent military rank of major-general. He died in [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], on February 14, 1956, in his 96th year. He was the last surviving member of the "Old Eighteen" from [[Royal Military College of Canada]].<ref name="qschooner.com"/>

==Family==

Aylesworth Perry married Emma Duranty Meikle, the daughter of the postmaster and general merchant in Lachute, Quebec on June 5, 1883. Their son, Kenneth Meikle Perry (born November 7, 1884) would later become a professor at the [[Royal Military College of Canada]] and retire as a Brigadier from the Canadian militia.<ref name="qschooner.com"/> Aylesworth Perry's grandson (through his daughter Gladys Jean Perry and her husband George Leslie Jennings), # 2772 Lt. Bernard P. [Perry] Jennings, Royal Canadian Engineers, graduated from [[Royal Military College of Canada]] in 1942 as a member of College's, "Last War Class." He subsequently took part in the D-Day landings, 6 June 1944, but sadly he was killed-in-action near [[Falaise pocket|Falaise, Normandy]], on 14 August 1944."

His great-grandson (via another daughter, Jessie Eleanor Perry) is former BC Premier [[Gordon Campbell (Canadian politician)|Gordon Campbell]], who served from 2001 to 2011.

==Honours==

[[File:Wall of Honour, Royal Military College of Canada.jpg|thumb|right|Wall of Honour, Royal Military College of Canada]]

In 1909, he was appointed Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. In 1920 he was given the title "Honorary Aide-de-camp to His Excellency The Governor General". Upon his retirement, he was awarded the rank of Major-General by the Canadian Militia. In 1948, he was the only member of the "Old Eighteen" to be present at the re-opening of the [[Royal Military College of Canada]] and he took the salute for the match past of the "New Hundred".

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police named the A.B. Perry building at the Depot, Regina in his honour.<ref name="qschooner.com"/> In 2009, 13 Major-General A.B. Perry, CMG ADC (1860–1956) was added to the wall of honour at the [[Royal Military College of Canada]] in [[Kingston, Ontario]]. Bowen Island, St. Joseph Channel, Algoma was named in honour of Major General Aylesworth Bowen Perry (RMC 1880), Commissioner, Royal Northwest Mounted Police.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/ontariohistory1011ontauoft/ontariohistory1011ontauoft_djvu.txt|title=Full text of "Ontario history"|accessdate=21 December 2014}}</ref>

==References==
;Notes
{{Reflist}}

;Sources
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Mccullough |first=A.B. |title=Aylesworth Bowen Perry |encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]] |date=16 December 2013 |publisher=[[Historica Canada]] |edition=online |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/aylesworth-bowen-perry}}
* [http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armyunits/canadiancavalry/rcmpperry.htm Aylesworth Bowen Perry] at www.britishempire.co.uk
* [http://www.uelac.org/education/WesternResource/409-Perry.pdf Aylesworth Perry at Uelac.org]

===Books===
* 4237{{clarify|date=January 2025|reason=What do the initial identifiers mean in this list?}} Dr. Adrian Preston & Peter Dennis (Edited) "Swords and Covenants" Rowman And Littlefield, London. Croom Helm. 1976.
* H16511 Dr. Richard Arthur Preston "To Serve Canada: A History of the Royal Military College of Canada" 1997 Toronto, [[University of Toronto Press]], 1969.
* H16511 Dr. Richard Arthur Preston "Canada's RMC - A History of Royal Military College" Second Edition 1982
* H16511 Dr. Richard Preston "R.M.C. and Kingston: The effect of imperial and military influences on a Canadian community" 1968
* H1877 R. Guy C. Smith (editor) "As You Were! Ex-Cadets Remember". In 2 Volumes. Volume I: 1876-1918. Volume II: 1919-1984. Royal Military College. [Kingston]. The R.M.C. Club of Canada. 1984

==External links==
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{{succession box|title=[[Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police]]|
                 before=[[Lawrence Herchmer]]|
                 after=[[Cortlandt Starnes]]|
                 years=1900-1923}}
{{s-end}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Aylesworth}}
[[Category:1860 births]]
[[Category:1956 deaths]]
[[Category:Canadian anti-communists]]
[[Category:Canadian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Royal Canadian Mounted Police commissioners]]
[[Category:Members of the Yukon Territorial Council]]
[[Category:Royal Military College of Canada alumni]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the Yukon Territorial Council]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories]]