View source for John Buchan

{{Short description|Scottish author and statesman (1875–1940)}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = The Lord Tweedsmuir
| honorific-suffix    = {{postnom|country=GBR|size=100|GCMG|GCVO|CH|PC|DL}}
| image               = Lord tweedsmuiir.jpg
| caption             = Buchan in 1935
| order               = 15th
| office              = Governor General of Canada
| term_start          = 2 November 1935
| term_end            = 11 February 1940
| monarch             = {{unbulleted list | [[George V]] | [[Edward VIII]] | [[George VI]]}}
| primeminister       = [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]]
| predecessor         = [[Vere Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough|The Earl of Bessborough]]
| successor           = [[The Earl of Athlone]]
| office2             = {{noprint|{{nobold|''[[#External links|More...]]''}}}}
| birth_name          = John Buchan
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=yes|1875|8|26}}
| birth_place         = [[Perth, Scotland]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|df=yes|1940|02|11|1875|08|26}}
| death_place         = [[Montreal]], Quebec, Canada
| alma_mater          = {{ubl|[[University of Glasgow]]|[[Brasenose College, Oxford]]}}
| party               = [[Scottish Unionist]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Susan Buchan|Susan Grosvenor]]|15 July 1907}}
| children            = 4, including [[John Buchan, 2nd Baron Tweedsmuir|John]], [[William Buchan, 3rd Baron Tweedsmuir|William]] and [[Alastair Francis Buchan|Alastair]]
| relatives           = [[O. Douglas]] (sister)
| profession          = Author
| signature           = John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir Signature.svg
| website             = {{Official website |http://www.johnbuchansociety.co.uk/ |name=John Buchan Society}}
| module              = {{Infobox writer |embed=yes
| genre            = [[Adventure fiction]]
| notable_works    = {{plainlist|
* ''[[The Thirty-Nine Steps]]''}}
}}
{{Infobox military person
   |embed        = yes
   |embed_title  = Military service
   |allegiance   = [[United Kingdom]]
   |branch       = [[British Army]]
   |serviceyears = 1901–1902<br>1916–1919
   |unit         = Colonial Office<br>[[Intelligence Corps (United Kingdom)|Intelligence Corps]]
   |rank         = Second Lieutenant 
   |battles      = 
*[[Second Boer War]]
*[[First World War]]
**[[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]
  }}
}}
'''John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ʌ|x|ən}}; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, [[British Army]] officer, and [[Unionist Party (Scotland)|Unionist]] politician who served as [[Governor General of Canada]], the [[List of governors general of Canada#Governors general of Canada, 1867–present|15th]] since [[Canadian Confederation]].

As a youth, Buchan began writing poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction, publishing his first novel in 1895 and ultimately writing over a hundred books of which the best known is ''[[The Thirty-Nine Steps]]''. After attending Glasgow and Oxford universities, he practised as a barrister. In 1901, he served as a private secretary to [[Lord Milner]] in southern Africa towards the end of the Boer War. He returned to England in 1903, continued as a barrister and journalist. He left the Bar when he joined Thomas Nelson and Sons publishers in 1907. During the [[First World War]], he was, among other activities, Director of Information in 1917 and later Head of Intelligence at the newly formed Ministry of Information. He was elected [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for the [[Combined Scottish Universities]] in 1927.

In 1935, [[King George V]], on the advice of Canadian Prime Minister [[R. B. Bennett]], appointed Buchan to succeed the [[Vere Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough|Earl of Bessborough]] as Governor General of Canada and two months later raised him to [[Peerages in the United Kingdom|the peerage]] as Baron Tweedsmuir. He occupied the post until his death in 1940. Buchan promoted Canadian unity and helped strengthen the sovereignty of Canada constitutionally and culturally. He received a [[state funeral]] in Canada before his ashes were returned to the United Kingdom.

==Early life and education==
Buchan was born at today's 18–20 York Place, a double villa now named after him, in [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]], Scotland.<ref name=pchf>[https://www.pkht.org.uk/pchf/ Perth City Heritage Fund] – Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust</ref> He was the first child of John Buchan – a [[Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900)|Free Church of Scotland]] minister – and Helen Jane Buchan (née Masterton). He was brought up in [[Kirkcaldy]], [[Fife]], and spent many summer holidays with his maternal grandparents in [[Broughton, Scottish Borders|Broughton]] in the [[Scottish Borders]]. There he developed a love for walking and for the local scenery and wildlife, both of which are often featured in his novels. The protagonist in several of his books is Sir [[Edward Leithen]], whose name is borrowed from [[Leithen Water]], a tributary of the [[River Tweed]].

After the family moved to Glasgow, Buchan attended [[Hutchesons' Grammar School|Hutchesons' Boys' Grammar School]]. He was awarded a scholarship to the [[University of Glasgow]] at age 17, where he studied [[classics]] as a student of [[Gilbert Murray]], wrote poetry, and became a published author.<ref>Smith, Janet Adam, ''John Buchan'', Rupert Hart-Davis, London, 1965, pp. 30–32</ref> He moved on to study ''[[Literae Humaniores]]'' (''the Classics'') at [[Brasenose College, Oxford]], with a Junior Hulme scholarship in 1895 and in his third year achieved a Senior Hulme scholarship, adding to his financial security.<ref>Smith, p. 41 and also Buchan, Ursula, ''Beyond The Thirty-Nine Steps'', Bloomsbury, London, 2019, pp. 34 and 49</ref><ref name=QUOx>{{cite web| url=http://archives.queensu.ca/Exhibits/buchan/oxford.html| title=Queen's University Archives > Exhibits > John Buchan > Oxford, 1895–1899: Scholar Gypsy| publisher=Queen's University| access-date=30 March 2009| archive-date=29 September 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929233410/http://archives.queensu.ca/Exhibits/buchan/oxford.html| url-status=dead}}</ref> At Oxford, he made many friends including [[Raymond Asquith]], [[Aubrey Herbert]] and Tommy Nelson. Buchan won the [[Stanhope essay prize]] in 1897 and the [[Newdigate Prize]] for poetry the following year;<ref name=QUOx /> he was also elected as the president of the [[Oxford Union]] and had six of his works published, including a book of short stories (''Grey Weather'', 1899) and three of his first adventure novels (''John Burnet of Barns'', 1898; ''A Lost Lady of Old Years'', 1899; ''The Half-Hearted'', 1900)<ref>Buchan, Ursula, pp. 57–58 and 61–62.</ref><ref name=TCE>{{Cite book|last=Hillmer |first=Norman |contribution=Biography > Governors General of Canada > Buchan, John, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir |title=The Canadian Encyclopedia |editor-last=Marsh |editor-first=James H. |place=Toronto |publisher=Historica Foundation of Canada |url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0001071 |access-date=31 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703002004/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0001071 |archive-date= 3 July 2007 }}</ref>

Buchan had his first portrait painted in 1900 by a young [[Sholto Johnstone Douglas]] at around the time of his graduation from Oxford.<ref>{{cite book| editor-last=Lee| editor-first=Sidney| title=The Dictionary of National Biography| publisher=Oxford University Press| year=1950| location=New York| pages=113}}</ref>

==Author, journalist, war, and politics ==
{{further|List of works by John Buchan}}
After graduating from Oxford, Buchan read for and was [[Admission to practice law|called to the Bar]] in June 1901,<ref>Smith, Chapter Four "Barrister and Journalist"</ref> as a member of the [[Middle Temple]].<ref name="mt1">{{cite news |title=Amity Visit to Canada |url=https://middletemplar.org.uk/amity-visit-to-canada/}}</ref> In September 1901 he travelled to South Africa to become a private secretary to [[Alfred Milner]], who was then the [[High Commissioner for Southern Africa]], [[Cape Colony#British colony (2nd time, 1806-1910)|Governor of Cape Colony]], and colonial administrator of [[Transvaal Colony|Transvaal]] and the [[Orange River Colony]], making Buchan an early member of [[Milner's Kindergarten]]. He also gained an acquaintance with a country that would feature prominently in his writing, which he resumed, along with his career as a barrister, upon his return to London in 1903. In 1905, he published a legal book, ''The Law Relating to the Taxation of Foreign Income.''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Buchan |first=John |date=1905 |title=The law relating to the taxation of foreign income / |url=https://search.law.villanova.edu/Record/197978 |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=search.law.villanova.edu |language=English}}</ref> In December 1906, he joined the [[Thomas Nelson (publisher)|Thomas Nelson & Sons']] publishing company and was also a deputy editor of ''[[The Spectator]]''.<ref name=QUHom>{{cite web| url=http://archives.queensu.ca/Exhibits/buchan/family.html| title=Queen's University Archives > Exhibits > John Buchan > Home and Family| publisher=Queen's University| access-date=30 March 2009| archive-date=28 October 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028025926/http://archives.queensu.ca/Exhibits/buchan/family.html| url-status=dead}}</ref> On 15 July 1907, Buchan married [[Susan Charlotte Grosvenor]]—daughter of the Hon. [[Norman Grosvenor]], a son of the 1st Lord Ebury, and a cousin of the [[Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster|Duke of Westminster]]. Together, Buchan and his wife had four children, Alice, [[John Buchan, 2nd Baron Tweedsmuir|John]], [[William Buchan, 3rd Baron Tweedsmuir|William]], and [[Alastair Francis Buchan|Alastair]].

In 1910, Buchan wrote ''[[Prester John (novel)|Prester John]]'', set in South Africa, another of his adventure novels. He began to suffer from [[duodenal ulcer]]s, a condition that later afflicted one of his fictional characters, about the same time that he ventured into politics and was adopted as [[Unionist Party (Scotland)|Unionist]] candidate in March 1911 for the Scottish Borders seat of [[Peebles and Selkirk]]. He supported some Liberal causes, such as free trade, [[women's suffrage]], [[national insurance]], and curtailing the powers of the [[House of Lords]].<ref>{{Cite book| last=Parry| first=J. P.| date=2002| contribution=From the Thirty-Nine Articles to the Thirty-Nine Steps: reflections on the thought of John Buchan| editor-last=Bentley| editor-first=Michael| title=Public and Private Doctrine: Essays in British History presented to Maurice Cowling| page=226| location=Cambridge| publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref> But he did not support Home Rule in Ireland and what he considered the class hatred fostered by Liberal politicians such as [[David Lloyd George]].<ref>{{Harvnb| Parry| 2002| p=227}}</ref>

With the outbreak of the [[First World War]], Buchan began writing a history of the war for Nelson's, the publishers, which was to extend to 24 volumes by the end of the war. He worked in the Foreign Office, and for a time was a war correspondent in France for ''[[The Times]]'' in 1915. In that same year, his most famous novel, ''[[The Thirty-Nine Steps]]'', a spy-thriller set just prior to the First World War, was published. The novel featured Buchan's oft-used hero, [[Richard Hannay]], whose character was partly based on [[William Edmund Ironside|Edmund Ironside]], a friend of Buchan from his days in South Africa. A sequel, ''[[Greenmantle]]'', came the following year. In June 1916 Buchan was sent out to the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] to be attached to the British Army's General Headquarters Intelligence Section, to assist with drafting official communiques for the press. On arrival he received a field-commission as a [[second lieutenant]] in the [[Intelligence Corps (United Kingdom)|Intelligence Corps]].<ref>Charteris, John (1931) ''At G.H.Q.'', Cassell.</ref>

Recognising his abilities, the War Cabinet, under David Lloyd George, appointed him Director of Information in 1917, essentially leading Britain's propaganda effort. In early 1918, Buchan was made head of a Department of Intelligence within a new Ministry of Information under [[Lord Beaverbrook]].<ref name=GGBuch>{{cite web| url=http://archive.gg.ca/gg/fgg/bios/01/tweedsmuir_e.asp| last=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Governor General > Former Governors General > Lord Tweedsmuir of Elsfield| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=14 April 2010}}</ref> Throughout the war, he continued writing volumes of the ''History of  the War''. It was difficult for him, given his close connections to many of Britain's military leaders, not to mention the government, to be critical of the British Army's conduct during the conflict<ref>{{cite news| last=Sanders| first=M. L.| date=1975| title=Wellington House and British Propaganda During the First World War| editor-last=Culbert| editor-first=David| periodical=The Historical Journal| issue=18| pages=119–146| location=London| publisher=Carfax Publishing| issn=0143-9685}}</ref> but nonetheless did so in certain instances, being critical of government, politics or statements, or disagreeing with statistics.<ref>Buchan, John, ''Nelson's History of the War'', Thomas Nelson and Sons, Ltd., U.K., Vol. VII (pub’d Sept. 1915), Chapter LI (51), “The Political Situation: Britain and Italy”,(pp. 61–62). Buchan quotes a speech by the British Prime Minister in April 1915 saying a statement he read about a lack of munitions crippling Britain and its Allies had “not a word of truth in [it].” Buchan comments that, unfortunately, that statement “was literally true”. At pp. 57–60, Buchan critically analyses the British political system, its inadequacies and unpreparedness for war. He highlights: “a disinclination to tell the nation unpalatable truths” on the part of government and “ill-informed criticism in the press”; expenditure “on a lavish scale” and “much avoidable waste”; shortage of munitions and divided expert advice; casualty figures only announced in June 1915 that revealed deaths increased five-fold from Feb. to June 1915 “without any conspicuous success”. Vol. II (pub’d March 1915), p. 173. At a battle of the Marne, German dead were reported in France at 10,000 which Buchan states “is clearly an overstatement”.</ref> Buchan could enter comment on political events. He complimented Winston Churchill's "services to the nation at the outbreak of war for which his countrymen can never be sufficiently grateful ... but he was usually selected to be blamed for decisions for which his colleagues were not less responsible."<ref>Buchan, Nelson's History of the War, Vol. VII, p.63</ref>

At one point, Beaverbrook had requested that Buchan meet with journalist and [[Neo-Jacobite Revival|neo-Jacobite]] [[Herbert Vivian]] and admitted to Vivian that he had been a Jacobite sympathiser.<ref name=myself>{{cite book |last=Vivian |first=Herbert |title=Myself not least, being the personal reminiscences of "X." |publisher=H. Holt and Company |date=1923 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.180126 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.180126/page/n282 373]–374}}</ref> Buchan was in fact ambivalent about the Jacobite cause but he did write romances about that adventurous period, for example, ''A Lost Lady of Old Years'' (1899), ''A Book of Escapes and Hurried Journeys'' (1922) and ''Midwinter'' (1923).

Following the close of the war, Buchan turned his attention to writing on historical subjects, along with his usual thrillers and novels. He moved to [[Elsfield]], Oxfordshire in 1920 and had become president of the [[Scottish Historical Society]] and a trustee of the [[National Library of Scotland]],<ref name=GGBuch /> and he also maintained ties with various universities. [[Robert Graves]], who lived in nearby [[Islip, Oxfordshire|Islip]], mentioned his being recommended by Buchan for a lecturing position at the newly founded [[Cairo University]]. In a [[1927 Combined Scottish Universities by-election|1927 by-election]], Buchan was elected as the Unionist Party Member of Parliament for the [[Combined Scottish Universities]]. Politically, he was of the Unionist-Nationalist tradition, believing in Scotland's promotion as a nation within the [[British Empire]] but also as a constituent of the United Kingdom."<ref>{{cite hansard| house=House of Commons| url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1932/nov/24/debate-on-the-address#S5CV0272P0_19321124_HOC_159| title=Debate on the Address| date=24 November 1932| column=261}}</ref> The effects of the [[Great Depression]] in Scotland, and the subsequent high emigration from that country, also led him to reflect in the same speech: "We do not want to be like the Greeks, powerful and prosperous wherever we settle, but with a dead Greece behind us".<ref>{{cite hansard| house=House of Commons| url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1932/nov/24/debate-on-the-address#S5CV0272P0_19321124_HOC_159| title=Debate on the Address| date=24 November 1932| column=267}}</ref> He found himself profoundly affected by [[John Morley]]'s ''Life of Gladstone'', which Buchan read in the early months of the [[Second World War]]. He believed that [[Gladstone]] had taught people to combat [[materialism]], complacency, and [[authoritarianism]]; Buchan later wrote to [[H. A. L. Fisher|Herbert Fisher]], [[Stair Gillon]], and [[Gilbert Murray]] that he was "becoming a Gladstonian Liberal."<ref>{{Harvnb| Parry| 2002| p=234}}</ref>

After the [[United Free Church of Scotland]] joined in 1929 with the [[Church of Scotland]], Buchan remained an active elder of [[St Columba's Church, London]]. In 1933 and 1934, Buchan was further appointed as King George V's [[Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland]].

Beginning in 1930, Buchan aligned himself with [[Zionism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/2004/03/hitchens.htm|title=Between Kipling and Fleming stands John Buchan, the father of the modern spy thriller|date=March 2004|access-date=13 August 2014|author=Christopher Hitchens|publisher=The Atlantic}}</ref> He was active and vocal in Parliament in condemning the treatment of Jews in Germany.<ref name="Buchan, Ursula 2019 p. 300">Buchan, Ursula (2019). Beyond The Thirty-Nine Steps. London: Bloomsbury. p. 300. ISBN 978-1-4088-7081-5.</ref> To a mass demonstration organized by the Jewish National Fund in 1934, Buchan described Zionism as "a great act of justice ... a reparation for the centuries of cruelty and wrong which have stained the record of nearly every Gentile people."<ref name="Buchan, Ursula 2019 p. 300"/> He was a friend of [[Chaim Weizmann]] and assisted him to keep alive Britain's commitment to a Jewish state.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Weizmann |first1=Chaim |title=The Letters and Papers of Chaim Weizmann |date=1979 |publisher=Israel Universities Press |page=320-321, Letter 285, Weizmann to Tweedsmuir/Buchan, February 22, 1938, Series A: Letters, Vol. 18}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Rose |first1=Norman |title=The Gentile Zionists |date=1973 |publisher=Frank Cass Ltd. |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Galbraith |first1=J. William |title=John Buchan: Model Governor General |date=2013 |publisher=Dundurn Press |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-4597-0937-9 |page=197}}</ref>

Despite Buchan's support of Zionism, particularly after he became a Member of Parliament and after the rise of the Nazis in Germany, there are conflicting views as to whether his personal views were overtly anti-semitic, imperialistic and/or racist, at least in the period when he wrote his early novels. The ''Penguin Companion to English Literature'' characterized him as a "convinced imperialist" and commented: "He tells a yarn with economy. The implications of his social and political ideas, conscious and unconscious, are less admirable."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Penguin Companion to Literature 1: Britain and the Commonwealth |date=1971 |publisher=Penguin Books Ltd. |location=New York |page=72 |edition=Avenel}}</ref> A 1996 article in the Scottish newspaper [[The Herald (Glasgow)]] opined that Buchan's poem ''The Semitic Spirit Speaks'' "is poisoned by prejudice".<ref>{{Cite web|title=First-degree racism and snobbery with violence|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12052647.first-degree-racism-and-snobbery-with-violence/|access-date=1 August 2021|website=The Herald Scotland|date=25 March 1996 |language=en}}</ref> It is significant that this satirical poem was, however, never published by Buchan, who didn’t like some of the very rich Jews he met in South Africa, nor did he like Rhodes. There were other Jews in South Africa he obviously did like and became friends with, for example, Hermann Eckstein who hosted the couple’s engagement party in London in January 1907 and Lionel Philips who had a home in Hampshire and where the newlywed John and Susan Buchan spent the first week of their honeymoon (July 1907).<ref>Buchan, Ursula (2019). ''Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps''. London: Bloomsbury. pp. 137 and 299</ref> Even in earlier writing, there are favourable depictions of individual Jews, for example, ''A Lodge in the Wilderness'' (1906) and the 1912 short story "The Grove of Ashtaroth" which shows an understanding and appreciation of the thoughtfulness and spirituality of Jews.

Buchan was described as being "overtly antisemitic" by [[Anthony Storr|author Anthony Starr.]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Feet of Clay: A Study of Gurus|author=Anthony Storr|date=1997|publisher=HarperCollins|page=168}}|</ref> The critic [[Roger Kimball]] maintained that "some of [Buchan's] attitude and language" could be interpreted as those of "a colonialist ... a racist ... an anti-Semite." Kimball acknowledged that the attitudes and language about Jews and blacks in Buchan's novels are voices of fictional characters but also opines that it is "likely" that Buchan was "anti-Semitic (and anti-foreigner) in the way nearly everyone in his society was," at least until the 1930s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kimball |first1=Roger |title="Realism coloured by poetry": rereading John Buchan |url=https://newcriterion.com/article/ldquorealism-coloured-by-poetryrdquo-rereading-john-buchan/ |website=t\The New Criterion |date=September 2003 |access-date=17 February 2025}}</ref> American academic Jordan M. Poss states such accusations warrant looking into. One passage from ''The Thirty-Nine Steps'' in particular "seems damning, unless you remember that Scudder [an American who makes disparaging remarks about Jews] is a fictional character -- and unless you keep reading" which provides context to these fictional characters who reflect the prejudices of society then.<ref>See Jordan M. Poss website blog, "Was John Buchan an anti-Semite?" 6 October 2023</ref>

Buchan's granddaughter Ursula claimed that the charge of anti-Semitism is almost entirely the result of some unfavourable comments made by his fictional characters, and are not necessarily the views of the author. She points out that in ''[[The Thirty-Nine Steps]],'' the anti-semitic comments of the murdered freelance spy Scudder are called 'eyewash' by the narrator and proved to be totally wrong by later events.<ref name="Beyond The Thirty-Nine Steps">{{cite book |last1=Buchan |first1=Ursula |title=Beyond The Thirty-Nine Steps |date=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=London |isbn=978-1-4088-7081-5 |page=299}}</ref> She cautions "it is important to avoid anachronism". "Racial and national stereotyping, favourable and unfavourable, was commonplace throughout all society" so "it is hardly surprising that characters in JB's novels should engage in it."<ref name="Beyond The Thirty-Nine Steps"/> Kimball writes "In fact, I believe that Buchan probably ''is'' good for you, especially considering the alternatives on offer."<ref name="newcriterion.com">Kimball, Roger, "Realism coloured by poetry: rereading John Buchan"https://newcriterion.com/article/ldquorealism-coloured-by-poetryrdquo-rereading-john-buchan/ Retrieved 6 March 2025</ref> If anything, Buchan was philo-Semite. As Kimball wrote, referring to Gertrude Himmelfarb's point that men in 1930s society in England "were normally anti-Semitic, unless by some quirk of temperament or ideology they happened to be philo-Semitic." "[B]y the time the Nazis came along, Buchan had abandoned any aspersions against Jews in his novels", Kimball continued "It was precisely that unreasoning attachment to ideology -- to the grim nursery of human passions -- that Buchan resisted."<ref name="newcriterion.com"/>

As a supporter of the Jewish people and a homeland, Buchan's name was inscribed in the Golden Book of the Jewish National Fund of Israel.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Janet Adam |title=John Buchan |date=1965 |publisher=Rupert Hart-Davis |location=London |page=317}}</ref> His name was also in a Nazi publication, "Who's Who in Britain" (Frankfurt, 1938), reading "Tweedsmuir, Lord: Pro-Jewish activity.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Buchan |first1=Ursula |title=Beyond The Thirty-Nine Steps |date=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=London |isbn=978-1-4088-7081-5 |page=300}}</ref> In one history of the Jewish experience in Canada, Buchan, as Governor-General Lord Tweedsmuir, is described as the "most visible supporter" of the Jews.<ref name="Zionism in the Pre-Statehood Years">{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Michael |title="Zionism in the Pre-Statehood Years: The Canadian Response" in From Immigration to Integration: The Canadian Jewish Experience |date=2001 |publisher=B'nai Brith Canada, Institute for International Affairs |location=Toronto |pages=121–134}}</ref> Both Tweedsmuir and his wife Susan "spoke publicly in favour of Zionism, lending the cachet of the Crown" to the cause of a Jewish homeland.<ref name="Zionism in the Pre-Statehood Years"/> Susan Tweedsmuir's name was also entered into  the Golden Book.<ref>Montreal Gazette, 12 April 1938</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Galbraith |first1=J. William |title=John Buchan: Model Governor General |date=2013 |publisher=Dundurn Press |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-4597-0937-9 |page=208}}</ref>

In recognition of his contributions to literature and education, on 1 January 1932, Buchan was granted the personal gift of the sovereign of induction into the [[Order of the Companions of Honour]].<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=33785|page=12| date=29 December 1931}}</ref>

Having previously advocated in the House of Commons for the establishment of a public body for film in the mould of the [[BBC]], Buchan was appointed among the first nine Governors of the [[British Film Institute]] after its formation in 1933.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lownie |first=Andrew |title=John Buchan: The Presbyterian Cavalier |publisher=Pimlico |year=2003 |isbn=1-56792-236-8 |location=London |pages=219}}</ref> Buchan remained in the role until his appointment as Governor General of Canada in 1935.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=Autumn 1935 |title=Taking Stock |url=https://archive.org/details/Sight_and_Sound_1935_10_BFI_GB/page/n9/mode/2up |journal=[[Sight and Sound]] |volume=4 |issue=15 |pages=104}}</ref>

In 1935, Buchan's literary work was adapted for the cinema with the release of [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[The 39 Steps (1935 film)|The 39 Steps]]'', starring [[Robert Donat]] as Richard Hannay, although Buchan's story was much altered. This came in the same year that Buchan was honoured with appointment to the [[Order of St Michael and St George]] on 23 May,<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=34164|page=3443| date=28 May 1935}}</ref> as well as being elevated to the [[peerage]], when he was ennobled by King George V as [[Baron Tweedsmuir]], of [[Elsfield]] in the County of Oxford on 1 June.<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=34167|page=3620| date=4 June 1935}}</ref> This had been done in preparation for Buchan's appointment as [[Governor General of Canada|Canada's governor general]]; when consulted by [[Canadian prime minister]] [[R. B. Bennett]] about the appointment, the [[Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada)|Leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition]], [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]], recommended that the King allow Buchan to serve as a commoner,<ref>{{Cite book| last=Reynolds| first=Louise| title=Mackenzie King: Friends & Lovers| publisher=Trafford Publishing| year=2005| location=Victoria| page=124| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8eZJQJOcTJkC| isbn=978-1-4120-5985-5}}</ref> but George V insisted that he be represented by a peer.

Buchan's name had been earlier put forward by Mackenzie King to George V as a candidate for the governor generalcy: Buchan and his wife had been guests of Mackenzie King's at his estate, [[William Lyon Mackenzie King#Memorials|Kingsmere]], in 1924 and Mackenzie King, who at that time was prime minister, was impressed with Buchan, stating, "I know no man I would rather have as a friend, a beautiful, noble soul, kindly & generous in thought & word & act, informed as few men in this world have ever been, modest, humble, true, man after God's own heart." One evening in the following year, the Prime Minister mentioned to Governor General [[the Lord Byng of Vimy]] that Buchan would be a suitable successor to Byng, with which the Governor General agreed, the two being friends. Word of this reached the British Cabinet, and Buchan was approached, but he was reluctant to take the posting; Byng had been writing to Buchan about the [[King–Byng Affair|constitutional dispute]] that took place in June 1926 and spoke disparagingly of Mackenzie King.<ref>{{Harvnb| Reynolds| 2005| p=125}}</ref>

==Governor General of Canada==
[[File:KingTweedsmuir1935.jpg|thumb|right|[[William Lyon Mackenzie King|Mackenzie King]] delivers an address at the installation of Lord Tweedsmuir as [[Governor General of Canada]], 2 November 1935]]
[[File:LordTweedsmuirHeaddress.jpg|thumb|right|Lord Tweedsmuir in [[Aboriginal peoples in Canada|Native]] [[war bonnet|headdress]], photo portrait by [[Yousuf Karsh]],  1937]]

On 27 March 1935, Sir [[George Halsey Perley]] announced in the Canadian Parliament (in place of ailing Conservative Prime Minister [[Richard Bedford Bennett]]) that the King had appointed Mr. John Buchan as the viceregal representative.<ref>House of Commons (Canada) Debates, 27 March 1935, page 2144.</ref> The King approved the appointment,<ref>House of Commons (Canada) Debates, 27 March 1935, page 2144. Cited with other details in Galbraith, J. William, "John Buchan: Model Governor General", Dundurn, Toronto, 2013. p.19.</ref> made by commission under the [[royal sign-manual]] and [[Seal (emblem)|signet]]. Buchan, by this time elevated to the peerage as the first Baron Tweedsmuir, then departed for Canada and was sworn in as the country's Governor General in a ceremony on 2 November 1935 in the Legislative Council of Quebec (salon rouge) of the [[Parliament Building (Quebec)|parliament buildings of Quebec]].

By the time Lord Tweedsmuir arrived in Canada, [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]] had been sworn in as Prime Minister after the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]] won the [[1935 Canadian federal election|federal election]] held the previous month. Tweedsmuir was the first Governor General of Canada appointed since the enactment of the [[Statute of Westminster 1931|Statute of Westminster]] on 11 December 1931, and was thus the first to have been decided on solely by the [[monarch of Canada]] in [[King's Privy Council for Canada|his Canadian council]].

Tweedsmuir brought to the post a longstanding knowledge of Canada. He had written many appreciative words about the country as a journalist on ''The Spectator'' and had followed the actions of the Canadian forces in the First World War when writing ''Nelson's History of the War'', and was helped by talks with Julian Byng, during a visit Canada in 1924.<ref name=jas1>{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Janet Adam|title=John Buchan and his world|year=1979|publisher=Thames & Hudson|page=89|isbn=0-500-13067-1}}</ref> He had also written a memoir of a previous Governor General, [[Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto|Lord Minto]] (1898–1904), published in 1924. His knowledge and interest in increasing public awareness and accessibility to Canada's past resulted in Tweedsmuir being made the [[Champlain Society]]'s second honorary president between 1938 and 1939.<ref>{{cite web| last=The Champlain Society| title=Former Officer's of The Champlain Society (1905–2012)| url=http://www.champlainsociety.ca/about-us/| access-date=19 October 2014| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027031034/http://www.champlainsociety.ca/about-us/| archive-date=27 October 2014}}</ref> He continued writing during his time in Canada, but he also took his position as Governor General seriously, and from the outset made it his goal to travel the length and breadth of Canada, including to the [[Canadian Arctic|Arctic regions]],<ref>The first governor-general to travel to the Canadian Arctic was Lord Byng (GG 1921–1926) in 1925.  Cited in Galbraith, William, "The Literary Governor-General" in "The Literary Review of Canada", October 1996, page 19.</ref> and promoting Canadian unity in the process. He said of his job: "a Governor General is in a unique position for it is his duty to know the whole of Canada and all the various types of her people."

Tweedsmuir encouraged a distinct Canadian identity as well as national unity, despite the ongoing Great Depression and [[Great Depression in Canada|the difficulty it caused for the population]].<ref name=GGBuch/> He strengthened the sovereignty of Canada, constitutionally and culturally. However, not all Canadians shared Buchan's views. He aroused the ire of [[imperialists]] when he said in [[Montreal]] in 1937: "a Canadian's first loyalty is not to the British [[Commonwealth of Nations]], but to Canada, and [[Monarchy of Canada|to Canada's King]],"<ref name=jas2>{{cite book| last=Smith| first=Janet Adam| title=John Buchan: a Biography| publisher=Little Brown and Company| year=1965| location=Boston| page=423}}</ref> a statement that the ''[[Montreal Gazette]]'' dubbed as "disloyal"<ref>{{cite magazine| title=Royal Visit| magazine=Time| volume=IXX| issue=17| publisher=Time Inc.| location=New York| date=21 October 1957| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,937945,00.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070513184211/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,937945,00.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=13 May 2007| issn=0040-781X| access-date=29 March 2009}}</ref> but that was largely because the news release did not include "and to Canada's King" which Tweedsmuir had added by hand to his typed draft after it had been distributed to the media.<ref>Two typed drafts of speeches, with Tweedsmuir's handwritten comments, in: Buchan Papers, Speeches, Library and Archives Canada. Details cited in Galbraith, J. William, John Buchan: Model Governor General, Dundurn, Toronto, 2013, pp. 139–144.</ref> Tweedsmuir stated that ethnic groups "should retain their individuality and each make its contribution to the national character" and "the strongest nations are those that are made up of different racial elements."<ref>{{Cite news| last=Saunders| first=Doug| title=Canada's mistaken identity| newspaper=The Globe and Mail| date=27 June 2009| url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/columnists/doug-saunders/canadas-mistaken-identity/article1199074/| access-date=28 June 2009}}</ref>

George V died in late January 1936, and his eldest son, the popular [[Prince of Wales]], succeeded to the throne as Edward VIII. [[Rideau Hall]]—the royal and viceroyal residence in [[Ottawa]]—was decked in black crepe and all formal entertaining was cancelled during the [[Mourning#State and official mourning|official period of mourning]]. As the year unfolded, it became evident that the new king planned to marry the American divorcée [[Wallis Simpson]], which caused much discontent throughout the [[Dominion]]s and created a constitutional crisis. Tweedsmuir conveyed to [[Buckingham Palace]] and the [[British Prime Minister]] [[Stanley Baldwin]] Canadians' deep affection for the King, but also the outrage to Canadian religious feelings, both Catholic and Protestant, that would occur if Edward married Simpson.<ref name=Hubbard>{{cite book| last=Hubbard| first=R.H.| title=Rideau Hall| publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press| year=1977| location=Montreal and London| page=[https://archive.org/details/rideauhallillust00hubb/page/187 187]| isbn=978-0-7735-0310-6| url-access=registration| url=https://archive.org/details/rideauhallillust00hubb/page/187}}</ref> By 11&nbsp;December, [[Edward VIII abdication crisis|King Edward had abdicated]] in favour of his younger brother, [[Prince Albert, Duke of York]], who was thereafter known as George VI. In order for the line of succession for Canada to remain parallel to those of the other Dominions, Tweedsmuir, as [[Governor-in-Council]], gave the government's consent to [[His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936|the British legislation formalising the abdication]], and ratified this with finality when he granted [[Royal Assent]] to the Canadian [[Succession to the Throne Act 1937|Succession to the Throne Act]] in 1937.<ref>{{cite court| litigants=Tony O'Donohue v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the United Kingdom| vol=01-CV-217147CM| pinpoint=s. 34| court=Ontario Superior Court of Justice| date=26 June 2006| url=http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2003/2003canlii41404/2003canlii41404.html}}</ref> Upon receiving news from Mackenzie King of Edward's decision to abdicate, Tweedsmuir [[:wiktionary:quip|quipped]] that, in his year in Canada as governor general, he had represented three kings.<ref>{{cite web| url=<!-- https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home/Record?app=diawlmking&IdNumber=10647&q_exact=three+kings&ecopy=60003PM1 -->http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/king/001059-119.02-e.php?&page_id_nbr=17484&interval=20&&&&&&&&PHPSESSID=bgajorjbf37d43pri9gimsmfv0| last=Library and Archives Canada| author-link=Library and Archives Canada| title=The Diaries of William Lyon Mackenzie King| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| page=562| year=2007| access-date=14 August 2012| url-status=dead| archive-url=<!-- https://archive.today/20240930203123/https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home/Record?app=diawlmking&IdNumber=10647&q_exact=three+kings&ecopy=60003PM1 https://archive.today/20240930203351/https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home/Record?app=diawlmking&IdNumber=10647&ecopy=60003PM1 -->https://web.archive.org/web/20130612195545/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/king/001059-119.02-e.php?&page_id_nbr=17484&interval=20&&&&&&&&PHPSESSID=bgajorjbf37d43pri9gimsmfv0| archive-date=12 June 2013}}</ref>

Tweedsmuir's desire to strengthen the culture of Canada is reflected in his approval of the establishment of the [[Governor General's Awards|Governor General's Literary Awards]] in 1936. This was done after discussion with the [[Canadian Authors Association]], under the chairmanship of Dr. Pelham Edgar. The "GGs", as they are nicknamed in Canada, remain Canada's premier literary awards, announced annually, now with seven categories in English and in French.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Governor General's Literary Awards |url=https://canadacouncil.ca/funding/prizes/governor-generals-literary-awards |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=Canada Council for the Arts |language=en}}</ref> Tweedsmuir also inspired and encouraged individual writers.<ref>[[Thomas Head Raddall|Thomas Randall]], [[David Walker (author)|David Walker]], and [[Kenneth Millar]] are examples cited in Galbraith, J. William, John Buchan: Model Governor General, Dundurn, 2013, pp. 364–367.</ref> In January 1940, despite the war, Tweedsmuir invited influential Canadians to Rideau Hall, including Sam McLaughlin, President of General Motors of Canada, to support, as he wrote to his sister in Scotland, the development of "a Hollywood in British Columbia". This proved prescient; by the 21st century, [[Vancouver]] had popularly become known as "[[Hollywood North]]".<ref>Galbraith, J. William, "Hollywood in British Columbia", John Buchan Journal, Autumn, 2004, Issue 31, pp. 19–22.</ref>

In May and June 1939, King George VI and [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]] [[1939 royal tour of Canada|toured Canada]] from coast to coast and paid a [[state visit]] to the United States. Tweedsmuir had conceived the royal tour before [[coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth|the coronation]] in 1937; according to the official event historian, [[Gustave Lanctot]], the idea "probably grew out of the knowledge that at his coming Coronation, George VI was to assume the additional title of King of Canada," and he wished to demonstrate vividly Canada's status as an independent kingdom<ref name=Parl>{{cite journal |last=Galbraith |first=William |title=Fiftieth Anniversary of the 1939 Royal Visit |journal=Canadian Parliamentary Review |volume=12 |issue=3 |publisher=Commonwealth Parliamentary Association |location=Ottawa |year=1989 |url=http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/Infoparl/english/issue.asp?param=130&art=820 |access-date=29 March 2009 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121205052132/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/Infoparl/english/issue.asp?param=130&art=820 |archive-date=5 December 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>In fact, the idea for a visit by a reigning monarch occurred in 1936 and came from King Edward VIII who also had a ranch in Alberta which, as Prince of Wales, he had purchased in 1919. See: Galbraith, J. William, John Buchan: Model Governor General, Dundurn, 2013, p. 146.</ref> by allowing Canadians to see "their King performing royal functions, supported by his Canadian [[Minister of the Crown|ministers]]." Mackenzie King, however, was not convinced, thinking it wrong to spend money on royalty while the poor were starving. To overcome King's reticence, Tweedsmuir argued that the royal visit "would have a 'unifying' effect on Canada<ref>Mackenzie King Diary, 29 May 1938, Library and Archives Canada, and letters from Tweedsmuir to his wife and sister, both dated 30 May 1938, Buchan Papers (microfiche), Library and Archives Canada.</ref> while the visit to the U.S. would be "helpful to relations of democracies.<ref>Mackenzie King Diary, 29 May 1938, Library and Archives Canada.</ref> Mackenzie King agreed. Tweedsmuir put great effort into securing a positive response from Buckingham Palace to the invitation; after more than a year without a reply, in June 1938 he used a trip to the United Kingdom for a rest cure at Ruthin Castle in Wales to procure a positive decision on the royal tour. After a period of convalescence at Ruthin Castle and his home near [[Oxford]], Tweedsmuir sailed back to Canada in October with a secured commitment that the royal couple would tour the country and visit the United States. Though he had been a significant contributor to the organisation of the trip, Tweedsmuir remained largely out of sight for the duration of the royal tour; he expressed the view that while the King of Canada was present, "I cease to exist as Viceroy, and retain only a shadowy legal existence as Governor-General in Council."<ref name=Parl /> In Canada, the royal couple took part in public events such as the opening of the [[Lions Gate Bridge]] in Vancouver in May 1939, and King George sat in Parliament and personally granted Royal Assent to bills passed there. The King appointed Tweedsmuir a Knight Grand Cross of the [[Royal Victorian Order]] while on the royal train, between [[Truro, Nova Scotia|Truro]] and [[Bedford, Nova Scotia]].<ref>{{citation| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0baizU0hFpIC| last=McCreery| first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher McCreery | title=On Her Majesty's Service: Royal Honours and Recognition in Canada| page=32| publisher=Dundurn| year=2008| location=Toronto| isbn=9781459712249| access-date=20 November 2015}}</ref> The King and Queen began their visit to the United States on 8 June.

The royal visit to the United States was the high point of Tweedsmuir's efforts to develop a strong relationship with President Roosevelt, which he began soon after his arrival in Canada. The objective was to demonstrate, especially to the dictators in Europe, the friendship of America with Canada, as a member of the British Empire and Commonwealth.  Roosevelt had to be circumspect and not be seen to have direct relations with Britain because of the strong isolationist opinion in the U.S. concerned about being dragged into another European war. Tweedsmuir and Roosevelt met twice, at the end of July 1936 in Quebec City, summer residence of the Governor General, and the second in the spring of 1937 with an official visit by the Tweedsmuirs to Washington, D.C. Both visits were significant successes.

Buchan's experiences during the First World War made him averse to war, and he tried to help prevent another one in co-ordination with Mackenzie King and the [[U.S. President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] by the calling of a conference, to be chaired by the U.S. and to include the European dictators. Those efforts to try to secure future peace and stability proved fruitless because the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, refused to countenance the idea.

Tweedsmuir signed Canada's declaration of war against Germany on 10 September, a week after the British declaration of war. The week difference allowed war-related materiel, such as aeroplanes and munitions, to move to Canada from the neutral United States, which was prohibited under the Neutrality Act from exporting such materiel to belligerents.<ref>Buchan, Ursula (2019). Beyond The Thirty-Nine Steps. London: Bloomsbury. p. 382.</ref> During the fall of 1939, negotiations were held to establish an air training plan in Canada for Commonwealth air crew. The negotiations were long and difficult, in particular with Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King who was adamant that the facilities would be under the control of the Canadian government. Tweedsmuir had known from previous experience with a British mission, which had examined the possibility of aircraft production in Canada in the spring of 1938, that officials in Britain "do not seem to understand the real delicacy of the position of the self-governing Dominions, especially Canada.<ref>Letter from Tweedsmuir to his wife Susan in England on holiday, 25 May 1938, Buchan Papers, Library and Archives Canada.</ref> King had been difficult, as Chamberlain admitted to Tweedsmuir.<ref>Letter Chamberlain to Tweedsmuir, 27 December 1939, Buchan Papers, Library and Archives Canada.</ref> Tweedsmuir played a key role in securing British agreement to the final negotiations in mid-December 1939 and King acknowledged this in a letter, thank the Governor General "warmly for the help ... What a mischief there would have been had there been another moment's delay!"<ref>Letter Mackenzie King to Tweedsmuir, handwritten, 24 December 1939, Buchan Papers, Library and Archives Canada.</ref>

[[File:Elsfield BuchanGrave.JPG|thumb|Lord Tweedsmuir's grave in St Thomas's churchyard, [[Elsfield]]]]
On 6 February 1940, he suffered a slight stroke and struck his head on the edge of a bath at Rideau Hall.<ref>John Buchan: Master of Suspense BBC4 2 June 2022</ref> Two surgeries by Doctor [[Wilder Penfield]] of the [[Montreal Neurological Institute]] were insufficient to save him, and his death on 11 February saw an outpouring of grief, gratitude and admiration, not only in Canada but throughout the English-speaking world. In a radio eulogy, Mackenzie King stated: "In the passing of His Excellency, the people of Canada have lost one of the greatest and most revered of their Governors General, and a friend who, from the day of his arrival in this country, dedicated his life to their service."<ref>King, Rt.Hon. W.L. Mackenzie, ''Tributes to the Late Lord Tweedsmuir'', J.O. Patenaude, Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty, 1940, Library and Archives Canada.</ref>  The editor of the ''Ottawa Journal'' wrote: "He would have prepared us by deeper concern for things spiritual and intellectual, and by allegiance, above all, to the tradition of human dignity and liberty."<ref>''Ottawa Journal'', 12 February 1940</ref> The Governor General had formed a strong bond with his prime minister, even if it may have been built more on political admiration than friendship: Mackenzie King appreciated Buchan's "sterling rectitude and disinterested purpose."<ref name=TCE />

After [[lying in state]] in the [[Senate of Canada|Senate chamber]] on [[Parliament Hill]], Buchan was given a [[state funeral]] at [[St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church (Ottawa)|St Andrew's Presbyterian Church]] in Ottawa. His ashes were returned to the UK aboard the cruiser [[HMS Orion (85)|HMS ''Orion'']] for final burial at [[Elsfield]], the village where he lived in Oxfordshire.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80011946|title=Biggs, Percy Sydney (Oral history)|last=Biggs|first=Percy|date=28 August 1991|website=Imperial War Museums|series=Catalogue number 12211|at=23m57s|language=en|others=Wood, Conrad (recorder)|access-date=5 June 2019}}</ref> In the United Kingdom, a memorial service was held in medieval Elsfield church on the Saturday after his death and services were held later that month at Westminster Abbey and at St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh.<ref>Buchan, Ursula (2019). Beyond The Thirty-Nine Steps. London: Bloomsbury. p.400</ref>

==Legacy==
When Buchan died in Canada in February 1940 as Governor General Lord Tweedsmuir, he was widely and deeply mourned throughout the English-speaking world and beyond, both as writer and statesman. His last role gave emphasis to him as statesman but it is as a writer of popular thrillers for which he is mostly remembered now. Novelist Graham Greene wrote, eleven years after Tweedsmuir's death, that the settings, pace and pursuits in ''The Thirty-Nine Steps'' "were to be a pattern for adventure-writers ever since."<ref>Greene, Graham, ''The Lost Childhood and other essays'', Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, 1951, p. 104.</ref> He and his brother Hugh co-authored ''The Spy's Bedside Book'' and dedicated it "To the Immortal Memory of Wm Le Queux and John Buchan."<ref>Greene, Graham G. and Hugh G., editors, ''The Spy’s Bedside Book'', Rupert Hart-Davis, London, 1957.</ref> Fifty years after Buchan's death, historian David Stafford wrote that "his impact on the genre was profound, and he has left a mark that has remained strong to this day."<ref>Stafford, David, ''The Silent Game: The Real World of Imaginary Spies'', Lester & Orpen Dennys Limited, Toronto, Canada, 1988, p.53.</ref> [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] admired and was influenced by Buchan's adventure stories.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Resnick |first=Henry |year=1967 |title=An Interview with Tolkien |magazine=[[Niekas]] |pages=37–47}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lobdell |first=Jared C. |url=https://archive.org/details/worldofringslang0000lobd/page/5 |title=The World of the Rings: Language, Religion, and Adventure in Tolkien |publisher=Open Court |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-8126-9569-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/worldofringslang0000lobd/page/5 5–6] |author-link=Jared Lobdell}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Rogers |first1=William N. II |title=J. R. R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances: Views of Middle-earth |last2=Underwood |first2=Michael R. |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-313-30845-1 |editor-last=Clark |editor-first=George |pages=[https://archive.org/details/jrrtolkienhislit0000unse/page/121 121–132] |chapter=Gagool and Gollum: Exemplars of Degeneration in ''King Solomon's Mines'' and ''The Hobbit'' |editor-last2=Timmons |editor-first2=Daniel |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/jrrtolkienhislit0000unse/page/121}}</ref> And it continues. Distinguished military historian Sir John Keegan in 2004 wrote that Buchan "was a writer touched by genius."<ref>Keegan, Sir John, “The self-made Scot” in ''The New Criterion'', New York, October 2004.</ref> In a list of "The 100 best novels written in English, ''The Guardian newspaper'' in 2015 placed ''The Thirty-Nine Steps'' at 42nd.<ref>See: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/17/the-100-best-novels-written-in-english-the-full-list accessed 20 July 2024.</ref>

Buchan's 100 works and more include nearly 30 novels, seven collections of short stories, and biographies of Sir [[Walter Scott]], [[Caesar Augustus]], and [[Oliver Cromwell]]. He was awarded the 1928 [[James Tait Black Memorial Prize]] for his biography of the [[James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose|Marquess of Montrose]].<ref>''Montrose – A History'' was a scholarly revision of ''The Marquis of Montrose'', published in 1913.</ref> The "last Buchan" (as [[Graham Greene]] entitled his appreciative review) was the 1941 novel ''Sick Heart River'' (American title: ''Mountain Meadow''), in which a dying protagonist confronts the questions of the meaning of life in the Canadian wilderness.

In Canada as Governor General, he founded the [[Governor General's Literary Awards]], which remain Canada's premier awards for literature.<ref name=GGBuch /> He and Lady Tweedsmuir established the first proper library at Rideau Hall. His grandchildren Ursula, David, [[James Buchan|James]] and [[Perdita Buchan]] also became journalists and/or writers. His granddaughter Ursula wrote a biography of him, ''Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps: A Life of John Buchan''  (2019).<ref>{{Cite web |last= |title=Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps |url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/beyond-the-thirtynine-steps-9781408870822/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240910185148/https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/beyond-the-thirtynine-steps-9781408870822/ |archive-date=2024-09-10 |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=Bloomsbury |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Massie |first=Allan |date=2019-04-17 |title=Was there no end to his talents? |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/was-there-no-end-to-his-talents/#comments-container |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=The Spectator |language=en-GB}}</ref>

As Governor General and statesman, he helped strengthen relations between Britain and America, via his position in Canada as a prominent member of the British Commonwealth, at a critical period in world history. His breadth of experience, interests, knowledge and vision allowed him to be an interpreter of Britain, Canada, and the United States to each other. His contribution to Canada, reflecting his accomplishments and character, were recognized when the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada designated John Buchan, Lord Tweedsmuir, as a "person of national historic significance" in 2010.<ref>See: https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=12534  (accessed 31 July 2024).</ref> He left a living legacy in that at least four of his Canadian successors admired or took inspiration from his approach to the role of Governor General: Vincent Massey (1952-1959);<ref>Massey, Vincent, ''What’s Past Is Prologue: The Memoirs of Vincent Massey'', Macmillan Company of Canada, Toronto, 1963. Massey wrote: “I greatly admired his work as governor general and learnt much from it. No one among my predecessors had a clearer insight into Canadian life. He travelled as widely as he could and with imagination and courage.” p. 328.</ref> General Georges Vanier (1959-1967);<ref>Speaight, Robert, ''Vanier'', Collins, Toronto, 1970, p.488. Vanier had many traits in common with Tweedsmuir, including a strong Christian belief, military experience, loyalty to the Crown, belief in the importance of history, love of physical activity and the outdoors. See especially “Chapter 24: Themes of Office”, p. 439 where Vanier is referenced as quoting Tweedsmuir.</ref> Adrienne Clarkson (1999-2005);<ref>Clarkson, Adrienne, ''Heart Matters'', Viking Canada, Toronto, 2006.  Clarkson wrote at p. 217: “I always felt close to Buchan, who had become Lord Tweedsmuir, because he was a writer, because he began the Governor General’s Literary Awards, and because he truly loved Canada and travelled all over the North and the West.”  At page 206, she refers to Buchan’s approach as a basis for her own time as Governor General: “… Lord Tweedsmuir called on Canada ‘to make her own music,’ and that was an unquestioned and firmly established part of the vice-regal function while held the office.”</ref> and David Johnston (2010-2017).<ref>Johnston wrote he “has been drawn to John Buchan … a man of many parts and I think he was a quiet man … who derived his joy from serving well.” This was quoted from an article by Aaron Wherry in ''Maclean’s'' magazine, 10 October 2011, p. 19.</ref>

Tweedsmuir Provincial Park in British Columbia is now divided into [[Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park]] and [[Tweedsmuir North Provincial Park and Protected Area]]. It was created in 1938 to commemorate Buchan's 1937 visit to the [[Rainbow Range (Chilcotin Plateau)|Rainbow Range]] and other nearby areas by horseback and floatplane. He wrote in the foreword to a booklet published to commemorate his visit: "I have now travelled over most of Canada and have seen many wonderful things, but I have seen nothing more beautiful and more wonderful than the great park which British Columbia has done me the honour to call by my name".<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/tweeds_s/nat_cul.html#History| last=Ministry of the Environment| title=BC Parks > Find a Park > Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park > History| publisher=Queen's Printer for British Columbia| access-date=27 May 2009| archive-date=19 December 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219175934/http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/tweeds_s/nat_cul.html#History| url-status=dead}}</ref>

Canadian history professor Roger Hall noted in a book review that "a great deal of [Buchan's] success resulted from the extraordinary person he was, adding that "[n]ot many of our contemporary [Governor General] candidates come with those credentials" and "[I]n the end it is Buchan's role as a moral compass that seems most worthy."<ref>Hall, Roger, “Complicated Ghosts” in the Literary Review of Canada, January–February 2014. See: https://reviewcanada.ca/about-us/#history (accessed 31 July 2024). Some of the “credentials Hall lists are: “the influence and connections that he had fashioned through his long career as a lawyer, businessman, high-level civil servant, influential writer over a huge range (100 books!), member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, and his vast and well-placed international acquaintanceship.”</ref> Buchan's moral certainty was, as historian Sir John Keegan wrote, "one of his strengths as a writer [giving] him the power to achieve something particularly elusive: moral atmosphere."<ref>Keegan, Sir John, “The self-made Scot”, in The New Criterion, New York, October 2004.</ref>

John Buchan was and is an “inspiring example of a life lived for others”, as Ursula Buchan has written, from humble origins “without money or family influence, he nevertheless carved out a hugely successful writing and public career … His strengths, underpinned by a sincere and unwavering Christian faith, were his intelligence, humanity, clarity of thought, wit, moral and physical courage, a capacity to get on with everybody, from monarchs to miners, and an elegant prose style that appealed to a very wide readership.”<ref>See Ursula Buchan, on the John Buchan Society website: https://johnbuchansociety.co.uk/john-buchan/  accessed on 20 July 2024.</ref>

==Honours==
[[File:Medals of John Buchan.jpg|thumb|right|Medals of John Buchan in the [[National Museum of Scotland]]]]

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[[File:Cavaliere OCI BAR.svg|100px]]
[[File:BEL Croix de Guerre WW1 ribbon.svg|100px]]
}}

;Appointments
* {{Royal Standard-CAN-1931}} 1 January 1932: [[Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour]] (CH)
* {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} 23 May 1935: [[Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George]] (GCMG)
* {{flagicon|Canada|1921}} 2 November 1935: [[Scouts Canada#Organizational structure|Chief Scout for Canada]]
* {{flagicon|Canada|1921}} 2 November 1935: [[Royal Military College of Canada|Honorary Member of the Royal Military College of Canada Club]]
* {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} 28 May 1937: [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Member of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council]] (PC)<ref name=NLS>{{cite web| url=http://www.nls.uk/catalogues/online/cnmi/inventories/acc12329.pdf| title=Material relating to John Buchan, first Lord Tweedsmuir (1875–1940)| publisher=National Library of Scotland| id=ACC 12329| access-date=29 March 2009| archive-date=3 March 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303182748/http://www.nls.uk/catalogues/online/cnmi/inventories/acc12329.pdf| url-status=dead}}</ref>
* {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} 15 June 1939: [[Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]] (GCVO)<ref name=NLS />
* {{flagicon|England}}: [[Fellow#Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin|Honorary Fellow of Oxford University]]

;Medals
* {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} 1900: [[Queen's South Africa Medal]] with three clasps: ''South Africa 1902, South Africa 1901 and Transvaal''
* {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} 1918: [[British War Medal]]
* {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} 1918: [[Victory Medal 1914–1918|Victory Medal]]
* {{flagicon|Canada|1921}} 1935: [[King George V Silver Jubilee Medal]]
* {{flagicon|Canada|1921}} 1937: [[King George VI Coronation Medal]]

;Awards
* {{flagicon|England}} 1897: [[Stanhope essay prize]]
* {{flagicon|England}} 1898: [[Newdigate Prize]]
* {{flagicon|Scotland}} 1928: [[James Tait Black Memorial Prize]]
* {{flagicon|Canada|1921}} 4 December 1940: [[Silver Wolf Award (The Scout Association)|Silver Wolf Award]] (posthumous)<ref name=NLS />

;Foreign honours
* {{flagicon|Belgium}}: [[Order of the Crown (Belgium)|Knight of the Order of the Crown of Belgium]]
* {{flagicon|Italy|1861}} 15 December 1918: [[Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy]]<ref name="NLS" />
* {{flagicon|Belgium}}: [[Croix de guerre (Belgium)|Croix de Guerre of Belgium]]

;Non-national honours
* {{flagicon|Canada|1921}} 1937: Master of the [[Order of Good Cheer]]

=== Honorary military appointments ===
* {{flagicon|Canada|1921}} 2 November 1935: Colonel of [[the Governor General's Horse Guards]]
* {{flagicon|Canada|1921}} 2 November 1935: Colonel of the [[Governor General's Foot Guards]]
* {{flagicon|Canada|1921}} 2 November 1935: Colonel of [[the Canadian Grenadier Guards]]

=== Honorary degrees ===
{{Incomplete list|date=May 2009}}
* {{flagicon|England}} 20 June 1934: [[University of Oxford]], [[Doctor of Civil Law]] (DCL)<ref name=NLS />
* {{flagicon|Canada|1921}} 1936: [[University of Toronto]], [[Doctor of Laws]] (LLD)<ref name=UT>{{Cite book| title=Honorary Degree Recipients 1850 – 2008| date=30 June 2008| page=8| place=Toronto| publisher=University of Toronto| url=http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/Assets/Governing+Council+Digital+Assets/Boards+and+Committees/Committee+for+Honorary+Degrees/degreerecipients1850tillnow.pdf}}</ref>
* {{flagicon|Canada|1921}} 1936: [[University of Toronto]], [[Doctor of Divinity]] (DD)<ref name=UT />
* {{flagicon|United States|1912}} 1937: [[Harvard University]], Doctor of Laws (LLD)<ref name=Parl />
* {{flagicon|United States|1912}} 1937: [[Yale University]], Doctor of Laws (LLD)<ref name=Parl />
* {{flagicon|Canada|1921}}: [[McGill University]], Doctor of Laws (LLD)
* {{flagicon|Canada|1921}}: [[Université de Montréal]], Doctor of Laws (LLD)
* {{flagicon|Scotland}}: [[University of Glasgow]], Doctor of Laws (LLD)
* {{flagicon|Scotland}}: [[University of St Andrews]], Doctor of Laws (LLD)

=== Honorific eponyms ===
;Geographic locations
* {{flag|British Columbia}}: [[Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park]]
* {{flag|British Columbia}}: [[Tweedsmuir North Provincial Park and Protected Area]]
* {{flag|British Columbia}}: [[Tweedsmuir Peak]]<ref>{{cite web| url=http://bivouac.com/MtnPg.asp?MtnId=4987| title=Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia > Tweedsmuir Peak| publisher=Mountain Equipment Co-op| access-date=27 May 2009}}</ref>
* {{flag|Ontario}}: Tweedsmuir Avenue, [[Ottawa]]
* {{flag|Ontario}}: Tweedsmuir Avenue, [[Toronto]]
* {{flag|Ontario}}: Tweedsmuir Avenue, [[London, Ontario|London]]
* {{flag|Ontario}}: Tweedsmuir Place, [[Deep River, Ontario|Deep River]]
* {{flag|Manitoba}}: Tweedsmuir Place, [[Pinawa]]
* {{flag|Manitoba}}: Tweedsmuir Road, [[Winnipeg]]
* {{flag|Quebec}}: Buchan Street, [[Montreal]]
* {{flag|Saskatchewan}}: [http://wikimapia.org/2025665/Tweedsmuir-Saskatchewan Tweedsmuir]
* {{flag|Scotland}}: [[John Buchan Way]], [[Broughton, Scottish Borders|Broughton]]<ref>{{cite web| url=http://walking.visitscotland.com/walks/southscotland/213763| title=Find a Walk > The John Buchan Way (Peebles to Broughton)| publisher=Walking Scotland| access-date=26 March 2009}}</ref>

;Schools
* {{flag|Alberta}}: [[Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School]], [[Okotoks]]
* {{flag|British Columbia}}: [[Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary School]], [[New Westminster]]
* {{flag|British Columbia}}: [[Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School]], [[Surrey, British Columbia|Surrey]]
* {{flag|British Columbia}}: Tweedsmuir Hall (student residence), [[University of British Columbia]]
* {{flag|Ontario}}: [[Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute|John Buchan Senior Public School]], [[Toronto]]
* {{flag|Ontario}}: [[Tweedsmuir Public School (North Bay)|Tweedsmuir Public School]], [[North Bay, Ontario|North Bay]]
* {{flag|Ontario}}: [[Tweedsmuir Public School (London)|Tweedsmuir Public School]], [[London, Ontario|London]]

;Organisations
* {{flag|Scotland}}: John Buchan Story Museum,<ref>https://www.johnbuchanstory.co.uk Accessed 28 January 2025</ref> Peebles, Scottish Borders

==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = [[File:Coat of arms of John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir.svg|centre|240px]]
|escutcheon = Azure a fess between three lions' heads erased Argent.
|crest = A sunflower Proper.
|supporters = Dexter a stag Proper attired Or collared Gules sinister a falcon Proper jessed belled and beaked Or armed and collared Gules.
|motto = ''Non Inferiora Secutus'' (Not Following Meaner Things)
|orders = The Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George - Knight Grand Cross (GCMG).<ref>{{cite book |title=Debrett's peerage and baronetage |date=2003 |page= 1603 | URL=https://archive.org/details/debrettspeerageb0000unse_r0m8/page/1603/ |access-date=11 November 2025}}</ref>}}

==See also==
* [[List of works by John Buchan]]
* [[List of Scottish novelists]]
* [[List of European mystery writers]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Bell, John. "John Buchan: Adventurer on the Borderland". (Introduction to) John Buchan, ''[[The Far Islands and Other Tales of Fantasy]]''. West Kingston, RI: Donald M. Grant, 1984, pp7–18
* Brinckman, John, ''Down North: John Buchan and Margaret-Bourke on the Mackenzie'' {{ISBN|978-0-9879163-3-4}}
* Buchan, Ursula. ''Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps: A Life of John Buchan'' (Bloomsbury, 2019) {{ISBN|978-1-4088-7083-9}}
* Daniell, David, ''The Interpreter's House: A Critical Assessment of John Buchan'' (Nelson, 1975) {{ISBN|0-17-146051-0}}
* Galbraith, J. William, "John Buchan: Model Governor General" (Dundurn, Toronto, 2013) {{ISBN|978-1-45970-937-9}}
* [[Andrew Lownie|Lownie, Andrew]], ''John Buchan: The Presbyterian Cavalier'' (David R. Godine Publisher, 2003) {{ISBN|1-56792-236-8}}
* Macdonald, Kate, ''John Buchan: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction'' (McFarland & Company, 2009) {{ISBN|978-0-7864-3489-3}}
* Macdonald, Kate (ed.), ''Reassessing John Buchan: Beyond 'The Thirty-Nine Steps''' (Pickering & Chatto, 2009) {{ISBN|978-1-85196-998-2}}
* [[John Pick|Pick, J.B.]], "A Cotswold Calvinist: John Buchan (1875–1940)", in ''The Great Shadow House: Essays on the Metaphysical Tradition in Scottish Fiction'', pp.&nbsp;66–72 (Polygon, 1993) {{isbn|9780748661169}} 
* Smith, Janet Adam, ''John Buchan: A Biography'' (1965) (Oxford University Press, reissue 1985) {{ISBN|0-19-281866-X}}
* Waddell, Nathan, ''Modern John Buchan: A Critical Introduction'' (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009) {{ISBN|978-1-4438-1370-9}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
{{Commons category|John Buchan}}
;Digital collections
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/john-buchan}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=285 | name=John Buchan}}
* {{FadedPage|id=Buchan, John|name=John Buchan|author=yes}}
* [http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-a-m.html#buchan Project Gutenberg Australia: Works by John Buchan]
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=John Buchan}}
** ''A History of the Great War'' Volumes  [https://archive.org/details/historyofgreatwa01buch_0/page/n3/mode/2up I], [https://archive.org/details/historyofgreatwa02buch_0/page/n9/mode/2up II], [https://archive.org/details/historyofgreatwa03buch_0/page/n9/mode/2up III], and [https://archive.org/details/historyofgreatwa04buch_0/page/n9/mode/2up IV]
* {{Librivox author |id=83}}
* {{OL author|18528A}}

;Physical collections
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090726130304/http://www.biggarmuseumtrust.co.uk/cms/index.php?page=buchan John Buchan Museum]

;Biographical information
* [http://gg.ca/document.aspx?id=15420&lan=eng Governor General of Canada: Lord Tweedsmuir]
* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-buchan-1st-baron-tweedsmuir-1/ The Canadian Encyclopedia: John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir]
* [https://archives-manuscripts.dartmouth.edu/repositories/2/resources/1434 John Buchan Letters] at Dartmouth College Library

;Other links
* Queen's University Library, Ottawa, Canada, [https://archive.org/details/checklistofworks0000unse/page/n9/mode/2up ''Checklist of Works by and About John Buchan''], Boston: G. K. Hall, 1961
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-john-buchan | John Buchan }}
* [http://www.johnbuchansociety.co.uk/ The John Buchan Society]
* {{IMDb name| id=0117955| name=John Buchan}}
* {{ISFDB name|3627}}
* {{LCAuth|n79045167|John Buchan|208|ue}}
* A Time Magazine book review, 1940: [https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,764588,00.html ''Link'']

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{{CanGG}}
{{John Buchan}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchan, John}}
[[Category:John Buchan| ]]
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[[Category:Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom|Tweedsmuir, John Buchan, 1st Baron]]
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