Henry Ernest Kendall

Who was Henry Ernest Kendall?

Henry Ernest Kendall, was a farmer, physician and politician who served as the 19th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia from 1942 to 1947.

Kendall was the son of Reverend Samuel Frederick Kendall of Bristol, England and Emily Long of London. The couple settled in Sydney, Nova Scotia in 1857. Reverend Kendall, a member of the Plymouth Brethren, established the Union Church on Mitchell Island in 1866.

Kendall was widowed in 1909 following the death of his wife, Ida. In 1913, he married Margaret McLennan, daughter of John Stewart McLennan, an industrialist who would be appointed to the Canadian Senate several years later.

During World War I, Kendall enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and served as Lieutenant Colonel of the 9th Stationary Hospital based at Bramshott Military Hospital in England from 1916 to 1919.

In the 1921 federal election, Kendall was an unsuccessful candidate for the Progressive Party of Canada in Hants riding.

He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia at the age of 78, the oldest person to hold the office in the province's history.