Susan Buchan, Baroness Tweedsmuir

Who was Susan Buchan, Baroness Tweedsmuir?

Susan Buchan, Baroness Tweedsmuir was the wife of author John Buchan. Between 1935 and 1940 she was viceregal consort of Canada while her husband was the governor general. She was also the author of several novels, children's books, and biographies, some of which were published under the name Susan Tweedsmuir.

Susan was a daughter of the Honourable Norman de L'Aigle Grosvenor and his wife Caroline Susan Theodora Stuart-Wortley, and thus a cousin of the Dukes of Westminster. She married John Buchan on 15 July 1907, and became the Baroness Tweedsmuir when he was created Baron Tweedsmuir in 1935. The Buchans had four children, two of whom would spend most of their lives in Canada.

Susan Buchan's time as Vicereine of Canada is remembered for her energetic relief work. Her library project of gathering books in Eastern Canada for impoverished western communities and sending train carloads of them west was the foundation of public libraries across the prairies. Her work for literacy in western Canada is still remembered and she is a heroine in Canada of the Great Depression. Her interest in literary education influenced the establishment of the Governor General's Awards, for many years Canada's primary literary awards, and the library at Rideau Hall.