Text from the plaque:
ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES EDMUND KINGSMILL
Admiral Sir Charles Edmund Kingsmill was the founder of the Canadian Navy. Born in Guelph, Ontario, he attended Upper Canada Collage and in 1869, entered the Royal Navy in Britain. In 1908, he returned to Canada to advise Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier on the creation of a Canadian navy. He served as the first director of the naval service from 1910-1920 and saw the new navy safely throug a period of limited resources and political controversy, and the demands of the First World War. During the war, Kingsmill threngthened the command and intelligence garhering organizations, essential foundations for the future growth of the Canadian Navy. Throughout his service he encouraged and supported the training of Young Canadian officers who would eventually lead Canada's great naval efforts of the Second World War and early Cold War. Kingsmill was knighted by King George V in 1918. He died in his summer home near Portland and is burried here in Emmanuel Anglican Cemetery.
From: Wikipedia
Charles Kingsmill
Admiral Sir Charles Edmund Kingsmill (July 7, 1855 – July 15, 1935) was the first Director of the Canadian Naval Service (which later became the Royal Canadian Navy).
Charles Edmund Kingsmill was born at Guelph, Ontario in 1855 and educated at Upper Canada College in Toronto. He was the son of John Juchereau Kingsmill, Crown Attorney for Wellington County and Diana Grange. In 1870 he joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman. He was promoted Sub-Lieutenant in 1875, Lieutenant in 1877, Commander in 1891, and Captain in 1898. During his career in the Royal Navy, he commanded HM Ships Goldfinch (1890-91), Blenheim (1895-95), Archer (1895-98), Gibraltar (1900), Mildura (1900-03), Resolution, Majestic (1905-06), and Dominion (1907).
At the behest of then Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier in 1908, Kingsmill retired from the Royal Navy and returned to Canada to accept the post of director of the Marine Service in the Department of Marine and Fisheries under then Minister of Marine and Fisheries Louis P. Brodeur. The appointment predetermined his eventual appointment as Rear-Admiral RCN and director of the Naval Service of Canada upon the formation of the RCN on May 4, 1910. He served in that position for 11 years and guided Canada’s nascent Navy through its first decade. He was made Vice-Admiral on 17 May 1913 and a full Admiral in 1917.
He was appointed honorary aide-de-camp to His Excellency the Governor-General in 1909. He was made a Knight Bachelor in 1918. He was awarded for outstanding services as the Director of Naval Services of Canada 1910 - 1921.
He retired on Dec. 31, 1921 and died at his summer home on Grindstone Island, near Portland, Ontario in July 1935.
Medals of Admiral Sir Charles Edmund Kingsmill, Kt:
African General Service Medal (bar Somaliland 1902 - 1904)
Egypt Medal (1884-1885)
Khedive's Star for service in Egypt
Grand Officer, Order of the Crown of Italy
Officer, Legion of Honour (France) (1906)
The junior officer quarters at NOTC Venture are named after him.