Canadian High Commission - Grosvenor Square, London, UK
N 51° 30.688 W 000° 08.992
30U E 697767 N 5710556
Located in a terrace on the eastern side of Grosvenor Square opposite the United States Embassy.
Waymark Code: WMD7CR
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 11/30/2011
Views: 2
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The building is known as MacDonald House and a stone plaque on the wall explains in English and French. The English text reads:
"MacDonald House // This tablet commemorates / the naming of this building in 1961 / after the first Prime Minister of Canada / The Rt Hon Sir John Alexander MacDonald / G.C.B. P.C. Q.C. // The Hon Paul Martin R.C. Q.C. / High Commissioner for Canada / October 1975".
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Canada's presence in London goes back to 1869 when Sir John Rose, 1st Baronet was appointed as Canada's informal representative in Britain. This was the first Canadian diplomatic posting and the first from any British colony to the motherland. Since Canada did not have a foreign ministry, Rose acted as the personal representative of Canada's prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald. Rose's position was retained despite a change of government in Canada and his position was given the title "Financial Commissioner for the Dominion of Canada". When Macdonald returned to power in 1878 he wanted to elevate the office to "resident minister" but this was disallowed by Britain, who offered the title of high commissioner instead; this was the origin of the practice whereby members of the Commonwealth send high commissioners rather than ambassadors to each other, which continues to this day.
The first high commissioner was Alexander Tilloch Galt, appointed in 1880. The office remained the most important in Canadian diplomacy and was always filled by political appointees rather than career diplomats even after Canada created a Ministry of External Affairs in 1921.
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