Admiral Sir Charles Edmund Kingsmill was the founder of the Canadian Navy. Born in Guelph, Ontario, he attended Upper Canada College 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 through a period of limited resources and political controversy, and the demands of the First World War. During the War, Kingsmill strengthened the command and intelligence gathering 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 at his summer home near Portland and is buried here in Emmanuel Anglican Cemetery.

Location

On Highway 15, about 600 metres (nearly 2,000 feet) northeast of the intersection of Highway 15 and Big Rideau Lake Road, southwest of Portland

Themes

• People
• War and conflict