George Stanley Residence

This was the former home of Dr. George Francis Gilman Stanley, who designed the Canadian flag. It was built in 1911 by John Henry Stanley, manager of the local Stanley paper company. His son George was born in Calgary and lived here until leaving to study at the University of Alberta. George was the Rhodes Scholar for Alberta and went to Oxford University in 1929. He earned numerous degrees there including a fellowship in Imperial Studies and he even played on the Oxford University ice hockey club that won the Spengler Cup in 1931. After four years as a history professor at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, Stanley left to serve in World War Two, leaving the army as a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1947. At the University of British Columbia, Stanley held the first-ever chair in Canadian history. He later became Head of the history department at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario where he taught the first undergraduate course in military history ever, in Canada. It was during Stanley's tenure at the Military College that he suggested the basic design for the Canadian flag in 1965. Besides his countless recognitions and awards, Stanley was also a prolific writer. Some of his history books have become required reading at both universities and military colleges. In 1982 he became Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick where he played host to the Pope as well as numerous diplomats and political leaders. Stanley was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 1976 and promoted to Companion of the Order in 1995. In 1998, he donated his book collection to a special collections library at the University of Calgary in recognition of the city of his birth. Today his childhood home serves as a restaurant.