Marie Byng, Viscountess Byng of Vimy

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Marie Evelyn Moreton, (1870–1949) also known as Lady Byng, was the wife of Lord Byng, the twelfth Governor General of Canada.

Born Marie Evelyn Moreton, she was born to the Hon. Sir Richard Charles Reynolds-Moreton and Janie Ralli on January 11, 1870 in London, England. Lady Byng's father was comptroller at Rideau Hall during the term of Marques of Lorne. She married Lord Byng in 1902. She and Lord Byng lived in India before arriving back in Canada. They had no children.

Lady Byng is best known today for donating the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy to the National Hockey League in 1925. She and her husband were both keen sports fans, especially of ice hockey, and they attended many Ottawa Senators games. They donated the trophy because Lady Byng appreciated gentlemanly play and wanted to encourage and reward it.

Like her husband, Lady Byng also enjoyed travel. The couple travelled more within Canada than any previous Governor General of Canada. She also donated a rock garden to Rideau Hall.

At the end of his term as Governor General, Lord and Lady Byng returned to England, but she returned to live in Canada with friends after his death in 1935. She spent time working at thirft shops in Ottawa during the war and wrote her autobiography Up the Stream of Time. Lady Byng died on June 20, 1949 in Ottawa, Ontario.^[1]