Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy

Field Marshal The Right Honourable The Viscount Byng of Vimy GCB, GCMG, MVO
Byng in 1921
12th Governor General of Canada
In office 2 August 1921 – 5 August 1926
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Canadian Arthur Meighen W. L. M. King British David Lloyd George Bonar Law Stanley Baldwin Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by	The Duke of Devonshire
Succeeded by	The Viscount Willingdon
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Personal details
Born	Julian Hedworth George Byng (1862-09-11)11 September 1862 Wrotham Park, Hertfordshire, England
Died	6 June 1935(1935-06-06) (aged 72) Thorpe Hall, Essex, England
Spouse	Marie Evelyn Moreton
Profession	Officer
Signature
Military career
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1879–1919
Rank	Field Marshal
Commands held	Third Army Canadian Corps XVII Corps IX Corps British Troops in Egypt 1st Cavalry Brigade 2nd Cavalry Brigade 10th Royal Hussars South African Light Horse
Battles/wars	Mahdist War Battles of El Teb Battle of Tamai Second Boer War First World War First Battle of Ypres Gallipoli Campaign Battle of Vimy Ridge Battle of Cambrai Hundred Days Offensive
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Member of the Royal Victorian Order Mentioned in Despatches (8)

Field Marshal Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, GCB, GCMG, MVO (11 September 1862 – 6 June 1935), was a British Army officer who served as Governor General of Canada, the 12th since the Canadian Confederation.

Known to friends as "Bungo", Byng was born to a noble family at Wrotham Park in Hertfordshire, England and educated at Eton College, along with his brothers. Upon graduation, he received a commission as a militia officer and saw service in Egypt and Sudan before enrolling in the Staff College at Camberley. There, he befriended individuals who would be his contemporaries when he attained senior rank in France. Following distinguished service during the First World War—specifically, with the British Expeditionary Force in France, in the Battle of Gallipoli, as commander of the Canadian Corps at Vimy Ridge, and as commander of the British Third Army—Byng was elevated to the peerage in 1919. In 1921, King George V, on the recommendation of Prime Minister David Lloyd George, appointed him to replace the Duke of Devonshire as Canada's governor general, a post he occupied until the Viscount Willingdon succeeded him in 1926. Byng proved to be popular with Canadians due to his war leadership, though his stepping directly into political affairs became the catalyst for widespread changes to the role of the Crown in all of the British Dominions.

After his viceregal tenure, Byng returned to the UK to be appointed Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and was promoted within the peerage to become Viscount Byng of Vimy. Three years after attaining the rank of field marshal, he died at his home, Thorpe Hall on 6 June 1935.