Royal Military College of Canada Museum
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| Established | 1962 |
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| Location | Fort Frederick 4 Passchendale Dr. on the campus of the Royal Military College of Canada Kingston, Ontario Ontario East |
| Coordinates | 44°13′40″N 76°28′11″W / 44.2277°N 76.4696°WCoordinates: 44°13′40″N 76°28′11″W / 44.2277°N 76.4696°W |
| Type | military history |
| Curator | Ross McKenzie |
| Website | [1] |
The Royal Military College of Canada Museum, established in 1962, is located in a Martello tower known as Fort Frederick on the campus of the Royal Military College of Canada (RRMC or RMC) in Kingston, Ontario, and is operated by the college. The museum has regular hours from the last weekend in June until Labour Day. Although admission is free, donations are accepted. Guided tours are offered in English and French. Genealogical research and archival records services are offered relating to college history or with inquires relating to ex-cadets when permitted by privacy regulations. .
The museum and historic site can also be visited via the Virtual Museum. The Martello tower housing the museum is a 1790 fortification consisting mostly of earthworks with a north wall of stone masonry. It is on the Registry of Historic Places of Canada. Fort Frederick is one of four Martello Towers, built by Corps of Royal Engineers between 1846 and 1848 to augment the Kingston defences. The Martello tower was named in honour of Frederick, Prince of Wales.
The museum's purpose is to collect, conserve, research and display artifacts and records relating to the history of the RMCC, achievements of its graduates and the earlier naval history of its site, including the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard which once occupied Point Frederick.
The museum also holds a small collection of material related to the Point Frederick dockyard and the Royal Navy.
The Royal Military College and other military units started to collect artifacts in a piecemeal way after the Great War. The college’s commandants indicated in 1918 that he wanted to establish a museum at RMC. Individual requests were made to the War Trophy Commission 1918–19 and artifacts were received over a period of time 1920-26. Major-General Sir Archibald Macdonell, who wished to establish a museum in 1919, wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Militia Council requesting, “that some of the various War Trophies captired [sic] by the Canadian Corps may be dispatched to the Royal Military College, for disposal about the grounds and buildings. Oweing [sic] to the record of the ex-cadets, it would be only fitting and right that the College be allowed certain trophies.” He noted that some trophies had been turned in from the field to the War Trophies Commission addressed to RMC, but had not yet been received. Major Gustave Lanctôt of the Dominion Archives replaied in 1920 that the War Trophies Commission was waiting for governmental policy with respect to the distribution of War Trophies; [the College] “may be assured to receive the best treatment possible in view of the fine record of its students and the importance of its standing as a National Military College.”
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