John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham
Governor General and High Commissioner, British North America[1] | |
---|---|
In office 1838–1839 | |
Monarch | Victoria |
Prime Minister | The Lord Melbourne |
Preceded by | Sir John Colborne |
Succeeded by | The Lord Sydenham |
Personal details | |
Born | 12 April 1792 St George Hanover Square, Middlesex, England |
Died | 28 July 1840 Cowes, England | (aged 48)
Political party | Whig |
Spouses | |
Children | 8 |
Parents |
|
Signature | |
Military career | |
Service/ | British Army |
Years of service | 1809–1811 |
Rank | Cornet |
Unit | 10th Hussars |
John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham,
Background and education
Lambton was born 12 April 1792 in the house of his father William Henry Lambton at 14 Berkeley Square in St George Hanover Square (now within the City of Westminster).[4] His mother was Lady Anne Barbara Frances, daughter of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey.[citation needed] Lambton was christened with the names of his grandfathers, John Lambton and George Villiers. In the time of Lambton's birth, his father was taking active part in the formation and chairing of the Society of the Friends of the People.[4]
After attending
He supported educational projects such as the
New Zealand
In 1825 Lambton took the chairmanship of the New Zealand Company, a venture that made the first attempt to colonise New Zealand,[8] with his interest being philanthropic.[9][10] However the venture did not succeed at colonisation.[7]
Political career
Durham was first elected to Parliament for
Lord Durham resigned from cabinet in 1833. Later the same year he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Lambton and
Canada
In 1838, Lord Durham was named
He and his longtime colleague
Durham's detailed and famous
Lord Durham has been lauded in Canadian history for his recommendation to introduce responsible government. However, the British government did not accept that recommendation. It took 10 more years before a responsible parliament was established in the colonies. (Colonial legislatures had existed in the two Canadas since 1791 but were toothless compared to appointed colonial administrators).[20] Lord Durham is less well regarded for recommending the union of Upper and Lower Canada, which resulted in the creation of the united Province of Canada.
As early as 1844, Lord Durham's intended policy of assimilation faced setbacks, as
Family
Lord Durham was twice married. He fell in love with Harriet, the illegitimate daughter of the Earl of Cholmondeley, but then aged under 21 and refused the required permission by his guardians to marry her, they married at Gretna Green on 1 January 1812, then in an Anglican ceremony at her father's estate of Malpas, Cheshire, on 28 January that year. They had three daughters, who all predeceased him:
- Lady Frances Charlotte (16 October 1812 – 18 December 1835), married the Hon. John Ponsonby (later 5th Earl of Bessborough), but died a few months later of consumption.
- The Hon. Georgiana Sarah Elizabeth (2 March 1814 – 3 January 1833)
- The Hon. Harriet Caroline (30 May 1815 – 12 June 1832)
After Harriet's death in July 1815, he married secondly Lady Louisa Grey, daughter of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, on 9 December 1816 at Lord Grey's estate, Howick, Northumberland. She was an amateur artist.[21] They had two sons and three daughters:
- The Hon. Charles William (16 January 1818 – 24 September 1831) – see The Red Boy
- Lady Mary Louisa (8 May 1819 – 9 March 1898), married James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin
- Lady Emily Augusta (17 May 1823 – 2 November 1886), married Henry Cavendish, son of the Hon. Henry Cavendish
- The Hon. George Frederick D'Arcy (5 September 1828 – 27 November 1879), later 2nd Earl of Durham
- Lady Alice Anne Caroline (16 April 1831 – 15 January 1907), married Sholto Douglas, Lord Aberdour (later 18th Earl of Morton)
Lord Durham died at Cowes on the Isle of Wight in July 1840, aged 48, and was buried at St Mary and St Cuthbert, Chester-le-Street. He was succeeded by his eldest and only surviving son, George. The Countess of Durham only survived her husband by a year and died aged 44 on 26 November 1841 at Genoa from a serious cold.[22]
In literature
In one of her occasional political forays, Letitia Elizabeth Landon in her poetical illustration to Sir Thomas Lawrence's portrait, 'The Right Honourable Lord Durham. Now on an Embassy at the Court of Russia' in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1833', expresses her hopes that Lord Durham be able to persuade the Russians to return to Poland its lost freedom and sovereignty.[23]
Legacy
Names given in honour of the Earl include
References
- ^ Canadian Encyclopedia (2000), p. 707
- ^ "Canadian Encyclopedia". Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Foundation, Toronto. 2011. Archived from the original on 29 November 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
- ^ George Woodcock, "'Radical Jack': John George Lambton, First Earl of Durham." History Today 9.1 (1959): 3-12.
- ^ a b Reid 1906, p. 38.
- ^ "The Straits Times". 14 May 1959. Retrieved 12 June 2013. [dead link]
- ^ Bank of England Inflation Calculator
- ^ a b c Woodcock, 1959.
- ISBN 978-1-927277-19-5. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
...first published in 1977.
- ^ McDonnell, Hilda (2002). "Chapter 3: The New Zealand Company of 1825". The Rosanna Settlers: with Captain Herd on the coast of New Zealand 1826-7. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
including Thomas Shepherd's Journal and his coastal views, The NZ Company of 1825.
{{cite book}}
:|website=
ignored (help)[permanent dead link] - Wakefield, Edward Jerningham (1845). Adventure in New Zealand, from 1839 to 1844: With Some Account of the Beginning of the British Colonization of the Islands. John Murray. p. 4. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
Digitised 22 July 2009
- ^ "No. 18433". The London Gazette. 18 January 1828. p. 122.
- ^ "No. 18748". The London Gazette. 23 November 1830. p. 2450.
- ^ "No. 19030". The London Gazette. 15 March 1833. p. 523.
- ^ S. T. Bindoff, E. F. Malcolm Smith and C. K. Webster, British Diplomatic Representatives 1789–1852 (Camden 3rd Series, 50, 1934).
- ^ "Unknown title". The Quebec Almanack and British American Royal Kalendar For The Year 1815. Quebec: J. Neilso, No. 3 Mountain Street. 1815.
- ^ "Preparation for the departure of Lord Durham". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke Parish, Bermuda. 1 May 1835. Page 2, Column 3.
-Great expedition is making at Sheerness, in fitting out the Hastings 74, the late flag-ship of Vice-Admiral Sir William Gall Gage, the late Commander-in-Chief on the Tagus, that vessel having been ordered to convy the Earl and Countess of Durham, family and suite to Quebec. The Hastings, commanded by Capt. Lock, is expected to be ready for sea in five weeks. Standard Considerable activity is apparent in the River: the following ships and vessels are preparing for sea, viz. Hastings, 78, Andromache, 28, Volage, 28, Modeste, 18, Charybdis, 3, Pincher schooner, Cruizer, 16, with the steam frigate Medea, and Dee, and steam-vessels Meteor, Tartarus, and Megara.-Portsmouth, March 3. The Gannet, 16, Com. Whish, recently from the West Indies, has been paid off.
- ^ Chester William New, Lord Durham. A Biography of John George Lambton, First Earl of Durham (1929) p 375.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-85109-431-8
- ^ Lambton, John George, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, University of Toronto, Université Laval, 2000
- ^ a b R. Douglas Francis, Richard Jones, Donald B. Smith (1996). Origins: Canadian History To Confederation, Toronto: Harcourt Brace Canada.
- ^ John Richard Coke SMYTH (1808-82), Coke-Smyth.com, Retrieved 20 June 2016
- ^ The Gentlemen's Magazine, Volume 171, page 209>
- ^ Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1832). "poetical illustration". Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1833. Fisher, Son & Co.Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1832). "picture". Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1833. Fisher, Son & Co.
Works cited
- Reid, Stuart J. (1906). Life and Letters of (John George Lambton) the First Earl of Durham 1792–1840. Longmans, Green & Company.
Bibliography
In English
- Ajzenstat, Janet (1988). The Political Thought of Lord Durham. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University. p. 137. ISBN 0773506373.
- Bradshaw, Frederick (1903). Self-Government in Canada, and How it was Achieved: The Story of Lord Durham's Report. London: P.S.King. pp. 414 p.
- Martin, Ged (1972). The Durham Report and British Policy. Cambridge University Press. pp. 120 pages. ISBN 0521085306.
- New, Chester. "Lord Durham and the British Background of His Report." Canadian Historical Review 20.2 (1939): 119–135. online
- New, Chester. Lord Durham's Mission to Canada: A Biography of John George Lambton, First Earl of Durham Clarendon Press, 1929) online.
- Ouellet, Fernand (2000). "Lambton, John George, first Earl of Durham". Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. University of Toronto, Université Laval.
- Reid, Stuart J. Life and Letters of the First Earl of Durham: 1792–1840 (2 vol London: Longmans, Green and Company. 1906). vol 1 online; also vol 2 online
- Wallace, W. Stewart (1948). "John George Lambton, first Earl of Durham (1792–1840)". The Encyclopedia of Canada. II. Toronto: University Associates of Canada: 411.
- Woodcock, George. "'Radical Jack': John George Lambton, First Earl of Durham." History Today 9.1 (1959): 3–12.
Primary sources
- Lambton, John George; Buller, Charles; Wakefield, Edward Gibbon (1839). The Report and Despatches of the Earl of Durham, Her Majesty's High Commissioner and Governor-General of British North America. London: Ridgways, Piccadilly.
- Mill, John Stuart (January 1838). "Radical Party and Canada: Lord Durham and the Canadians". London and Westminster Review. s. VI & XXVIII.
- Lambton, John George (1835). Speeches of the Earl of Durham on Reform of Parliament. Piccadilly: James Ridgway and Sons. pp. 204 p. . Quebec Telegraph Print. Co. 1915.
- Shelley, Frances; Edgcumbe, Richard (1912). The Diary of Frances Lady Shelley. New York: C. Scribner's. pp. 406.
- Reid, John (1835). Sketch of the Political Career of the Earl of Durham. Glasgow: John Reid & Co. pp. 400 p.
In French
- Viau, Roger (1963). Lord Durham (in French). Montréal: Éditions HMH limitée. pp. 181 p.
- Desrosiers, Léo-Paul (1937). L'Accalmie : Lord Durham au Canada (in French). Montréal: Le Devoir. pp. 148 p.
- Fernand Ouellet « Lambton, John George, 1er comte de Durham [archive] », dans le Dictionnaire biographique du Canada en ligne, University of Toronto et Université Laval, 2000
- Ajzenstat, Janet (1988). La pensée politique de lord Durham (in French). Montréal: Université McGill-Queen. pp. 137 p. ISBN 0773506373.
- Martin, Ged (1972). Le rapport Durham et de la politique britannique (in French). Cambridge University Press. pp. 120 p. ISBN 0521085306.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Durham
- Watch the 1961 short drama Lord Durham at the National Film Board of Canada
- John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham at IMDb(imdb.com entry for the above film)
- Archives of John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham (John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham fonds, R2469) are held at Library and Archives Canada