|
Guy
Carleton |
Jay's Treaty | Black
Loyalists | Alexander
Mackenzie | Simon Fraser |
David Thompson |
John Graves Simcoe |
Captain George Vancouver |
The Northwest Company |
Prevost's Conciliation |
Tecumseh |
The War of 1812 | Lord Selkirk
| Newfoundland |
Constitution Act 1791
Sir Guy Carleton served as Governor of
all the Canada's and oversaw two important transitions
in the character and rule of the colonies during those
reigns.
he was born in Ireland
on September 3, 1724 and was commissioned into the
British army as an ensign in the 25th Foot Regiment. By
1757 he had been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel in the 72nd foot and sailed up the St Lawrence
with Wolfe in 1759. He fought in the Battle of the
Plains of Abraham in September and was wounded. His
friend and commander James Wolfe was killed in that same
battle. Like
many high ranking military figures of the time, he was
designated to be commissioned a Lieutenant Governor at
one of the colonies in the British Empire, his being
Quebec in 1766 and then in 1768 he was made Governor. He
got to know the French Canadian society and leaders and
became sympathique to their position. He helped with the
passage of the Quebec Act in 1774 which benefited the
seigniors and the Roman Catholic church in Quebec but
held back the development of representative government.
(See Quebec Act) He was also responsible for the
preparation of the defence of Canada and the defeat of
Montgomery and Arnold when they led the American forces
against Quebec City in 1775-76. He did however have
differences with the British Secretary of State for the
Colonies, Lord George Germain and as a result, he
was recalled to England in 1778.
In 1782 as the American War of
Independence was finally closing, he was asked to come
out of retirement and take charge of al of the
forces in British North America in order to help British
Loyalists and troops re-locate to Canada and in the case
of the troops return to England. In particular he
arranged for and oversaw the evacuation of New York City
which had been a loyalist strong hold through the war.
Due to the impressive manner in which he
carried out these duties, he was made Baron of
Dorchester and appointed Governor in Chief of British
North America. He served in this role until 1796 with
one of the highlights being the passing of the second
major piece of legislation during his term of office in
the America's, the Constitutional Act of 1791. His
guidance began the opening up of representative
government in the colonies and helped maintain the
Canada's as a loyal, stable colony for Great
Britain during a time of great conflict against the
French and Napoleon.
He retired again in
1796 to Kempshot and later Stubbings near Maidenhead and
lived to 1808. In that year he died suddenly on November
10.
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