| The Right Honourable The Earl of Durham GCB, PC |
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|---|---|
| Portrait of John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham | |
| Lord Privy Seal | |
| In office 22 November 1830 – March 1833 |
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| Monarch | William IV |
| Prime Minister | The Earl Grey |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Rosslyn |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Ripon |
| Lieutenant-Governor of Lower Canada | |
| In office 1838–1839 |
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| Monarch | Victoria |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Gosford |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Sydenham |
| Governor General of the Province of Canada |
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| In office 1838–1839 |
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| Monarch | Victoria |
| Preceded by | Sir John Colborne |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Sydenham |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 April 1792 London, England |
| Died | 28 July 1840 (aged 48) Cowes, Isle of Wight |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Whig |
| Spouse(s) | (1) Lady Harriet Cholmondeley (d. 1815) (2) Lady Louisa Grey (d. 1841) |
| Signature | |
John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham GCB, PC (12 April 1792 – 28 July 1840), also known as "Radical Jack" and commonly referred to in history texts simply as Lord Durham, was a British Whig statesman, colonial administrator, Governor General and high commissioner of British North America. [1]
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Durham was born in London, the son of William Henry Lambton, and Lady Anne Barbara Frances, daughter of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey.[2] The Lambton family fortune was derived largely from mining on lands surrounding Lambton Castle, the ancestral family home in County Durham. Other properties in County Durham included Dinsdale Park and Low Dinsdale Manor. John George Lambton, Lord Durham, was born April 12, 1792, in London. After attending Eton he joined the dragoons in 1809 as a cornet in the 10th Hussars, but resigned in 1811. From 1813 to 1828 he was a member of Parliament.[2]
Durham was first elected to Parliament for County Durham in the general election of 1812, a seat he held until 1828, when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Durham, of the City of Durham and of Lambton Castle in the County Palatine of Durham.[3] When his father-in-law Lord Grey (see below) became prime minister in 1830, Durham was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Lord Privy Seal.[4] In this capacity he helped draft the Reform Bill of 1832. Lord Durham resigned from cabinet in 1833. Later the same year he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Lambton and Earl of Durham.[5]
Between 1835 he served as Ambassador to Russia. While in Russia he was invested a Knight of the Order of Alexander Nevsky, of the Order of St. Andrew and of the Order of St. Anna. In 1837 he was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.[2]
Lord Durham was sent to The Canadas in 1837[6] to investigate the circumstances surrounding the Lower Canada Rebellion of Louis-Joseph Papineau and the Upper Canada Rebellion of William Lyon Mackenzie, which had both occurred earlier that year.[7] His detailed and famous Report on the Affairs of British North America (1839) recommended a modified form of responsible government and a legislative union of Upper Canada, Lower Canada and the Maritime Provinces.[7]
Lord Durham has been lauded in English Canadian history for his recommendation to introduce responsible government. This was implemented and by 1848 Canada was a functioning democracy, as it has been ever since. He is less well considered for his idea of merging Upper and Lower Canada into one colony, since this was proposed with the express end of trying to encourage the extinction of the French language and culture through intermingling with the lesser English population.[7] Although in the end the policy of assimilation failed during the Union (1840-1867) and after, in practice, the Act of Union prevented the granting of responsible government to the French Canadian people (as a majority in Lower Canada).
As soon as 1842, Lord Durham's intended policy of assimilation faced setbacks, as Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine's party in the House managed to force de facto re-establishment of French as a language of Parliament. Once responsible government was achieved (1848), French Canadians in Canada East succeeded by voting as a bloc in ensuring that they were powerfully represented in any cabinet, especially as the politics of Canada West was highly factional. The resulting deadlock between Canada East and West led to a movement for federal rather than unitary government, which resulted in the creation of confederation, a federal state of Canada, incorporating New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, in 1867.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_Lambton,_1st_Earl_of_Durham_Signature.svg
Lord Durham was twice married. He married as his first wife Lady Harriet, daughter of George Cholmondeley, 1st Marquess of Cholmondeley, in 1812. They had three daughters, who all predeceased him. After Lady Harriet's death in July 1815 he married secondly Lady Louisa, daughter of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, in 1816. They had two sons and three daughters. Lord Durham died at Cowes on the Isle of Wight in July 1840, aged 48, and was succeeded by his eldest and only surviving son, George. The Countess of Durham only survived her husband by a year and died in November 1841.[2]
Lambton County, Ontario, Lambton, Toronto, Durham Heights and Cape Lambton (both in the southern tip of Banks Island in the Northwest Territories) are named in his honour.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Henry Vane-Tempest, Bt Viscount Barnard |
Member of Parliament for County Durham 1812– 1828 With: Viscount Barnard 1812–1815 Hon. William Powlett 1815–1828 |
Succeeded by Hon. William Powlett William Russell |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by The Earl of Rosslyn |
Lord Privy Seal 1830 – 1833 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Ripon |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by The Earl of Gosford |
Lieutenant-Governor of Lower Canada 1838 – 1839 |
Succeeded by The Lord Sydenham |
| Preceded by Sir John Colborne |
Governor General of the Province of Canada 1838 – 1839 |
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| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Earl of Durham 1833 – 1840 |
Succeeded by George Lambton |
| Baron Durham 1828 – 1840 |
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