Report on the Affairs of British North America From the Earl of Durham
(It is in these circumstances. And under such disadvantage...)
It is in these circumstances. And under such disadvantages. That this report has been prepared. I may not theretore present as extended and as complete a Foundation as I could have wished. Tor these measures or (rest and permanent importance which Parliament will find it necessary to adopt. But it'will include the whole range ol'thoso subjects which it is essential should he brought under your'majesty's view. And will prove that I have not rested content Without fully developing the evils which lie at the root of the disorders of the North American Provinces, and in the same time suggesting remedies which: to the best of my judgment, will 'provide an effectual cure.
The Report and Despatches of the Earl of Durham, Her Majesty's High Commissioner and Governor-General of British North America. Without the appendices to the Report
Lord Durham's Speech on the Second Reading of the Reform Bill in the House of Lords, Friday, 13th April, 1832
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Report on the Affairs of British North America - Primary Source Edition
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Lord Durham's report on the affairs of British North America
(This book was digitized and reprinted from the collection...)
This book was digitized and reprinted from the collections of the University of California Libraries. It was produced from digital images created through the libraries mass digitization efforts. The digital images were cleaned and prepared for printing through automated processes. Despite the cleaning process, occasional flaws may still be present that were part of the original work itself, or introduced during digitization. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found online in the HathiTrust Digital Library.
(This book was originally published prior to 1923 and repr...)
This book was originally published prior to 1923 and represents a reproduction of important historical work, maintaining the same format as the original work.
John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, also known as "Radical Jack" and commonly referred to in Canadian history texts simply as Lord Durham, was a British Whig statesman, colonial administrator, Governor General and high commissioner of British North America.
Background
John George Lambton was born in St. George Hanover Square, London, United Kingdom on April 12, 1792. His father was William Henry Lambton who lived at 14 Berkeley Square in St George Hanover Square, Middlesex, England (now within the City of Westminster, Greater London). His mother was Lady Anne Barbara Frances, daughter of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey. 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 an active part in the formation and chairing of the Society of the Friends of the People.
Education
After attending Eton College, he joined the dragoons in 1809 but resigned in 1811.
Career
From 1813 to 1828 he was a member of Parliament. In 1830 he was made a privy councilor, created a baron, and appointed lord privy seal, and he also entered the House of Lords. He had a hand in preparing the First Reform Bill of 1832. In the same year, he was made ambassador extraordinary in succession to St. Petersburg, Vienna, and Berlin, and he was rewarded for his service by being created viscount the following year. For the next 2 years Lord Durham led the advanced Whigs but in 1835 went once again to St. Petersburg as ambassador to Russia.
In 1837 Lord Durham returned home and in the next year was appointed a high commissioner to Upper and Lower Canada and governor-general of the British provinces in North America. Revolts in both Upper and Lower Canada in 1837-1838 had warned the British government that the Canadians were demanding responsible government and that the situation could not be ignored. Durham spent 6 months in Canada. Durham died shortly after his report was completed, in Cowes, Isle of Wight, on July 28, 1840. It is arguable that it was not so much the tactless Durham who created a responsible government as the able colonial secretaries and governors who followed him and implemented it.
Achievements
He was a founding member and chairman of the New Zealand Company that played a key role in the colonization of New Zealand. He was the tactless and energetic English statesman best known for his report on Canada, which laid the basis for the country's Dominion status. Between 1835 and 1837, he served as Ambassador to Russia. While in Russia, he was invested as a Knight of the Order of St. 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.
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.
Views
He sent political prisoners to Bermuda-with which step he exceeded his orders-and it caused his fall. But upon his return to Britain, Lord Durham published his famous Report on the Affairs of British North America.
In it he enunciated the principle that the executive branch in Canada would have to make its peace with local interests by instituting a system of responsible government, revising the land ownership laws, fostering immigration, and providing a system of municipal government. He also urged that Upper and Lower Canada be united so as to outnumber the French Canadians.
Personality
Energetic, vain, and high-spirited, Durham tried to keep the Canadian issue nonpartisan in British politics.
Connections
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.
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. They had two sons and three daughters.
Father:
William Henry Lambton
Mother:
Anne Barbara Frances
ex-wife:
Lady Harriet Cholmondeley
(d. 1815)
Son:
Charles William
(16 January 1818 – 24 September 1831)
Wife:
Lady Louisa Grey
(d. 1841)
Daughter:
Lady Alice Anne Caroline
(16 April 1831 – 15 January 1907)
Daughter:
Lady Mary Louisa
(8 May 1819 – 9 March 1898)
Daughter:
Lady Frances Charlotte
(16 October 1812 – 18 December 1835)
Daughter:
Harriet Caroline
(30 May 1815 – 12 June 1832)
Son:
George Frederick D'Arcy
(5 September 1828 – 27 November 1879)
daughetr:
Lady Emily Augusta
(17 May 1823 – 2 November 1886)
References
Lord Durham
A Biography of John George Lambton, First Earl of Durham (Classic Reprint).
Lord Durham
A biography of John George Lambton, first Earl of Durham.
