Charles Edward Poulett Thomson Sydenham, 1st Baron, politician, colonial administrator (b at Wimbledon, London, Eng 13 Sept 1799; d at Kingston, Canada W 19 Sept 1841). Son of a prominent merchant, he entered the family firm at age 16. An outspoken free trader, he was first elected to the House of Commons in 1826 and became vice-president (1830) then president (1834) of the Board of Trade. Appointed governor general of British North America in 1839, he persuaded the legislature of Upper Canada to consent to a union with Lower Canada and framed the constitution of the united province. Although he opposed the principle of RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT and acted as his own prime minister, he turned the Executive Council into a Cabinet composed of heads of departments who sat in the legislature. He also established a variant of this system in NS in 1840. It could work only so long as the proponents of complete responsible government did not control the Assembly, and in Canada he interfered flagrantly in the 1841 election to prevent a Reform victory. His policy of anglicization won him the support of the anglophone majority in the colony but the hatred of the French Canadians. His system was already beginning to collapse when he died in 1841.
 Sydenham, BaronSydenham persuaded the legislature of Upper Canada to consent to a union with Lower Canada and framed the Constitution of the united province (courtesy Metropolitan Toronto Library).
Author
P.A. BUCKNER
Suggested Reading
Adam Shortt, Lord Sydenham (1926); J.M.S. Careless, The Union of the Canadas (1967).
Links to Other Sites
Charles Edward Poulett Thomson Sydenham
A biography of Charles Edward Poulett Thomson Sydenham, colonial administrator. From the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| Time waits for no man… and neither do trains... |
|
| Pierre Elliott Trudeau, politician, writer, constitutional lawyer, prime minister of Canada 1968-79 and 1980-84 (b at ... |
|
|
| Few countries were affected as severely as Canada by the worldwide Depression of the 1930s. It is estimated that ... |
|
|
| Louis Riel, Métis leader, founder of Manitoba, central figure in the NORTH-WEST REBELLION (b at Red River ... |
|
|
| The Group of Seven was founded in 1920 as an organization of self-proclaimed modern artists. The original members - ... |
|
|
| Sir John Alexander Macdonald, lawyer, businessman, politician, first prime minister of Canada (b at Brunswick Place, ... |
|
|
| Few countries were affected as severely as Canada by the worldwide Depression of the 1930s. It is estimated that ... |
|
|
| John Ware, "Nigger John," horseman, rancher (b near Georgetown, SC 1845; d near Brooks, Alta 11 Sept 1905). ... |
|
|
| Créditistes, Québec party involved in federal politics. For nearly 2 decades before its 1958 formation ... |
|
|
| Julia Verlyn LaMarsh, "Judy," lawyer, politician, broadcaster, novelist (b at Chatham, Ont 20 Dec 1924; d at ... |
|
Browse the rich visual resources of The Canadian Encyclopedia through thematic galleries of Canadian Art, History, Nature, People, and Science and Technology.
Illustrations, lively text, animations, sounds and games help make learning about Canadian history, art, geography, architecture and other topics entertaining as well as informative.
The ultimate test of your knowledge of Canada, trivial and otherwise. You can choose from more than 60 dynamic quizzes with visual or text clues. Your scores depend on the speed with which you answer and the number of clues you need. Results are sent to you by email and high scores are posted on the site.
This unique resource includes more than 6000 events from Canadian and world history. It can be searched by era, subject, keyword or date. To find out what happened on your birthday, select the month and day of your birth.
This selection of the 100 "greatest" events in Canadian history was made by editor in chief James H. Marsh to draw attention to events that have left an indelible memory in the minds of later generations.
| THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MUSIC IN CANADA |
|
| (Marie) Andrée (Carmen) Desautels. Instrumentalist, musicologist, teacher, b Montreal 9 Oct 1923; premiers prix in history of music and aesthetics (Paris Cons) 1949. The daughter of Victor Desautels and Cédia ... |
|
|
