The following is a list of lieutenant governors of Ontario and the lieutenant governors of the former colony of Upper Canada. The office of Lieutenant Governor of Ontario was created in 1867, when the Province of Ontario was created upon Confederation. [1] The predecessor office, lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, was a British colonial officer, appointed by the British government to administer the government of the colony, from 1791 to 1841. (Prior to 1791, the territory which is now Ontario was part of the old Province of Quebec, which was administered by the colonial governors of the Province of Quebec.)
In 1841, the two provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada were abolished and merged into the new Province of Canada, with a single Parliament and Governor General. Upper Canada was known as Canada West, but did not have a separate government or lieutenant governor. It was simply an administrative division of the Province of Canada.
Prior to Confederation, the lieutenant governors of Upper Canada were either British colonial administrators or British Army officers. The first lieutenant governor of Ontario, General Sir Henry William Stisted, was the last British lieutenant governor. From 1868 onwards, only Canadians were appointed to the position.
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Monarch Reign | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | ||||
1 | John Graves Simcoe [2] (1752–1806) | 1791 | 1798 | George III (1760–1820) | |
– | Peter Russell [3] (1733–1808) Administrator of the Government | 1796 | 1799 | ||
2 | Peter Hunter [4] (1746–1805) | 1799 | 1805 | ||
– | Alexander Grant [5] (1734–1813) Administrator of the Government | 1805 | 1806 | ||
3 | Francis Gore [6] (1769–1852) | 1806 | 1817 | ||
– | Sir Isaac Brock KB (1769–1812) Acting | 1811 | 1812 | ||
– | Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe 1st Baronet (1763–1851) Acting | 1812 | 1813 | ||
– | Sir Francis de Rottenburg Baron of Rottenburg (1757–1832) Acting | 1813 | 1813 | ||
– | Sir Gordon Drummond (1772–1854) Acting | 1813 | 1814 | ||
– | Sir George Murray GCB , GCH (1772–1846) Acting | 1815 | 1815 | ||
– | Sir Frederick Philipse Robinson KCB , GCH (1763–1852) Acting | 1815 | 1815 | ||
– | Samuel Smith [7] (1756–1826) Administrator of the Government | 1817 | 1818 | ||
4 | Sir Peregrine Maitland [8] KCB , GCH (1777–1854) | 1818 | 1828 | ||
George IV (1820–1830) | |||||
5 | Sir John Colborne [9] GCB , GCMG (1778–1863) | 1828 | 1836 | ||
William IV (1830–1837) | |||||
6 | Sir Francis Bond Head [10] KCH (1778–1863) | 1836 | 1838 | ||
Victoria (1837–1901) | |||||
7 | Sir George Arthur [11] KCH (1778–1863) | 1838 | 1839 | ||
8 | Charles Poulett Thomson 1st Baron Sydenham [12] PC (1799–1841) | 1839 | 1841 | ||
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Monarch Reign | Premier Tenure | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | |||||
1 | Henry William Stisted CB (1817–1875) | 1 July 1867 | 14 July 1868 | Victoria (1837–1901) | John Sandfield Macdonald (1867–1871) | |
2 | William Pearce Howland PC (1811–1907) | 15 July 1868 | 11 November 1873 | |||
Edward Blake (1871–1872) | ||||||
Sir Oliver Mowat (1872–1896) | ||||||
3 | John Willoughby Crawford QC (1817–1875) | 12 November 1873 | 13 May 1875 | |||
– | Sir William Buell Richards PC (1815–1889) Administrator of the Government | 13 May 1875 | 18 May 1875 | |||
4 | Donald Alexander Macdonald PC (1817–1896) | 18 May 1875 | 30 June 1880 | |||
5 | John Beverley Robinson (1821–1896) | 1 July 1880 | 31 May 1887 | |||
6 | Sir Alexander Campbell PC , KCMG , QC (1822–1892) | 1 June 1887 | 24 May 1892 | |||
– | John Hawkins Hagarty (1816–1900) Administrator of the Government | 24 May 1892 | 30 May 1892 | |||
7 | George Airey Kirkpatrick PC , QC (1841–1899) | 30 May 1892 | 7 November 1896 | |||
Arthur Sturgis Hardy (1896–1899) | ||||||
– | Sir Casimir Gzowski KCMG (1813–1898) Administrator of the Government | {7 November 1896 | 18 November 1897 | |||
8 | Sir Oliver Mowat PC , GCMG , QC (1820–1903) | 18 November 1897 | 19 April 1903 | |||
Sir George William Ross (1899–1905) | ||||||
Edward VII (1901–1910) | ||||||
– | Sir Charles Moss (1840–1912) Administrator of the Government | 19 April 1903 | 21 April 1903 | |||
9 | Sir William Mortimer Clark KCMG , KC (1836–1915) | 21 April 1903 | 21 September 1908 | |||
Sir James Whitney (1905–1914) | ||||||
10 | Sir John Morison Gibson KCMG , KC (1842–1929) | 21 September 1908 | 26 September 1914 | |||
George V (1910–1936) | ||||||
11 | Sir John Strathearn Hendrie KCMG , CVO (1857–1923) | 26 September 1914 | 20 November 1919 | Sir William Howard Hearst (1914–1919) | ||
Ernest Charles Drury (1919–1923) | ||||||
12 | Lionel Herbert Clarke (1859–1921) | 20 November 1919 | 29 August 1921 | |||
– | Sir William Ralph Meredith QC (1840–1923) Administrator of the Government | 29 August 1921 | 10 September 1921 | |||
13 | Henry Cockshutt (1868–1944) | 10 September 1921 | 12 January 1927 | |||
Howard Ferguson (1923–1930) | ||||||
14 | William Donald Ross (1869–1947) | 12 January 1927 | 25 October 1931 | |||
George Stewart Henry (1930–1934) | ||||||
– | Sir William Mulock PC , KCMG (1843–1944) Administrator of the Government | 25 October 1931 | 1 November 1932 | |||
15 | Herbert Alexander Bruce (1868–1963) | 1 November 1932 | 23 November 1937 | |||
Mitchell Hepburn (1934–1942) | ||||||
Edward VIII (1936) | ||||||
George VI (1936–1952) | ||||||
16 | Albert Edward Matthews (1873–1949) | 23 November 1937 | 26 December 1946 | |||
Gordon Daniel Conant (1942–1943) | ||||||
Harry Nixon (1943) | ||||||
George A. Drew (1943–1948) | ||||||
17 | Ray Lawson OBE (1886–1980) | 26 December 1946 | 18 February 1952 | |||
Thomas Laird Kennedy (1948–1949) | ||||||
Leslie Frost (1949–1961) | ||||||
Elizabeth II (1952–2022) | ||||||
18 | Louis Orville Breithaupt (1890–1960) | 18 February 1952 | 30 December 1957 | |||
19 | John Keiller MacKay OC , DSO , VD , QC (1880–1970) | 30 December 1957 | 1 May 1963 | |||
John Robarts (1961–1971) | ||||||
20 | William Earl Rowe PC (1894–1984) | 1 May 1963 | 4 July 1968 | |||
21 | William Ross Macdonald PC , OC , CD , QC (1891–1976) | 4 July 1968 | 10 April 1974 | |||
Bill Davis (1971–1985) | ||||||
22 | Pauline Mills McGibbon OC (1910–2001) | 10 April 1974 | 15 September 1980 | |||
23 | John Black Aird OC , QC (1923–1995) | 15 September 1980 | 20 September 1985 | |||
Frank Miller (1985) | ||||||
David Peterson (1985–1990) | ||||||
24 | Lincoln Alexander PC , OOnt , CD , QC (1922–2012) | 20 September 1985 | 10 December 1991 | |||
Bob Rae (1990–1995) | ||||||
25 | Hal Jackman CM (born 1932) | 11 December 1991 | 24 January 1997 | |||
Mike Harris (1995–2002) | ||||||
26 | Hilary Weston OOnt (born 1942) | 24 January 1997 | 7 March 2002 | |||
27 | James Bartleman OOnt (1939–2023) | 7 March 2002 | 5 September 2007 | |||
Ernie Eves (2002–2003) | ||||||
Dalton McGuinty (2003–2013) | ||||||
28 | David Onley OOnt (1950–2023) | 5 September 2007 | 23 September 2014 | |||
Kathleen Wynne (2013–2018) | ||||||
29 | Elizabeth Dowdeswell OC , OOnt (born 1944) | 23 September 2014 | 14 November 2023 | |||
Doug Ford (since 2018) | ||||||
Charles III (since 2022) | ||||||
30 | Edith Dumont OOnt (born 1964) | 14 November 2023 | ||||
Source: [13] [14] |
John Graves Simcoe was a British Army general and the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 until 1796 in southern Ontario and the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior. He founded York, which is now known as Toronto, and was instrumental in introducing institutions such as courts of law, trial by jury, English common law, freehold land tenure, and also in the abolition of slavery in Upper Canada.
The Province of Canada was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of 1837–1838.
The Province of Upper Canada was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Quebec since 1763. Upper Canada included all of modern-day Southern Ontario and all those areas of Northern Ontario in the Pays d'en Haut which had formed part of New France, essentially the watersheds of the Ottawa River or Lakes Huron and Superior, excluding any lands within the watershed of Hudson Bay. The "upper" prefix in the name reflects its geographic position along the Great Lakes, mostly above the headwaters of the Saint Lawrence River, contrasted with Lower Canada to the northeast.
The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec and the Labrador region of the current Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Canadas is the collective name for the provinces of Lower Canada and Upper Canada, two historical British colonies in present-day Canada. The two colonies were formed in 1791, when the British Parliament passed the Constitutional Act, splitting the colonial Province of Quebec into two separate colonies. The Ottawa River formed the border between Lower and Upper Canada.
British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, Virginia, and more substantially with the founding of the Thirteen Colonies along the Atlantic coast of North America.
Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché was a Canadian medical doctor, politician, and Father of Confederation. His family had a long history in New France, but suffered serious financial reverses due to the Seven Years' War and the siege of Quebec. He was considered a self-made man, who became a physician, a militia soldier, and a politician. He served twice as joint premier of the Province of Canada.
Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was a British Army officer, peer and colonial administrator. He twice served as Governor of the Province of Quebec, from 1768 to 1778, concurrently serving as Governor General of British North America in that time, and again from 1785 to 1795. The title Baron Dorchester was created on 21 August 1786.
The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in Lower Canada. It was noted for its conservatism and opposition to democracy.
The Province of Quebec was a colony in British North America which comprised the former French colony of Canada. It was established by the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1763, following the conquest of New France by British forces during the Seven Years' War. As part of the 1763 Treaty of Paris, France gave up its claim to the colony; it instead negotiated to keep the small profitable island of Guadeloupe.
Sir George Arthur, 1st Baronet was Lieutenant Governor of British Honduras from 1814 to 1822 and of Van Diemen's Land from 1824 to 1836. The campaign against Aboriginal Tasmanians, known as the Black War, occurred during this term of office. He later served as Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada from 1838 to 1841, and Governor of Bombay from 1842 to 1846.
Sir Dominick Daly was a British colonial public servant and administrator during the 19th century, who held positions in British North America, Tobago and South Australia.
The Legislative Council of Upper Canada was the upper house governing the province of Upper Canada. Modelled after the British House of Lords, it was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. It was specified that the council should consist of at least seven members. Members were appointed for life but could be dropped for non-attendance. The first nine members of the council were appointed on 12 July 1792. The speaker was usually the Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench. The Legislative Council was dissolved on 10 February 1841 when Upper and Lower Canada were united into the Province of Canada. Some members were reappointed to the Legislative Council of the united Province.
The First Parliament of the Province of Canada was summoned in 1841, following the union of Upper Canada and Lower Canada as the Province of Canada on February 10, 1841. The Parliament continued until dissolution in late 1844.
Charles Richard Ogden, was a Joint Premier of the Province of Canada for Canada East from 1841 to 1842 with William Henry Draper PM for Canada West. Odgen was a member of the Château Clique, the group of English-speaking officials who supported the Governor General, appointed by the British government. Trained as a lawyer, he developed a lucrative practice at Trois-Rivières and then Montreal. He had a lengthy career as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada.
Henry John Boulton, was a lawyer and political figure in Upper Canada and the Province of Canada, as well as Chief Justice of Newfoundland.
Starting with the 1763 Treaty of Paris, New France, of which the colony of Canada was a part, formally became a part of the British Empire. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 enlarged the colony of Canada under the name of the Province of Quebec, which with the Constitutional Act 1791 became known as the Canadas. With the Act of Union 1840, Upper and Lower Canada were joined to become the United Province of Canada.
The Parliament of the Province of Canada was the legislature for the Province of Canada, made up of the two regions of Canada West and Canada East.
Section 144 of the Constitution Act, 1867 is a provision of the Constitution of Canada relating to the creation of townships in Quebec.