Archibald Acheson, 2nd Earl of Gosford
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Archibald Acheson, 2nd Earl of Gosford (August 1, 1776 – March 27, 1849) was a British politician who served as Lieutenant-Governor of Lower Canada and Governor General of British North America in the 19th century.
He was a Member of the House of Commons in Britain, and entered the House of Lords in 1811. In 1835 he became Lieutenant-Governor of Lower Canada, and was instructed to appease the reformists, led by Louis-Joseph Papineau, without giving them any real power. Gosford attempted to distance himself from his predecessor, Lord Aylmer, who had exacerbated the hostility of French-Canadians to the British administration. Gosford officially established the Diocese of Montreal in 1836, though it had been unofficially created a few years before. In 1837, when Papineau organized a rally against Prime Minister Lord Russell after Russell rejected Papineau's Ninety-Two Resolutions, Lord Gosford prohibited public assemblies. In August of that year Gosford dissolved the Legislative Assembly when they refused to pass his budget.
In November, Lord Gosford learned of the planned Patriotes Rebellion and had many of Papineau's followers arrested, although Papineau himself escaped to the United States. The next month, he issued a reward for the capture of Papineau, and declared martial law in Lower Canada.
Lord Gosford resigned in November 1837 and returned to Britain the next year. His eventual successor, Lord Durham, who implemented the Union Act in 1840 (which Lord Gosford unsuccessfully argued against). He died in 1849.
See also: List of Canadian Governors General
External links
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online (http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=37329)
| Preceded by: The Marquess of Clanricarde | Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard 1834 | Succeeded by: The Viscount Hereford | |||
| Preceded by: The Viscount Hereford | Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard 1835 | Succeeded by: The Earl of Ilchester | |||
| Preceded by: The Lord Aylmer | Governor General of British North America 1835–1837 | Succeeded by: Sir John Colborne (acting)
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