Lord Lisgar

Lord Lisgar image from Canada History

Sir John Young, who became Baron Lisgar, was the second governor general of Canada, from 1869-1872. Born in Bombay, he was educated at Eton and Oxford, and called to the bar at London's

Lincoln's Inn, though he never practiced law. As a young British MP, he served in the cabinet of British Prime Minister Robert Peel. Later he served as Lord High Commissioner to the Ionian Islands. After that, he was the Governor of New South Wales in Australia. The first of the governors general to visit the White House, Lord Lisgar met U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant. He also opened a rail link between Fredericton and St. John, New Brunswick and Boston, Massachusetts. 

His predecessor, Lord Monck, left office early, and during this time, Lisgar was appointed Administrator of Canada until the spring of 1869, when he was sworn in as governor general.

The Hudson's Bay purchase was being discussed in 1869, but the transfer of Rupert's Land to the Crown was delayed until 1870 because of the rebellion then taking place in the middle of this vast tract of real estate, which Canada bought from the Hudson's Bay Company for three hundred thousand British pounds, or approximately $1.5 million Canadian dollars. In 1869, the first Red River Rebellion began. Hoping to appease the Metis, Lisgar declared an amnesty for the rebels. In 1870, Manitoba joined confederation.

Also in 1870, the Fenians, a group of Irish-American rebels, began to raid across the border into Canada in an effort to draw attention to their cause, Irish independence from Britain. In this situation too, Lisgar mediated effectively. His strategy of preventing immediate executions of captured Fenian raiders no doubt helped to stop the crisis from escalating.

When British Columbia sent a delegation to Ottawa in the summer of 1870 to discuss the colony's entry into Confederation, Lord Lisgar met and spoke to them personally and encouraged British Columbia to join, which it did the following year.

With his wife Lady Adelaide, Lord Lisgar entertained at Rideau Hall, holding Christmas, New Year and Garden parties. It was also Lord Lisgar who initiated the noontime firing of the gun on Parliament Hill. The Governor General's Foot Guard was the new special regiment created to attend the governor general in 1872, and provided an honour guard for Lisgar as he left office.