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Sir James Henry Craig
Sir James Henry Craig was appointed the seventh
Governor of Canada on August 29, 1807, and held the
position until October 23, 1811. Craig arrived in Quebec
in very difficult times. His arrival fostered hope among
the English-speaking people of the colonists that a
fully British political system would finally be
established. Expectations were also high among the
French Canadians who hoped the new governor would right
the wrong that had been imposed upon them.
Craig's first interest proved to be in military
matters, since war between England and the United States
seemed imminent. Craig devoted considerable energy, time
and money to improving relationships with the Aborinigal
people and to repairing the province's fortifications,
especially those in Québec City.
As early as 1808, problems arose in the House of
Assembly. The House sought to discredit the legislative
mandate of the magistrates by abolishing the right of
judges to sit as members of the House. The debate grew
bitter, and the newspapers,
The Quebec Mercury and
Le Canadien, took up sides. The French-Canadian
electorate seethed with discontent. After being in
session for only 36 days, the House of Assembly was
dissolved by Craig.
At the opening of the 1810 session, England ordered
Governor Craig to accept the will of the House of
Assembly to exclude the magistrates. The House passed a
law to that effect, but the Legislative Council amended
it to be applicable only for the next general election.
The House of Assembly stood its ground and expelled a
member who was a judge.
Governor Craig prorogued Parliament and called an
election, the third in 18 months. Also, in a bid to
intimidate the public and its defenders, he had the
presses of Le Canadien newspaper seized, and
imprisoned its editor, Le François, and its three
owners, Bédard, Taschereau and Blanchet.
During his stay in the colony, Governor Craig noted
that the French Canadians were still completely French
and that they considered themselves a separate nation.
As a result, Craig worked towards assimilation and began
a project to unite both Upper and Lower Canada.
American ambitions to invade Canada thwarted his
efforts. He was replaced as governor in October 1811 by
Sir George Prevost. James Henry Craig died in January
1812, having just been promoted to General.
Archives nationales du Canada.
Craig, Sir James
(Henry)
 Britannica
Concise |
born 1748, Gibraltar
died Jan. 12, 1812, London, Eng.
British army officer and governor-general of
Canada (1807–11).
In the
American Revolution, he was wounded at the
Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775 and helped
repel the American army's invasion of Canada in
1776. He later served in India. As
governor-general in Canada, he cooperated with
the governing clique in Quebec but conducted an
unpopular repressive policy toward French
Canadians. He resigned in 1811 and returned to
England.
Sir James Henry Craig
CRAIG, Sir James Henry, British soldier, born
in Gibraltar in 1749; died 12 January, 1812. His
father was civil and military judge at
Gibraltar. At the age of fourteen the son
entered the army with the rank of ensign, and in
1770 was aide-de-camp to General Sir Robert
Boyd, governor of Gibraltar. In 1771 he was
captain of the 47th foot, with which he went to
America in 1774. He was engaged in the battles
of Lexington and Bunker Hill, where he was
severely wounded, as he was also at the
engagements at Hubbardton and Freeman's Farm. He
was included in the convention at Saratoga, and
was sent to Britain with dispatches. In
December, 1777, he was appointed a major of the
82d regiment. He was ordered to Nova Scotia in
1778, and engaged in the operations at Penobscot
in 1779. He occupied Wihnington, North Carolina,
in January, 1781, and when Cornwallis
surrendered in November, 1781, he abandoned that
place. At this time he held the rank of
lieutenant colonel. In 1795 he was sent to the
Cape of Good Hope, being now a major general, in
command of the expedition against that colony,
and, aided by Admiral Elphinstone and
Maj.-General Clarke, effected its conquest. In
1.797 he went to India and commanded the
successful expedition against Manila. He was
promoted lieutenant-general in January, 1801,
and returned to Britain in 1802. In 1805 he was
on duty at Lisbon, Gibraltar, Malta, and Naples,
and with Sir John Stuart led the Army of the
Mediterranean to Sicily. In 1807, when the
relations existing between Great Britain and the
United States were strained, he was sent over as
lieutenant governor of Lower Canada and
commander-in-chief of the forces at Quebec. His
official career in Canada was not successful,
chiefly because of the prejudice and hatred with
which the French Canadians regarded their
British conquerors. The majority in the province
showed its animus by electing to the first
assembly a M. Panet, who could not speak a word
of English. At times it was impossible to secure
the attendance of a sufficient number of members
to conduct the public business, and when they
did meet it was only to contend about religion
and nationality. The bluff soldier found such an
assembly intolerable, and the first assembly was
dismissed. The second (1810) was similar in
composition, and was also dismissed. During the
following election Sir James H. Craig, or his
council, suppressed "Le Canadien," newspaper,
and arrested six prominent members of the late
assembly. Garneau, the French Canadian
historian, though not regarding Sir James with
special favor, exonerates him from any great
culpability in the matter, placing the blame
upon Chief-Justice Sewell, who was at the head
of the council. In 1811 Sir James retired from
the government, and on 19 June returned to
England.
Edited Appletons Encyclopedia, Copyright ©
2001 VirtualologyTM
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