Date Published:
February 2005

L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

Sir John Young, Baron Lisgar

Lisgar, Sir John Young, Bart., Baron (1807-1876), governor-general of Canada , was born at Bombay, India, on August 31, 1807, the eldest son of Sir William Young, first baronet, by his wife, Lucy, youngest daughter of Lieut.-Col. Charles Frederick. He was educated at Eton and at Corpus Christi College, Oxford (B.A., 1829), and in 1834 he was called to the English bar at Lincoln's Inn. From 1831 to 1855 he represented the county of Cavan in the House of Commons in the Conservative interest. From 1841 to 1844 he was one of the lords of the Treasury in the administration of Sir Robert Peel, and from 1844 to 1846 he was a secretary of the Treasury. In the Aberdeen administration, he was chief secretary for Ireland from 1852 to 1855. He then resigned to accept appointment as lord high commissioner of the Ionian islands. and he held this post until his recall in 1859. From 1861 to 1867 he was governor-general of New South Wales ; and in 1869 he was appointed governor-general of Canada . His period of office coincided with the first Riel Rebellion; and he acquired in Canada a reputation for ability and sound judgment. He resigned office in June, 1870, and returned to Ireland . He died at Lisgar House, Baillieborough, Ireland, on October 6, 1876. In 1835 he married Adelaide Annabella, dauther of Edward Tuite Dalton; but he left no issue. He succeeded to his father's baronetcy on the death of the latter in 1848; he was created a G.C.M.G. in 1855, a K.C.B. in 1859, and a G.C.B. in 1868; and in 1870 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Lisgar of Lisgar and Baillieborough.

Source: W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. IV, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 400p., p. 88.