Date Published:
April 2005

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

George Ramsay

Earl of Dalhousie

Dalhousie, George Ramsay, ninth Earl of (1770-1838), governor-in-chief of Canada (1819-28), was born on October 23, 1770, the eldest son of George Ramsay, eighth Earl of Dalhousie, and Elizabeth Glen. He entered the 3rd Dragoon Guards in 1788; in 1794 he became lieutenant-colonel of the 2nd Foot; in 1809 he attained the rank of major-general, and in 1830 that of general. He fought throughout the Revolutionary and Peninsular Wars, and was present at the battle of Waterloo. In 1816 he was appointed lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia ; and from 1819 to 1828 he was governor-in-chief of Canada. During his period of office he came into conflict with Louis Joseph Papineau and the French-Canadian majority in the Assembly; and he was instrumental in founding in 1824 the Quebec Literary and Historical Society, the first learned society in Canada. In 1829 he was appointed commander-in-chief in India ; and in 1830 he was elected captain-general of the Royal Company of Archers, the king's bodyguard for Scotland. He died at Dalhousie Castle on March 21, 1838. In 1805 he married Christian, daughter of Charles Broun of Coalstoun; and by her he had three sons. He succeeded his father in the earldom in 1878; and from 1796 to 1815 he was a representative peer of Scotland ; and in 1815 he was created Baron Dalhousie of Dalhousie Castle in the peerage of the United Kingdom. In 1813 he was created a K.B., and in 1815 a G.C.B.

Source : W. Stewart Wallace, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. II, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 411p., p. 174.