Archibald Acheson, 2nd Earl of Gosford

‎ Archibald Acheson, 2nd Earl of Gosford GCB (August 1, 1776 – March 27, 1849 Markethill), styled Lord Acheson from 1806 to 1807, was a British politician who served as Lieutenant-Governor of Lower Canada and Governor General of British North America in the 19th century.

Born at Markethill, County Armagh, Gosford was the son of Arthur Acheson, 1st Earl of Gosford, and his wife Millicent (née Pole). He was a Member of the British House of Commons representing Armagh from 1801 to 1807. Gosford succeeded to his father's Irish titles as Earl of Gosford in 1807 and entered the British House of Lords in 1811 upon being elected a representative peer.

In 1835 he became Governor General of British North America (also Lieutenant-Governor of Lower Canada), and commissioner in the Royal Commission for the Investigation of all Grievances Affecting His Majesty's Subjects of Lower Canada. He 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 August of that year Gosford dissolved the Legislative Assembly when they refused to pass his budget.

In November, Lord Gosford learned of the planned Lower Canada 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, implemented the Union Act in 1840 (which Lord Gosford unsuccessfully argued against). He died in 1849.

ee also

*List of Canadian Governors General

External links

* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=3207 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
*rayment


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