Robert Baldwin

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Robert Baldwin (May 12, 1804 – December 9, 1858) was born at York (now Toronto). He, along with Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, is regarded by some as Canada's first pre-confederation Prime Minister.^[1] His father, William Warren Baldwin (d. 1844), moved to Upper Canada from Ireland in 1798; though a man of wealth and good family and a devoted member of the Church of England, he opposed the religious and political oligarchy which was then at the head of Canadian affairs, and brought up his son in the same principles. Robert Baldwin was called to the Bar in 1825, and entered into partnership with his father. In 1829 he was elected a member of the Parliament of Upper Canada for the town of York, but was defeated in the following year and retired for a time into private life. During the next six years, he so constantly advocated a responsible executive as the one cure for the political and economic evils of the time that he was known as "the man of one idea." In 1836 he was called by Sir Francis Bond Head (1793 – 1875), the lieutenant-governor, to the Executive Council, but finding himself without influence, and compelled to countenance measures to which he was opposed, he resigned within a month. Though a moderate reformer, he strongly disapproved of the rebellion of 1837 – 1838.

He joined the executive council under Charles Poulett Thomson (later Lord Sydenham) in 1840 and on the union of the two Canadas (1841) he was a member of its first executive council under Lord Sydenham, but soon resigned on the question of responsible government. In 1842 he formed the first Liberal administration, in connection with Lafontaine, but resigned the next year, after a quarrel with the governor-general, Sir Charles Metcalfe, on a question of patronage, in which he felt that of responsible government to be involved. At the general election which followed, the governor-general was sustained by a narrow majority, but in 1848 the Liberals were again returned to power, and he and Lafontaine formed their second administration under Lord Elgin and carried numerous important reforms, including the freeing from sectarian control of the University of Toronto and the introduction into Upper Canada of an important municipal system.

Internal dissensions soon began to appear in the Liberal party, and in 1851 Baldwin resigned. The special struggle leading to his resignation was an attempt to abolish the court of chancery of Upper Canada, whose constitution was due to a measure introduced by Baldwin in 1849. The attempt, though defeated, had been supported by a majority of the representatives from Upper Canada, and Baldwin's fastidious conscience took it as a vote of want confidence. A deeper reason was his inability to approve of the advanced views of the Radicals, or "Clear Grits," as they came to be called. On seeking re-election in York, he declined to give any pledge on the burning question of the Clergy Reserves and was defeated. In 1853 the Liberal-Conservative party, formed in 1854 by a coalition, attempted to bring him out as a candidate for the upper house, which was at this date elective, but though he had broken with the advanced reformers, he could not approve of the tactics of their opponents, and refused to stand. He died on the 9th of December 1858 in Spadina. Even those who most strongly opposed his measures admitted the purity and unselfishness of his motives. After the concession of responsible government, he devoted himself to bringing about a good understanding between the English and French-speaking inhabitants of Canada, and his memory is held as dear among the French Canadians as in his native province of Ontario.

Some think Robert Baldwin may be related to the Modern day famous Baldwin family,^{[citation needed]} but this in fact is not true, as they are not listed in Robert Baldwin's family tree. Robert Baldwin is the grandfather of Frederick Walker (Casey) Baldwin, a distinguished Canadian engineer, politician, and football player who worked with Dr Alexander Graham Bell.

See J. C. Dent, Canadian Portrait Gallery (1880). His life, by the Hon. Geo. W. Ross, is included in The Makers of Canada series (Toronto).

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ Saul, John Ralston. Reflections of a Siamese Twin: Canada at the End of the Twentieth Century (Penguin books, 1997), 335

[edit] See also

• LaFontaine-Baldwin Symposium

Political offices
Preceded by Henry Sherwood	Joint Premiers of the Province of Canada - Canada West 1848–1851	Succeeded by Sir Francis Hincks
Preceded by none	Leader of the Reform Party of Upper Canada 1839?-1857	Succeeded by George Brown as de facto leader of the Liberal Party of Canada

[edit] External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online

For more information see: The Baldwins and The Great Experiment by R.M and J. Baldwin, Longmans Canada Ltd, 1969 AND My Dear Friend Letters of Louis Hippolyte LaFontaine & Robert Baldwin, edited by Yolande Stewart, Plum Hollow books, 1978. AND "The Life of Robert Baldwin" by George E. Wilson, Ryerson Press: Toronto, 1933 AND "Baldwin LaFontaine Hincks: Responsible Government" by S. Leacock, Toronto, Monrang and Co., 1907.