François Baby (December 16, 1768 – August 27, 1852) was a French-Canadian businessman, soldier, and politician in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

. He was based in Detroit when it was still under the control of Great Britain and before it was ceded to the newly independent United States. After the British evacuated Fort Detroit in 1796, he moved with his family across the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively refe ...

and established residence in Sandwich (now Windsor, Ontario).

Biography

Baby was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

in 1768, the son of

Jacques Baby Jacques Bâby, dit Dupéron (1731 – August 1789) was a French Canadian fur trader who later became an employee of the British Indian Department. He worked in the Detroit area, where he acquired large amounts of land on both sides of the Detroit ...

and his wife. He was named for his father's brother François Baby, a prominent merchant. Baby was born five years after France ceded this territory to Great Britain after the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

. A

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, Baby belonged to one of the richest and most powerful families in the Western District of Upper Canada at that time. In 1792, he was elected to represent Kent County (now Ontario) in the first

Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada was the elected part of the legislature for the province of Upper Canada, functioning as the lower house in the Parliament of Upper Canada. Its legislative power was subject to veto by the appointed Lis ...

. After the British evacuated Fort Detroit in 1796, Baby eventually moved across the

to Sandwich in Upper Canada. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, he joined

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

forces. He was captured by the

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

in 1814. During the war, Baby's newly constructed house at Sandwich (

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

) was taken over by invading American troops. After he returned, he discovered that his home had been plundered and damaged. He never felt that he was adequately compensated by the US. In 1820, Baby was elected to the legislative assembly representing

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. Although connected with the elite, he supported moderate reformers. Baby was an early proponent of

bilingualism Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

, requesting that the acts of the legislature be translated into

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

. He opposed the union of Upper and

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

. During the 1840s, Baby operated a ferry service across the Detroit River between Windsor and Detroit. He died in Windsor in 1852 and was buried in the churchyard of Assumption Church.

Legacy and honors

* The

François Baby House The François Bâby House is a historic residence located in Windsor, Ontario, Canada which was owned by the prominent local politician François Baby. The house is a two-storey, Georgian style, red brick house once known as ''La Ferme'' local ...

is operated as

Windsor's Community Museum Windsor Community Museum is a historical museum located in Windsor, Ontario, Canada which displays artifacts from Windsor. It is located at François Baby House, built in 1812 by François Baby, a prominent French-Canadian (which is now designat ...

Timeline

* 1768 - December 16. Born in the British town of Detroit, a son of Jacques Du Perron Baby and Suzanne Reaume. * 1786 - Completed his education at Quebec. * 1792–1796 - Still a resident of Detroit, represented Kent County, Upper Canada, in the Legislative Assembly following the province's first election. Detroit was British-occupied American territory at the time. * 1794 - July. Appointed captain of a company of

French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fr ...

militia. * 1795 - September 5. Married Frances Abbott of Detroit, in Assumption Church on the Canadian side of the river. * 1807 - October. Appointed Lieutenant of the County of Essex. *1812–1813 - Appointed assistant quartermaster general of militia for the Western District. Served throughout the Detroit River campaign and was recommended by

Sir Gordon Drummond General Sir Gordon Drummond, GCB (27 September 1772 – 10 October 1854) was a Canadian-born British Army officer and the first official to command the military and the civil government of Canada. As Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, Drum ...

for decoration for valuable services. *1813 - December 30. Participated in a British attack on Black Rock, Niagara Frontier. *1814 - January 31. Captured by Americans at Delaware, Upper Canada. *1820–1830 - Member for Essex County in the Upper Canada Legislative Assembly. * 1832 - Subdivided the frontage of his farm. This was the first urban development in what was to become Windsor. *1842 - Had

ferryboat A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

''Alliance'' built. *1849 - Gave land for present-day Ferry Street to the public, replacing an earlier lane that had served as access to a ferry landing. *1852 - Died age 84. Buried in Assumption Churchyard.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baby, Francois Francois Baby 1768 births 1852 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada People from British Detroit Franco-Ontarian people Politicians from Detroit British colonial army officers Canadian Roman Catholics Canadian slave owners