John Young, 1st Baron Lisgar (31 August 1807 – 6 October 1876) was a British diplomat and politician. He served as Governor General of Canada (1869–72),

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the ...

(1861–67) and as

Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant", from the early 19th century un ...

(1853–55). From 1848 to 1870 he was known as Sir John Young, 2nd Baronet.

Biography

Young was born into an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

family in Bombay, India, eldest son of Sir William Young, 1st Baronet of Bailieborough Castle, who was a director of the East India Company. He was educated at Eton and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, graduating in 1829 and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1834. He married Adelaide Annabella Tuite Dalton in 1835. In 1831 he became a Member of Parliament, as member for the county of Cavan in the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 me ...

, a position he held for 24 years. In 1841 he was a Lord of the Treasury for Sir Robert Peel, Secretary of the Treasury in 1844 and Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1852 to 1855. Young was appointed Lord High Commissioner to the Ionian Islands in 1855. His secret despatches recommending that the islands become a British colony were leaked, leading to his recall in 1859. Young was appointed

in 1860 and was immediately confronted by a crisis stemming from the attempt by the Secretary for Lands,

John Robertson John, Jon, or Jonathan Robertson may refer to: Politicians United Kingdom politicians * J. M. Robertson (John Mackinnon Robertson, 1856–1933), British journalist and Liberal MP for Tyneside 1906–1918 *John Robertson (Bothwell MP) (1867–1926) ...

, to push radical land legislation through the Parliament. This legislation was passionately opposed by the majority of the Legislative Council. Young agreed to the request of the

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Charles Cowper Sir Charles Cowper (), (26 April 1807 – 19 October 1875) was an Australian politician and the Premier of New South Wales on five occasions from 1856 to 1870. Cowper did useful work but does not rank among the more distinguished Australian ...

, to swamp the council with new 21 appointees to get the legislation through, although in fact sufficient members of the Council resigned that a quorum could not be formed, forcing it to be prorogued and replaced by a new Council with appointed life members. In due course this passed the land legislation. The rest of his term in New South Wales was less eventful. Young assumed the office of Governor General of Canada in 1868, when it was vacated by fellow Irishman, the 4th Viscount Monck, but did not officially take up the position until his swearing in on 2 February 1869. After the end of his term in 1872, he returned to Ireland. He was raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Belgi ...

as Baron Lisgar, of Lisgar and Bailieborough, in the County of Cavan, on 26 October 1870. He died on 6 October 1876 at Lisgar House (also known as Castle House), near Bailieborough in

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is base ...

, Ireland, survived by his wife. Although Lady Lisgar married once more, she and Lord Lisgar are buried in Bailieborough Church of Ireland Graveyard, Bailieborough, County Cavan.

Family

John Young married, on 8 April 1835, Adelaide Annabella Dalton, daughter of Edward Tuite Dalton of

Fermor Fermor is a surname, a variant of Farmer. Notable people with the surname include: * Henrietta Louisa Fermor (1698–1761), English letter writer * Lewis Leigh Fermor (1880–1954), British geologist, father of Patrick * Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915� ...

, County Meath, Ireland, and his wife, Olivia, daughter of Sir John Stevenson (who married, secondly, The 2nd Marquess of Headfort, K.P., P.C.). Dalton's date of birth is unknown however she was likely to have been born between 1811 and 1814. Her husband was raised to the peerage, as Baron Lisgar in 1870, and died on 6 October 1876. On 3 August 1878 Baroness Lisgar married her second husband, Sir Francis Charles Fortescue Turville of Bosworth Hall,

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

. She married her third husband, Henry Trueman Mills, of Lubenham, Market Harborough. She died at Paris on 19 July 1895.

Legacy

* Lisgar Collegiate Institute on Lisgar Street in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

takes its name from Lord Lisgar. A likeness of Lord Lisgar is prominently displayed in the school's library. * Lisgar Street in Toronto and Lisgar Avenue in Saskatoon takes its name from Lord Lisgar. * In

Mississauga, Ontario Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

, a community in the Meadowvale neighbourhood has been called ''Lisgar''. In the fall of 2007, a new Lisgar GO Station was opened on the Milton GO train line, and a ''Lisgar Middle School'' in the neighbourhood within the Peel District School Board. * The Sir John Young Hotel in Sydney, Australia is named after the baron * Sir John Young Crescent, Woolloomooloo, Australia is named after the baron *The town of Young, NSW was named after the baron. *The lake in Tillsonburg Ontario was named after the Baron. Lake Lisgar.

Arms

Notes

References

Website of the Governor General of Canada

External links