Archibald Acheson, 2nd Earl of Gosford, (1 August 1776 – 27 March 1849), styled The Honourable Archibald Acheson from 1790 to 1806 and Lord Acheson from 1806 to 1807, was a British politician who served as

Lieutenant-Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a " second-in-com ...

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

and

Governor General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...

in the 19th century.

Early life

Acheson was born on 1 August 1776 at Markethill,

County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

, Ireland. Gosford was the son of

Arthur Acheson, 1st Earl of Gosford Arthur Acheson, 1st Earl of Gosford Privy Council of the United Kingdom, PC (14 January 1807), known as The Viscount Gosford between 1790 and 1806, was an Ireland, Irish Peerage of Ireland, peer of Scottish people, Scottish descent and politicia ...

, and his wife Millicent (née Pole). He succeeded his father to his titles and estates in 1807.

Career

Acheson sat in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

for

from 1798 until the Act of Union in 1801, when Ireland became part of the United Kingdom. Subsequently, he was a Member of the

British House of Commons 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 memb ...

representing

Armagh Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...

to 1807, when he succeeded to his father's Irish titles as Earl of Gosford. He entered the British

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

in 1811 upon being elected an Irish representative peer. In 1831 he was appointed the first Lord Lieutenant of Armagh for life, having previously been a Governor of Armagh since 1805. The new position incorporated the post of Custos Rotulorum of County Armagh which he also already held. He was created Baron Worlingham in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

in 1835 and thus became a member of the UK House of Lords in his own right. He commissioned Thomas Hopper (1776–1856) to design a new house, Gosford Castle on his Gosford estate. The house would not be completed until after his death. In 1835, he became Governor General of

(also Lieutenant-Governor of

), 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 Louis-Joseph Papineau (; October 7, 1786 – September 23, 1871), born in Montreal, Province of Quebec (1763–1791), Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the ''seigneurie de la Petite-Nation''. He was the leader of the reform ...

, 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 The Lower Canada Rebellion (), commonly referred to as the Patriots' Rebellion () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now southern Quebec). Together wit ...

and had many of Papineau's followers arrested, although Papineau himself escaped to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The next month, he issued a reward for the capture of Papineau, and declared

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

in Lower Canada. Lord Gosford resigned in November 1837 and returned to Britain the next year. Lord Durham, was appointed Governor General in 1838. He produced the

Durham Report The ''Report on the Affairs of British North America'', (, 1839) commonly known as the ''Durham Report'' or ''Lord Durham's Report'', is an important document in the history of Quebec, Ontario, Canada and the British Empire. The notable Briti ...

which recommended that Lower Canada and Upper Canada be reunited, with

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive br ...

, which Lord Gosford had unsuccessfully argued against.

Personal life

He married Mary Sparrow, the daughter and heiress of Robert Sparrow of

Worlingham Hall Worlingham Hall is a Grade I listed Georgian country house in Worlingham, to the east of Beccles in the English county of Suffolk. The hall was built in the 18th century, possibly based on an earlier 17th century house, and as of 2014 is a count ...

, Suffolk, with whom he had a son and four daughters. * Archibald Acheson, 3rd Earl of Gosford (20 August 1806 – 15 June 1864), he succeeded his father upon his death. *Lady Mary Acheson (27 June 1809 – 13 March 1850). On 9 July 1835 she married James Hewitt, 4th Viscount Lifford. They had four sons, and four daughters. * Lady Millicent French Acheson (circa 1812 – 29 August 1887). She married Henry Bence Jones on 28 May 1842. They had three sons, and four daughters. The youngest son, Archibald, married a daughter of Henry Lopes, 1st Baron Ludlow. Lord Gosford died in 1849.

Legacy

It is believed the city of

Gosford Gosford is a waterfront city at the northern end of Brisbane Water on the Central Coast in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Gosford Waterfront is known for its boating and scenic views on the shores of Brisbane Water. Gosford is ...

in New South Wales, Australia was named after him, the Governor of New South Wales having served with him in Canada.

References

External links