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

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, 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 Province of Queb ...

. 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 is an List of international river borders, international river in North America. The river, which forms part of the border between the U.S. state of Michigan and the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ont ...

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

Biography

Baby was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

in 1768, the son of Jacques Baby 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 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. A

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, 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 Li ...

. 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 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, 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. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...

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

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

) 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 Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. 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. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

, requesting that the acts of the legislature be translated into

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

. He opposed the union of Upper and

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 ...

. 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 (possibly relocated to Assumption Cemetery's current location.

Legacy

* Known Hereditary Slave owner having inherited African and Indigenous Slaves from his father, Jacques Baby. * Brother of

James Baby James Duperon Bâby (August 25, 1763 – February 19, 1833) was a judge and political figure in Upper Canada. Biography He was born Jacques Bâby, the son of Jacques Bâby dit Duperon, to a prosperous family in Detroit in 1763. His last na ...

who openly opposed Lieutenant Governor

John Graves Simcoe Lieutenant-General (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British army officer, politician and colonial administrator who served as the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 u ...

's effort to precipitately outright abolish slavery in Upper Canada * 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'' loca ...

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 (politician), François Baby, a prominent French-Canad ...

Timeline

* 1768 - December 16. Born in the British town of Detroit, a son of

Jacques Du Perron Baby Jacques or Jacq are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over one hundred identified noble families related t ...

and

Suzanne Reaume Suzanne may refer to: People * Suzanne (given name), a feminine given name (including a list of people with the name) * S. U. Zanne, pen name of August Vandekerkhove (1838–1923), Belgian writer and inventor * Suzanne, pen name of Renée Méndez ...

. * 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 nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...

militia. * 1795 - September 5. Married

Frances Abbott Frances is an English given name or last name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'the French.' The male version of the name in English is Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman", comes from ...

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, Drumm ...

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 boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

''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.

References

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