Sir Francis Hincks, (December 14, 1807 – August 18, 1885) was a Canadian businessman, politician, and British colonial administrator. An immigrant from Ireland, he was the Co-Premier of the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British North America, British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham ...

(1851–1854),

Governor of Barbados This article contains a list of viceroys in Barbados from its initial colonisation in 1627 by England until it achieved independence in 1966. From 1833 to 1885, Barbados was part of the colony of the Windward Islands, and the governor of Barbad ...

(1856–1862), Governor of British Guiana (1862–1869) and

Canadian Minister of Finance The minister of finance (french: ministre des Finances) is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the Department of Finance and presenting the federal government's budget each year. It is one of t ...

(1869–1873).

Early life

Born at

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, he was the ninth and youngest child of the Rev. Thomas Dix Hincks, a Presbyterian minister and scholar, and his wife Anne (née Boult). Two of his older brothers,

Edward Hincks Edward Hincks (19 August 1792 – 3 December 1866) was an Irish clergyman, best remembered as an Assyriologist and one of the decipherers of Mesopotamian cuneiform. He was one of the three men known as the "holy trinity of cuneiform", with S ...

and William Hincks, followed their father's footsteps as noted scholars and clergy. Francis was also intended for a career as a clergyman and was educated at the

Royal Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today is ...

. However, he found himself more interested in business, starting in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, with commercial ties to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. It was at Belfast that he married his first wife. Two weeks after their marriage, they set sail for

the Canadas The Canadas is the collective name for the provinces of Lower Canada and Upper Canada, two historical British colonies in present-day Canada. The two colonies were formed in 1791, when the British Parliament passed the '' Constitutional Act'', ...

Business career

Arriving in York,

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 ...

(now

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

), Hincks set up a wholesale import business. He rented business premises from

William Warren Baldwin William Warren Baldwin (April 25, 1775 – January 8, 1844) was a doctor, businessman, lawyer, judge, architect and reform politician in Upper Canada. He, and his son Robert Baldwin, are recognized for having introduced the concept of "respon ...

and his son,

Robert Baldwin Robert Baldwin (May 12, 1804 – December 9, 1858) was an Upper Canada, Upper Canadian lawyer and politician who with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine of Lower Canada, led the first responsible government ministry in the Province ...

. The Baldwins were a leading Reform family, opposed to the Tory

Family Compact The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today’s Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in L ...

, which had run the government of the Province for many years. Hincks became friends with the Baldwin family, who were also of Irish descent. He accepted a job as manager for the

Farmer's Joint Stock Bank The Farmer's Joint Stock Bank was a bank that operated in Upper Canada, and later in the Province of Canada, from 1834 to 1854. History Following the 1821 legalization of small notes and bills of exchange in Upper Canada, the Bank was formed in 1 ...

but left to become manager of the newly formed

Bank of the People The Bank of the People was created by radical Reform politicians James Lesslie, James Hervey Price, and Dr John Rolph in Toronto in 1835. It was founded after they failed to establish a "Provincial Loan Office" in which farmers could borrow s ...

after the management of the Farmers' Bank became dominated by Tories. When even moderate reformers were being persecuted following the

Upper Canada Rebellion The Upper Canada Rebellion was an insurrection against the oligarchic government of the British colony of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) in December 1837. While public grievances had existed for years, it was the rebellion in Lower Canada (p ...

of 1837, Hincks considered moving to the United States. However, the appointment of

Lord Durham Earl of Durham is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1833 for the Whig politician and colonial official John Lambton, 1st Baron Durham. Known as "Radical Jack", he played a leading role in the passing of the Gr ...

in 1838 provided new hope and he chose to continue in Upper Canada. That year, he established '' The Examiner'' in Toronto, with the aim of promoting

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 bran ...

; this newspaper merged with '' The Globe'', the predecessor of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', in 1855. After resigning from cabinet and government affairs in 1873, he became President of the Montreal-based

City Bank of Montreal The City Bank of Montreal (known in French as "La Banque de la Cité") was an early bank founded in Montreal in 1833, when it was part of Lower Canada. It was founded as a counterpart to the Bank of Montreal, whose politically conservative direc ...

. This bank merged with the Royal Canadian Bank to form the

Consolidated Bank of Canada The Consolidated Bank of Canada was created from the merger of City Bank and Royal Canadian Bank in 1876, but collapsed in 1880 and finally liquidated in 1882. References See also Defunct banks of Canada Banks disestablished in 1882 ...

, and Hincks was its first President. His signature appears on banknotes issued by these institutions.

Political career

Reform Party and responsible government

Hincks was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the

1st Parliament of the Province of Canada The First Parliament of the Province of Canada was summoned in 1841, following the union of Upper Canada and Lower Canada as the Province of Canada on February 10, 1841. The Parliament continued until dissolution in late 1844. The Parliament ...

, sitting from 1841 to 1844, representing Oxford County. He was defeated in 1844, but elected in 1848 and subsequent elections, sitting from 1848 to 1855.

Bank notes and central bank

During his first term, Hincks was the chair of a select committee which studied a proposal from the Governor General, Lord Sydenham, who advocated that the government should take over the issuing of bank notes. Up to that time, paper notes were issued by the banks. Sydenham proposed that the government take over that function, with control over the amount of paper money in circulation, a forerunner of the idea of a

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...

. Issuing the notes would also give the government an important source of income. Although Hincks personally supported the proposal, it was defeated in the committee, largely because of opposition from the banks who would lose a major source of income.James Powell, ''A History of the Canadian Dollar'' (Ottawa: Bank of Canada, 2005), pp. 21–22.
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Inspector general

In 1842, he was appointed inspector general of public accounts. In 1844, he became editor of a new newspaper in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, the ''Pilot'', which supported Reformers in both

Canada East Canada East (french: links=no, Canada-Est) was the northeastern portion of the United Province of Canada. Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new ...

and

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

. Because he sought subscriptions for his paper in Canada West, he came into conflict with

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * G ...

, editor of the ''Globe''. In 1848, he sold the paper and accepted the post of inspector general.

Co-Premier of Province of Canada

Hincks was

Premier of the Province of Canada Joint premiers of the Province of Canada were the prime ministers of the Province of Canada, from the 1841 unification of Upper Canada and Lower Canada until Canadian Confederation, Confederation in 1867. Following the abortive Rebellions of 1837, ...

from 1851 to 1854. Hincks' vision of a railroad linking British North America led to the establishment of the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...

in 1852 and he helped negotiate the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854 with the United States.

Decimal currency

During Hincks' time in office, currency reforms were a major issue in the British North American provinces. Although the British government wanted to keep all of its overseas possessions on the

pound sterling Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and t ...

, the North American provinces favoured a decimal currency, to facilitate trade with the United States. A compromise was reached in 1853 when the Canadian Parliament passed a ''Currency Act'', allowing both pounds and American dollars to be used in the Province of Canada, at fixed exchange rates. New Brunswick passed similar legislation, the beginning of a common currency system in British North America.

Fall of government

A scandal developed in 1854 as a result of profits made by Hincks and

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

John George Bowes of Toronto from the sale of railway stock. The government fell as a result, but when this matter was reviewed in the next parliament, no basis was found for allegations of corruption against Hincks.

Governorships in the Caribbean

In 1856, he accepted an appointment as governor of

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

and the

Windward Islands french: Îles du Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Windward Islands. Clockwise: Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean SeaNorth ...

, and, in 1861, became governor of

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

. He was knighted in 1869, upon the completion of his term in British Guiana.

Minister of Finance

On his return to Canada, he was elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

and became

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

from 1869 until 1874. Starting in 1870, he created the first government-issued fractional paper currency, popularly known as "

Shinplaster Shinplaster was paper money of low denomination, typically less than one dollar, circulating widely in the economies of the 19th century where there was a shortage of circulating coinage. The shortage of circulating coins was primarily due t ...

s". This was intended to deal with the large amount of American silver coins entering the country, which were valued less than a Canadian dollar. While intended as a temporary solution, the shinplasters were popular, with subsequent issues in 1900 and 1923.

Later life

In 1878, he represented the federal government on the Ontario-Manitoba boundary commission. He was also an editor of the '' Toronto Express'' newspaper.

Family

Hincks was married twice. In 1832, he married Martha Anne Stewart, in Belfast, Ireland. They remained married until her death in 1874 and had five children. In 1875, he married Emily Louisa Delatre, widow of Judge

Robert Baldwin Sullivan Robert Baldwin Sullivan, (May 24, 1802 – April 14, 1853), was an Ireland, Irish-Canadians, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician who became the second Mayor of Toronto, Upper Canada. Career In 1835, he was elected to Toronto City Council of ...

, another member of the extended Baldwin family. Lady Hincks died in Montreal, May 14, 1880, aged 69. Sir Francis Hincks died in Montreal, August 18, 1885, of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

Legacy

Hincks Township in Quebec was named in his honour (but was officially renamed in 1975 to Lac-Sainte-Marie). Hincks Street, Bridgetown, Barbados: In February 1861 H.R.H. Prince Alfred, the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produc ...

visited Barbados. In a bout of excess jubilation towards the visit, authorities promptly renamed several streets in and around the capital city of

Bridgetown Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Island ...

. Among the changes, one of the city's oldest streets, Madeira Street was renamed to Hincks Street after Sir Francis, the then