John Halkett (27 February 1768 – 12 November 1852) was

Governor of the Bahamas This is a list of governors of the Bahamas. The first English settlement in the Bahamas was on Eleuthera. In 1670, the king granted the Bahamas to the lords proprietors of the Province of Carolina, but the islands were left to themselves. The lo ...

and Governor of Tobago. He was born in Pitfirrane, near Dunfermline, Scotland, the third son of Sir John Halkett, 4th Baronet and was educated at

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

and the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. He was called to the Scottish bar in Edinburgh in August 1789. From 1797 to 1801 he was secretary of presentations to his cousin Alexander Wedderburn, 1st Baron Loughborough, the

Lord Chancellor of England The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-r ...

. In 1801 he was appointed

and in 1803 Governor of Tobago. On his return to London he was appointed first chief commissioner of West Indian accounts and became a major shareholder in the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

. He was appointed a member of the Hudson's Bay Company London committee in November 1811 and supported the Red River Settlement project of his cousin, Lord Selkirk, writing a number of pamphlets on the poor treatment Selkirk had received from rival trading companies and the British Government. He visited Montreal and Red River in 1821 after Selkirk's death as executor of his will and on his return to London the following year published ''Historical notes respecting the Indians of North America: with remarks on the attempts made to convert and civilize them'' in which he recommended a more sympathetic approach to the native way of life and more respect for the native peoples of North America. He retired in 1848 and died in 1852 at Brighton, leaving 4 sons from his second marriage to Selkirk's sister, Lady Katherine Douglas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halkett, John 1768 births 1852 deaths People from Dunfermline Younger sons of baronets Alumni of the University of Glasgow Alumni of the University of St Andrews Scottish lawyers British governors of the Bahamas Governors of British Tobago