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Robert Baldwin (May 12, 1804 – December 9, 1858) was born at York (now Toronto
Toronto

Toronto is the List of the 100 largest municipalities in Canada by population in Canada and the Provinces and territories of Canada Provincial and territorial capitals of Canada of Ontario....
). He, along with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine
Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine

Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine , 1st Baronet was the first Canadian to become Prime Minister of the United Province of Canada and the first head of a responsible government in Canada....
, led the first responsible
Responsible government

Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy....
 ministry in Canada, regarded by some as the first truly Canadian government.

father William Warren Baldwin
William Warren Baldwin

William Warren Baldwin was a doctor, businessman, lawyer, judge, architect and political figure in Upper Canada.He was born in County Cork, Ireland in 1775....
 (d. 1844), moved to Upper Canada
Upper Canada

The Province of Upper Canada was a British colony located in what is now the southern portion of the Province of Ontario in Canada. Upper Canada officially existed from 26 December 1791 to 10 February 1841 and generally comprised present-day Southern Ontario and, until 1797, the Upper Peninsula of what is now part of the U.S....
 from Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
 in 1798; though a man of wealth and good family and a devoted member of the Church of England
Church of England

The Church of England is the State religion Christianity Ecclesia in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches....
, he opposed the religious and political oligarchy which was then at the head of Canadian affairs, and brought up his son in the same principles.






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Robert Baldwin (May 12, 1804 – December 9, 1858) was born at York (now Toronto
Toronto

Toronto is the List of the 100 largest municipalities in Canada by population in Canada and the Provinces and territories of Canada Provincial and territorial capitals of Canada of Ontario....
). He, along with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine
Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine

Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine , 1st Baronet was the first Canadian to become Prime Minister of the United Province of Canada and the first head of a responsible government in Canada....
, led the first responsible
Responsible government

Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy....
 ministry in Canada, regarded by some as the first truly Canadian government.

Biography

His father William Warren Baldwin
William Warren Baldwin

William Warren Baldwin was a doctor, businessman, lawyer, judge, architect and political figure in Upper Canada.He was born in County Cork, Ireland in 1775....
 (d. 1844), moved to Upper Canada
Upper Canada

The Province of Upper Canada was a British colony located in what is now the southern portion of the Province of Ontario in Canada. Upper Canada officially existed from 26 December 1791 to 10 February 1841 and generally comprised present-day Southern Ontario and, until 1797, the Upper Peninsula of what is now part of the U.S....
 from Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
 in 1798; though a man of wealth and good family and a devoted member of the Church of England
Church of England

The Church of England is the State religion Christianity Ecclesia in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches....
, he opposed the religious and political oligarchy which was then at the head of Canadian affairs, and brought up his son in the same principles. Robert Baldwin was called to the Bar in 1825. In 1829 he was elected a member of the Parliament of Upper Canada
10th Parliament of Upper Canada

The 10th Parliament of Upper Canada was in session from January 8 1829 to September 8 1830. Elections in Upper Canada had been held in July 1828....
 for the town of York
York, Upper Canada

York was the name of Toronto, Ontario, between 1793 and 1834 and second capital of Upper Canada....
, but was defeated in the following year and retired for a time into private life. During the next six years, he so constantly advocated a responsible executive as the one cure for the political and economic evils of the time that he was known as "the man of one idea." In 1836 he was called by Sir Francis Bond Head
Francis Bond Head

Sir Francis Bond Head, 1st Baronet Royal Guelphic Order Privy Council of the United Kingdom , known as "Galloping Head", was Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada during the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837....
 (1793 – 1875), the Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant governor

A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. In the United States and many Commonwealth of Nations systems, lieutenant governors are usually deputy heads of state....
, to the Executive Council
Executive Council of Upper Canada

The Executive Council of Upper Canada had a similar function to the Cabinet in England but was not responsible to the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada....
, but finding himself without influence, and compelled to countenance measures to which he was opposed, he resigned within a month. Though a moderate reformer, he strongly disapproved of the rebellion
Upper Canada Rebellion

The Upper Canada Rebellion was, along with the Lower Canada Rebellion in Lower Canada, a rebellion against the British colonial government in 1837 and 1838....
 of 1837 – 1838.

He joined the Executive Council under Charles Poulett Thomson (later Lord Sydenham) in 1840 as the Solicitor General. Upon the union of the two Canadas (1841) he was a member of its first executive council under Lord Sydenham, but soon resigned on the question of responsible government
Responsible government

Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy....
. In 1842 he formed an administration, in connection with Lafontaine, who suggested an equal partnership. Baldwin, however, refused and took the position of Deputy Premier under Lafontaine. He resigned the next year, after a quarrel with the Governor General, Sir Charles Metcalfe, on a question of patronage, in which he felt that of responsible government to be involved. At the general election which followed, the Governor General was sustained by a narrow majority, but in 1848 the Reformers
Reform Party (pre-Confederation)

The Reform movement, sometimes referred to as the Reform Party, began in the 1830s as the movement in the English language speaking parts of British North America ....
 were again returned to power, and he and Lafontaine formed their second administration on March 11 under Lord Elgin
James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin

James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, Order of the Thistle, Order of the Bath, Privy Council of the United Kingdom was a British colonial administrator and diplomat, best known as the man who ordered the complete destruction of the Old Summer Palace in the Second Opium War by 3,500 British soldiers and as the Governor...
 and carried numerous important reforms, including the freeing from sectarian control of the University of Toronto
University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is a public university research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated a mile north of the city's Financial District, Toronto on grounds that surround Queen's Park ....
 and the introduction into Upper Canada of an important municipal system.

Internal dissensions soon began to appear in the Reform party, and in 1851 Baldwin resigned. The special struggle leading to his resignation was an attempt to abolish the court of chancery of Upper Canada, whose constitution was due to a measure introduced by Baldwin in 1849. The attempt, though defeated, had been supported by a majority of the representatives from Upper Canada, and Baldwin's fastidious conscience took it as a vote of want confidence. A deeper reason was his inability to approve of the advanced views of the Radicals, or "Clear Grits," as they came to be called. On seeking re-election in York, he declined to give any pledge on the burning question of the Clergy Reserves and was defeated. In 1853 the Liberal-Conservative party, formed in 1854 by a coalition, attempted to bring him out as a candidate for the upper house, which was at this date elective, but though he had broken with the advanced reformers, he could not approve of the tactics of their opponents, and refused to stand. He died on the 9th of December 1858 in Spadina. Even those who most strongly opposed his measures admitted the purity and unselfishness of his motives. After the concession of responsible government, he devoted himself to bringing about a good understanding between the English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
 and French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
-speaking inhabitants of Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
, and his memory is held as dear among the French Canadians as in his native province of Ontario
Ontario

Ontario is a Provinces and territories of Canada located in the Central Canada part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area....
.

The Baldwin family was a prominent one. Robert Baldwin counted among his cousins such influential Upper Canadians as the Anglican bishop Maurice Scollard Baldwin
Maurice Scollard Baldwin

Maurice Scollard Baldwin was a Canadian Anglican Bishop from Toronto. Baldwin's parents were from influential families; he was the grandson of ?neas Shaw and the cousin of Robert Baldwin....
, Toronto mayor Robert Baldwin Sullivan
Robert Baldwin Sullivan

File:Robert Baldwin Sullivan.pngRobert Baldwin Sullivan , was a Canada lawyer, judge, and politician who became the 2nd Mayor of Toronto.He was born in Bandon, County Cork in the Ireland in 1802 and came to York with his family in 1819....
 and the Irish-Catholic leader Connell James Baldwin
Connell James Baldwin

Connell James Baldwin was an Irish people soldier and civil servant. When he was fourteen he joined the Royal Navy, and two years later, after being deemed medically unfit to serve in that branch, the British Army....
. Robert Baldwin is the grandfather of Frederick Walker Baldwin a distinguished Canadian engineer, politician, and football player who worked with Alexander Graham Bell. Robert Baldwin is also the grandfather of Robert Baldwin Ross
Robert Baldwin Ross

Robert Baldwin "Robbie" Ross was a Canadian journalist and art critic. He is best known, however, as the executor of the estate of Oscar Wilde, with whom he had been lifelong friends....
 a Canadian literary figure and confidante of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish people playwright, Irish poetry and author of numerous short stories and one novel. Known for his biting wit, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest Celebrity of his day....
.

See also

  • LaFontaine-Baldwin Symposium
    LaFontaine-Baldwin Symposium

    The LaFontaine-Baldwin Symposium is a Canadian forum created through the joint effort of John Ralston Saul and the Dominion Institute. Founded in 2000, the Symposium's purpose is to stimulate debate about the historical antecedents and future shape of the Canadian democracy....
  • See J. C. Dent, Canadian Portrait Gallery (1880). His life, by the Hon. Geo. W. Ross, is included in The Makers of Canada series (Toronto
    Toronto

    Toronto is the List of the 100 largest municipalities in Canada by population in Canada and the Provinces and territories of Canada Provincial and territorial capitals of Canada of Ontario....
    ).


Further reading

  • The Baldwins and The Great Experiment by R.M and J. Baldwin, Longmans Canada Ltd, 1969
  • My Dear Friend Letters of Louis Hippolyte LaFontaine & Robert Baldwin, edited by Yolande Stewart, Plum Hollow books, 1978.
  • "The Life of Robert Baldwin" by George E. Wilson, Ryerson Press: Toronto, 1933
  • "Baldwin LaFontaine Hincks: Responsible Government" by S. Leacock, Toronto, Monrang and Co., 1907.
  • "“The waste that lies before me”: The Public and the Private Worlds of Robert Baldwin"
  • Michael S. Cross and Robert L. Fraser: Historical Papers, vol. 18, n° 1, 1983, p. 164-183. Online pdf version can be found here


External links

  • (Adobe Flash Player.)
    Adobe Flash Player

    The Adobe Flash Player is software for creating and viewing animations and movies using computer programs such as a web browser; in common usage, flash lets you put animation and movies on a web site....