Series 4 - John Graves Simcoe – Subject files

The Simcoe family was part of the landed gentry of Great Britain. The family first came to prominence during the 1750s when Captain John Simcoe commanded the British vessel HMS Pembroke, which took part in the British military’s expedition to Quebec. Simcoe died of pneumonia on the vessel prior to the sieges of Louisbourg and Quebec. During his career he established connections with leading naval officers including Admiral Samuel Graves, who served as godfather for his eldest son, John Graves Simcoe.
John Graves Simcoe was born at Cotterstock, England in 1752 as the only surviving child of John and Katherine Simcoe. He was educated at Oxford and entered the army as ensign of the 35th Foot in 1770. He was posted to Boston at the beginning of the American Revolution in 1775, arriving two days after the Battle of Bunker Hill. His agitation for the creation of a special formation of light infantry led to the creation of the Queen’s Rangers in 1777, which he commanded with the rank of Major. The Rangers were active in campaigns in Pennsylvania, Richmond and Yorktown. He was invalided home in 1781 as a Lieutenant-Colonel.
Simcoe married Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim in 1782. He spent nine years as a half-pay officer, during which time he managed the newly-purchased Wolford Lodge, pursued military promotions and appointments, and corresponded with members of his former command about land claims and problems faced by loyalists. He briefly served as a member of British Parliament from 1790 until 1791 but took little part in debates. On September 12, 1791, Simcoe received a commission to become the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada. The position was established following the Constitutional Act of 1791, in which the western portion of the Province of Quebec was established as a separate entity—Upper Canada—with its own Lieutenant-Governor and Assembly. Simcoe, however, was still made subordinate to Guy Carleton, who was commissioned as governor-in-chief of both Upper and Lower Canada.
Simcoe arrived in Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake), the capital of Upper Canada at the time, in 1792. In his capacity as lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, Simcoe was instrumental in organizing the first civil government of the colony. In his first legislative session, he passed bills establishing British civil law, trial by jury, and a provision for jails and courthouses. Additionally, Simcoe began the process of road construction and the survey of town and rural lots on which British settlement were to be based. Simcoe passed the Act Against Slavery on July 9th, 1793, aimed at ending the sale of enslaved people by Canadians to Americans, and liberating freedom seekers entering from the United States. It did not, however, free adults who were enslaved already residing in Canada. Simcoe’s other duties included maintaining good relations with the Indigenous nations in territory ceded to the United States in 1783 .
In 1796, Simcoe returned to England on leave, and in 1797, was appointed as commander of a British expeditionary force dispatched to capture the French colony of Saint-Domingue (present day Haiti) during the Haitian Revolution. In Saint-Domingue, he was tasked with fighting against the rebellion of the island’s enslaved population that was working with the French Republic. He only spent eight months in this position and returned to England in the same year. In 1799, Simcoe accepted command of the Western District, where he organized and planned defensive measures against an expected invasion from France. In 1806, he was then appointed as commander-in-chief of India but became seriously ill during a diplomatic mission to Portugal and died shortly after returning to England.