University of Toronto Schools - Twig Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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THE TWIG The Biography of Colonel John Graves Simcoe JARVIS LYONS IB john Graves Simcoe-that name Will live on forever. Right well did he deserve the honoured title, The Father of Upper Canada, given him by Canadians. We are now going to look into the history of his life, and find out why we, too, should accept him as the Father of Upper Canada. Simcoe was born in Northern England, the son of an ofhcer who fought with Wolfe at Quebec. Naturally, he had a strong fighting disposition and it was not surprising that he soon joined the British Army, who were in the midst of the revolutionary war. He soon showed his talents, and before long was made an officer, but his great career started in 1791 when he was appointed first Clov- ernor of Upper Canada, by the Constitu- tional Act of l79l. The Upper Canada of Simcoe's day was quite different from the Upper Canada of to-day. It was then an almost impenetrable forest. To-day in its place, towns, cities, and farms are thriving. instead of Wide paved roads with automobiles, dirt roads with old ox-carts drawn by oxen, or horses, were the only means of transportation. It was to such a province that Simcoe came as Governor in l792. His ideas of government were very much unsuited to a pioneer province as Upper Canada was then. He had hoped to estab- lish an aristocracy of Military Officers and landed settlers who could constitute the gov- ernment. But he soon learned that the people who elected the members of the assembly chose men like themselves for the office. This disappointed Simcoe, but he threw himself with energy into the duties of his position. ln the few years he was Gov- ernor, he did as much or even more than anyone else in opening up a new, larger, and better colony-that of Upper Canada. ln l792, the first Parliament of Upper Canada met at Newark, a little town on the Niagara River, which had been chosen as the Capital. This first Session was opened by Simcoe with all the pomp and ceremony that attends the British Parliament. A can- non boomed from the fort, and Governor Simcoe arrived, accompanied by a Military escort. He read a speech and then they started the Session, in a manner similar to that done in London, England. Acts were passed establishing trial by jury, and using British law as the law of the province. ln the Session of I 793 provision was made for certain bounty payments, etc., but the most important Act of the year was the one abolishing slavery. This was passed as some of the Loyalists were getting into the habit of having negroes as slaves. Simcoe also had a bill passed, providing free grants of land to settlers, if they would take an oath of allegiance to the British Govern- ment. Simcoe now became convinced that war between Britain and U.S. could not be averted and deemed it unsafe to have the Provincial Capital as close to the border as Newark was. So in 1793 he made an ex- ploration trip and finally chose London as the Capital. It certainly would have been the Capital, but Lord Dorchester of Quebec disapproved of it, as he wanted Kingston made the Capital. And finally York was chosen as a compromise. After that dis- agreement with Lord Dorchester, Simcoe never got along with him and in 1796 Simcoe asked to be recalled. l-le was again appointed Governor, this time of San Domingo, but as his health failed him in the tropical climate of this island, he returned to England again. Later he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of india, but before taking over the duties he died, in l806.