Abstract
Henry George, third Earl Grey, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies in Lord John Russell’s first administration, wrote to Sir John Harvey, Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, on 3 November 1846, instructing him to allow responsible government in the colony. Shortly afterwards he authorised Lord Elgin, the new governor-general of Canada to allow responsible government there as well. In 1847 he sanctioned it in New Brunswick and in 1851, after much hesitation, in Prince Edward Island. These well known decisions reflected an important change of mind for Grey. In May 1840, while Lord Howick, he had told the Commons that responsible government was impossible in colonies:
If by responsible government it were meant that the Executive Government of the colony should be directly responsible to the Colonial Assembly, … responsible government so defined would be incompatible with the maintenance of Colonial Government. But … if the Government at home, as well as the authorities in the colonies, were to pursue a system of protective government, guided by a conciliatory spirit, and a desire to consult the wishes of the people, then such a form of government would answer the object that those who were loudest in their clamour for a responsible government had in view.2
What produced Grey’s change of mind between 1840, when he thought responsible government impossible in colonies, and 1846, when he ordered its introduction in the extensive form of party government?
Of whatsoever party your Council may be composed, it will be your duty to act strictly upon the principle … of not identifying yourself with any one party, but instead of this, ‘Making yourself both a mediator and a moderator between the influential of all parties’.… you will carefully avoid any acts which can possibly be supposed to imply the slightest personal objection to their opponents.…
Grey to Harvey, 3 November 18461
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Kennedy, Statutes, Treaties and Documents 495.
PD LIV, 746 (29 May 1840).
J. S. Mill, On Liberty 308f.
See Chapter 3. Also Martin, The Durham Report Chapters 3 and 4.
Russell’s phrase, in Russell to Grey, 19 Aug 1849, Grey of Howick Papers.
See Chapter 7.
Buller in the Commons, 3 PD LXXXV, 36 (30 May 1844).
Stacey, Canada and the British Army 25.
Grey, Colonial Policy I, 5.
Swinfen, Imperial Control of Colonial Legislation, 1.06f.
Schuyler, Fall of the Old Colonial System Chapters 4 and 5; Bodelsen, Mid-Victorian Imperialism 32f.
Morrell, British Colonial Policy, Chapter 19.
Grey, Colonial Policy, I, 22f., 26f.
For example, Morrell, British Colonial Policy Chapter 18; Careless, Union of the Canadas Chapters 1–7; and Ormsby, The Emergence of the Federal Concept, passim.
Careless, Union of the Canadas, xii.
Wade, The French Canadians, 225.
Quoted in Scrope, Sydenham, 172.
See pp. 77 and 285.
Sydenham to Russell, 18 July 1841, CO 42/280; Ormsby, The Emergence of the Federal Concept, 86f.
Baldwin to Sydenham, 18 Feb 1841, and Draper to Baldwin, 22 Feb 1841, both in Baldwin Papers.
Baldwin to Glenelg, 13 July 1836, in Kennedy, Documents, 339.
Sydenham to Baldwin, 1 Mar 1841, Baldwin to Sydenham, 5 Mar 1841, and Sydenham to Arthur, 27 Feb and 18 Mar 1841, all in Sanderson, Arthur Papers, I II, 371f.
Poulett Thomson to the assembly of Upper Canada, 14 Jan 1840, in Kennedy, Documents 432.
Journal of the third Earl Grey, 16 Apr, 2 and 7 Sep 1841.
Baldwin to Sydenham, 12 June 1841, Baldwin Papers. Sydenham to Russell: 12 June 1841, in Knaplund, Letters, 143; 23 June 1841, CO 42 /479.
Kennedy, Documents 455f.; Sydenham to Russell, 27 June 1841, in Knaplund, Letters 145f.
Hincks to William Baldwin, 7 July 1841, Baldwin Papers.
Sydenham to Russell, 4 Aug 1841, in Knaplund, Letters, 157.
Kennedy, Documents, 457f.
Morrell, British Colonial Policy, 50; Metcalf, in CHR, XLII, 303.
Ormsby, The Emergence of the Federal Concept, 102.
Journal of the third Earl Grey, 8 June 1841; Peel to Stanley, 31 Aug 1843, quoted in Careless, Union of the Canadas, 230, note 88; Peel to Stanley, 5 Oct 1841, Ormsby, The Emergence of the Federal Concept, 102.
Sydenham to Russell, 27 May 1841, in Scrope, Sydenham, 244.
Buller to Peel, 9 Sep 1841, quoted by Knaplund in CHR, VIII, 43.
Stanley to Peel, 19 July 1841, in ibid., VIII, 41.
Stanley to Bagot, 8 Oct 1841, in Kennedy, Documents, 458.
Bagot to Stanley, 23 Feb 1842 (confidential), in Kennedy, Documents, 461.
Draper to Bagot, 16 July 1842, and Harrison to Bagot, 11 July 1842, in Kennedy, Documents, 468f., 464f.; Stanley to Bagot, 16 Oct 1842, Bagot Papers.
Bagot to Stanley, 12 June 1842, in Kennedy, Documents, 463f.
Bagot to Stanley, 10 July 1842, Bagot Papers, quoted in Careless, Union of the Canadas, 65f.
Bagot to Stanley, 28 July 1842, in Kennedy, Documents, 469f.
Bagot to Stanley, 13 Sep 1842 (private), in CO 537/140.
Stanley to Peel, 27 Aug 1842, Bagot Papers.
Bagot to Stanley, 6 Sep 1842 (private and confidential), CO 537/140.
Bagot to Stanley, 26 Sep 1842 (three dispatches with enclosures), in Kennedy, Documents 475f.
CO 537/140.
Leacock, Baldwin, La Fontaine, Hincks, 140.
Careless, Union of the Canadas, 70.
Stanley to Bagot, 1 Sep 1842, in Kennedy, Documents 472f.
The Times 18 Oct 1842.
Arbuthnot to Peel, 18 Oct 1842, in Parker, Peel III, 382.
Greville, Memoirs II, 117.
Bagot to Stanley, 28 Oct 1842, Bagot Papers.
Stanley to Bagot, 2 and 3 Nov 1842, in Kennedy, Documents 483f., 486f.
Stanley to Bagot, 3 Dec 1842, quoted in Morrell, British Colonial Policy 58.
Bagot to Stanley, 11 Dec 1842, Bagot Papers.
Stanley to Metcalfe, 29 May 1843, CO 537/141.
Stanley to Metcalfe, 18 Aug 1843, CO 537/142.
Metcalfe to Stanley, 24 Apr 1843 (confidential), and 12 May 1843, CO 537/142.
Stanley to Metcalfe: 29 May 1843, CO 537/141; 1 Nov 1843, in Morrell, British Colonial Policy 60.
Metcalfe to Stanley, 5 Aug 1843, CO 537/142.
Ibid.
Metcalfe to Stanley, 9 Oct 1843, CO 537/142.
Baldwin to Glenelg, 13 July 1836, in Kennedy, Documents 340. Metcalfe to Stanley: 26 Nov 1843, CO 537/142; 26 Nov 1843 (private), Derby Papers, quoted in Careless, Union of the Canadas 83; 11 Dec 1843, CO 42/509.
Quoted in Careless, Union of the Canadas 83.
Wade, The French Canadians 228.
Kaye, Papers of Lord Metcalfe 533f.
Metcalfe to Stanley, 25 Feb 1844, Derby Papers, quoted in Careless, Union of the Canadas, 87.
PD LXIX, 640 (19 May 1843).
Gash, Peel 374f., 500.
Peel to Stanley, 2 Feb 1844, Peel Papers, quoted in Morrell, British Colonial Policy, 64.
H. T. Manning, in CHR XLVIII, 1f.; [Wakefield], Metcalfe’s Government of Canada.
Spectator 6 Jan 1844.
PD LXXXV, 31f. (30 May 1844).
Journal of the third Earl Grey, 30 May 1844.
Metcalfe to Stanley, 17 Sep 1844, CO 537/143.
Metcalf, in CHR XLII, 312f.
Ormsby, in Canadian Historical Association Report 1961 35f.; Bell, Colonial Administration 307f.
Metcalfe to Stanley, 13 May 1845, in Kaye, Papers of Lord Metcalfe 475f.
Elgin to Grey, 7 May 1847, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers I, 34.
Minute by Stephen on Cathcart’s draft instructions, CO 380/5.
Minute by Hope, CO 42/351; Gladstone to Cathcart, 3 Feb 1846, CO 43/146.
Albert to Grey, 3 Aug 1846, in Jagow, Letters of the Prince Consort 105.
Journal of the third Earl Grey, 11 July 1842.
Grey to Elgin, 5 Apr 1849, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers I, 316f.
Grey, Colonial Policy I, 204.
Memorandum on colonial policy, 8 Feb 1849, Papers of the third Earl Grey, Colonial Papers, No. 3; Ward, in HSANZ, IX, 244f.; Grey, Colonial Policy, I, 34.
Edinburgh Review LXXXIII (1846), 512f.; Journal of the third Earl Grey, 27 Apr 1846.
Lewis, Government of Dependencies 324, 293.
See Chapter 3.
Stephen to Howick, [day unknown] Feb 1845, Grey of Howick Papers; Stephen’s Diary, 12 July 1846.
J. R. M. Butler, ‘Colonial Self-Government, 1838–1852’, in CHBE, II, 369.
See Chapter 3.
PD LXVIII, 484, (6 Apr 1843).
Journal of the third Earl Grey, 9 June 1843 to 29 June 1846; Buller to Howick, 27 Mar 1843, 1 Dec 1845, 14 Jan and 25 Apr 1846, Grey of Howick Papers; Palmerston to Russell, 20 Dec 1844, Russell Papers (PRO 30/22, Box 4 ).
Journal of the third Earl Grey, 3, 4 and 7 July 1846; Stephen’s Diary, 12 July 1846.
Grey to Buller, 23 Feb 1847, Grey of Howick Papers; Semmel, Free Trade Imperialism, 122f.; Buller to Grey, 15 Mar 1847, Grey of Howick Papers; Morrell, British Colonial Policy, Chapter 17.
Russell to Grey, 17 Oct 1847, Grey of Howick Papers.
Falkland to Stanley, 28 Nov 1843, CO 217/184.
Chisholm, Joseph Howe I, 594.
Chisholm, Joseph Howe I, 494, 541.
Harvey to Grey, 15 Sep 1846 (private and confidential), CO 217/193.
Howe to Buller, 16 Sep 1846, quoted by Martin in CHR VI, 318.
Buller to Howe, 10 Sep 1846, in ibid., VI, 316; Stephen’s minute of 30 Sep 1846, CO 217/193.
Russell to Grey, 30 Oct and 4 Aug 1846, Grey of Howick Papers.
Grey to Harvey, 3 Nov 1846 (private and confidential), CO 217/193; PP 1847–8, XLII (621), 7–9.
Buller to Howe, 16 Nov 1846, quoted by Martin in CHR VI, 320f.
Harvey to Grey, 19 Nov and 2 Dec 1846 (private and confidential), CO 217/193; Grey to Harvey, 22 Dec 1846, CO 217/193; Grey to Harvey, 23 Dec 1846 (private and confidential), CO 218/34; memoranda of 28 and 30 Jan 1847, enclosed in Harvey to Grey, 2 Feb 1847 (No. 222), CO 217 /193.
Minutes by Stephen and Hawes, 17 Feb, and by Grey, 18 Feb 1847, on Harvey to Grey, 2 Feb 1847 (No. 222), CO 217/193.
Grey to Harvey, 2 Mar 1847, CO 218/34; Buller to Grey, 1 Mar [18471, Grey of Howick Papers.
Harvey to Grey, 10 Aug, 2 Sep and 16 Dec 1847, CO 217/196; Harvey to Grey, 29 Jan 1848, and Grey to Harvey, 21 Feb 1848, CO 217/197.
Howe to Buller, 2 Sep 1847, and Buller to Howe, 23 Mar 1848, quoted by Martin in CHR VI, 322f., 323f.
Grey to Harvey, 7 Mar 1848, CO 218/34; Buller to Howe, 24 Mar 1848, quoted by Martin in CHR, VI, 328.
Russell to Grey, 4 Aug 1846, Grey of Howick Papers.
Buller to Howe, 10 Sep 1846, quoted by Martin in CHR VI, 316.
Elgin to Grey, 16 and 18 July 1846, and Grey to Elgin, 4 Aug 1846, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers I, lf.
Journal of the third Earl Grey, 21 July, 1–6 Aug 1846; Russell to Grey, 31 July 1846, and Gladstone to Grey, 13 Aug 1846, Grey of Howick Papers.
Elgin to Grey, 29 Oct 1847, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers I, 75.
Journal of the third Earl Grey, 6 and 8 Oct, 7 Nov 1846, 4 and 5 Jan 1847; Elgin to Grey, 8 Dec 1846, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers, 1, 51; Grey, Colonial Policy, I, 208f.; Martin, The Durham Report, 67f.; Morrell, British Colonial Policy, 448.
Grey, Colonial Policy I, 213f.
Elgin to Grey, 27 Mar (secret), 7 May (private) and 13 July 1847 (private and confidential), in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers I, 21, 34f., 58.
Metcalf, in CHR, XLII, 316; Hincks to Baldwin, 25 and 27 Mar 1847, Baldw in Papers.
Elgin to Grey, 26 Apr 1847, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers I, 29.
Elgin to Grey, 9 and 24 Dec 1847, 7 and 22 Jan 1848, in ibid., I, 101, 102, 117, 118f.; Globe, 16 and 23 Feb 1848.
Grey to Elgin, 22 Feb 1848 (private), and Elgin to Grey, 22 Jan and 17 Mar 1848, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers I, 120, 119, 134f.
Elgin to Grey, 13 July 1847 and 27 Mar 1848, in ibid., I, 58, 139.
Elgin to Grey, 5 Feb 1848, in ibid., I, 123.
Russell to Grey, 12 and 16 Mar 1848, Grey to Russell, 14 Mar 1848, Grey of Howick Papers.
Elgin to Grey, 4 May 1848, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers I, 148.
Elgin to Grey, 16 Nov 1848, in ibid., I, 256.
Elgin to Grey, 22 Nov 1848 and 4 Jan 1849, and Grey to Elgin, 22 Mar and 15 Nov 1848, in ibid., I, 260, 278, 125, 262.
Elgin to Grey, 14 Mar 1849, in ibid., I, 307.
Russell to Grey, 1 Jan, 3 and 6 Aug 1849, Grey of Howick Papers; Elgin to Grey, 27 May and 1 Mar 1849, and Grey to Elgin, 16 June 1847, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers, I, 45, 300, 47f.
Grey to Elgin, 9 Jan 1850, PP, 1850, XXXVIII (Cmd 1181) 24.
Grey to Elgin, 18 May 1849, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers I, 351.
Elgin to Grey, 30 Nov 1848, and Grey to Elgin, 26 Dec 1848, in ibid., I, 262f. 266.
Elgin to Grey, 1 Mar 1849, in ibid., I, 299f.
Elgin to Grey, 14 Mar and 12 Apr 1849, in ibid., I, 309, 338f.
Elgin to Grey, 30 Apr 1849, in ibid., I, 350.
The Times 16 and 17 May 1849; Grey to Elgin, 18 May 1849, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers I, 351.
Morning Chronicle 16 June 1849.
PD CVI, 191 (14 June 1849); Grey to Elgin, 14 June 1849, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers I, 360.
PD CVI, 243 (Commons, 14 June 1849) and 450 (Lords, 19 June 1849).
See Chapter 9; Grey to Elgin, 18 May 1849, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers, I 351.
PD CVI, 461f.
Grey to Elgin, 22 June 1849, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers I, 372; 3 PD CVI, 492.
Grey to Elgin, 16 June 1847, 13 and 22 June 1849, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers, I, 47f., 372f., and IV, 1475; Grey to Russell, 31 July 1849, Grey of Howick Papers.
Russell to Grey, 19 Aug and 13 Oct 1849, Grey of Howick Papers.
Elgin to Grey, 23 May 1848, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers, I 179.
Elgin to Grey, 30 Nov 1848, and Grey to Elgin, 26 Dec 1848, in ibid., I, 263f., 266.
Elgin to Grey, 26 Apr and 18 May 1848, and Grey to Elgin, 18 May 1848, in ibid., I, 144, 186, 146.
Grey, Colonial Policy I, 281f.
Ibid., I, 274f.; Bell, Colonial Administration 324f.
Grey to Elgin, 31 Mar 1848, CO 43/139; Swinfen, Imperial Control of Colonial Legislation, 109.
Grey to Elgin, 11 Oct 1849 (draft with notes), CO 42/558; Grey, Colonial Policy, I 235.
Masters, Reciprocity Treaty of 1854 xxi f.
Grey, Colonial Policy, I, 279f.; Grey to Head, 19 Aug 1850, Grey of Howick Papers.
Innis, Essays in Canadian Economics 206; Swinfen, Imperial Control of Colonial Legislation 109f.
Enclosed in Head to Newcastle, 11 Nov 1859, CO 42/618.
Elgin to Grey, 6 June 1848, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers I, 182.
Wood to Grey, 13 Nov 1850, Grey of Howick Papers.
Elgin to Grey, 23 Apr 1849, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers I, 329.
Morrell, British Colonial Policy, Chapter 17; Grey to Russell, 18 Nov 1850, Grey of Howick Papers.
Elgin to Grey, 7 May, 13 July, 13 Aug and 30 Sep 1847, 2 Mar and 24 Aug 1848, etc., in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers I, 34, 58, 63, 72, 127, 226.
Masters, Short History of Canada 28.
Schuyler, Fall of the Old Imperial System 217f.; Grey, Colonial Policy, I 117f., 257; Grey to Elgin, 22 Mar 1848, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers I, 125f.
PD, CIII 1010, and CXV, 1838.
Elgin to Grey, 2 Mar and 26 Apr 1848, in Doughty, Elgin—Grey Papers, I 128, 144.
Knorr, British Colonial Theories 355.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1976 John Manning Ward
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ward, J.M. (1976). Party Government in British North America. In: Colonial Self-Government. Cambridge Commonwealth Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-02712-5_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-02712-5_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-02714-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-02712-5
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)