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John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon b. 3 Aug 1847, Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Title: | Governor General in and over the Dominion of Canada = Gouverneur Général dans et sur la Puissance du Canada |
| Term: | 18 Sep 1893 - 12 Nov 1898 |
| Chronology: | 22 May 1893, appointed by Commission under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet |
| 18 Sep 1893, took oath of office, Legislative Council Chamber, Parliament Buildings (Hôtel du Parlement), Québec City, Québec [1] | |
| 12 Nov 1898, appointment superseded by the Commission of a successor effective on taking the prescribed oaths (12 Nov 1898) | |
| Names/titles: | 7th Earl of Aberdeen, 7th Viscount Formartine, 7th Lord Haddo, Methlick, Tarves and Kellie (all Scotland), 4th Viscount Gordon of Aberdee, Co. Aberdeen (UK), 9th Baronet Gordon (Nova Scotia) [from 27 Jan 1870]; 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, in the County of Aberdeen and in the County of Meath, and in the County of Argyll, 1st Earl of Haddo, in the County of Aberdeen [from 4 Jan 1916] |
| Biography: | |
The grandson of the British prime minister Earl of Aberdeen, John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon was educated at St. Andrews University and University College, Oxford. A Liberal, he succeeded to the earldom in 1870 upon the death of his elder brother, who drowned on a sea voyage. Aberdeen entered the House of Lords and was a close friend and supporter of the British prime minister William Gladstone. Made Lord Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire in 1880, Aberdeen served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland briefly in 1886 and again 1905-1915. Aberdeen had visited Canada twice before becoming its governor general in 1893. A social crusader of great zeal and piety, he and Lady Aberdeen, his wife, devoted much of their vice-regal time in Canada to good works. Their sympathies for Liberals in Britain and Canada, however, made relations with Conservative governments in Canada difficult. Aberdeen's refusal to accept appointments made by the Prime Minister Sir Charles Tupper, following his electoral defeat in 1896, produced great controversy. | |
| Biographical sources: The Canadian encyclopedia: year 2000 edition. McClelland & Stewart Inc., Toronto. | |
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| [1] | The Globe, No. 13,594, 19 Sep 1893, p. 1. |
| Image: photograph of the 7th Earl of Aberdeen by William James Topley, April 1895, National Archives of Canada. | |